the outdoors
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 23, 2023The biggest outdoor day of the year in Minnesota was May 13. The fishing opener, to many, is better than any of the other holidays when you don’t have to go to work. Minnesota sells more fishing licenses than any other state per capita. There will have been long lines at many boat ramps across the state and especially at the most popular walleye lakes in the state. There will be a larger than…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistMay 09, 2023Which way is the wind going to blow today? There is little doubt why southwest Minnesota is covered up with wind towers. Worthington has been the site for the National Wind Surfing Regatta several times over the past 10 years with Lake Okabena, considered the second windiest place over water in the state, right in the town of Worthington. Almost everything I do in April and May is affected by the…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 21, 2023The 2023 legislative session in Minnesota is underway. They have many items on their plate this session, and the one that will get the most attention is what to do with the many billion-dollar surplus the state has from the Recovering America Act that sent billions to the states. Unfortunately, this multi-billion dollars of federal money was borrowed and was added to the national debt of over 34…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistFebruary 07, 2023I just got back from a few days in northeast South Dakota from a pike spearing trip. I had been to the location last year, and the group I was with had probably the best spearing trip they will ever have. There were large numbers of pike, and the average size was very good. I am not the kind of spear anger may other folks are. I think that once you have speared a pike in the 40–42-inch range,…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 17, 2023There is nothing better than a great photo of an outdoor experience. As an old-school kind of guy, the new current trend of everything being digital makes my life a little harder. I actually have a wall of fame in my garage. I have a collection of printed pictures from years of different experiences printed and stapled to this wall. It seems today an actual print is kind of like a dinosaur.…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 10, 2023Whenever I am out and about with my Labrador pack, I often get asked which of the four of them is my favorite? My normal response is in what category? This causes a puzzled look on the questioner’s face. I go on to explain if you are looking for a riding companion, then my youngest dog, Ghost, is the winner hands down. You can go for a 300-mile ride and he will sit on the front seat for days. He…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistJanuary 03, 2023Why is it that everything ends up happening on the same day or days? I have a possible wedding, a retirement party for a great friend, and a decoy show all happening on the same weekend. I want to be at all three events, but we all know you can’t be two places or even three places at the same time. In the end, it is the first commitment I made that is going to win this tug of war. Twenty-four…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 27, 2022At this very moment, the town I live in is pretty much shut down. Snow in amounts I don’t like along with winds I hate even worse are arriving later today. The pheasants are getting a huge reprieve from hunters that would normally be chasing them until the very end. The snow depths, on the other hand, are giving them a different kind of challenge. It is amazing how wildlife can survive in…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 13, 2022About a month ago I was invited to speak at the Ecumen Meadows. This is an assisted living facility located in Worthington. The residents of this facility make up all walks of life, and many of them are retired farmers. My topic was about public lands and the work that my local chapter of Pheasants Forever has been involved in to protect the local drinking water supply for our community. The…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistDecember 05, 2022I had the Black Pack Pheasant Attack group, (four seasoned black Labradors ranging in age from 2-11 years), out one afternoon this week, and man, was it an adventure! I invited a friend who was in Nobles County for the week, and we made plans to try a pincher move on what is now very educated pheasants. He went in from one end and I approached from the other. You can only do this move with two…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 29, 2022The pheasant hunting season is under way and reports have been pretty good. I had an incident happen to me the other day that has never happened to me before in all of my years as an avid hunter. What follows is a summary of this encounter and my recommendations to you if it were ever to happen to you. I have never been written a citation for any game or fish violations in my entire life and I…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 21, 2022I have purchased a deer license every year for the past 37 years, and this year was the first year that I actually filled my tag. I purchased my deer license before Sept. 1, and this automatically enrolls me in the doe lottery. In Minnesota every hunter that buys a deer license can shoot a buck. You have to be successfully drawn from a special lottery, depending on where you live, in order to be…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 15, 2022There is just never a dull day in the field when you share it with four Labradors. I have a great start to the 2022 pheasant season. Bird numbers are far higher than last season and the only challenge has been the high temperatures. The first weekend of the season we hosted the Minnesota governor in Worthington. That was a pretty big undertaking. The second weekend of the season we hosted 17…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 08, 2022I have never really been much of a deer hunter. I have purchased a Minnesota firearms deer license for the past 37 years and have never pulled the trigger on a Minnesota deer. I have participated and helped in the harvesting of many deer over that same time frame. A few years back I set a record of five youth, all ages 12-13, who all shot their very first deer out of my box stand in a single…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 25, 2022So, the 2022 pheasant opener was a few days back, and I had a very unusual one. Worthington was selected for the location to host the 2022 Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener. We were selected late and only had about 100 days to put the weekend event together. It may seem like not a very big thing, but to have the governor out and about only three weeks before the election is a very big deal for…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistOctober 18, 2022Open day of 2022 pheasant hunting season was Oct. 15. I hosted Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in Worthington that weekend. It was quite an event. There were media outlets of all kinds in town for the event. Many of those hunted on the public lands of southwest Minnesota. Finding a good hunting spot on opening weekend is not possible. The weather is usually pretty good, and this weekend probably…
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