Articles

Spectatular beauty within four hours drive of home

WORTHINGTON — Does it take an airplane ride or a really long drive to see something totally spectacular? It really depends on what you think qualifies as totally spectacular. I took a four-hour drive and saw something very spectacular — the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, located across the Missouri River in South Dakota.

SCOTT RALL COLUMN: A legacy for a lifetime

WORTHINGTON — The passage of the Land and Legacy amendment in 2008 raised the sales tax in Minnesota by three-eighths of 1 percent to create dedicated funding for the outdoors. It’s a legacy we should feel good about.

SCOTT RALL COLUMN: Outsmarted by a brain the size of a pea

WORTHINGTON — It was a few years back on one of the coldest days that North Dakota had ever seen since the ice age that I pulled into a gas station in Ellendale, N.D. There was a guy gassing up his truck with Eskimo mittens on and he had on an orange cap so I assumed he was pheasant hunting.

SCOTT RALL COLUMN: New adventure in grouse hunting creates new challenges

WORTHINGTON — New adventures create new challenges that keep me thinking that as much as I might know about the outdoors in general there is still way more to learn.

Mammals and bird dogs don’t mix

WORTHINGTON — Two gentlemen (maybe even pheasant hunters after a day in the field) sitting on bar stools, enjoying a cold beer have debated the merits as to whether his Chevy Truck is better or worse than the other man’s Ford at least 100,000 times. At the end of the debate there is still no consensus and if they did it another 100,000 times the result would most likely be the same.

Who would have thunk it?

WORTHINGTON — I don’t know who can be credited with coming up with the saying “who would have thunk it.” I have said this more than a few times in my life and most of those occasions were right after something happened that cost a lot of money.

Some great, some bad but an adventure every time

With the turn of the page we will soon be living in the month of September. Hunting season will be starting for Minnesota doves on the first. The early Canada goose season also starts on the same day. The start of the grouse season in both Minnesota and South Dakota is Sept. 15 and the Minnesota pheasant season opener is Oct. 13.

When it comes to fighting invasives, how much is enough?

WORTHINGTON — In four weeks, I will be sitting in the State Office Building in St. Paul for a day and a half listening to 32 presenters make the case for their outdoor project to receive funding. The list of potential recipients has been narrowed from 38 down to 32 by a scoring process used by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

Doing what you say you are going to do

WORTHINGTON — I have always tried to live by the motto of “do what you say you are going to do.” My friends are of the kind that can be counted on. When they commit, they actually come across with whatever they have promised. It is this motto that got me wedged up last year on the opener of the dove season.

The big ponds of the country

WORTHINGTON — Last week I shared with you a fishing outing with Casey and Rosa Ingenthron on Lake Michigan. When it comes to my knowledge of the Great Lakes, I was limited to seeing Lake Superior a few times when I made it to Duluth. I have never traveled to any of the other great lakes or spent any time on their shores or waters.

Columns

Close call allows owner to appreciate hunting companion

WORTHINGTON — It was about a month ago that I was lucky enough to “dodge the bullet.”

Practicing lake safety important for enjoyment of everyone

WORTHINGTON — It was a few days ago that the Lake Okabena Lake Association had the local conservation officer speak at one of their association meetings.

Upper Red Lake provides exciting fishing — for now

WORTHINGTON — I am quite certain that everybody over the age of 10 has heard the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Worthington is out front in the resurgence of recreational shooting

WORTHINGTON — There are not many encouraging signs these days when it comes to recruitment of new shooters and hunters.

Bottom-feeding carp can be the cause of algae blooms

WORTHINGTON — Always remember that you are not supposed to believe anything that you hear and only half of what you read.

Dew Drop Drill is a big help is spring drill seeding

WORTHINGTON — It doesn’t matter if I’m planting trees or native prairie grasses, the month of May is a great month. When you have a motivation to improve wildlife habitat there is always some part of your project that you can make better.

The first year of dedicated funding is the most important

WORTHINGTON — When the clock struck the bewitching hour, the Minnesota Legislature called it a year.

Results are mixed from the 2009 fishing opener last weekend

WORTHINGTON — The big day has come and gone and the results are mixed. The 2009 fishing opener was better than some and worse than others. I spend a few hours on Lake Okabena in Worthington on Saturday and the morning hours of Sunday at Round Lake in Jackson County.

Southwest Minn. the best area to fish on Saturday's opener

WORTHINGTON — Tomorrow is the big day.

Minnesota Conservation Corp is coming to a work site near you

WORTHINGTON — This week has been crazy.