There was so much time, so much daylight, just a month ago it seems. Or was it longer than that?
BRAINERD, Minn. — On a recent 50-ish degrees early fall day, the calm, mostly deserted waters of Gull Lake would add to a treasure chest of memories for a foursome boat of anglers hopelessly caught up in sportfishing’s circle.
The moods of Mother Nature are easily changed by the seasons. Now at the end of summer, with Labor Day weekend set to begin, she spreads her warmth across the landscape and provides almost unlimited food to sustain the wildlife of the region.
Eau Claire is a diverse community. It’s populated by people of every race and ethnicity. It’s home to white collar and blue collar workers, retired people and children and college students. And it’s home to two-wheeled dreamers.
SAWBILL LAKE, Minn. — Anyone who travels in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness becomes obsessed with portages.
Have you ever been called a turkey? I am sure I probably have been tagged with that moniker on several occasions. It is generally meant as a somewhat derogatory, but kidding, admonishment.
GRANTSBURG — Most people have that special place where they like to go to escape for a while. It is the place where you can reload, charge your batteries and just disappear for a few hours. For me that spot is often the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, a sprawling wetland prairie …
STOUGHTON — “There are times for quiet reflection and times for interacting in groups. Those who are most successful with managing their PD do both.”
Walking outside into the darkness I could hear sounds of the night around me.
Hunting is a popular sport.
With camera in hand, I set out to explore familiar locations, places I visit regularly in search of wildlife. I was a little later than normal. It had been one of those “Five more minutes of sleep” mornings when the bed was comfortable and the cat was snuggled next to me, laying on my arm … …
Spring turns to summer, and roadsides are a lush green spotted with wildflowers. Unfortunately, the scene is too often spoiled by a sprawled deer, killed in a collision with a vehicle.
Harbor Lights owners Bill and Grace Hines watched Oronto Creek’s flow flood in a flash, obliterating Saxon Harbor Marina and Campground one night in 2016 when a high-powered, unrelenting thunderstorm struck the Northwoods.
We’ve all heard about Murphy’s Law — anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And, in our day-to-day living, we have all probably found that, to some degree, this is true.
SPOONER — Summer days are days created by God for kids to enjoy. No homework, no tests, no getting up and rushing to catch the bus each morning. Kids can enjoy freedom. And that is what being a kid is really all about, isn’t it? Freedom to just, well, being a kid!
ARCADIA — Rob Herman surveyed the distant thin corridor of trees, mostly box elder, and other brushy vegetation lining the course Chimney Rock Creek carves across Ron and Marietta Halama’s farm.
On a balmy day in late April, Nicole Weprin and Dave Meyer are standing atop a hill, surrounded by meadow-covered mountains. A few hundred yards below is a large pen. Outside the pen, sunning themselves with wings outstretched, are three wild condors — two of which are wearing numbered tags.…
ASHLAND — Laine Stowell made a near-fatal error. He separated an elk cow from her calf — and this four-legged mom wasn’t standing for it.
Editor’s note: Following is adapted from Steve Betchkal’s book “Walk the Walk, Camp the Camp, Bird the Bird” published in March.
A few hours after Isaac Kruse, a state Department of Natural Resources conservation warden, started his work day Jan. 19, he found himself side by side with four St. Croix County responders who together saved the life of a man who was on the job like any normal day.
World Migratory Bird Day coming to Taylor County
GORDON — Some hunting seasons open and close but never really end. That’s largely due to stories keeping them alive.
Wildlife meetings held across state
SPOONER — A surge in wake boats is creating a stir in Wisconsin and other waterways-rich states.
The thermometer on my car read -18 degrees Fahrenheit as I turned off the highway onto a snow covered road northwest of Duluth. A leaden sky didn’t offer any additional warmth. My parents and I were warm, though, wrapped up like onions in our many winter layers with the car heater blasting. We were looking forward to a full day of birding in Sax-Zim Bog. This 300-square mile mix of aspen uplands, rivers, lakes, meadows, dead-ending back roads and farms has become famous for its ability to attract and support many species of birds who usually remain farther north.
Quick quiz question: What is the number one cause of mortality in wild birds, outside of old age?
RICE LAKE — Four months after Annie Weiss passed near Rice Lake early into her 1,200-mile journey on Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail, the ultra trail runner returned last month to share the story of her record-breaking endeavor.
TILDEN — Chainsaws started ripping through a jungle of box elders and dozens of other trees that shaded the stream on a recent, unseasonably warm January morning.
At the end of their 80 miles, or in some cases 160 miles, walkers and bikers were reaching the end — mostly with smiles — Sunday on the Wild Rivers Trail.
When one begins a story, it’s always appropriate to start at the beginning.
MADISON — West Nile virus was detected in three of 16 ruffed grouse that were found sick or dead and submitted by the public to the state Department of Natural Resource for testing from October through December 2018.
SPOONER — Mother Nature is a lady of many moods and continuously changing seasons. Sometimes she can be angry, harsh as a biting winter wind roaring across a northern clearing. She can be as fierce as a gray November lake, her waters boiling and screaming, with snow blowing sideways.
GRAND MARAIS, Minn. — Considering how often a just-peeking sunrise is captured in Bryan Hansel’s photographs, usually over Lake Superior, you’d just assume he was a morning person.
Wisconsin Department OF Natural Resources
SPRING GREEN — Most ice anglers do not give much thought to scouting winter fishing holes, but Buddy Hynek of the Richland County community of Lone Rock planned ahead when he relocated from La Crosse to southwest Wisconsin.
I’ve hunted pheasant in both North and South Dakota, from New Town to the north to Mitchell to the south and from the Black Hills to the west to the Red River Valley in the east. And I’ve hunted in the warm early season and in the last bitterly cold winter week.
At 11 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 21 — a day of prayer — Jeff Henry’s day was taken prey.
Man lauded for volunteer work
PEPIN — Approaching a familiar spot, Earl Black instinctively waved his right hand to signal an abrupt halt.
Photographer to talk about bears
Twelve hours out of Eau Claire, I was pointed southeast in my Honda hybrid.
Reservations price to decrease
KNAPP — Zach Mohr’s involvement with improving trout streams started when he was 12 or 13 and he happened upon a state Department of Natural Resources fish habitat crew and Trout Unlimited volunteers working on the banks of Elk Creek.
Fall color changes begin
MADISON — As deer hunting seasons begin with archery and crossbow this weekend, and state Department of Natural Resources staff remind hunters to have the deer they kill tested for chronic wasting disease.
I’m going to admit this publicly. I recently did something stupid.
STANLEY — The mowed path led through a small meadow, with goldenrods and the usual late summer flowers blooming, then into the woods where it became a narrow, slightly hilly earthen path.
FALL CREEK — For Dan and Jane Brown, the discovery of a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Eau Claire County this spring was a call to action.
The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2,650-mile-long thin ribbon through the wilderness of California, Oregon and Washington that runs from Mexico to Canada.
Heavy rains cause closures
