Our Outdoors: An Early Take
By Nick Simonson It’s played out in a similar fashion over the past several hunts, an early-flushing rooster pheasant rises unexpectedly at the start of a walk, cackling into the air with wings whirring, shocking me into shooting mode. In the slightly warmer days that have passed into the recent history of this year’s hunting season, I’ve found my success as I’ve set into the field, picking up one or two birds in those transition areas between the deep, frozen sloughs which usually provide cover for pheasants this time of year and the light grass along the harvested edges and […]
Our Outdoors: Merry & Bright
By Nick Simonson First ice often brings with it some of the fastest fishing of the year. Whether it’s panfish, walleyes or pike, many species still have that late-fall feedbag on as the hardwater season starts and they’ll aggressively take after spoons, jigs and active offerings that catch their attention. With those first careful steps onto this winter’s early ice, take an assortment of bright and flashy lures to draw fish in, while cycling through confidence colors and brighter offerings that might get their cues from a more natural prey item. Flash & Flicker Each lake seems to have a […]
Our Outdoors: Signs of Weakness
By Nick Simonson Every year about this time there are stories in the headlines that have most people shaking their heads. A truck goes through the ice, a towable shack house sinks during an untimely warm-up, or an angler unfamiliar with the elements of a body of water finds himself in trouble. While most of the time the loss is just property, sometimes the end results are much more tragic when sportsmen test the limits of early ice in order to say they were the first ones out there or to get on a hot bite. Knowing those things that […]
Our Outdoors: The Winter Hunt
By Nick Simonson The overnight snows that clipped southern Minnesota turned the beige and black harvested landscape into a winter wonderland with a white blanket nearly half a foot deep. In seasons past, when I played host and my friends would visit me on the post-Thanksgiving weekend, it was almost a certainty that the season’s first big snow would hit the areas in and around Lyon County in that two day stretch to set the stage for the coming holidays and strand my buddies at my house for an extra night. Thus, it was not unexpected as I traveled to […]
Our Outdoors: All Good Things
By Nick Simonson Welcome to the final stretch of hunting season. By this time, boot leather should be well worn, blaze orange faded to a dull peach, and that reliable camouflage coat covered in mud, spilled coffee and other stains that evidence a successful go of things thus far. So it is at this time of year for me, with each step in the field or sit on stand, I find myself going over the items that need to be fixed or replaced in the upcoming off season, and like Kramer from that Seinfeld episode where he test drives the […]
Our Outdoors: The Hottest Stuff on Ice 2018-2019
By Nick Simonson From the first of these annual columns nearly fifteen years ago, the ice fishing market has burgeoned into the billions of dollars. From coast to coast across the ice belt, sales of shelters, augers and electronics has grown to rival the open water angling gear market in those areas and options have expanded season after season to provide the most cutting-edge technology, from buzzing blades to thumping jigs. What follows are the advancements that will once again be heating up the hardwater this winter and spurring anglers on to good fishing in the coming months as the […]
Our Outdoors: Looking Up
By Nick Simonson More than a decade ago, I was introduced to still hunting for deer by a co-worker, Gene, before I married and moved away from my hometown. Being a new deer hunter at the time, I was beyond the edge of my ability with the more experienced sportsmen in my usual group of hunting buddies and had grown increasingly frustrated with my early experiences and my inability to keep up with the running deer we pushed in our drives. For me, it bothered me to the point I considered not deer hunting at all. With that sentiment issued […]
Our Outdoors: What You Don’t See
By Nick Simonson The flash of white caught my attention, as two yearling does bounded off into the grass on the south side of the small stretch of hayland I was bowhunting. I quickly replayed all the factors in my head. Did I move? Not more than normal. Was it the wind? No, blowing lightly into the northwest. Did I make a noise? No, all conversations were in my head leading up to the moment. What was it then? A minute later I got my answer, as a larger deer emerged from the far side of the grass and scrub […]
Our Outdoors: In the Margins
By Nick Simonson For a pheasant hunter, or any upland hunter for that matter, areas of marginal land are spaces that must be explored. Small pocket sloughs in the middle of a cut field, grassy ridges that rise out of row crops, or brushy draws and hollows that are tough to access all hold birds. Even extra-wide fencelines and shelterbelts with grass growing around them can provide enough of a running area for pheasants on the move in front of a dog. Targeting these small spaces can produce exciting flushes and fast action, and what follows are tips for finding […]