Scott Rall
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 Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 21, 2023Deer hunting in Minnesota is a very big deal. License sales to date for Minnesota this year total $395,000. That is a lot of guys and gals in orange spread across our great state. One great fact to remember is just how safe hunting actually is. There were a very small number of injuries this season, and most if not all of them were associated with an adult hunting with a youth during their…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 15, 2023I totally live in the land of dogs. I had more than a few Heinz 57 pets growing up but did not land my first bonafide retriever until 1996 when I was 35. I was sitting at an AKC hunt test with many of the judges and participants when I asked the question, “Why would anyone need more than one dog?” I figured you could only hunt one at a time, and if the dog was good at its job, there was no need…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistNovember 08, 2023Pheasant season is underway at full steam and the reports are all looking pretty good. I had a group in my county over the weekend, and they were only a few birds short of their limits for their efforts over four days. I hunt a lot, many times by myself and other times with smaller groups, but I am not a big group kind of guy. The bigger the group, the harder it is to keep everyone in step. I…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 25, 2023Back in 2021 the local chapter of Pheasants Forever in Nobles County adopted all of the Wildlife Management areas in their county. It was during the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener that a parcel of land was dedicated to acknowledge these acres were now open to all compatible uses. It was part of the Ranson Ridge WMA. At that time the chapter partnered with the local Future Farmers of America…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistOctober 18, 2023As is part of my normal pheasant hunting opening weekend activities, I made the drive to the 2023 Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener event in Owatonna. This area is not necessarily known as the hotbed of pheasant hunting opportunities in our great state, but there were about the same number of birds harvested by attendees as any other events of its kind since 2012. So I guess you might need to…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistOctober 11, 2023Hunting wild stuff, be that antlered animals or fowl of any sort, is usually a result of an introduction made by one special person who took the time to expose a youth to the outdoor lifestyle. The number of people who hunt today only make up about 11 percent of the United States population and that number is falling. I have been hunting since I was 14, almost 50 years now, and I can say there…
By Scott RallSeptember 27, 2023This is the final installment of a public land acquisition process. We have covered a lot in the last three columns, and this will get us to the end zone. Last week we left off at the appraisal review process. I have never had an appraisal review that ended up changing the value of a parcel, although the purchase agreement signed earlier does openly state that the PA is subject to an appraisal…
By Scott RallSeptember 20, 2023In the first two columns about public land acquisition, we covered how a parcel is selected and how these sales originate. Appraisals are then completed and surveys finished and then reviewed by a second party. After these are finalized, you can actually get close to having the seller and buyer sign a purchase agreement. But there are still a few more steps until that takes place. Once the…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistSeptember 13, 2023Last week I started a multi-part column on what it takes to create a new public land. A quick review of last week. We start only with a willing seller who has reached out to a resource agency or a non-profit like Pheasants Forever and indicate they would like to sell their property for a conservation purpose. The parcel is initially reviewed, and if it fits a specific conservation mission, it is…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistSeptember 06, 2023I was asked a while back about what goes into the decisions made when land is purchased for habitat restoration. This is a topic many folks are curious about so I thought I would explain in a multi-week column just what happens when new public lands are added in your county. When you see a new Wildlife Management Area pop up in your area, it’s hard to believe that many of them have been in the…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 15, 2023Finally, some rain showed up across much of southwest Minnesota and everyone was more than happy to see it. I certainly didn’t need it to make a living like many others, but it was still a welcome sight to me for a different reason. The first two weeks of August is the timeframe when the Minnesota DNR conducts their annual roadside counts for a variety of species, but the king in all this is the…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 18, 2023A few weeks back I spent some time in this column running through the basics of shooting at long-range targets. I am no expert on this subject matter but certainly have gotten bit by the long-range-shooting bug. What prompted my entry into this discipline was an introduction to a gentleman by the name of Todd VanLangen. Todd is a 25-year veteran of the Army Special Forces unit where he spent 13…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 27, 2023I was driving to work today in my small-town USA and saw a sight that is so common, one that just causes me pain. It is one of those pains that I don’t actually suffer from but feel it when I see someone else suffering from it. My route parallels a walking path that weaves its way through my town. The sight I saw was a lady of smaller stature walking her dog down this path. About 50 yards ahead…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 23, 2023The biggest outdoor day of the year in Minnesota was May 13. The fishing opener, to many, is better than any of the other holidays when you don’t have to go to work. Minnesota sells more fishing licenses than any other state per capita. There will have been long lines at many boat ramps across the state and especially at the most popular walleye lakes in the state. There will be a larger than…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 09, 2023Which way is the wind going to blow today? There is little doubt why southwest Minnesota is covered up with wind towers. Worthington has been the site for the National Wind Surfing Regatta several times over the past 10 years with Lake Okabena, considered the second windiest place over water in the state, right in the town of Worthington. Almost everything I do in April and May is affected by the…
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