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Eric Morken

Eric Morken is a writer and web editor for Outdoor News who lives in west-central Minnesota with his wife and two daughters. Morken graduated with a journalism degree from Augustana College (now Augustana University) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2007. He has worked in the journalism field ever since, and his outdoor work has been in print and digital publications across the country. When not writing about the outdoors, Morken is an active participant in them. He can be found doing some casual fishing in the summer and chasing turkeys in the spring, but his passion is centered around bowhunting whitetails. It’s a year-round commitment of scouting and hunting different regions of Minnesota and surrounding states on public and shared-private lands every chance he gets. Contact Morken at emorken@outdoornews.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricOutdoorNews or on Instagram @elmorken.

Could antler point restrictions be the answer for a more balanced deer herd in parts of Minnesota?

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting /

For decades, Minnesota DNR surveys have shown that many hunters want change, but there’s little agreement on regulations to increase the number of older bucks. The result continues to be a deer population that lacks a balanced age and sex structure in many parts of the state.
Could a state like Missouri, with a similar number of hunters and a gun season that, like Minnesota, falls during its peak breeding period, be a model for how a limited antler point restriction could do something to improve the balance of that age and sex structure in areas where CWD is not present?

Could antler point restrictions be the answer for a more balanced deer herd in parts of Minnesota? Read More »

Easily train your bird dog to recover big game before this fall season

Featured, Featured, Features, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

My mind was still racing with nervous energy as I walked back to the truck along the standing cornfield last September at last light.
I had just shot a great buck with my bow. The shot hit its mark perfectly, but the deer ran into the corn after the shot. That’s an uneasy feeling. After waiting a half an hour, I got down from the tree and followed the blood into the corn for about 20 feet before losing the trail for a few seconds.
“Back out,” I thought. “This is what you trained him for.”

Easily train your bird dog to recover big game before this fall season Read More »

Minnesota’s youth trap shooters shine at huge 9-day championship in Alexandria

Featured, Minnesota, National News, News /

Cole Krueger shot a career-best score at the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League’s trap shooting championship in Alexandria on June 20. While he certainly was proud of that, there was a tiny bit of “what if” lingering in the back of his mind when the day was done.
Krueger had just wrapped up his junior year at Prior Lake High School. He busted 99 out of a possible 100 clays on a hot and windy day.
“I like it because it’s my highest score, but I knew exactly what happened when I missed that one shot,” Krueger said. “The wind just pushed it a certain way where it bounced up right when I pulled the trigger.”

Minnesota’s youth trap shooters shine at huge 9-day championship in Alexandria Read More »

Crossbow sales heat up slowly in Minnesota after legislation change

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting, National News, News /

It will take a couple of years to get a handle on how many more hunters will head to the woods with crossbows following recent legislation that allows crossbow use for all ages during Minnesota’s regular archery season. 
If hunters are curious about what the effect of that legislation might be, so too are archery-gear proprietors around the state who are attempting to determine how many more crossbows to have on hand right now. So far, representatives from archery shops in Minnesota are reporting mixed customer interest as hunters learn about the new crossbow regulation.

Crossbow sales heat up slowly in Minnesota after legislation change Read More »

Minnesota research shows wolves have fishing honey holes, too

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Minnesota, National News, Nature Page & Night Sky, News /

Wildlife biologists have long known that wolves are opportunistic feeders that will take advantage of a host of diet items available to them, but until recently it was not exactly known how often wolves in places like northern Minnesota were targeting freshwater fish.
Researchers from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, a University of Minnesota research project in collaboration with the National Park Service, shed some light on the subject.

Minnesota research shows wolves have fishing honey holes, too Read More »

Video: Use standing corn to your advantage this deer season

Featured, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

It is not uncommon for some hunters to avoid standing cornfields when it comes to bowhunting whitetails, the idea being that the large majority of deer will go unseen because they spend their time within the corn.
Beans get plenty of attention during the early season, but Eric Morken of Outdoor News loves when it is a corn year in areas he hunts, specifically in the early season.

Video: Use standing corn to your advantage this deer season Read More »

Minnesota DNR works on plan to track crossbow data after legislators approve their full use during archery season

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting, National News, News /

It didn’t take long for Todd Froberg, Minnesota DNR big-game program coordinator, to get a few emails from the public asking why the DNR would allow hunters of all ages to use crossbows during the state’s full archery season.
“I had to tell them it’s the Legislature (that legalized the activity),” Froberg said. “I really hadn’t heard much about anything having to do with crossbows for a few years now, or any kind of big talk.”
A look at how the DNR might track crossbow use and what Minnesotans might be able to glean from Missouri and Wisconsin deer harvest.

Minnesota DNR works on plan to track crossbow data after legislators approve their full use during archery season Read More »

Buck beds: Why some seem to matter more than others

Features, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

Bucks with a few years of age on them seem to almost never bed randomly, which makes locating their beds pretty predictable. You’ll find beds in some terrains where the buck using it seems almost unkillable. Hill-country bedding comes to mind, where they often bed based on wind direction to use both sight and smell to their advantage.
Finding this bed felt different. The buck was using it so frequently because it contained the best cover in an area where habitat diversity was otherwise limited. Really pinpointing bedding areas like this has helped me put together detailed plans that have paid off in past seasons. 

Buck beds: Why some seem to matter more than others Read More »

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