Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 1018
One of the nationwide hunting and fishing agency priorities is referred to as R3. Recruiting new participants; retaining the current participants; and reactivating past hunters and anglers who have fallen away from outdoor recreation. Cayla Bendel is the N. D. Game and Fish Department's R3 coordinator. She joins a growing list of conservation agency individuals spearheading R3 around the country. "I'm a born and raised Minnesota 'blue-plater,' and from 'the cities' at that. My greatest...
5-22 Licenses Needed By April 1 North Dakota anglers, trappers and hunters are reminded that new licenses for the 2021-22 season are required beginning April 1. Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the N.D. Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Once the license is processed, hunters and anglers will have the option to print a hard copy and/or download the license to a smart phone or mobile device, which is helpful when asked to show proof of license, while hunting or fishing in rural areas that lack cellular service. Licenses...
For Jared Shypkoski of Dickinson, his spring walleye adventures were already off to a great start after catching a personal best 31-inch fish on a trip to the Columbia River two weeks ago. However, he broke his personal walleye record and potentially that of North Dakota - pending review by the state's Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) - on Sat. Mar. 13 on the Missouri River just above Lake Oahe, with a certified 16.39-pound walleye caught while trolling a Smithwick Perfect 10 stickbait in the shal...
Outdoor notes: *Statewide ice conditions are rapidly deteriorating and anglers need to exercise extreme caution if considering venturing out. *March 15: Deadline for removing permanent and darkhouse ice-fishing houses. *March 15: Leftover spring turkey licenses available on first-come, first-served basis, also on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *March 16: New hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses available. *March 24: Elk, moose, and bighorn sheep applications due. Fishing:...
I questioned the wind and the chill blowing in the mist, rising off the wavy surface of the small powerplant lake, a place I frequent this time of year to cure cabin fever, prepare things for open water, and chase the largemouth bass and crappies that are two months ahead of their brothers and sisters in the ice-covered lakes around them. I knew that the wind was wrong for any effective fishing, coming straight from the far shore and lifting a fog off the water toward the launch. But I was also...
BISMARCK — North Dakota prides itself on creating an environment beneficial to hunters, and several pieces of legislation under consideration this session aim to build on that. The hunting bills still alive, having passed in the House or Senate, have all had strong support from a majority of lawmakers and move now to the other chamber, where they will go through more committee hearings. The legislature is working on a bill relating to trespassing on private land. SB 2144 would allow landowners to designate their land as closed to hunting t...
With spring seemingly on fast forward and any precipitation or runoff on pause, concerns for a successful spawning effort are growing on many of North Dakota's lakes and rivers where the natural phenomenon occurs and helps sustain populations of popular species like pike, perch, and walleyes. However, the state's stocking program is likely on track for a successful egg collection season with backup sites available to help overcome the hurdles low water may present for North Dakota Game & Fish...
Pike in springtime mean fast action on the fly rod, and just about any pattern with some bulk, some flash and a little seductive wiggle will set off a reactionary strike which can jar any long rod loose from the tightest grip. It's easy to pile up a pack of effective flies to take on the spring onslaught that northerns can dole out, and the Pike Snake is a go-to pattern that can be worked fast or slow to trigger those takes. With long undulating hackle feathers for the tail and a set palmered...
Outdoor notes: *Beware of deteriorating ice conditions, water around ice houses, slushy shorelines, and open water around culverts and vegetation with warmer weather. *Elk, moose, and bighorn sheep applications now available on the N.D. Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *New hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses available after March 15. *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Earth Day patch contest entry deadline March 15. Information available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *March...
When it comes to marketing, a good lure needs a good name. No angler is going to buy lures called The Skunk, Zippo, or The Blanker. Lures must have two essentials to catch the attention of anglers. First they must catch fish, and second they must have a moniker to remember, that catches the eye of the angler as well. As winter begins to turn the corner toward spring, the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's catalogs bulk up many anglers' mailboxes, delivering what's new and hot as well as some old...
Early spring-like conditions have many fans of the outdoors thinking about returning flocks of snow geese, Canada geese, mallards and other waterfowl flying into the area as a sure sign that the season has come ahead of schedule. As the limited snow recedes and things begin to warm up, some concerns about what those birds will find upon their return to the region are beginning to mount. According to Dane Buysse, Ducks Unlimited Conservation Programs Biologist, the current low water levels may...
In the formative years of my upland experience, CRP was at its peak, grouse, partridge and pheasants were plentiful and there was an area of PLOTS, WPAs and WMAs just up the hill from my backdoor that provided a young hunter and his dog everything they could want in a walk. A mixture of food in the surrounding soybeans and corn tied seamlessly into a spread of uplands, cattail sloughs, wetlands and stands of brush and treelines. It was a place that provided sweaty dove hunts in September, where...
Outdoor notes (check with organizers for event updates): *New hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses available after March 15. *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Earth Day patch contest entry deadline March 15. Information available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *March 6: Lonetree Rocky Mtn. Elk Foundation banquet, Harvey Eagles, 5 p.m. Tournaments (check with organizers for event updates): *March 6: Devils Lake, Minnewaukan Flats. *March 13: Big Mallard Marsh. Fishing: *Devils Lake...
As a weather junkie, I know that any forecast over five days out is not to be trusted. As an angler though, especially the glass-half-full kind who relishes the thought of the season's first cast over running water, I know that even a 16-day experimental forecast which shows a hint at extended temperatures above freezing needs to be taken seriously. With just such a half-promise of an early spring melt beginning to register on the U.S.S. Our Outdoors' long-range scanners, I'm already charting a...
In the cold of early spring, it's not uncommon to see anglers patrolling those early openwater areas for the first active walleyes of the season. As they stage for their spawning run, these fish provide a welcome bite for those looking to break out the long rod and shake the rust off with a few casts from a winter spent huddled over an ice hole. However, early spring walleyes can provide a unique challenge for anglers and tactics vary greatly in the chilly water from those which will come just...
Following a down year with the pandemic restricting a number of schools in North Dakota from participating in the state's high school clay target league, the North Dakota State High School Clay Target League (ND CTL) is eyeing a rebound in numbers of participants and banking on expanded offerings to get more shooters involved in the safest and fastest growing sport in the nation. According to ND CTL State Director Joe Courneya, interest is picking up as the program approaches the start of its sp...
Outdoor notes: Please check with event organizers with any COVID-19 concerns. *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Earth Day patch contest entry deadline March 15. Information available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *Feb. 27: Dakota Valley Fowlers Delta Waterfowl banquet, Valley City Eagles, 5 p.m. Tournaments: *Feb. 27: Alkaline & Fresh lakes. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Feb. 16: 1,448.5 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.46 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation:...
Someone sent me a text the other day about all the trash talking during the Super Bowl and how it seemed to bother some of the players. As a sports fan, I’ve watched the power of words throughout the years and remember that Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan just to name a couple of athletes, also used this tactic to intimidate and frustrate the opposition. The idea is to lure someone you are battling against into listening to what you are saying in order to distract and confuse them. This a...
My grandmother and I shared a special connection with the outdoors. She was an avid birder, having seen more than 110 species just from her dining room window throughout her nine decades on the planet, and dozens if not hundreds more in her limited travels around the country. While she was not an hunter or angler like me, she often told stories of her forays into both pastimes during her childhood on the prairie, which occurred nearly 100 years ago. The two tales I remember most were the one of...
What outdoor product has a higher hold rating than Bitcoin? What is getting pricier than a 1960s-era Mickey Mantle baseball card as collectors take stock of their youth-based memorabilia? What is seeing a run unlike anything we've recently witnessed, beyond perhaps Charmin and Cottonelle last March? The answer to all three of these questions is ammunition; and that is due to a number of factors tied to the ongoing pandemic. Pandemic Supply Problems Foremost, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic...
Winter is a challenging season for North Dakota's wildlife, with below zero temperatures, snowfall, and limited forage. People can help animals by leaving them undisturbed, so they have a better chance to survive the season. During a normal winter without extremely frigid temperatures, or unusually deep snow, about 90 percent of adult deer and elk survive. But that number can be significantly lower for fawns and calves, which are smaller and less capable of withstanding winter conditions. One...
Outdoor notes: *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Earth Day patch contest entry deadline March 15. Information available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). Tournaments (check with sponsors for updates): *Feb. 20: Jamestown Reservoir, Pelican Point. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Feb. 9: 1,448.55 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.46 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,837.99 MSL; 21,400 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases. *N.D. Game &...
In mid-February my mind often wanders toward spring, and if allowed, into the warmth of summer and thoughts of fishing trips past under the heat of a shining sun. One of my most formative fishing memories is that of catching bluegills off the dock on those sunny days that blur into the three-month span that is June, July and August which frequently found me staying at my grandparents' lake cabin. I would bait my Aberdeen hook with worms and nightcrawlers my grandfather dug up for me from the...
Despite the chill of winter settling in across the region, now is the time for making spring plans for habitat work. Whether it's a ranching, farming or conservation-focused operation, landowners have more technology and options at their fingers than ever before, and a host of helpers across the upper Midwest to connect them with the programs that not only help create and preserve habitat which maintains populations of big game, waterfowl and upland birds; but also increases productivity and pro...
Outdoor notes: *Feb. 10: Spring turkey applications due. Information and applications available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). *N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Earth Day patch contest entry deadline March 15. Information available on the Game & Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov). Tournaments (check with sponsors for updates): *Feb. 13: Lake Williams. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Feb. 2: 1,448.52 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.47 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevati...
