Family-Outdoors

From 2012-08-05 As my kids get older, I am confronted with a question about what the dynamic is relating family and the outdoors. My boys are now 19 and 22. They still love outdoor activities, and we still do a lot together, but face it Dad, they are moving towards their own lives. Of course my wife and I do a lot outdoors, but mostly that's our evening walks with two crazy dogs that do a poor job as a substitute for kids. Now, those walks are our pressure relief valve from real life, and they are much better when we go together. Frankly, I am a bit suprised we each feel that way. I just know that when I go alone, and I see wildlife, a beautiful sunset or moonrise, or some field filled with wildflowers, I wish she was there. I have always felt the same regarding hunting and fishing trips. There is just a little less satisfaction in the experience when not shared with one of my boys. One thing that gives me satisfacton is that I know they will feel the same with regard to th...

Iowa News-A blizzard was not the way Iowa's pheasant and quail wanted to start winter. About half of Iowa received 6 to 12 inches of wet heavy snow that collapsed most "grassy" cover. The cover that did not collapse was drifted full of snow from the high winds. "This was a bad storm for upland game birds," said Todd Bogenschutz, state upland game biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "It's very likely we saw some bird mortality with this blizzard." Winter snowfall from December 1 thru March 31 is a good predictor of whether upland bird populations will increase or decrease the following year, and to have upwards of one foot of snow only 20 days into December does not bode well for pheasants, said Bogenschutz. "Iowa had only 17 inches of snow last winter. Parts of Iowa are close to that total already with this first storm," he said. Iowa's pheasant and quail populations were decimated by five consecutive winters of 30...

The Current River of Missouri has been one of our favorite places in Missouri to go. The Current is certainly renowned for its party atmosphere on summer weekends, and deservedly so. If that's what you are after, then head on down any weekend from May thru September and enjoy. We won't see you. The Current is something different for us. I guess it seems to serve a vast array of desires. For us, that desire is some peace, solitude, and usually fly fishing. Depending on what you like, the Current has fishing opportunities for everyone. I guess if you are after big catfish, there are better Missouri streams. But if you enjoy fishing for smallies or browns and rainbows, it's hard to beat this jewel of a stream. The various stretches are pretty diverse, and too numerous to detail here. Briefly, there is Montauk State Park, and from there downstream, a progression from blue ribbon trout water to incredible smallmouth water. The river is beautiful throughout. For a thorough ru...

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission has finalized the 2013 Spring Turkey Seasons. The Prairie and Black Hills seasons will run from April 13 – May 19.  The Archery Season will run from April 6 – May 19 for both units as well. The commission voted to allow 10 archery turkey hunters access permits to hunt at the Blood Run Nature Area and 10 more to hunt at the Adams Homestead and Nature Area from April 6 – 30.  Those hunters will be selected from a pool of applicants from a free-access permit drawing. In addition, the Game, Fish and Parks Commission has proposed an increase in the number of bighorn sheep licenses. Instead of two licenses, three will be issued. One of the three tags will be auctioned off, pending approval of the auction by the Legislative Interim Rules Committee. Proceeds of the auctioned bighorn sheep tag wou...

E The 23rd annual Central South Dakota Youth Goose Hunt will be held in Pierre in early January. The hunts will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 5-6. They are free to youngsters who are 12-to-15 years old. However, young hunters will be required to attend a mandatory information meeting at the Pierre Ramkota at 7 p.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 4.  Hunters will be assigned their guides for the weekend and given instructions for their morning hunting sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Following the Saturday morning hunt, participants can attend seminars on goose calling, decoy placement and be eligible for several prizes. “This event is a great way for kids to get involved in waterfowl hunting,” said Sam Koenecke, a past participant in the Youth Hunt, and now one of the event coordinators.  “We want kids of all experience levels to come out and see what goose hunting i...

Wolf Harvest Zone 6 is the fifth zone to be closed this season. The harvest of wolves currently remains open only in Zone 3. The department will continue to closely monitor the harvest in that zone. Wolf hunters and trappers should check daily to determine when the zone is closed. “The harvest trend in Zone 6 has been slow during the initial wolf season. But harvest picked up during the deer season, with half the quota harvested during that time. Now with the quota achieved, we will close the zone to any additional harvest,” said Kurt Thiede, DNR Lands Division Administrator. “This is Wisconsin’s inaugural season. We are learning much about hunter and trapper success rates that will help us draft permanent rules that continue to move the wolf population down toward goals set in our state wolf management plan.” “We will be considering harvest trends as we approach the quota in Zone 3 as well. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the wolf population by 116 animals, distribu...

PIERRE, S.D. – Trail conditions and routes will be easier than ever for snowmobilers to view thanks to a new interactive trail map. In addition to trail conditions, the interactive map pinpoints businesses, restrooms and parking areas along the state snowmobile trail system. “By clicking on the trails, snowmobilers can view current trail conditions, and eventually pictures,” said state snowmobile trail coordinator, Tony Schmitt. “The best part is, the map can be downloaded to your smart phone.” The trail map works with the GPS technology in smart phones to show snowmobilers their location on the trail. Snowmobile Trails in the Black Hills are scheduled to open Saturday, Dec. 15, but trail officials are waiting for snow. “The Black Hills has seen minimal snowfall so far,” said Black Hills Trail supervisor, Shannon Percy. “Grooming operations wil...

Trout season is in full swing, providing great winter fishing fun PRATT – The Kansas state record rainbow trout weighed 15.43 pounds. That’s not a typo; the official state record really weighed more than 15 pounds. Nicole Wilson caught it last March while fishing at Lake Shawnee in Topeka. Kansas trout fishing is a wintertime activity. With one exception, the cold-water fish won’t survive a Kansas summer, but they do fine when stocked from November-April. There is a strip-mined lake on the Mined Land Wildlife Area in Cherokee County where cool spring flows allow trout to survive year-round. All other Kansas trout waters are stocked periodically throughout the trout season, Nov. 1-April 15, 2013. Trout fishing is a great way to get out of the house on a warm winter day and enjoy some fishing. If you’re 16 or older, you’ll need a Trout Permit, which is $12.50 and valid through the calendar year. All resident anglers 16-75 (anglers 65-74 need a fishing license be...

While some areas of west central Wisconsin received upward of a foot or more of snow last weekend, most areas receiving from an inch or two to 4 to 6 inches. Only a few counties in northwestern and north central Wisconsin have opened snowmobile trails, and conditions are listed as poor to fair at best. In most areas, there was not enough snow for groomers to even get out and pack down snow. State recreational safety specialists are reminding snowmobilers that it is trespass to use snowmobile trails before they are open. Opening of trails is done by county snowmobile trail coordinators based on recommendations from local snowmobile clubs that maintain the trails. Using the trails before they are open can make conditions more difficult for the volunteers, and can also jeopardize the easements that allow trails to cross private lands. A few state parks and forests reported that they have rolled some cross-country ski trails, but there were no reports of snow deep enoug...

Fishing is in-between seasons so the weekly updates will continue to be slow until ice fishing gets started. Steelhead fishing should be good this week with the warmer temperatures. Those looking for ice will have to wait a bit longer however this is a good time to get your ice fishing gear ready to go. SOUTHEAST LOWER PENINSULA Lake Erie: Is producing walleye in Brest Bay. Anglers are trolling body baits. Those casting off Sterling State Park have caught walleye off the rocks. Bluegills were caught in the Metro Park Marina. Huron River: Is producing the occasional steelhead. Catch rates will improve once the water levels come up. Detroit River: Has good muskie fishing. Perch are being caught in the marina at Grosse Ile and off the south end of the Cross Dike. Lake St Clair: The die-hard boat anglers are still out chasing muskie. Catch rates have been good and should continue until the season closes on Saturday, December 15. Perch have been caught in the canals...

Mountain lion hunting during the late season in zone 1 is closed immediately. The seventh cat was taken Dec. 14, filling the zone’s late-season quota. Zone 1 includes land south of ND Highway 1804 from the Montana border to the point where ND Highway 1804 lies directly across Lake Sakakawea from ND Highway 8, crossing Lake Sakakawea then south along ND Highway 8 to ND Highway 200, then west on ND Highway 200 to U.S. Highway 85, then south on U.S. Highway 85 to the South Dakota border. The mountain lion season in zone 2, which is the rest of the state outside zone 1, has no quota and is open through March 31, 2013.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has closed Wolf Harvest Zone 5 to hunting and trapping of gray wolves effective 9 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Wolf Harvest Zone 5 is the fourth zone to be closed this season. The harvest of wolves currently remains open in two other zones. The department will continue to closely monitor the harvest in the remaining zones and does expect zone 6 to close soon. Wolf hunters and trappers should check daily for additional zone closures. “The harvest trend in Zone 5 has been steady prior to the deer season, but has slowed down since then. Now with the quota achieved we will close the zone to any additional harvest,” said Kurt Thiede, DNR Lands Division Administrator. “This is Wisconsin’s inaugural season. We are learning much about hunter and trapper success rates that will help us draft permanent rules that continue to move the wolf population down toward goals set in our state wolf management plan.” “We will be consider...

While boating and angling are a big part of the outdoor heritage in Oklahoma, few Oklahomans realize just how much diversity can be found in Oklahoma's 78,500 miles of rivers and streams. "In Oklahoma we have about 175 different species of fish," said Brandon Brown, streams technician for the Wildlife Department. Brown said the Oklahoma portion of the Illinois River has 80 species alone. "That's more native species than some entire states," he said. Recently the Wildlife Department has shifted the focus of its streams program from stream bank restoration, such as that performed at Lost Creek on the Lower Mountain Fork River, to more of a biological focus to help justify the need for setting in-stream flows. The state's most recent "Oklahoma Water Plan" acknowledges the need to set stream flows for aquatic resource conservation, and Brown along with other fisheries personnel have been collecting data to help establish those flow standards. ...

The Bassmaster Classic is like a Super Bowl or World Series for fishing, and the event is headed to Oklahoma this winter. Grand Lake of the Cherokees will host the Bassmaster Classic fishing tournament Feb. 22-24, 2013. The event is expected to draw 70,000 visitors and account for more than 20,000 hotel nights in the region. Even more important, the event is expected to pump $24 million dollars into the economy of Tulsa, Grove and other communities around Grand Lake. At its December meeting, the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission heard a presentation on the upcoming Classic. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation will be involved in the event by helping with the live release of fish back into Grand Lake following each weigh-in, through booth participation at the event expo, as well as through an extensive project to help the host community of Grove to develop world class fishing, boating and tournament facilities on the lake. With over 15 hours of national media att...

MADISON – The opening date for hunting and trapping would be moved back in certain parks with a high volume of late fall visitors and horseback riders, and areas around high winter use trail systems in some parks would be included in closed areas, under revisions the Department of Natural Resources State Parks Program is proposing to its original plan to accommodate broader hunting opportunities and open trapping on state park properties. The changes are being made after review of more than 2,000 written and oral comments the parks program received on their initial proposal to implement the part of a new law the legislature approved earlier this year -- Act 168, known as the Sporting Heritage Bill – that expands hunting and trapping in state parks. Act 168, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2013, allows the DNR to prohibit hunting and trapping within 100 yards of a designated use area such as a campground, picnic area, or beach. A determination to prohibit hunting and trapping in any othe...

 USFWS photo. Biologists at Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge have determined that the summer drawdown performed on Swan Lake was an overwhelming success based on exceptional amounts of natural seed production by wetland plants and high levels of bird use during the early part of the 2012 fall waterfowl migration. The backwaters of the Illinois River that make up Swan Lake are an important migration stop along the Mississippi flyway. Located near Grafton, Ill., the lake is managed by Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists Ken Dalrymple and Brian Loges, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Tennessee, report that seed production by plants grown in Swan Lake averaged more than 3,000 pounds per acre. This is an unprecedented amount of natural food for waterfowl. Typically native moist-soil plants growing in wetlands similar to Swan Lake produce less than half of the production r...

Maquoketa – Dan Kirby had never been on the David Reiss property when he stepped into a small stream in 2011 with a backpack shocker used to survey trout streams. The watercress-covered stream didn’t have much water flowing, but when Kirby turned on the electricity and the probe hit the water, 2-to 3-inch brown trout floated to the surface. To Kirby, fisheries biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the presence of these young trout was evidence that adult trout in the stream were reproducing on their own. Tete Des Morts Creek is on the southern edge of Iowa’s driftless region along the Dubuque-Jackson county line. The DNR stocked 4-inch long trout from 1991 to 2005 hoping to create a trout fishery with fish that grew up in the stream like wild trout. The stocking had limited success. In 2005, they began stocking a different strain of brown trout spawned from fish collected in French Creek. This new strain of brown trout had better survival in other streams and Ki...

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission finalized changes to fisheries regulations at its November commission meeting, and the rule changes went into effect Dec. 3, 2012. Anglers are now allowed to spear northern pike on all inland waters in South Dakota, except those managed as muskie waters. Additionally, the daily limit for walleye on Lake Oahe has increased to eight fish per day. Of the walleye taken daily, no more than four may be 15 inches in length or longer, and only one of those four may be 20 inches or longer. The possession limit has been increased to 24 walleye. More information on fisheries rule changes can be found in the 2013 fishing handbook available online at http://gfp.sd.gov/fishing-boating/rules-regs.aspx . The printed version of the 2013 fishing handbook will be available through license vendors and GFP offices in early December. Anglers with questions concerning rule changes are encouraged to contact their local Game, Fish and Parks office.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife have confirmed that an endangered Indiana bat was found dead at the Blue Creek Wind Farm near Van Wert, Ohio. Blue Creek Wind Farm, LLC, a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, LLC notified the Service and ODNR that a bat carcass was found at the facility and was preliminarily identified as an endangered Indiana bat. The bat carcass was located during post-construction monitoring that has occurred since April 2012 as part of the company’s evaluation of the facility's effects on birds and bats. The bat was confirmed by the Service to be a female Indiana bat. This mortality is the fifth known mortality of an Indiana bat at a wind facility, to date. Other mortalities of Indiana bats have been documented at wind energy facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that a new parcel of land is open for public access in Livingston County, near Stockbridge. This parcel, called The Vigo Tract, offers quality hunting and outdoor recreation opportunities for Southeast Michigan. The Gregory State Game Area Land Initiative (GSGALI) focuses on providing public hunting opportunities close to where the majority of Michigan citizens live, work and hunt. The Vigo Tract, whose acquisition was made possible with support from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, stems from this initiative and provides resource-based recreational opportunities to the public. The property contains quality habitat and hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, waterfowl and small game. Additional recreational opportunities there include trapping, hiking, camping and bird watching. The Unadilla State Wildlife Area, part of the Gregory State Game Area, borders the Vigo Tract to the south; this acquisition now al...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today announced a proposed "Threatened" listing of the lesser prairie chicken, and officials with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation say they will be taking all possible steps to convince the USFWS that state-led conservation efforts are the best approach to ensuring survival of the bird. "This is not a final ruling," said Richard Hatcher, director of the Wildlife Department. "This announcement is a reason to build on the momentum we've already gained with our partners in conserving the lesser prairie chicken. Over the next year, the Wildlife Department will work closely with other states in the lesser prairie chicken range and the USFWS to demonstrate that a final 'Threatened' listing is not necessary and a 'Not Warranted' listing is more appropriate." A final listing rule for the lesser prairie chicken is scheduled within one year of the announcement. In the meantime, ther...