Mississippi kite observed at Hawk Ridge in Duluth

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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Climbing into Minnesota’s bear season

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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Hunters: Don’t shoot research bears

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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Apparent rock shortage in canoe country

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.”

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MN surplus turkey licenses available Sept. 13

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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EPA: No ban on lead hunting ammunition

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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Record number of hunters registered for Duluth hunt

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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Encounter with a beautiful whitetail buck

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Sam Cook

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.

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AIM walleye tournament headed for Lake Winnie

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Sam Cook

Lake Winnibigoshish near Deer River will be buzzing with walleye anglers Sept. 1, 2 and 3 when the second annual AIM Catch, Record & Release Championship Tournament will be held there. More than $100,000 in prizes will be awarded. AIM is an acronym for Anglers Insight Marketing.

Events include a meet-and-greet with anglers at 1 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 28) at Tom Clusiau’s GMC in Grand Rapids and another meet-and-greet at 3 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 31) at the Northern Star Co-op in Deer River. Awards ceremony for the tournament gets under way at 5 p.m. Sept. 3 at the Gosh Dam Place On Minnesota Highway 46.

The Deer River School will be awarded a $5,000 grant by the AIM organization.       The Deer River Wrestling Club and The Lake Winnie Area Resort Association joined forces in sponsoring a raffle to raise money for the tournament.     The Wrestling Club will be awarded a check in for their portion of the raffle proceeds.

Friday morning, Sept. 3, a Youth Fishing Tournament will be held, concluding with a Youth Fishing Seminar by the National Professional Anglers Association at 4 p.m. at the Gosh Dam Place.  The Awards Ceremony will follow.

In 2009, AIM Pro Angler Todd Riley blew away the competition by catching, recording and releasing more than 40 feet (total length of fish) of Lake Winnie walleyes. Under the tournament format, anglers return all fish to the water immediately. Anglers weigh their seven largest walleyes each day, regardless of slot limits. The 2010 AIM International Walleye Championship will be won by the pro angler who catches and records the 21 biggest walleyes, regardless of the slot restrictions.

No fish are brought to the “weigh-in” stage. Instead, the angler selects the seven largest walleyes to be tallied for his daily weight. The length of each walleye is converted to pounds and ounces using a standardized formula.

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S.D. pheasant count up slightly

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Sam Cook

A yellow Lab returns a rooster pheasant to a hunter. (Sam Cook photo)

It looks like another excellent year of pheasant hunting in South Dakota. Here’s today’s news release from South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks:

This autumn, hunters in South Dakota will enjoy pheasant numbers that continue to be some of the best in the state’s history. The 2010 brood survey count shows a small increase from the 2009 survey.

The Game, Fish and Parks Department completed its annual pheasant brood survey in mid-August, and tallied a statewide pheasants-per-mile count that is up about 3 percent from last year.

“We had a very good year in 2009, and this peek as we go into fall tells us that hunters can look forward to some great opportunities in the coming pheasant season,” said Game Fish and Parks Secretary Jeff Vonk.

The official pheasant population estimate is based on data reported by hunters during the pheasant season, and does not come until after the season is over.

In 2009, South Dakota’s official pheasant population estimate was 8.4 million, and hunters averaged 9.9 roosters each for a total season harvest of more than 1.6 million.

Every year from late July through mid-August, GFP personnel survey 110 established routes scattered across the state to estimate pheasant production and calculate a pheasants-per-mile index. The survey is not a population estimate, but rather compares the number of pheasants seen on the routes and establishes trend information.

“We’ve had a roller coaster ride of weather conditions over the past year,” Vonk said. “Pheasant numbers will be down in a few areas, but they held strong in many other areas because of excellent reproduction in parts of the state where we have good habitat conditions.”

Survey routes are grouped into 13 areas, based on a local city, and the index value of each local city area is then compared to index values of the previous year and the 10-year average.

The 2010 statewide pheasants-per-mile average is 6.45, compared to the 2009 average of 6.26 and the 10-year average of 5.71.

“Our goal has been to increase quality hunting areas that are open to the public. South Dakota has worked intensely with private landowners and other conservation partners to promote habitat programs,” Vonk said. “Statewide Conservation Reserve Program acres have slipped to slightly more than one million acres, but there is encouraging news. Landowner interest in the program remains high and additional acres will likely be enrolled through the recent general CRP signup.”

South Dakota’s regular pheasant season opens on Saturday, Oct. 16 and runs through Jan. 2.

For more information on the pheasant season, including the 2010 Pheasant Brood Survey Report with complete route comparisons for the different local areas, go to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks website.

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