Scott Rall
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 07, 2025The smoke is in the air. Anyone who has been driving around the countryside lately will have seen lots of smoke. The different departments of wildlife agencies have been very busy doing prescribed fire. Yours truly has been doing the same, mostly for private land owners who have acres enrolled in CRP. It seems that no matter how many times I include the rationale for spring burning, I always…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistApril 30, 2025I will open with a question. How many walleyes do you think an angler should be able to keep each day? Across the state of Minnesota that would largely be six walleyes per day. Lakes with special regulations do vary from this number. The possession limit, the total number of fish that can be in you possession at any one time, is also six walleyes. If I catch six walleyes today, in order to be…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 23, 2025I can remember many decades ago that my local chapter of Pheasants Forever decided they needed some kind of a local project to let folks know we existed and to maybe get a little bigger footprint in the local community. We decided that if we adopted a section of Highway 60 between Worthington and Bigelow, Minnesota, we would get our name on the sign the Minnesota DOT would put up. It worked, and…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistApril 09, 2025There are so many things I have done in my life where I was absolutely terrible. I had to try over and over until I got to the point of being recreationally proficient. Take shooting sporting clays as an example. My first effort resulted in a score of seven out of 50. My second try was a mere 15 out of 50. I kept at it and after 40 years I can now normally shoot in the low 40s most of the time.…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMarch 12, 2025My phone has pretty much been ringing off the hook the past few months as people see dead geese decomposing on the ice of area lakes. The bird flu is not a new thing, but a pathogenic avian influenza outbreak has been working its way across Minnesota since it was first reported in 2022. The danger to humans is very low, but you should avoid contact with infected animals and use protective gear…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 26, 2025This is one of those times of the year when a dog guy gets kind of bored. The ice conditions have been so sketchy that I don’t really feel all that great driving on the ice of the area lakes. More about this next week. So with no seasons open, I took to observing one of the only ways yet available to harvest a pheasant. How do you do that when all of the hunting seasons are closed? You find a…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 19, 2025Last week I hinted that I would be trying to add some insight as to why the ice conditions across Minnesota have been so hit and miss this season. What leads me to this subject matter is just how many cars and trucks have made their way to the bottom of so many lakes this winter. One of the conditions I am referring to is why there is so much open water on many area lakes and why, after…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 12, 2025Who doesn’t like gifts? I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t like to receive things of value. Some are small and have less meaning, and others might fall under a substantial inheritance. The gift giver makes a determination that the asset is better in the hands of someone else. The Minnesota State Legislature seems to really enjoy giving gifts of great value. The issue is that the gifts…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 05, 2025Can you remember the very first game animal you ever harvested? I certainly can remember the first goose I ever shot, and I can tell you exactly where I was when I harvested my first duck. But for the life of me, I cannot remember my first rooster. I can remember my first rooster shot over a trained hunting dog. I have been blessed to have been part of many firsts for other new hunters. Most…- By Scott Rall, Outdoor ColumnistJanuary 29, 2025So, what does a lawsuit in Utah have to do with the citizens of Minnesota? The answer is “plenty.” The state of Utah recently took their case to the United States Supreme Court to force the 18.5 million acres of Federal Land in Utah to be turned over to the state. The lands in question are managed by the Federal Bureau of Land management for grazing, mining and public recreation — including…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 22, 2025The winter we never had last year has appeared this year, at least in the form of decent ice as a result of day after day of below zero temperatures during the overnights. Most of the local lakes in my area are at 14-15 inches of solid clear ice in most locations. I was up in northeast South Dakota a few weeks back, and the ice conditions there were very good. You will still see a few someones…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 08, 2025I started out the new year with a spearing trip to northeast South Dakota. I was looking to do a little pike spearing, and southern Minnesota is not the greatest place to do that. For one, we only have a few lakes that have a decent pike population and even fewer lakes that have water clear enough to make spearing enjoyable. Some of only decent pike lakes had frozen out two years ago, and even…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistDecember 31, 2024So, how many of you reading this column today know what the North American model of conservation is? If you don’t know, don’t feel bad. I would guess that 80 percent of the general public has never heard of this term before. After a little explanation most of you will say that you have heard bits and pieces of it and generally understand its principles after all. The way that game fish and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 18, 2024With about 10 days before the big Christmas holiday, I suppose I should start to think about those on my Christmas list. I never fail in this department, but I won’t fight the crowds on Black Friday or any weekend day, for the most part. I really try hard not to buy gift cards. Sure, they work and get the job done, but they do show limited effort to match a gift to the recipient. So, I made up…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 26, 2024I saw a dead deer on this spot and then I saw another deer dead in another spot, and overall, this pheasant hunting/deer hunting season I have seen at least a dozen dead deer that were not as a result of a deer hunter’s bullet. The reports of dead deer in large numbers are circulating in my hunting circles, but I cannot confirm with any of my sources more than just a sporadic deer here or there…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 20, 2024So how is your pheasant hunting season going? Mine has been pretty bleak, but this is not the result for all hunters who chase ringnecks on the pheasant range of Minnesota. The weather has been so nice I can find no way to complain. The higher-than-normal temperatures in November certainly make the winter shorter, and I am all for that. What it also does is make getting a rooster into gun range…
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