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Enjoy the trails, use the right tires

Subhead
The Outdoors
Lead Summary
By
Scott Rall, outdoors columnist

With 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 and street tires installed. This exchange makes them handle way better on hard surfaced roads and it quiets the ride considerably. I recently swapped out the off roads for street tires myself.
I opted for street tires that still have a pretty aggressive tread. I wanted something that made road travel easier but did not sacrifice traction to the point where I could not go where I wanted.
I am not one of those folks who go tear up the trails and roads like some of the crazy videos you might have seen. I am respectful of the terrain and others who use the same trails and roads that I do.
With the advent of street tire options, it takes nothing to drive one of these rigs 100 miles or more in a day.
If you need to, you can put one of them on a trailer and make it to the destination I am about to share with you.
One of the best wildlife rides I have ever been on is what I call the “Rall Real Tree Road Trip to the Talcott State Wildlife Refuge.” It’s a few miles east of Fulda, west of the city of Windom on Highway 62 and just north of the great little town of Dundee.
This spot is approximately 5,400 acres and is managed by the Minnesota DNR area wildlife manager Bill Schuna.
This spot is big and it takes a while to see it all. UTVs and ATVs are limited to designated roads. No off-roading is allowed, and it is not necessary to do so in order to enjoy this spot.
There are about 10 feeder roads that come off the main highways and dead-end back in the bush. Many of these spurs are used by area cooperating landowners to access the properties where they plant food plots for wildlife. They are also used by DNR personnel for management activities.
You can normally see tons of wildlife. You can drive past the designated blinds used for waterfowl hunting. These are reserved and limited in number to keep the hunting experiences top shelf.
Back in the day, the Talcott refuge was one of the hottest spots in the state to hunt Canada geese.
The blinds were in super high demand and hard to get.  As the populations of these geese grew over the past five decades and the hunting opportunities expanded, a designated blind is no longer the only way to get one.
The Talcott dam is downstream of Lake Shetek, which is the headwaters of the Des Moines River.
We stop in there to see what’s biting and talk to the anglers that always seem to be there no matter what day you show up.
Bird watching is really big on this refuge, and you can see all kinds of different birds if you want to bring the binoculars or spotting scope along.
There is one road that has a concrete stream bed section, and driving through that is pretty fun. The low water this year might make this spot a dry, dusty one this time.
You can get back into spaces where, if I turned you in a few circles and then left you there, you would have a hard time finding your way home.
When you grow up in a part of the state, as I did, that has a road every mile for hundreds of miles, being away from it all and feeling like you are in pre-settlement days is a very satisfying pleasure.
We always take a small portable grill and some lawn chairs along with a big umbrella or two and do a little cookout in the way back places of this great natural resource.
It is a ride that, whether done in a car or on a side by side, is one of the best southwest Minnesota has to offer.
If you want to find out more about this great riding destination, reach out me at scottarall@gmail.com and I can get you all of the additional information you need. If I am available, I might just serve as your guide, if you let me.
 
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com or on Twitter @habitat champion.

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