the outdoors
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 11, 2022This is the fourth installment of the do-it-yourself obedience training for your own dog. Prior columns have covered the basics of getting the sponge in the obedience bucket level of obedience outcome when training in your own dog. The steps covered in the first three articles should have taken about 4-5 weeks to get really ingrained in your dog to the point where their compliance to known…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 04, 2022We are working our way into the third installment of a four-part series in the subject of training your own dog. We started with owner commitments and expectations and moved into how easy it is to get your dog to go for a relaxing walk with you or another member of your family. Today we start with the most basic command of “sit.” You can do “sit” first and “heel” second, but all of them need to…- By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistSeptember 13, 2022Writing about dogs is my favorite subject. If you have been a reader of my column for any length of time, you can already tell this by the number of times they occupy this space. Dogs, especially hunting dogs, are a 12-month-a-year effort. Whether it’s training a new dog or keeping the older dog sharp as a tack, both take consistency, time and commitment. With dove season opening a few days back…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 16, 2022It took me until I was about 35 years old to realize that each time you purchase a firearm it should be “in addition to the one I already have,” instead of trading in the one I already had. It was more a case of having enough funds so I could afford the new gun without the price offset of trading in the one I currently owned. I visit all the time with parents who are considering a gun purchase…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 09, 2022I was sitting in my garage the other night with a couple of guys who had just finished up shooting on their trap league for the week. They are both avid hunters and both have hunting dogs of differing ages. It seemed like only about an hour had passed when in fact more than four hours had turned off the clock. Outdoor lifestyles and passions have always been my most vivid memories. As I recalled…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistAugust 02, 2022A pastime I never tire of is recreational shooting. I can kill helpless clay pigeons all day long and never tire of the recoil of my shotgun. Off-season shooting really makes a difference on opening day of pheasant season, and if a rooster gets up within 25 yards of me, he will most likely go home in my hunting vest. I recently had the opportunity to help a friend do a little rifle shooting on a…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 19, 2022I moved to Worthington at the age of 13 and after my folks bought me a new bike, I was the traveling fisherman and hunter. I would ride my bike to the local lake in my town almost every day. When I reached the age of 14, which is when you can hunt without an adult, I would ride my bike about six miles out to the Lake Ocheda Waterfowl refuge and try to shoot a Canada goose. I would often ride home…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJuly 05, 2022The fishing season is underway, and the reports have been better than I can remember for the past five years or so. As always there are certain lakes that do better than others, and your location and how much time you have to fish often dictates where and how long you can stay. I make an annual pilgrimage to Upper Red Lake with my son and son-in-law and just a few others. This is a tradition that…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 28, 2022How much are Minnesota’s natural resources worth to you? To me they are priceless, but when it comes to those who steal or abuse those resources, the laws in Minnesota must not think so. I have followed many different prosecutions regarding gross violations of Minnesota’s game and fish laws, and in every case I’ve researched, the penalties for violators are not even high enough to be a measurable…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 21, 2022I often wonder what life would be like without a dog or dogs in it. I have written many times about my four Labradors and how much they mean to me and my outdoor way of life. Tracer is going on 11, Sarge is almost 9, Raider is pushing past 6 and my little guy, Ghost, was 2 in March. When you hunt as much as I do, it is more work than one dog can handle, especially if the temperatures are high and…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJune 07, 2022I called my son Brandon on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to thank him for his military service. He was deployed twice to Afghanistan and Iraq back when things were pretty hairy for our service members. I asked him if he wanted to take his two daughters fishing for any part of the weekend, and we started reminiscing about one fishing adventure we had when he was little. Brandon and his twin…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 24, 2022It is that time of year again when I need to purchase my new licenses for everything from the early light goose season to a spearing license, deer license, small game license and then the gamut of special stamps needed to hunt some of those seasons. Deer licenses come later into the summer. About 10 years ago I decided to make this seasonal expenditure a little easier. I decided to purchase a…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 26, 2022It does not take long after the ice is gone for the open water anglers to start trying to satisfy their itch to go fishing. The weather has been totally awful, but I still see people out fishing. The game fish season in Minnesota is currently closed, and all you can legally target are panfish right now. These include crappies, perch and bluegills. You cannot target walleyes or other game fish…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 19, 2022April is designated “Think about open water fishing in May” month. Tinkering with your fishing equipment and restringing fishing rods is far better than shoveling snow. I took my brother’s boat out on a recent nice day to help him unload it before the ramp docks were in. High-tech gadgets are common on many boats these days. I have an older GPS and sonar unit that works just fine, but $3,000 to $…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistApril 12, 2022It is pretty amazing how a little thing can turn into a big thing. This can happen when a small issue or discovery really turns and stuff hits the fan. Every once in a while, though, a little thing can become a big thing in a positive way. When this happens, it can really make your day, and I am going to share one of those little things that turned into a very great outcome. Last spring I was…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMarch 29, 2022Writing an outdoor column can help make our readers more informed about wildlife and resource issues. My column today is about Earth Day, and my research for this script has resulted in my gaining a large amount of new information to share with you. Earth Day was started in 1970 primarily as a student campus activity. The date of April 22 was chosen because it fell between spring break and…
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