the outdoors
By Scott Rall, Outdoors ColumnistJanuary 07, 2026To some folks these two words are pretty scary. These two words are “silencers” and “suppressors.” To others they are just the common names for a firearm accessory. Suppressors or silencers were heavily regulated starting in 1934. This intense regulation was to prevent criminal and others of ill intent during the days of prohibition. They were and are still regulated as an NFA item. NFA stands…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors ColumnistDecember 30, 2025I really need someone to tell how much it is going to snow this winter. We got snow early on and in one weekend hunting pheasants in South Dakota it made it all the way to 12 below zero. I have a dog box equipped to handle this but it did not keep from checking on them several times throughout the night. The snow in this location was so deep that a group of 4 gave up after one morning of hunting…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistDecember 23, 2025So how many of you can say that you actually stored all the summer gear that has a battery in it properly? How many of you know the difference between a standard and AGM battery. Can you charge a lithium battery with a standard charger? Lots of good questions here. The answer for many folks is no to all of them. It really did not matter all that much when a boat battery cost about $65. It lasted…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors ColumnistDecember 09, 2025As soon as Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is the Christmas shuffle that creeps up on me. I do not wait until the last day or two, but I am never way ahead of time. I get a bad taste in my mouth when I must default to a gift certificate when all else fails or the procrastination overcomes me. I am a “consumable-product-gift” kind of guy. Buying a gift that sits on a shelf or hangs on a wall…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 19, 2025The news is always full of car crashes and other accidents. Some are farm- or work-related or others might be as simple as a guy falling off a ladder or crashing to earth from a tree stand. Almost all of these have one thing in common: The name of the person who died or was critically injured is a name I have never even heard of before. That changed on Nov. 8 when Luverne lost a community…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 29, 2025When is the weather so bad that you will just not go hunting in it? That answer is different depending on who you ask. I, for one, will not chase my favorite ring-necked pheasants in a steady rain. The only other time I will take a voluntary pass is when the wind is above 25 miles per hour. Then just add in the fact that you have visitors who have traveled a long distance, and then these two…
By Scott Rall, The OutdoorsOctober 01, 2025I can only wonder what it might be like to own vast expanses of land covered with pheasant habitat. When the opening day bell rings, you could drive up to your favorite spot and go hunting. You would know for sure that there would not be a parking lot full of other trucks all waiting to hunt the exact spot you intended to hunt. I must be asleep because for me this would certainly be a dream.…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistSeptember 10, 2025The numbers are in, and they are the best we have had in a very long time. The Minnesota DNR has released the results of the August roadside counts, and if you are a pheasant hunter you should be excited. I have been doing the Nobles County Roadside Count routes for about 15 years. It took me over 20 years of waiting to get that volunteer job. I had to wait until the current driver either…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistSeptember 03, 2025I was watching the sunset a few nights ago, and as the light faded, I was able to enjoy the tail end of the firefly season. Who as a child was not enthralled by the glowing green flashes these creatures emit? I can remember one specific night when my now 40-year-old son Brandon and I sat on the tailgate of my Mazda pickup at the boat landing of Little Spirit Lake when he was about seven years…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistAugust 20, 2025I can remember back in the mid ’80s when seeing a pheasant was a really big deal. This is how my life worked back then. If you went pheasant hunting and saw one bird, it was a total success. It did not matter if you saw it fly across the road on your way to a spot or if you flushed it. Just seeing one was a win. Years progressed, and as small fragments of grasslands returned to southwest…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistAugust 13, 2025After years of failed attempts, I might actually get a food plot that might actually result in food for wildlife. Food plots work to attract wildlife, but they seldom work very well unless they are at least a few acres in size. That being the case, food plots might attract wildlife, but they do not necessarily get them close enough to get a shot. I am a wildlife guy and certainly do not qualify…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistAugust 06, 2025I was out on a wildlife ride yesterday to look at the native wildflowers at their very peak for the season. For whatever reason this is about three weeks later than a normal year. Nobody can really explain why that happened this year. During this trip I came across several monarch butterflies that were hanging out on a yellow cone flower that was in full bloom. As I watched these creatures, I…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 02, 2025It was that time of year again when I needed to take the herd of dogs I own to the vet for some routine shots. Not that this is a new thing by any means. I normally have had at least four dogs at my house since 1995. The most dogs I have ever had at one time was six, and at the low point in my hunting past I was for a short time down to zero. I had sold a starter dog in May of that year, and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 18, 2025It has been a very long time since I last laid eyes on a creature I saw last night. For the first time in over five years, I saw a small juvenile red fox. This animal used to be quite common around southwest Minnesota, but for reasons I mention a little later, they have for all practical purposes vanished from my area. The red fox is in the upper quartile of foxes for size around the world. They…
By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistJune 11, 2025My four-dog team of pheasant chasers recently reduced to three as my oldest dog Tracer, now almost 14, retires to the carpet at my son’s house in Harrisburg, South Dakota. There are two granddaughters there, ages five and six, who lavish that spoiled dog with constant hugs and kisses. He is living large, and both he and I are pretty happy about it. This leaves me with an 11-year-old, a 10-year-…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 28, 2025There seems to be a new sheriff in town when it comes to operating a boat or personal watercraft in Minnesota waters. There are new regulations starting July 1, 2025. These new rules require both youth and younger adults to be certified in watercraft safety if you were born after 2004. The new rules are being phased in. If you were born after 2004, the requirements begin on July 1 of this year…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
