It was hard to believe we weren’t hearing anything on the final morning of Minnesota’s first turkey-hunting season this year.
Where were the gobbles? This was in stark contrast to the two mornings I drove to the property to listen for roosted birds leading up to the hunt. Toms were abundant – and vocal – those days.
Pinpointing what led to a great week in the turkey woods Read More »
Every year that a wild white-tailed deer lives in Minnesota likely means it survived a few close calls.
There’s the threat of a tough winter, as well as encounters with predators, vehicles, and hunters. There might be changes in habitat, along with other curveballs that nature might throw at wildlife. For a whitetail to live well beyond a decade, what obstacles must it have overcome? That’s the first thing that came to mind for Alexandria’s Sam Schmid after he received aging results from a doe he shot with his bow last year. It was determined to be 161⁄2 years old.
Doe harvested in western Minnesota aged at 16-1⁄2; how rare is such a deer? Read More »
Anyone who hunts whitetails in hill country, even in smaller, more rolling hills, knows it is challenging to get away with hunting in the bottoms within this kind of terrain.
So many factors come into play. There’s rising and dropping thermals that are important to understand. This pertains to where and when you choose to set up, as well as understanding how deer use those thermals to their advantage when it comes to how they travel, especially when bucks are trying to be efficient looking for does during the rut.
Video: Tips for hunting whitetails in the bottoms of hill country Read More »
Anyone who reads the field reports from Minnesota DNR conservation officers each week knows that officers respond to a wide range of situations.
Reports run the gamut – from humorous at times to serious poaching incidents for those tasked with protecting the state’s fish and wildlife resources. There aren’t many calls that necessarily surprise a CO, but it’s safe to say that Derek Peterlin did not expect his day to end as it did Feb. 24, when he helped remove a live deer from the basement of a house in Hibbing after the deer had broken through a window.
As someone who loves to run and gun for turkeys, I often find myself questioning how much gear is too much gear to bring into the field.
I’m not exactly a minimalist. You don’t need decoys to shoot turkeys, but I’m a sucker for the experience of shooting a bird over a decoy when it all goes to plan. It’s an exhilarating hunt being stuck motionless against a tree with a bow in your hand, waiting for a strutting tom 10 yards away to provide a chance to draw and get an arrow off.
Eric Morken: How much gear is too much gear for the mobile turkey hunter? Read More »
If you’ve ever bought a mouth call for turkey hunting only to give it a couple of hours before declaring that it’s not the call for you … well, you’re not alone.
Most mouth calls cost around $10, and maybe that explains why they are easy to discard when you don’t get the sound you’re looking for right away.
“You don’t need to be proficient with a mouth call to kill turkeys, but there are so many advantages to a mouth call,” said Minnesota’s Shane Simpson.
Struggling with a mouth call for turkeys? Here’s why that may be Read More »
It was late May in 2022 when my daughter and I got positioned against a huge oak on a narrow tree line between crop fields for our last turkey hunt of the Minnesota season.
The toms already were gobbling as first light peeked over the horizon. I waited a few minutes and then let out some soft yelps on a mouth call. A tom 75 yards down the ridge below us cut me off with a thunderous gobble that left Aubree and me looking at each other with wide eyes.
A fun and effective approach to running and gunning for turkeys Read More »
How humans read and view modern maps is one of the biggest advancements when it comes to changes in the world of hunting.
For most, long gone are the days of looking over a physical map. GPS units had their moment, but now utilizing digital maps at home on a laptop, or through an app on a smartphone while in the field, has become the preferred route for many. It does not replace what a hunter can learn from boots-on-the-ground scouting, but digital mapping apps certainly provide a great starting point.
“It’s putting your boots on the right ground versus just putting your boots on ground,” said Jared Larsen, a whitetail and turkey marketing manager with onX.
Take your digital mapping to the next level Read More »
The winter of 2023-24 in Minnesota could not have unfolded any better for those who love to scout for whitetails.
The period of time with no snow on the ground and before green-up in the spring is a great time to be in the woods. Trail systems and the prior fall’s rut sign jump off the page and really show how deer use the terrain. I was determined to take advantage of this mostly snowless winter in southern and central Minnesota by getting into the woods every chance I got.
A lesson in the importance of eye protection for hunting, scouting Read More »
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