Minnesota Mixed Bag: Game Fair’s second weekend begins Friday

Ramsey, Minn. — The second big weekend of Game Fair runs Friday through Sunday, Aug. 15-17, at Armstrong Ranch Kennels in Ramsey. See what’s new in hunting gear for this fall, experience the various dog events, take aim with your own bow or shotgun, and learn from the experts at the many seminars held throughout the day.

Seminar topics range from optics for handguns to shotgun clinics to dog training and much more. Exhibitors run the gamut from those offering hunting boots to the gear you’ll need in the duck-hunting marsh to dog food and maybe even your next puppy. The second weekend of Game Fair also includes the 13th Annual Ducks Unlimited Duck and Goose Calling Championships, set for Saturday and Sunday.

Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 62 and over as well as veterans, $5 for kids ages 6 to 14 and free for youth under age 6 and active military members. Stop by the Outdoor News booth to renew your subscription while you’re there. For more information, visit www.gamefair.com

MORE COVERAGE FROM MINNESOTA OUTDOOR NEWS:

Minnesota’s Brown County Pheasants Forever earns 2025’s Outdoor Leaders Award

North Dakota places new restrictions on nonresident waterfowlers at the urging of resident hunters

Minnesota’s natural bear foods more ‘normal’ this summer

IT’S NEARLY STATE FAIR TIME IN MINNESOTA

Falcon Heights, Minn. — The 2025 Minnesota State Fair is on the horizon, kicking off Aug. 21 and continuing through Labor Day, Sept. 1.

Drop in to see all that’s old and new at this year’s State Fair. Visit the livestock barns, feast on the new foods available, ride a ride, check out what’s happening at the DNR building (located near the Outdoor News booth at Nelson and Judson), and don’t forget to stop by our booth to visit for a bit.

For more information, visit www.mnstatefair.org

SHOOTERS ROUNDUP COMES TO AHLMAN’S, AUG. 23-24

Morristown, Minn. — The 2025 Shooters Roundup is set for Ahlman’s in Morristown, Aug. 23-24. Don’t miss this pre-hunting season opportunity to find great deals on firearms, ammunition, gun safes, and much more.

But there’s more. The Shooters Roundup will feature “Cowboy Dan,” a world-champion gun spinner, whip performer, and knife thrower; the “Juggling Jesters,” Coehorn mortar (a portable mortar developed in the Netherlands in the 1670s); a live band and food stands; and, of course, the cowboy shootout and an Old West melodrama.

General admission is $10, and kids under 10 years old are admitted free with their parents. For more information, visit ahlmans.com

GRAND RAPIDS MAN FINED $13,750 FOR STORMWATER, WETLAND VIOLATIONS

St. Paul — The state’s Pollution Control Agency recently reported that David Heinonen, of Grand Rapids, filled in 3,200 square feet of wetland near Horsehead Lake in Itasca County without prior approval and engaged in unpermitted construction activities on 1.57 acres on the shore of Horsehead Lake. The violations occurred between 2021 and 2024.

These violations led to Heinonen paying a fine of $13,750.

The violations included failure to apply for a construction permit for three years; failure to apply for a permit to fill in 3,200 square feet of a wetland near Horsehead Lake; failure to conduct 91 inspections, including 21 of them for rain events for three years; failure to develop and maintain a stormwater pollution-prevention plan for three years; and failure to install erosion-control best-management practices and install redundant sediment controls.

When calculating penalties, the MPCA said it considers how seriously the violations affected or could have affected the environment, and whether they were first-time or repeat violations. The agency also attempts to recover the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.

— Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

DELTA WATERFOWL HIRES SCIENTISTS, MARKETING VP

Bismarck, N.D. — Delta Waterfowl has announced the addition of two waterfowl scientists. Dr. Todd Arnold has been named senior scientist, and Dr. Jay VonBank is Delta’s scientific director.

Arnold comes to Delta from the University of Minnesota, where he served as a distinguished teaching professor since 2002 in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. He has also worked as a senior scientist for Ducks Unlimited Canada, scientific director for Delta Waterfowl, and as an assistant professor of wildlife management at Humboldt State University in California.

VonBank has served as a research ecologist since November 2020 for the U.S. Geological Survey at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, N.D. He has specialized in applied wildlife research that supports waterfowl ecology and management, habitat management, and sustainable hunting programs.

The conservation group also announced the hiring of Mike Sidders as vice president of marketing and communications. His experience includes working with both Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain.

For more information, visit www.deltawaterfowl.org

WISCONSIN SPRING TURKEY KILL DOWN SLIGHTLY FROM A YEAR AGO

Madison, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently announced preliminary totals for the 2025 spring turkey season. Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 50,287 birds this season, down from about 50,400 taken about a year ago, but a 14% increase from the five-year average. A total of 246,068 authorizations were available this spring, and hunters applied for or purchased 228,844 of them.

The deadline to apply for next spring’s (2026) turkey season is Dec. 10. Hunters may apply for harvest authorizations online at dnrwisconsin.gov