the outdoors
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 31, 2021It is mid-August and the past several free days and evenings have been spent doing public lands habitat improvements. These improvements have been in the way of spraying a leaf application brush killer on volunteer trees that for all practical purposes pollute grassland ecosystems. One tree here or one shrub there provides no wildlife value. In fact, they actually reduce the habitat quality and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 24, 2021The first fall gunning season is only two weeks away. The fall hunting season starts with the mourning dove opener on Sept. 1. The mourning dove is the most numerous game bird in North America, and states have been hunting them for decades. When the season started in Minnesota more than a decade ago, it was a pretty big controversy. A segment of the population thought they should be left alone,…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 10, 2021Now is the time to grab a few boxes of shells and get your shooting eye tuned up for the dove season that starts on Sept. 1. Not everyone hunts doves, but a keen shooting eye will benefit every hunter, whether it’s ducks, pheasants, grouse or any other game on the wing. When I finally got serious about hunting winged birds, I was already about 25 years old, and now this outdoor activity has…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 03, 2021The headline of the Star Herald a few weeks back announced that a nearby community’s drinking water had levels of magnesium that were five times higher than what was safe for infants. It really doesn’t matter where in the state you live, this is becoming a far too frequent headline. There is a very old saying that “whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting,” and water issues are now one…- By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 27, 2021Every time the United States Department of Agriculture announces additional acres for the CRP program, sportsmen and women across the country cheer. The federal Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to take marginal cropland out of production and plant it to native grass and flower cover. Contracts range from 10-15 years with rental rates as high as $350 per acre per year and as low as $42…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 20, 2021With the increase in popularity of off-road recreational vehicles, I am seeing more and more side-by-sides running around the counites where I live. The units I am referring to are like 4-wheel-drive golf carts. Polaris Rangers and others made by Arctic Cat, Yamaha and Bombardier are all commonly seen in southwest Minnesota. I have seen many of these units that have had the off-road tires removed…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 13, 2021It is not very often that legislators call me. I call them regularly, but total solar eclipses are more common than a legislator calling me. About 20 years ago Sen. Jim Vickerman, a gentleman I really respected, called me about wolves, a subject that hardly ever comes up in the ag land zones of Minnesota. Wolves have been listed, then delisted, then listed again about a half dozen times over the…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 29, 2021Anglers that are most attentive to the littlest of details are the ones who normally have the biggest and best fishing stories to tell. I will give you just a few examples of ways that extra attention to detail can make a measurable difference in the day’s catch. The first would be the basics of fishing lines. Many casual anglers have one or two rod and reel combos that they use for every…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 08, 2021I recently made the seven-hour drive to Upper Red Lake in Minnesota. I figured this was about the 15th time I had made this annual trip to the best walleye fishing in North America. It is a father-son experience I cherish. For those of you who can remember back that far, the walleye fishing on Upper Red Lake collapsed from overnetting and to some extent overfishing by anglers back in about 2000.…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 01, 2021I never really figured out what I wanted to do after high school until I was about 28 years old. After graduation I took a few years off from schooling in the sales and marketing arena. I sold cars and then newspaper subscriptions. At age 28 I decided I wanted to be a regional fisheries manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. However, this would have required six more years of…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 25, 2021I recently spent a few days in western South Dakota shooting prairie dogs. This was a great trip and the subject of another column in the next few weeks. I was wondering what other kinds of creatures made a life on the grazed grasslands of this part of the state. As I was researching what those creatures might be, I came across a question that I just could not answer. “What is the difference…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 20, 2021The great Minnesota fishing opener was May 15. I have participated in this annual event about 25 of the past 30 years. When I was younger, I would start at the midnight opening bell. I entered every fishing contest in the area for the competitive challenge. Today my fishing exploits have far more to do with who I am with and which lake I am on than how many fish I could catch in a day or even a…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 04, 2021What time is it? It is food plot time. Conservation work is kind of like the fashion industry; you are always working about two seasons ahead. You do fall work to prepare burn breaks for the spring burning season. You plant food plots now in order for wildlife to have a food source three seasons from now in the dead of winter. On average, food plots make a measurable difference in wildlife…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 27, 2021I just love it when it finally gets to be 70 degrees and the sun shines. My last wildlife ride included a ground hog, a new bald eagle nest, one mink, tons of Canada geese, raccoons, American kestrels, turkey vultures, turkeys, numerous white tail deer and a few mergansers and wood ducks utilizing my nesting boxes. My favorite, though, is the big and bad ringneck pheasant. Male ringnecks, called…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMarch 30, 2021Spring is upon us and prescribed fire season will be here and gone in the blink of an eye. Fire scares the heck out of most people and it should. Utilizing fire to benefit wildlife habitat is not something you can pick up in a weekend or two. I have been active in prescribed fire projects for almost 20 years. Still today, I have a very high respect for fire, and this is the primary reason that…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMarch 16, 2021When you spend your free time in the conservation universe, there is normally very little down time between seasons. The ice fishing season closed at the end of February, and in a short window of about 30 days I am heading into the heart of fire season. When it comes to managing grassland habitats, there is nothing else that can have such a positive impact as fire. Before human settlement, the…
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