Scott Rall
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 09, 2021This is one of those times of the year when you are trapped between watching fishing shows on TV and wondering why the fish don’t bite nearly as well as they did back in December. I have an idea for a project for one of the next weekends when the temperatures are expected to hover around that 0-degree mark. It is a project that very few people ever do, and if they do, they don’t get thinking…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 02, 2021It was a little over six weeks ago that I shared with you the trials and tribulations of raising a high energy Labrador puppy. My pint-sized powerhouse is not all that little anymore. He is 7 1/2 months old and has lost the cute puppy breath and replaced it with the “you should have seen what I found and ate in the back yard” breath. When I am picking a puppy from a litter, I always try to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 25, 2021Winter finally looks like it has arrived. So far, the wildlife of Minnesota has had a pretty easy go of it due to unseasonably warm temperatures and not a lot of snow. Mild winters can benefit a whole host of different animals, but not all animals see those same benefits. What benefits some wildlife will negatively impact others. I have often wondered how different species survive deep snow and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 19, 2021Last week I wrote about the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund created by constitutional amendment back in the late 1980s when the Minnesota State Lottery was begun. It has done many good things but still funds too much research and not enough on the ground habitat and water projects for my complete satisfaction. About 20 years ago there was another movement started to create a special…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 12, 2021When is the last time you bought a lottery ticket? For some it is at least a weekly occurrence and for others the answer might be never. I am not a big gambler by any means, but I do buy a Powerball ticket every once in a while. I have no doubt that I will never win any money, but the Minnesota lottery does do some very good things with the money I spend. When the lottery started in Minnesota,…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 28, 2020I am not a big Facebook follower, but I was checking out a post I made on our chapter’s local Nobles County Pheasants Forever Facebook site. As I was scrolling across the past few days on my regular feed, I saw a re-post from one of my longtime friends, Bob St Pierre, who is a Pheasants Forever national employee. He reposted a picture of a young gal who had taken up decoy carving. There are those…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 21, 2020About three years ago I purchased a used tractor to fill the need I had when implementing wildlife habitat projects. I chose poorly with little experience, but after several large repair bills the machine was up and running. As a result, I then needed a building to store it in, and a medium-sized pole barn shed was next on the list. I built it bigger than I thought I needed and again, I was…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 01, 2020So the opening weekend of the Minnesota pheasant season is here and gone and it took until 8 a.m. that following Monday morning for my phone to ring with questions regarding hunting etiquette on public lands. For sure there are different common-sense rules when it comes to interacting with other hunters who all want to hunt on the same parcel of public land at the same time. The recommendations…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 23, 2020With all of the recent hunting opportunities it is hard to squeeze in other important fall projects, but I have made time to get them done. I got my burn breaks mowed for the prescribed fires that will take place on my wildlife property to enhance the diversity and stand integrity of the native plant species that grow there. Another project that was actually five projects all fell under the same…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 17, 2020The firearms deer season is underway across Minnesota. Reports have been coming in with success rates far above last year. With literally almost no standing crop left in the state, there are far fewer places for deer to hide. I guided a 62-year-old gal to her very first deer harvest. She comes from a family of die-hard deer hunters but just wasn’t up to the task of sitting in a tree stand in what…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 10, 2020The firearms deer season started in most of Minnesota on Nov. 7. In the southwest part of the state it runs for 11 days. Other regions have different dates and season lengths. I am a pretty serious deer hunter but have not harvested a deer in over 30 years. This by no means indicates that I have skipped the opportunity to buy a license and take part in the hunt for any of those three decades. I…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 03, 2020In previous columns I have advised keeping a cell phone in your pocket and telling others where you were going to hunt in case of an emergency. And I’ve also written about falling on a stick and ending up in the emergency room. Well, I have a different story that happened just a few weeks back that makes this all the more important. I hope my bad luck can drive home to you how important it is to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 20, 2020For nearly 40 years I’ve purchased a deer license, but in that time I’ve harvested only about five deer. That’s because I get more enjoyment from watching others being successful than harvesting a deer for my personal use. Last year alone on a property I own, I mentored five kids 12 years of age or younger to their very first successful deer hunt. That makes my day and my season a success. One of…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 13, 2020So the opening weekend of the Minnesota pheasant season is here and gone and it took until 8 a.m. Monday morning for my phone to ring with questions regarding hunting etiquette on public lands. For sure there are different common-sense rules when it comes to interacting with other hunters who all want to hunt on the same parcel of public land at the same time. The recommendations that follow are…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 06, 2020I have been fortunate to be able to hunt upland birds all around the Upper Midwest for about the last 20 years. Many hunters will hunt in some years and skip other years if the bird numbers are not as high as they wished. There is lots of competition for time in the fall. There is great fishing, bow and gun hunting for deer, and ice angling in the later parts of November and beyond. I love doing…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistSeptember 29, 2020It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas if you are an avid outdoors person in the state of Minnesota. It’s 50 degrees today as I write and there are many anticipated dates I can see from here on the near horizon. One of my favorites is the Minnesota youth deer hunt. This is a special season for youths between the ages of 10 and 17. They get their own four-day season to harvest a deer without…
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