http://www.thelandonline.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_183163056.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_183163056.html Remember those days when the cost of gas was just an incidental thing, one of the myriad minor expenses? The cost of stuff may be relative, but all relativity aside, the cost of petrol nowadays undoubtedly has changed the way some of us plan our angling trips. Fri, 23 May 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_141162814.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_141162814.html It is said that on the opening day of the Minnesota fishing season, a million anglers wet a line. This year, make it 999,999. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_115103822.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_115103822.html Growing older has its privileges. And one of them is to develop a lower threshold of tolerance for some of the stupid, inconsiderate things that other people do. Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_087121257.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_087121257.html Nearly 40 years ago a couple of buddies and I hatched a plan for an archery spring bear hunt in northeastern Minnesota. Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_073085546.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_073085546.html It began snowing on St. Patrick’s Day 1965, and by the next day, accompanied by strong winds, much of the state was engulfed in a full-blown blizzard. When the storm abated, more than 19 inches of wind-blown snow had fallen in many areas. Driven by high winds, houses and cars were buried to their roofs. And so were many of Minnesota’s pheasants. Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_058151648.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_058151648.html Walleye fillets are going for about 10 bucks a pound at the grocery store. But that’s nothing compared to what the 5.34-pound walleye that Terry Schwichtenberg caught recently on Gull Lake near Brainerd was worth. In nice round numbers, figure about $5,000 a pound. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:28:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_039112845.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_039112845.html Unlike a commercially raised chicken, fed additives and antibiotics but coming to us picked spanking clean and neatly wrapped in plastic film, a pellet extracted from a fat pheasant breast is a reminder of how and from whence the meal came. Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_030115738.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_030115738.html On a bitterly cold morning while fishing on Lake Waubay in northeast South Dakota, I leaned over to clean the skim ice from my fishing hole. There was the slightest splash and something quickly vanished down the hole, a clean swish. Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:04:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_011140556.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_011140556.html Like many hunters whose land holdings are measured in square feet rather than acres, it is the hospitality and generosity of my rural friends that permits me to pursue my outdoor passions. Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_347113849.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_347113849.html Mike and Holly Weisel very recently tied the knot. For the couple’s honeymoon, Mike brought his new bride, decked out in fresh blaze orange, new boots and her own deer license, back to the family’s Pope County Farm for Deer Camp. Lucky gal, that Holly. Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_334104129.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_334104129.html Pulling out the long underwear is a fall rite for most hunters. Of course, a long, long time ago, our choices were a lot simpler — a good old cotton Union suit, either in basic white or racy red, to ward off the morning chill. Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_324104916.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_324104916.html By most estimates, a half-million hunters participate in the Minnesota firearms deer season opener. By now there are undoubtedly some new tales and excuses to be told and retold around the campfire or the poker table. Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_306100807.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_306100807.html In recent years, there have been a variety of locally administered programs around the state that allow successful hunters to donate their deer to food shelves. However, hunters or the butchering facility accepting the deer frequently were the ones expected to foot the bill for processing. Things are different this year. Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_298141200.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_298141200.html Saturday, Oct. 13, at 9:02 a.m., the 2007 Minnesota pheasant hunting season began with a bang for someone. Literally. Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_277143518.html http://www.thelandonline.com/l_outdoors/local_story_277143518.html When the Minnesota 2007 waterfowl season opened, the daily duck limit became six — two more than last year. That’s also one more than the total number of ducks I bagged the last three seasons combined and less a reflection of the state of duckdom in Minnesota than my inclination during recent falls to chase pheasant rather than quackers.