Our Outdoors: Make it a Mentorship
By Nick Simonson The recruitment, retainment and reactivation (R3) efforts underway across the hunting and fishing world are notable, monumental and ultimately important to the future of the outdoors and conservation. States across the map have created special youth hunting weekends ahead of the general openers and agencies sponsor dedicated programs for facilitating time in the field for young and inexperienced hunters in conjunction with non-profits like Pheasants Forever, the Ruffed Grouse Society and local rod and gun clubs and their volunteers. The last 20 years have seen a seismic shift toward efforts focused on young people and recruiting new […]
Our Outdoors: Summer Slabs
By Nick Simonson Whether tucked in along a late summer weedline, pinned up against a steep break along a shoreline channel edge, or suspended off a pile of debris behind a bridge piling picking off the bits of food that flow by, many of my late summer angling adventures have been defined by schools of crappies in these places and others. From a basket full of eaters to a selection of slab sized monsters with mouths that rival those of their contemporary largemouth bass, in the dog days, a quick dip of a tube or a small marabou jig has […]
Our Outdoors: A Win When We Needed It
By Nick Simonson The passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, a bill which would provide permanent funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) through royalties generated by offshore drilling in federal waters around the United States, represents a bright, optimistic light in a time of challenge and a future full of opportunities. In a moment in history when nearly everything seems to be dividing American society – from continued racial injustice issues overflowing into the streets, to online flame-fests over whether or not to wear a face covering to the grocery store – the bi-partisan approval of […]
Our Outdoors: Practice Makes Perfectly Okay
By Nick Simonson There are few hunters that I envy. Content with the options I have close to home for the limited species I pursue each fall with the time I can muster, I enjoy the success and adventures of my friends and relish hearing their stories from far off places or lucky tag draws when we meet up for a reunion around a summer campfire or when hunched over a set of ice holes in the winter following the season. Even complete strangers who email me out of the blue with their tales light up my screen with text […]
Our Outdoors: To Eleven
By Nick Simonson These days I drink bad coffee. Not bad, per se, but only half caffeinated, which according to the old me is bad, as in my younger years I spent much of the morning riding the lightning of a black oily brew so thick I could cut with a knife. That dosage was often followed by a battery of Diet Cokes in the afternoon to keep things rolling. As I wait for the limited amount of the stimulant to enter my system while sipping on the third glass of the morning writing this column, hoping it will trigger […]
Our Outdoors: Big on History
By Nick Simonson Throughout its run, this column has chronicled the recent history of hunting, angling and my experiences, myriad misadventures and the sometimes-successful outings in the wild for the past two decades. It’s my hope that it continues to entertain and educate for the next two decades and maybe a few more after that if I’m lucky enough to still be able to share my take on what to do – and sometimes more importantly, what not to do – to get more from the increasingly precious and limited time we all seem to have on the water or […]
Our Outdoors: Beat the Heat
By Nick Simonson Growing up in the upper Midwest taught me to relish the warmth of summer. Sometimes those stretches of 90-degree days spanned just a week or two in August. Other summers, the warmth seemed to highlight the entire 12 weeks we were out of school. In between backyard kickball games, neighborhood-wide all-day water gun fights and kick the can contests at dark, were canoe treks up the river and fishing for bullheads from its banks. As angling became more of the focus in my life, we’d seek out the shade under the trees upriver casting after smallies and […]
Our Outdoors: A Second for Sauger
By Nick Simonson When it comes to fishing, I’m a fan of second fiddles, the underappreciated, those that don’t take the top spot when it relates to what many people target on the water. I revel in the solid smack delivered by a rock bass as it steals a jig meant for a smallmouth, or when a white bass snatches a spoon cast out for a pike. Many times, the action these secondary species provide is enough for me to switch up my offering, and even downsize my rod, to continue pursuing them when they’re abundant and willing to bite. […]
Our Outdoors: A Season Saved
By Nick Simonson I’m a firm believer that a quick trip to the water is better than no trip at all. One jaunt in the uplands, even in the middle of the afternoon well ahead of the witching hour, can still produce plenty of excitement. Even a short sit on stand in the fall to watch the sunrise and the first few deer filter in and out of the draw produces memories. A full life, and memorable outdoor activity, requires making the most of what you’ve got with the time allotted. It was a lesson hammered home again this season […]
