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Tori McCormick

Feds say waterfowl numbers drop in ’26

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With only days before Minnesota’s early goose and teal seasons open, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday released its 2026 Waterfowl Status Report that showed a slight decline in the continental duck breeding population from last spring.
The total breeding population of ducks in the Traditional Survey Area is estimated at 33.44 million, a 2% decline from last year and 6% below the long-term average, according to results from the annual Breeding Population and Habitat Survey.

Feds say waterfowl numbers drop in ’26 Read More »

How to beat the ‘eyes in the sky’ this waterfowl season

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“They busted us,” said my cousin, who could not contain his incredulousness.
It was a perfect late-autumn morning in the marsh – crisp, clear, mildly windy, full of promise. The day couldn’t have started any better. We had scouted this smaller peanut-shaped wetland surrounded by picked corn the night before as hundreds of mallards piled into it near dusk. With few other options, we decided to set up there the following morning.

How to beat the ‘eyes in the sky’ this waterfowl season Read More »

Multi-species migratory bird action begins next week in Minnesota; here’s what to know

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

You know September’s early bird-hunting seasons are approaching when the days become noticeably shorter and the mornings noticeably cooler. As one waterfowler put it, “You can feel it in the air.”
Indeed, this is the season for the early bird hunters to take to Minnesota’s fields and waters, with mourning doves opening Sept. 1, followed by early teal and goose on Sept. 5. DNR officials say the early seasons give hunters multiple opportunities, typically in comfortable weather.

Multi-species migratory bird action begins next week in Minnesota; here’s what to know Read More »

The ins and outs of South Dakota nonresident waterfowl hunting

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The day started at an agonizingly slow pace.
The morning’s cobalt blue sky with faint brushstrokes of white was beautiful, but the absence of wind – and this being the South Dakota prairie, where sustained gales are as common as breathing – was perplexing, to say nothing of disappointing. The two dozen decoys in the shallow marsh didn’t move a fake muscle.

The ins and outs of South Dakota nonresident waterfowl hunting Read More »

Minnesota’s breeding ducks bounce back in spring survey

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

Duck hunters will have to wait a few weeks before they get to sample the early stages of the fall flight, but an increase in spring duck numbers could mean better hunting early in the year compared to last year. 
Although estimated wetland abundance in 2026 remained below historical averages (This year was only slightly above 2025 estimates), duck numbers increased 63% from last year, according to the recently released 2026 Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey conducted in May by the Minnesota DNR.

Minnesota’s breeding ducks bounce back in spring survey Read More »

A look at a waterfowler’s gear wish list heading into the 2026 season

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My house was quiet. The kind of quiet that screams something is terribly wrong.
I walked into my rental at high noon ready to eat lunch and instead got a belly full of high crimes and canine misdemeanors. In fact, my black Lab, Buddy, a cocksure youngster at the time, had committed an act so heinous, so treasonous, that even Gandhi might have opted for Old Testament justice rather than high-minded forgiveness.

A look at a waterfowler’s gear wish list heading into the 2026 season Read More »

Minnesota high school trapshooter claims national clay crown after a vow to return

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

In a Facebook post on July 24, 2025 after placing eighth in the USA High School Clay Target League National Championship in Mason, Mich., Nevyn Hengel of Sibley East High School in Arlington made an “I’ll be back” declaration.
“First national podium appearance, not the last one either,” wrote a confident Hengel, who was pictured standing on the podium holding a trophy for his laudable eighth-place finish in the trapshooting competition. Hengel, 18, of Gaylord, wasn’t kidding, and his words on social media that day in 2025 proved more prophetic than he ever imagined.

Minnesota high school trapshooter claims national clay crown after a vow to return Read More »

National meeting of Ikes brings conservation gathering to Minnesota this week

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

The Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA), one of the nation’s oldest and most respected conservation organizations, will hold its annual three-day national convention at the Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in Bloomington beginning Thursday, July 16.
More than 300 members and volunteers from chapters across the nation are expected to attend. The gathering’s 2026 theme is “Get It Done: Turning Passion into Action,” an overture to the League’s historical mission to protect and preserve the nation’s “woods, waters and wildlife.”

National meeting of Ikes brings conservation gathering to Minnesota this week Read More »

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