Scott Rall
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 26, 2024I saw a dead deer on this spot and then I saw another deer dead in another spot, and overall, this pheasant hunting/deer hunting season I have seen at least a dozen dead deer that were not as a result of a deer hunter’s bullet. The reports of dead deer in large numbers are circulating in my hunting circles, but I cannot confirm with any of my sources more than just a sporadic deer here or there…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 20, 2024So how is your pheasant hunting season going? Mine has been pretty bleak, but this is not the result for all hunters who chase ringnecks on the pheasant range of Minnesota. The weather has been so nice I can find no way to complain. The higher-than-normal temperatures in November certainly make the winter shorter, and I am all for that. What it also does is make getting a rooster into gun range…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistNovember 06, 2024With the pheasant season underway, it is pretty easy to get so concentrated as to forget that the firearms deer season opens on Nov. 9 and runs thru Sunday, Nov. 17. I was reading some research results of a whitetail deer fawn study that was released recently, and the numbers are pretty eye-opening. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collared 103 deer fawns in the spring of 2023. By…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 16, 2024What is the fastest-growing segment of new hunters being added to the ranks of outdoors people? If you guessed women, you would be right. They still make up a small percentage of the total, but that number is increasing every year. I have developed a close bond with a group of lady hunters who range in experience level from novice to polished. They come from the metro area every year to hunt in…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 25, 2024Every morning I get up about 5:30-6 a.m., open my garage door, and share my morning coffee with three Labradors that keep watch for anything and everything that might walk by. Seems like only in the last week or so when I open the door, it is no longer light outside. This is a sure sign that the pheasant hunting season will soon be upon us. The opening day of the pheasant season this year will…
By Scott Rall, The OutdoorsSeptember 18, 2024I am one of those dyed-in-the-wool property rights kind of guys. I would never – and I mean never – set foot on anyone else’s property without permission. I think that any person who trespasses on another person’s property without permission should be held to the highest extent of the law. I hear of many landowners who might go out and shoo a trespasser away and never take any real action with…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 11, 2024How many times do you hear folks say that the summer just got away from them and they cannot believe it’s almost fall already? I am getting to be a pretty old man, and I realize I am most likely living in the last quarter of my life. I spend considerable effort doing my very best not to be one of those other folks. I spend every waking moment I can outside. I hustle to finish at least part of…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistAugust 21, 2024Gals love to shop and guys go the store to buy stuff. There is no memory I have of going to a hunting/ fishing store and just looking around for a few hours and then going home with nothing. That whole idea is foreign to me. Another pretty foreign idea to me is to spend about three weeks looking in every store that has the item I want in order to save $3.95 on that item. What I am a little…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 17, 2024With a break from the rains, I was willing to venture outside a bunch this past week. My rain gauge in Nobles County had 15.2 inches of rain over the past few weeks. The grass is tall, the mosquitoes are as big as fighter jets, and there are certainly a lot of them. With all of my food plots tended to and much of the “to do” list completed, I opted for an afternoon of clay bird shooting. A…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 10, 2024There is nothing else to talk about in southwest Minnesota except flooding. I have lived in this part of the state for 50 years and have only seen it this bad a few other times. Lives are changed and fortunes ruined. The only light at the end of this tunnel is that the waters are receding and most of the roads that were once closed are now open again. I was blown away about how fast the gravel…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 26, 2024I went on one heck of a road trip last week. I decided to go see the world, or more precisely, a large part of the state of Minnesota. It was part adventure, part volunteer work, and part a small-paying side hustle. I am a very passionate supporter of public lands. These are often referred to as state or federal lands. I call them citizen-owned lands. This means that every acre of a Wildlife…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 12, 2024I recently spent the day in the boat with a professional fishing guide by the name of Travis Frank. You might recognize this name as he is also the host of the Pheasants Forever television show called “The Flush.” Travis is a fully jammed up guy with a schedule this 63-year-old could never manage. He works for Ron Shara Productions and hosts several shows and is involved with the production of…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistJune 05, 2024I made my annual trip up to Upper Red Lake last week, and for the first time in a very long time we caught very few fish. The main reason for the dismal catch rates was the weather. We had high winds two of the three days that we tried to fish that kept us off the water. I have an old, sturdy Alumacraft boat that has been on some pretty rough water, but even for me this was just too much. We…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 15, 2024When it comes to luck, mine is normally pretty sour. Even my closest friends call me the character on the “Snoopy” cartoon who has the rain cloud following him around. When my friends have bad luck, they refer to it as “the luck of the Scoot” (Scoot is my nickname). I needed to get my boat ready for the fishing opener and had about a dozen things to check on before heading out on the road. One…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 08, 2024Minnesota fishing opener is just right around the corner. This special day will have more Minnesotans out and about than any other outdoor opening day. The season opens at 12:01 on May 11. The season for pan fish stays open year-round but for walleyes and other game fish there is a regulated season in order to allow these fish to spawn unmolested. I used to be one of those folks out at midnight…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 01, 2024So, I was reminded that it was time for the tick spot and heartworm treatment for my dogs the other day when my phone chimed in and told me so. The ticks are out in full force, and in the past two very short outings, I ended up removing five ticks. I was not in the grass for more than 10 minutes combined. Maybe the mild winter will make tick season all that much more entertaining this season. I…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
