Tom Neustrom of Grand Rapids used a jig to take this 25-inch walleye on Leech Lake in May. (News Tribune file photo)
Fisheries officials with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will offer two proposals that would maintain or modify walleye regulations on Leech Lake. A public meeting to discuss those proposals will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Walker/Hackensack/Akeley school commons in Walker.
DNR fisheries staff will explain why the department is considering maintaining regulations adopted in 2005, which require Leech Lake anglers to immediately release all walleye 18 to 26 inches in length. Anglers are allowed to keep up to four walleye, only one of which can be longer than 26 inches.
A second proposal would require anglers to immediately release all walleye 20-to 26-inches in length. The bag limit would remain at four fish, with one of those walleye allowed to be longer than 26 inches. If DNR population surveys determine that female walleye density is negatively affected by the reduced slot limit, the DNR could revert to the 18-to 26-inch slot limit.
“The ability to revert back to a more protective slot limit gives us flexibility,” said Harlan Fierstine, the DNR’s Walker area fisheries supervisor. “It allows anglers to keep larger fish while providing a useful management tool that allows us to protect younger year classes of walleye. if necessary, to meet population objectives established by Leech Lake’s citizen input committee.”
Those unable to attend the meeting in Walker may submit written comments until Oct. 25 via e-mail to harlan.fierstine@state.mn.us or via postal mail to DNR Area Fisheries, 07316 State 371 NW, Walker, MN 56484. Telephone comments can be made by calling the Walker area fisheries office at (218) 547-1683.
A yellow Lab hustles back to its master with a rooster pheasant. (Sam Cook photo)
The third annual Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Pheasants Forever Mentor Pheasant Hunt will be held Oct. 23 throughout Minnesota. This year, the event will be open to youth ages 12-17 and to women. Deadline for applications is Sept. 8, so act quickly if you’d like a chance to take part.
Applications are available at www.dnr.state.mn.us (search “mentor pheasant hunt”) or by contacting the DNR Information Center at (888) 646-6367. Successful applicants will be notified via mail or email by Sept. 25.
A Mississippi kite, like the one shown here, passed over Hawk Ridge in Duluth on Wednesday. This is only the 11th time that a Mississippi kite has been observed at Hawk Ridge. (Ohio Department of Natural Resources photo)
A Mississippi kite flew over Hawk Ridge at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, just the 11th time that the species has been observed at the hawk migration station.
The bird appeared to be an adult, but it was extremely high as it came directly over the hawk platform, according to official counter Karl Bardon. The kite was viewed by Cameron Rutt, Andrew
Longtin, Aldo Raul Contreras Reyes and Bardon.
“It really was a perfect kite
day today — thousands of dragonflies in the air, a good flight of falcons (kestrels and merlins)
and persistent south to southwest winds during the last week.”
Considered rare in the upper Midwest, the Mississippi kite is usually found in the southern part of the United state. The species has become an “expected rarity” over Hawk Ridge, Bardon said. All kite records at the ridge have occurred between Aug. 30 and Sept. 15.
Other non-raptor sightings at the ridge on Wednesday included 47 white pelicans in a single flock, more than 1,500 warblers, 1,222 red-winged blackbirds and more than 1,800 bluejays.
Justin Taylor climbs into his bear stand early today on the opening day of Minnesota's bear season. (Sam Cook photo)
Today is opening day of Minnesota’s bear season. The state’s bear population is healthy, and wildlife biologists estimate that 20,000 bears roam the state.
I spent Wednesday morning with 13-year-old Justin Taylor and his dad, Bill Taylor, of Duluth. This is Justin’s first bear season. He was hunting on private land in the Grand Marais area with his dad sitting beside him.
Justin shot his first bear about 8 a.m. today. Read the details of his first hunt in Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune Outdoors section in the back pages of Sports.
Hunters participating in this fall’s bear hunt, which opens Wednesday, should avoid shooting radio-collared or ear-tagged bears, say Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials.
It is legal to for a hunter to take a bear wearing a radio collar unless the bear is accompanied by a researcher who has identified the bear to the hunter as a research animal.
DNR researchers are monitoring about 35 radio-collared black bears, most of them in northwestern Minnesota. Additional radio-collared bears reside in and around the Chippewa National Forest, Camp Ripley, Cloquet Forestry Station and Voyageurs National Park.
Bear research also is being conducted between Ely and Tower near the Eagles Nest chain of lakes in northern St. Louis County.
“Hunters near these areas should be especially vigilant for collared bears,” said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear research biologist, in a prepared statement. “However, bears travel widely in the fall, sometimes 50 miles or more, so collared bears can turn up almost anywhere.”
Most of the monitored bears have brightly-colored ear-tags to make them more visible to hunters. Some bears also have brightly-colored tape or streamers on their collars. DNR officials recognize that a hunter may not be able to see a radio collar or ear tags in some situations.
Any hunters who do shoot collared bears should call the DNR Wildlife Research Office in Grand Rapids at (218) 327-4146 or (218) 327-4133.
Thomas Wahlstrom, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer at Tofte focused his enforcement action in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness this past week, along with other area officers.
“Many groups were checked, with a wide array of equipment,” Wahlstrom wrote in his weekly report. “The most interesting piece of gear that was lugged across a portage was a large rock with a rope tied to it for an anchor to be used later in the trip.”
Fall wild turkey hunting licenses that remain after the landowner and regular lottery drawings will be available at noon on Monday, Sept. 13, at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources license agents and online at mndnr.gov/buyalicense, according to a DNR news release.
Leftover permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Until noon on Sept. 20, hunters who were not chosen in the fall turkey permit lottery may purchase a surplus license. After noon on Sept. 20, people who did not apply in the lottery may purchase a license.
Because hunting access in many zones is limited, hunters should obtain landowner permission before purchasing a leftover permit. For 2010, the fall hunt has been changed to a single 30-day season running from Oct. 2-31.
Hunters may check the availability of leftover licenses or the status of their lottery applications on the DNR website at mndnr.gov/hunting/turkey.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency denied a petition by five environmental groups to ban lead in hunting ammunition. Here’s a link to a story on the topic.
A record total of 339 hunters is registered for Duluth’s sixth annual bowhunt for deer. The hunt begins Sept. 18, concurrently with the state’s regular archery deer season, and continues through Dec. 31.
Last year, 316 hunters took part in the hunt, and in 2007 a total of 315 hunters participated.
The hunt will be conducted as in years past, with hunters assigned to 20 designated hunting units across town, mostly on public land. Some will hunt on private land with permission from landowners.
As in past years, hunters must take at least one antlerless deer before shooting a buck. Each hunter may take up to five deer.
Last fall, hunters took a record 586 deer, 84 percent of them antlerless.
The hunt is conducted for the city of Duluth by the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance. Each hunter must pay a $20 registration to the city, pass a shooting proficiency test, take a hunter education course and sign an ethics pledge.
For more information on the hunt, go to www.bowhuntersalliance.org.
When I was hiking at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park last weekend with Mike Link and Kate Crowley (they’re the Willow River couple hiking around Lake Superior this summer), we had a remarkable encounter with a whitetail buck. He came swimming across a broad bay of the lake, perhaps chased into the water by wolves, although we’ll never know for sure.
He was a 10-pointer with antlers in velvet. The rack was high and wide, and the buck was big-bodied as well.
Here is a series of photos I made as the buck approached shore, thought better of leaving the water and spent the next hour contemplating his next move:
After crossing more than a mile of open water on Lake Superior, the buck continued swimming to shore near us. (Sam Cook photo)
He's standing on the lake bottom, but he is hesitant to come ashore. (Sam Cook photo)
He's giving us a close look. Occasionally, he would stomp a forefoot under water. (Sam Cook photo)
The buck stood near shore for most of an hour. In the distance, islands in Thunder Bay and a mainland point lie in the haze. (Sam Cook photo)
He's still not so sure about our presence and what kind of threat we might be. (Sam Cook photo)
He was still standing there an hour later, after we had lunch on the beach about a quarter-mile away. (Sam Cook photo)
I wrote a column about the encounter with the buck for Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune (Aug. 29). Look for it in the back of the Sports section.
Sam Cook