Wild North: Shawn Perich
Buck Benson, who lives a few miles east of Grand Marais, had an unusual visitor last week. While home for lunch, he noticed a lynx sitting just outside his basement door. We was able to watch and photograph the animal at close range during the afternoon.
The lynx took up a spot beneath Benson’s deck, where he feeds the birds. Seeds scattered by the birds subsequently attract mice—and the northwoods mouser. Benson twice saw the cat pounce in the snow and capture mice.
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A Long Winter for Deer
Going about my business in the backyard, I was suddenly surrounded by deer. About a dozen in number, they were all around the yard, though the sunflower seeds scattered beneath the birdfeeders were their likely destination. The deer were intently watching me, but they didn’t appear wary or afraid. One scruffy fawn even approached me. She and the rest of the herd wanted something to eat.
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Going about my business in the backyard, I was suddenly surrounded by deer. About a dozen in number, they were all around the yard, though the sunflower seeds scattered beneath the birdfeeders were their likely destination. The deer were intently watching me, but they didn’t appear wary or afraid. One scruffy fawn even approached me. She and the rest of the herd wanted something to eat.
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Migrations and Paltry Partridge
Casey, our old yellow Lab, needs to step out a couple of times each night to answer nature’s call. Taking him outside has become my nightly routine. I don’t mind it. In Hovland, we have silent nights and the dark sky sparkles with thousands of stars. While Casey totters about the backyard, I stand there and take it all in.
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Casey, our old yellow Lab, needs to step out a couple of times each night to answer nature’s call. Taking him outside has become my nightly routine. I don’t mind it. In Hovland, we have silent nights and the dark sky sparkles with thousands of stars. While Casey totters about the backyard, I stand there and take it all in.
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Apocalypse Deer!
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Whop, whop, whop, whop. Bang!
Where are we? Hunkered down in some Third World hellhole? Nope, we’re exterminating deer in northwestern Minnesota. The Minnesota DNR recently called in the troops, so to speak, using airborne sharpshooters to wipe out whitetails in an area where bovine tuberculosis was found in cattle and deer.
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Lake Superior Surfing
Last Friday, as a feisty snowstorm plummeted northern Minnesota, I watch an enormous Hawaii Five-O breaker run the length of Grand Marais harbor. The wave kept a perfect curl until it crashed into the shore. Lake Superior was surly and curly.
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Last Friday, as a feisty snowstorm plummeted northern Minnesota, I watch an enormous Hawaii Five-O breaker run the length of Grand Marais harbor. The wave kept a perfect curl until it crashed into the shore. Lake Superior was surly and curly.
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Fishing License: Tough Luck, Trout Fishermen
The legislative reasoning behind the change is so anglers don’t have to buy new licenses during the winter season. The license year for resident fishing, the angling portion of a sporting license, nonresident fishing, resident fish house, resident dark house, and nonresident fish house begins on March 1 and ends on April 30 of the following year. In other words, the license year now lasts 14 months.
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The legislative reasoning behind the change is so anglers don’t have to buy new licenses during the winter season. The license year for resident fishing, the angling portion of a sporting license, nonresident fishing, resident fish house, resident dark house, and nonresident fish house begins on March 1 and ends on April 30 of the following year. In other words, the license year now lasts 14 months.
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Next time, please muzzle the eggheads
Driving to St. Cloud on the outmoded and dangerous State Highway 23 to attend the DNR Roundtable, I mused how it was unlikely that anything of consequence would occur at the annual event. All aspects of Minnesota¹s infrastructure and services are in a long-term decline that has accelerated in recent years like a toboggan plummeting down an ever-steeper hill. Two days of ³citizen input² was unlikely to bring trigger significant change.
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Driving to St. Cloud on the outmoded and dangerous State Highway 23 to attend the DNR Roundtable, I mused how it was unlikely that anything of consequence would occur at the annual event. All aspects of Minnesota¹s infrastructure and services are in a long-term decline that has accelerated in recent years like a toboggan plummeting down an ever-steeper hill. Two days of ³citizen input² was unlikely to bring trigger significant change.
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If you surf the nearly endless channels of satellite television, you can tune into some unusual programs. Recently, we watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel. Mr. Zimmern travels to far corners of the planet to sample local delicacies. From what we saw on the show, it is fair to say not everyone on this green Earth shares the same palate.
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Ammunition Offers Choices, But Few Are Cheap
Recently, I went to an outdoor “box” store in search of nontoxic shot shells.
What better place to find a wide selection in shotgun ammunition? Several rows
of shells offered such an assortment that it took a few minutes of perusing
just to get a handle on what was available. Still, without an exact brand or
load in mind, I was unable to find just what I was looking for—an affordable,
lethal round for public land pheasants made of a material heavier than steel.
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Recently, I went to an outdoor “box” store in search of nontoxic shot shells.
What better place to find a wide selection in shotgun ammunition? Several rows
of shells offered such an assortment that it took a few minutes of perusing
just to get a handle on what was available. Still, without an exact brand or
load in mind, I was unable to find just what I was looking for—an affordable,
lethal round for public land pheasants made of a material heavier than steel.
more...
A Fiery Opener on the Gunflint Trail
I spent opening weekend on the Gunflint Trail, but not fishing. Up in that country, a fire is burning. Local volunteer firefighters such as myself were called in to assist the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department with structure protection.
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I spent opening weekend on the Gunflint Trail, but not fishing. Up in that country, a fire is burning. Local volunteer firefighters such as myself were called in to assist the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department with structure protection.
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Is Minnesota’s Fishing Tradition on the Wane?
A steelheader spent the night in our guest cabin last week. It had been two or three years since we’d last seen him. Prior to that, we’d seen him at least once—and likely two or three times—every fishing season for about 15 years. He was happy to be back and not sure why he’d missed a couple of springs.
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A steelheader spent the night in our guest cabin last week. It had been two or three years since we’d last seen him. Prior to that, we’d seen him at least once—and likely two or three times—every fishing season for about 15 years. He was happy to be back and not sure why he’d missed a couple of springs.
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More About Northeast Minnesota Moose
A recent column about the 23 percent one-year decline in the Arrowhead moose herd prompted responses from a small handful of folks who are knowledgeable about moose and aspects of the present situation. Some of their views are shared here. With one exception, I’ve identified folks with a description of their background rather than a name.
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A recent column about the 23 percent one-year decline in the Arrowhead moose herd prompted responses from a small handful of folks who are knowledgeable about moose and aspects of the present situation. Some of their views are shared here. With one exception, I’ve identified folks with a description of their background rather than a name.
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Moose decline merits priority concern
Our northeastern moose herd is very likely in serious trouble, but I think the best we can expect from the powers that be is population monitoring and perhaps a study or two by graduate students as Minnesota's largest free-ranging mammal slips toward nonexistence. When it comes to the politics of Minnesota wildlife management, moose have two strikes against them: They live way up north someplace and they don't quack.
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Our northeastern moose herd is very likely in serious trouble, but I think the best we can expect from the powers that be is population monitoring and perhaps a study or two by graduate students as Minnesota's largest free-ranging mammal slips toward nonexistence. When it comes to the politics of Minnesota wildlife management, moose have two strikes against them: They live way up north someplace and they don't quack.
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Minnesota Anglers Should Unite…Soon
Minnesota needs a fishing coalition. Not another Carpsuckers, Inc. or Bullhead Foundation, but an honest-to-goodness umbrella organization that represents all anglers. Today’s fishing organizations are for anglers who are enamored of a certain species or a particular fishing method. There are roles for these single purpose groups—primarily in lobbying for stocking programs, species-specific fishing regulations, and local habitat projects, or coordinating like-minded souls, such as tournament anglers—but they cannot speak for anglers as a whole and are bit players in “big picture issues.”
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Minnesota needs a fishing coalition. Not another Carpsuckers, Inc. or Bullhead Foundation, but an honest-to-goodness umbrella organization that represents all anglers. Today’s fishing organizations are for anglers who are enamored of a certain species or a particular fishing method. There are roles for these single purpose groups—primarily in lobbying for stocking programs, species-specific fishing regulations, and local habitat projects, or coordinating like-minded souls, such as tournament anglers—but they cannot speak for anglers as a whole and are bit players in “big picture issues.”
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Ban lead bullets? Gimme a break!
Lead fragments turn up in tests of venison donated to food shelves and immediately we are cautioned not to feed venison to children and pregnant women. Wildlife officials say centerfire bullets are prone to “fragmentation,” apparently exploding into toxic lead shrapnel when they enter a deer. Wow. It’s a wonder hunters and their progeny weren’t lead poisoned into extinction long ago.
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Lead fragments turn up in tests of venison donated to food shelves and immediately we are cautioned not to feed venison to children and pregnant women. Wildlife officials say centerfire bullets are prone to “fragmentation,” apparently exploding into toxic lead shrapnel when they enter a deer. Wow. It’s a wonder hunters and their progeny weren’t lead poisoned into extinction long ago.
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