Minnesota Mixed Bag: Visit the Outdoor News booth at the State Fair starting Aug. 22

Falcon Heights, Minn. — The 2024 Minnesota State Fair kicks off Thursday, Aug. 22 and continues through Labor Day, Sept. 2, at the State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights.

Highlights this year include a celebration of 90 years of the DNR building. Built in 1934, the DNR building and park have been home to educational exhibits about the state’s environment and wildlife for nine decades. Each year, the exhibit is visited by about half a million guests, according to State Fair officials.

Don’t forget to visit the Outdoor News booth – located next door behind the DNR stage at the corner of Judson and Nelson – to renew your subscription and score a free hat.

Regular fair-time admission is $18 for adults (ages 13-64); $16 for seniors (age 65 and older); $16 for kids ages 5 to 12; and free for kids age 4 and under. Fairgrounds hours are 7 a.m. each day to 11 p.m. (it closes at 9 p.m. on Labor Day). For more information, visit mnstatefair.org.

MORE COVERAGE FROM MINNESOTA OUTDOOR NEWS:

Federal duck count offers hope for 2024 waterfowlers

Aerated bait buckets not exempt from Minnesota’s aquatic invasive species regulations

Judge rules against deer farmers in ’23 lawsuit from Minnesota

DEER LOTTERY APPLICATION DEADLINE IS SEPT. 5

St. Paul —The Minnesota DNR reminds firearms and muzzleloader hunters who want to harvest antlerless deer in a deer permit area designated as antlerless permit lottery this hunting season to purchase their license by Thursday, Sept. 5.

Hunters who purchase their licenses on or before this date are automatically entered into the lottery for the deer permit area or special hunt area they declare.

Successful applicants will receive a postcard in the mail authorizing them to take an antlerless deer using their regular license in that antlerless permit lottery area.

Hunters who want to participate in special firearms or muzzleloader deer hunts also need to apply for permits that are issued through a lottery. That application deadline is also Sept. 5. Visit the DNR’s website for more information.

HASTY-SILVER CREEK SPORTSMEN’S CLUB TRAP SHOOT IS SEPT. 2

Silver Lake, Minn. — The public is invited to spend Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, at the Hasty-Silver Creek Sportsmen’s Club for its 70th Annual Labor Day Trap Shoot, which begins at 10 a.m.

Meat prizes are awarded to the winners of regular flights and other rounds. The event is open to the public and lunch, beverages, and ammunition will be available. The Hasty-Silver Creek Sportsmen’s Club is located on the shores of Silver Lake in north-central Wright County. For more information, call (763) 443-7039 or find the club on Facebook.

SHOOTERS ROUNDUP SET FOR THIS WEEKEND

Morristown, Minn. — The “Greatest Shooting Show on Earth,” Shooters Roundup, will be held Aug. 24-25 at Ahlman’s in Morristown. Don’t miss the exploits of Scott Robertson and “Pistol Packin’ Paula,” watch an cowboy shootout and an Old West melodrama, see live blacksmith demonstrations, go on a horse ride, or much more.

General admission is $10. Kids under age 10 are admitted free. For more information, visit ahlmans.com

PRAIRIE POTHOLE DAY SET FOR SEPT. 7 NEAR SPICER

Spicer, Minn. — The 41st annual Prairie Pothole Day will be held Sept. 7, this year at a new location – the Prairie Woods Environmental Center west of Spicer. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (rain or shine) and is hosted by volunteers and friends of the Prairie Pothole Conservation Association.

PPD will feature seminars, dog distance jumping, trap and sporting clays, a blackpowder shoot, special raffles and a silent auction, free games for kids, and much more. Tanya McCarlson, of the Falconry and Raptor Education Group will offer a presentation.

Admission to the event is free, and adults are urged to buy $10 in raffle tickets. Updates, directions, and other information is available on the Prairie Pothole Conservation Association’s Facebook page.