Outdoors

NICE MOOSE - The hunting party of Dave and Mike Jakubiec and Scott Widstrom of Ramsey, MN bagged this bull moose last Tuesday while hunting near Twin Lakes west of Ely. This was the second year they had applied for the once-in-a-lifetime license. They used a birch bark call to bring in the bull, the only moose they saw in four days of hunting. The 44-inch rack still had some velvet attached to the top of the antlers. Photo by Nick Wognum.

Conservation Officer’s report<BR><BR>Conservation Officer Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) handled a roadkilled moose. He also investigated a dog being killed by a wild animal. Coincidentally there was a cougar seen by a deputy sheriff in the same area. Anglers were checked on Lake Superior. Hunters are starting to scout for moose and a couple of groups of moose hunters were found to be scouting in different zones from where they are to be hunting. Please check the maps of your zones. CO Fagerman assisted Customs and Border Protection who called when they found three Illinois residents to be 25 walleyes over the limit. After posting $2,340 in fines, the three were released to continue their trip back to Illinois without any fish. CO Fagerman also worked with CO Brad Johnson on the waterfowl opener.

The 2004 Minnesota duck opener came just as expected - not a cloud in the sky. Called a “blue bird day” by devout duck blind habitants, it was a slow day for ducks in our neck of the woods.<BR><BR>We decided cutting firewood would be a much better use of time and set about doing just that. <BR><BR>With one chainsaw and a bunch of helping hands, we loaded up the trailer on the four wheeler twice and headed back to the shack to cool down. The temperature was now in the mid-70s - again, to be expected, after all it was the Minnesota duck opener. <BR><BR>Hard work and fresh air sent Steve to the couch, Bill heading home and the younger set of Jake, Evan and Kelsey off on wheelers and dirt bikes to enjoy the afternoon. <BR><BR>I managed to find a wheeler not being driven and decided to do a little riding myself. Actually I had a recon mission in mind so I made sure the shotgun was on board and headed up the road.

It was the first grouse season opener in recent years with silence. Saturday, the bird season got underway with nary a sound of gunshots. Surely, some grouse must have been taken some place, but not in our neck of the woods, unless somebody shot them with an arrow.<BR><BR>Everyone knows that hunting is difficult with thick, early fall foliage. But silence? There didn’t even seem to be very many hunters out. Pre-season scouting indicated very few birds. Grouse appear at or near the bottom of their cycle. A very low bird population.<BR><BR>There were some cries for a shorter season and a cut in the limit, like back to three birds instead of five. That would probably make no difference. If a hunter cannot get one grouse, whether the limit is three or five has little bearing. Even if the season was terminated, it would probably make no difference. When the grouse are at the low end of their cycle, very few are harvested.

For archery hunters, the 2004 deer season has been off and running for several weeks now. For the firearms hunters, we’re just getting ready for what should be a banner season.<BR><BR>“The old timers are comparing this to the mid to late 1960s,” said DNR wildlife manager Tom Rusch of Tower. “The population level is unchanged from last year.”<BR><BR>Hunters registered nearly 5,000 deer in our area but Mother Nature filled those empty hoof prints right back up again.<BR><BR>“We had a huge fawn crop this year,” said Rusch. “And we just don’t have the numbers to knock the population back by say 25 percent.”<BR><BR>That means there will be lots of deer and lots of opportunities for guys to shoot does and/or more than one deer this year.<BR><BR>Even in zone 116, the Fernberg, nearly every hunter who applied for an antlerless permit will get one.

New rules put into effect by the U.S. Forest Service have angered local ATV riders who are finding out the places they have ridden for years are now off limits.<BR><BR>The result to date is a new infusion of members to the local ATV club.<BR><BR>“It’s been an overwhelming response for the club,” said Ely-Winton Stumpjumpers vice president Roger Skraba. “There will be a strong club in Ely, MN but everyone has to show up on October 13.”<BR><BR>Kawishiwi District Ranger Mark Van Every knows the changes are controversial but adds they are in line with national policy on federal lands.<BR><BR>“This is in line with national policy basically restricting off road vehicle traffic to designated routes. We don’t allow people to ride on level 3 roads which are our higher standard roads because of potential safety issues,” said Van Every.

It has been said by upland hunters since the founding of the nation that the ruffed grouse is the noblest game bird of them all. Those of us who have sought this feathered rocket from aspen ridges to balsam thickets, cannot say enough for its speed and deception in flight nor its tasty addition to a wild game dinner.<BR><BR>Nor its sometime lack of sense.<BR><BR>We have never met a woodland gunner who has not pondered the seeming lack of intelligence encased within the feathered skull of this partridge of fact and fable. “Lord, but they are dumb,” is a common sentiment.<BR><BR>An example revealed itself this previous week when my wife Edith and I ventured up the Fernberg Trail toward Lake One on a journey to reconnoiter grouse byways.

Moose season is set to get underway soon, putting the second wave of firearm-equipped big game hunters in the woods.<BR><BR>Bear hunters have been at it for two weeks now and it looks like a similar harvest of bears as last year.<BR><BR>Lucky Seven was at 36 bears for the first reporting period, equal to the number registered last year in Ely. For the Tower area, the DNR reported 136 bears taken, up from 117 a year before.<BR><BR>The state bear population is estimated at up to 25,000 with the vast majority in the northern one-third of the state. <BR><BR>DNR wildlife manager Tom Rusch of Tower said the hope is for a statewide harvest of up to 4,000 bears.<BR><BR>Interestingly, the bear harvest follows the berry crop. The fewer berries on the vine, the more bears taken by hunters.

by Nick Wognum<BR><BR>The 2004 North Country Angler fishing contest wrapped up this week with prizes handed out for Section Three winners and the grand prize. <BR><BR>The top prize winner is chosen from all entries received, including Catch and Release entries turned in throughout the season.<BR><BR>The grand prize winner of a trip for two to Zup’s Lac La Croix for three days, two nights was Tom Poderzay of Soudan, who caught an 11 lb. 3 oz. walleye and registered it at Vermilion Fuel and Food. <BR><BR>Congratulations to all those who entered the contest this year!<BR><BR>The Section Three winners were:<BR><BR>Walleye: 12 lb. caught in Farm Lake by Tim Steuck of Dassel, MN and entered at Timber Trail Lodge.<BR><BR>Northern: 10 lb. caught in Fall Lake by Nicole Johnson of Canton, MN and registered at Voyageur North Outfitters.<BR><BR>Bass: 5 lb. 4 oz.

The 2004 Minnesota small game season gets underway this Saturday and it looks to be a great season to get out in the woods. As far as bringing home supper, well, there’s always Dairy Queen. <BR><BR>Local DNR wildlife guy Tom Rusch was in Ely last week and confirmed the reports we’ve heard so far: grouse numbers are still down.<BR><BR>“This is a cyclical thing; it’s not like the sky is falling,” said Rusch. “The good news is Minnesota has some of the best ruffed grouse habitat in the country and our lows are higher than many other places.”<BR><BR>Rusch attributes the continued low grouse numbers to the weather. After a good grouse winter (lots of snow), we had a lousy spring.<BR><BR>“Wet and cold in the spring is the worst thing for young chicks and that’s what we had,” said Rusch.