scott

The big deer hunting opener is Saturday, Nov. 9. The firearms season runs nine days in southwest Minnesota, but that is far from the end of deer hunting for the season. Muzzleloader hunting starts a few days after the gun season and runs for a few weeks, and bow hunters can continue until Jan. 1. I was able to track down my local conservation officer, Dustin Roemeling, for a short question and…

What an interesting weekend I had at the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener! The event started in 2011 when Congressman Petersen talked Governor Dayton into a hunt. It has matured over the years and is hosted by different communities who all vie for the opportunity through an application process. My home town of Worthington, Minnesota, has hosted the event twice since its inception. I have…

My decision on the next dog to join the dog pack at my house is getting closer. I have been bringing you into my decision-making criteria for the past two weeks or so. I have narrowed the choices from about 30 down to three. The dog breeds that are still on my short list include the small Munsterlander, the English setter and the German shorthair pointer. The pros and cons of each as I am able…

Last week I started a conversation about the possibility of adding a pointing dog to my pack of flushing Labradors. I was pretty uneducated about where to start on this endeavor. I looked up a group of dogs called versatile breeds and found 28 different breeds that all fall into this category. The general description of a versatile dog is one who can point and retrieve game on both land and…

By Scott Rall I find it quite unbelievable that some folks can recall facts and figures from 40 years ago. I can remember the snow storm of 1976 like it was yesterday. Names and faces appear to often be chiseled in granite. I can only wonder if those same facts and figures are truly accurate or just the dispeller’s version of an event that I can’t prove fact or fiction one way or the other.…

It is sure starting to feel good outside. Temperatures in my neck of the woods this weekend are going to be in the high 60s. It makes me want to go fishing. The Minnesota opener is scheduled for May 10. Time to double-check to make sure the boat registration is up to date and that the motor starts without issue. I find it perplexing how you can put your stuff away for the winter, and without one…

This column is being written solely to generate discussion surrounding some proposed gun legislation being floated at the Minnesota State Capitol these days. I repeat, this is to create discussion and not explode the virtues one way or the other of these proposed legislations. Now, I am a gun guy and regularly spend time on the range participating in all kinds of recreational shooting, from…

If you are a regular reader of my columns, you will certainly know by now just how much of a public lands advocate I am. When I was 11 and my parents got me a new bike, I was a roving fisherman. I rode that bike all over my neck of the woods trying to find and catch whatever kind of fish I could.  When I got a car and could then drive to a fishing or hunting spot, I was sure that my desire to…

I planted a tree in my front yard about two years ago. It received more attention than any other tree I have ever put in the ground. After I watered and nurtured the tree for two years, the winter of 2022-2023 finally killed it off. The tree had a tube on it to keep the rabbits away. When the snow got taller than the tube, the rabbits started in. Each additional snow allowed them more access to…

We’re in the process of getting a new puppy, and it reminds me of the very first hunting dog puppy I ever had. I grew up with lap dogs, but this was a yellow Labrador named Scout, the first puppy from the first breeding at the newly created Round Lake Kennels around 1996. I knew about as much as nothing when it came to formal training, so I made all of the amateur mistakes a person could make. I…