Who will be DNR Commissioner? And other stuff…

One thing that didn’t fit into this week’s story about Mark
Dayton finally winning the election and preparing to succeed
outgoing Gov. Tim Pawlenty – the creation of a Governor’s Pheasant
Opener.

Dayton mentioned his plan to hold such an event during an
interview in October with Outdoor News, and he’s since repeated it
to other media organizations. He also plans to continue with the
Governor’s Fishing Opener and the Governor’s Deer Opener.

Expect to see it in 2011. If it doesn’t happen, though, it
wouldn’t be the first time. In 2004, there were plans to hold a
Governor’s Duck Opener, but they never materialized.

Meanwhile, the waiting game for a new DNR commissioner to be
named continues. The three names mentioned most commonly are Tom
Landwehr, of The Nature Conservancy; Frank Moe, a former DFL state
representative; and Dennis Frederickson, a former Republican state
senator.

Look for a decision on that front sometime in the next couple of
weeks.

• Muzzleloader deer hunters had a good season, killing 9,000
deer. That’s about 12 percent more than they killed in 2009.

As of the Friday before the last weekend of the season, the
harvest was up 35 percent over last year. And considering the last
weekend tends to be the best weekend for muzzleloader hunting, it
looked like they would kill well above what they killed in
2009.

Then Saturday came, and, along with it, deep snow and driving
winds. The weather essentially shut things down and brought an
early end to the season for many hunters.