outdoors
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 03, 2024By Scott Rall There is so much going on at the Capitol it’s hard for the average outdoor guy to follow it all. I have two issues I want to share. One will be this week and the second to follow in my next column. The first is of the native tribes and the land give-backs that have happened and several others that are proposed to happen if certain bills pass this session or any session for that…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 31, 2024Sitting in my day job office this morning, my mind did wander a little bit anticipating the first 70-degree day of 2024. Working outside on habitat projects is about as much fun as I can have. Others like to golf or chase round ball sports. I just don’t share the same interests as many others and that is very OK. Working on habitat that is owned by the public was for a long time very difficult…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistDecember 06, 2023Last week I shared some changes that were taking place in Minnesota with regard to the deer archery season and how these changes were being received very differently by differing groups of archery hunters. You can look back to last week if you missed it. I promised I would again cover some changes in the way hunters harvest deer in Minnesota. This week’s subject matter is the muzzle loader…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 29, 2023The firearms deer season opened on Nov. 4 and runs through Dec. 12 in most of the southern part of Minnesota. I have a friend who drives from Madison, Wisconsin, to Nobles County every year to spend some time in the deer stand with me. The reason he does so is that if I happen to shoot a deer, he does all of the processing of that deer and then takes the meat home with him. In Wisconsin where…
By Scott RallJuly 02, 2023I planted a tree in my front yard about two years ago. It received more attention than any other tree I have ever put in the ground. After I watered and nurtured the tree for two years, the winter of 2022-2023 finally killed it off. The tree had a tube on it to keep the rabbits away. When the snow got taller than the tube, the rabbits started in. Each additional snow allowed them more access to…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 17, 2022It could actually be an unpaid Minnesota holiday if you didn’t know better. There are lots of days on the calendar that Minnesotans look forward to, but they don’t hold a candle to the Minnesota Fishing Opener. As the time wound down ahead of the big day, anglers in garages everywhere got ready to holler “Start your engines,” like a NASCAR race. I really used to be one of those die-hard anglers…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 05, 2022Prescribed fire is one of the most beneficial management tools and is one of the most misunderstood. Spring burning gets a really bad rap from those who do not fully understand prairie ecosystems. Even when these benefits are explained, there will always be a certain percentage of folks who will disagree as they have drunk the wrong Kool-Aid served up at some local coffee shop. The most difficult…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 07, 2021There is no greater supporter of public lands and public lands hunting than me. You have certainly heard me say this before. With the great gift of public lands comes the responsibility to care for them and manage them to their highest potential. Most citizen-owned lands in my part of the state are managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and they do a fine job with the limited…
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 columnistSeptember 22, 2020The temperatures are sure showing that the fall season is soon to be upon us. It is without a doubt my very favorite season of the year. For thousands of other hunters and outdoor enthusiasts I am sure they feel the same. I hunt almost every day of the season for some quarry. Most of those days are just the last 90 minutes before the sun sets each day. When I leave the house or office, I always…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 18, 2020When I need a “pick me up,” I just go for a wildlife ride and look for God’s creatures. They seem to have made it through thousands of years of ups and downs, and last week they got a really, really big surge upwards. Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act. I will provide a little background story first. In 1964 Congress passed the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This fund needed to be…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 07, 2020I was on a daylong, 75-mile wildlife ride on my Polaris Ranger with a few friends Saturday to observe habitat conditions on public lands located in Nobles County. One of the riders said her friend didn’t know what a side-by-side was. A side-by-side is the slang term for a 4-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. I don’t know anyone who calls a two-passenger, steering wheel equipped side-by-side an ATV.…
By Scott Rall, outdoor columnistApril 21, 2020Snow in April is just a bummer, but it is better than last year when we had over 20 inches in the month of April. The month is not over yet so we will just have to see how the weather pans out. The snow came early enough that I have no reason to believe it will have any effect on pheasant nesting or the majority of the waterfowl that are trying their best at a reproductive effort this spring.…
By Scott Rall, outdoor columnistMarch 31, 2020There is no way to pretend that this CV-19 thing is not a big deal. I started out with more than a little suspicion, as I think many of us did. But after a talk with my daughter, Brittany Remme, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, I got the clear picture. I understand all the rules and figure that working in the outdoors by myself or with one other meets the definition of social distancing…
By Scott Rall, outdoor columnistMarch 24, 2020It was back in the spring of 2016 that I was able to participate in one of the most memorable wildlife projects of my life. Nobles County Pheasants Forever had recently purchased an 80-acre tract as an addition to Lambert Prairie Wildlife Management Area. This was only a few months after I lost my wife to breast cancer, and as a living memorial to her, I made a contribution to the habitat…
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