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Tori McCormick

Wood ducks: Hunting tactics for these handsome, early migrators

Featured, Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

If ducks were models, the drake wood duck would rule the catwalk.
With iridescent chestnut, green, and purple plumage, accented in snowy white, the undeniably handsome drake woodie is one of nature’s most spectacular winged specimens. For waterfowl hunters, wood ducks can be sneaky fast, darting in from all angles, regardless of wind direction. They’re deceptively wary and have a well-earned reputation for spurning decoy spreads – unless you are well hidden and precisely where they want to be.

Wood ducks: Hunting tactics for these handsome, early migrators Read More »

Part of Minnesota’s Tamarac refuge closed to early teal hunt after request from White Earth Nation

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

Citing protection of the wild rice resource from disturbance during the tribal gathering season, Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Minnesota has issued an emergency closure to one of its hunting units during the state’s five-day experimental early teal season, which begins Sept. 2.
Closed is Area C, the 5,618-acre northern migratory bird unit north of Becker County Highway 143, said Kent Sundseth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge manager at Tamarac. The closure was requested by White Earth Nation at a meeting earlier this year.

Part of Minnesota’s Tamarac refuge closed to early teal hunt after request from White Earth Nation Read More »

All duck hunters make mistakes; the best ones learn from them

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 /

The 20-something college graduate student unnerved me from the start.
Along with two other natural-resources students, we were hunting one of the national wildlife refuges in California’s waterfowl-rich Central Valley. It was a pretty backwater marsh, and an even prettier morning, which started slowly for the hunters. But by 9 a.m., beneath a cobalt-blue sky and a persistent cool breeze, the refuge’s ducks started moving.

All duck hunters make mistakes; the best ones learn from them Read More »

Amid dry and hot conditions, dog owners told to be aware of blue-green algae during hunts

Featured, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting, National News, News /

The dog days of summer are here, and Minnesota officials are warning dog owners to be mindful of blue-green algae poisoning, which can be lethal to canines.
State officials say recent hot weather coupled with ongoing drought conditions throughout the state have created what one official called peak conditions for an outbreak in state lakes and other bodies of water, including wetlands. The harmful algal blooms – HABs – which often resemble pea soup or spilled green paint or mats of green scum, are linked to illness in humans and animals.

Amid dry and hot conditions, dog owners told to be aware of blue-green algae during hunts Read More »

Federal survey shows breeding ducks down 7%: What does it mean for hunters this season?

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

Before the federal duck survey was released last Friday, waterfowl managers were cautiously optimistic that the breeding population would increase in 2023, in large part because of vastly improved wetland conditions in spring 2022 and likely corresponding improved productivity.
But when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2023 Waterfowl Production Status report dropped, the numbers told another story. Despite this year’s disappointing breeding population survey, in which several puddle duck species (mallards, gadwall, American wigeon, blue-winged teal, northern shovelers) showed noticeable declines from last year, waterfowl managers say they see the potential for a silver lining for the upcoming duck season.

Federal survey shows breeding ducks down 7%: What does it mean for hunters this season? Read More »

For duck-hunt addicts, the magical season is nigh

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 /

Riding shotgun the other day with a friend at the wheel, I found my reflection in the young man next to me. He was driving a large, red truck and was blowing a duck call simultaneously. He seemed to be trying to master the hail call, the notes of which start high and ride down the musical scale with an even tempo.
The first note is louder and more forceful – it demands a duck’s attention – and the successive notes are slightly sharper and faster. Unlike me at that age, he knew what he was doing. His calling was as spit-shined polished as that of a competition caller.

For duck-hunt addicts, the magical season is nigh Read More »

Minnesota’s Nicollet Conservation Club earns Outdoor News’ 2023 Outdoor Leaders Award

Featured, Fishing, Hunting, Minnesota, National News, News /

When Vietnam War veteran Fred Froehlich was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in November 1970 after serving a year aboard an attack carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin, the hunter and conservationist remembers his father eventually asking him, upon his return home, if wanted to join the Nicollet Conservation Club.
Never one to mince words, the younger Froehlich fired, and for effect. “No,” he said. “You guys don’t do anything for wildlife.”

Minnesota’s Nicollet Conservation Club earns Outdoor News’ 2023 Outdoor Leaders Award Read More »

Cormorants likely to blame for walleye decline in Minnesota’s Pelican Lake

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

Anglers and other interested outdoor enthusiasts have until 5 p.m. on Aug. 31 to comment on what the Minnesota DNR is calling “fish and cormorant population management alternatives” for Pelican Lake in western Minnesota’s Grant County.
At issue is Pelican Lake’s declining walleye population. According to the Minnesota DNR, the most recent fisheries survey conducted in June 2021 on the lake near Ashby indicates that double-crested cormorants may be limiting survival of young walleyes that are the key to sustaining a healthy walleye population.

Cormorants likely to blame for walleye decline in Minnesota’s Pelican Lake Read More »

Minnesota’s 2023 early teal season last year of three-year experiment

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

For a third consecutive year, Minnesota waterfowl hunters may participate in an experimental five-day “early” teal season, which begins Sept. 2.
The idea behind the season is to give hunters an added opportunity to hunt teal before the regular duck season. That’s because blue-winged teal in particular – one of the most abundant and widely distributed ducks in North America, as well as the second-most abundant breeding duck in Minnesota – are notoriously early migrators.

Minnesota’s 2023 early teal season last year of three-year experiment Read More »

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