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Friday, May 09, 2008

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Outdoors news, photos, and video from the Northland. Search for boats, campers, lake property and resorts. Find more at NorthlandOutdoors.com
Master guide

Keep it simple for Minnesota opener

05/04/2008
Less is better. That’s the advice professional fishing guide Ross Hagemeister (pictured right) offers for the novice or occasional anglers who plan to cast a line during Saturday’s Minnesota fishing opener.

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In-Forum Photo Gallery Icon Photo Gallery: Fishing guide
Rick Bohn of Woodworth, N.D., photographed 
this pintail duck April 20 while he took a break 
taking pictures of shaptail grouse from his blind 
southeast of Woodworth. “I go a few hundred feet 
to another blind set up at a wetland edge and take 
duck photos,” Bohn wrote. “Believe it or nor, this was 
taken with a fixed zoom lens point-and-shoot camera.”
Rick Bohn

Photo of the week

05/04/2008
Rick Bohn of Woodworth, N.D., photographed this pintail duck April 20 while he took a break taking pictures of shaptail grouse from his blind southeast of Woodworth.
People in northwest Minnesota should be on the lookout for increased number of deer ticks.

Associated Press
Deer ticks

Tick-borne ailments up in Minn.

05/04/2008
Deer ticks that cause Lyme disease and other ailments are moving north and west in Minnesota, and health officials say people should be on the lookout for the tiny critters now that spring is here.
Effective camouflage clothing makes it imperative that hunters identify their target before shooting.

Associated Press
Camouflage

Boy’s death reminder for hunter safety

05/04/2008
Being a sportsman himself, Tom Conroy understands the excitement and pounding pulse hunters feel when they finally find the prey they’re pursuing within the sights of their guns.
A record-low number of male sage grouse in North Dakota has prompted state biologists to call for no hunting season for the first time in 45 years.

Associated Press
Male sage grouse

Sage grouse numbers at record low in N.D.

05/04/2008
A record-low number of male sage grouse counted on strutting grounds in North Dakota this spring has prompted state biologists to call for no hunting season for the first time in 45 years.

New fishing regulations for area Minnesota lakes

05/04/2008
With the Minnesota fishing season opening Saturday, anglers should be aware of some new fishing regulations on area lakes.

Calendar

05/04/2008
Thanks in part to a restoration project that ran from 1982 to 2004, Minnesota has an estimated population of more than 3,000 trumpeter swans. 

Forum file photo

Swan song

04/27/2008
Thanks to Minnesota’s restoration program, trumpeter swans are returning to North Dakota
Trumpeter swans, virtually wiped out by 19th-century settlers in North Dakota, are making their way back to the state – even the sewage lagoons of north Fargo.

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In-Forum Web IconTrumpeter swans
Wolves are seen in the snow on Isle Royale National Park last February. Neither moose nor wolves are native to Isle Royale, one 45-mile long island in northern Michigan. They have made Isle Royale a gold standard for documenting relationships between predator and prey species.

Associated Press

Predator and prey

04/27/2008
ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK, Mich. – Ignoring our observation plane circling above the frozen Lake Superior wilderness, the eight gray wolves seemed as harmless as pooches cavorting in the yard. They nipped and pawed each other, pausing occasionally to roll in the snow.

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In-Forum Web IconThe Chippewa Harbor wolf pack

Habitat program launched

04/27/2008
A new habitat practice that enrolls croplands, wetlands, existing grass or expired Conservation Reserve Program acres into CRP is available to landowners.
Jerry Jacobson, president of the Minnesota Maple Syrup Producers’ Association, inspects the plastic lines he has running on his 40-acre, 1,200-tree plot near Vergas, Minn. Each line transports sap from as many as 10 trees to one holding pail.
Jerry Jacobson

The annual ooze of Maple Syrup

04/20/2008
The sap is running again as area producers help put Minnesota on the map
Jerry Jacobson took a look at the shelves displaying some of his bottles of maple syrup – which he produces from nearly 1,200 black and sugar maple trees on his 40-acre wooded property in Otter Tail County.

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In-Forum Web IconMae Ceryes
In-Forum Web IconSap collection
In-Forum Web IconBottle of maple syrup
In-Forum Web IconSugar maple taps
Sean Hall

Photo of the week

04/20/2008
Sean Hall of Cloquet, Minn., photographed this ruffed grouse drumming in the snow April 12 near Floodwood, Minn. Drumming is an annual mating ritual among birds such as grouse.

Calendar

04/20/2008
Since the 1970s, 69-year-old Dick Alford has bagged more than 200 turkeys in 20 states, including Hawaii.

Associated Press
Dick Alford

Gobble, gobble

04/20/2008
Minnesota hunter speaks the turkey language
Dick Alford has a bad case of turkey-hunting fever.

Loon monitors needed

04/20/2008
from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are looking for about two dozen volunteers to help monitor the loon population in Becker and Otter Trail counties between June 27 and July 7.

Paddlefish season opens on May 1

04/20/2008
North Dakota’s paddlefish snagging season opens May 1 and is scheduled to continue through the end of the month.

North Dakota prone to wildfires in April

04/20/2008
North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials are reminding outdoors enthusiasts to be aware of dry conditions this spring.

Blinds available for prairie chicken rituals

04/20/2008
The public can observe the prairie chicken mating displays at the Glacial Ridge and Rydell National Wildlife Refuges near Crookston, Minn.
Steve Faught, left, and Eric Pueppke - farmers from Amenia, N.D. - conduct pistol-shooting seminars throughout the country.

Top guns

04/13/2008
Two North Dakota farmers and longtime friends become one the nation’s top pistol-shooting coaching teams
Bob Foth, a three-time air rifle Olympian from Colorado, was driving west on an icy blacktop in eastern North Dakota.

RELATED CONTENT

In-Forum Web Icon.22-caliber semi-automatic air pistol
In-Forum Web IconMatthew Pueppke takes aim

Indoor range in West Fargo nearing reality

04/13/2008
Backers of a $2.5 million indoor shooting range in West Fargo hope to start construction sometime this fall or next spring.
Charles Blair is the new manager of the 14,000-acre Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few big urban federal reserves in the nation.

Associated Press photos

Urban legend

04/13/2008
Not far from downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota Valley is among the few urban wildlife refuges
Every evening, deer come out of the woods and knock the bird feeders outside Charlie Blair’s office off their stands so they can eat sunflower seeds.

In-Forum Columnists Recent Columns

In-Forum Columnists

Deer hunters should smile

Doug Leier
North Dakota’s deer gun season doesn’t begin until Nov. 7, and applications aren’t even due until June 4. So why am I thinking about deer already?


State Links
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
www.dnr.state.mn.us/

North Dakota Game and Fish Department
http://gf.nd.gov/

South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks
www.sdgfp.info/


Photo of the Week

Send us your best outdoors-related photographs and we'll publish thebest shots that we receive. Mail your photos to: Outdoors Editor Kevin Schnepf, 101 5th St. N., PO Box 2020, Fargo, ND 58107. Photos can also be e-mailed. The resolution of an e-mailed photomust be 200 dpi (dots per inch) and sent in a jpeg format.
From bustling metro to untouched wilderness, you'll find experiences abound in Minnesota this summer. But before you can make memories, you have to make plans.

Here are some helpful links to exploreminnesota.com to get you started:

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Videos, pics, and "Lists of Favorites" from real Minnesotans
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