Our Outdoors

Pheasant Hunter’s Checklist By Nick Simonson The minutes are winding down to the start of a new pheasant season, and whatever the destination for Saturday’s opener might be, odds are that a good deal of gear, guns and pet equipment will be headed along for the trip.  It has been said that success is where preparation and opportunity meet, so take care of the front half now by using this list of those things which are vital to a successful pheasant hunt and expand on it as you see fit while getting ready for opening day.         […]

Our Outdoors: Inflection By Nick Simonson “To put it in perspective, we’ve harvested ten birds in the first two days of the season,” I said in response to the truck-cab recap of the first weekend of pheasant hunting, “last year, in our only walk on day four, we bagged eleven.” Our group’s total was indicative of what the North Dakota summer brood reports laid out there many weeks ago: bird numbers were down, significantly.  What’s more, nine of the ten roosters bagged in those first two days were long-spurred, fully feathered adults that had not only survived their first season, […]

Since the cold end of last year’s pheasant season, hunters have eagerly awaited opening day, and now, mere hours away from it, we’re so close we can almost hear the crackling of the dry autumn grasses underfoot and the cackling of a flushing rooster in front of a hard-charging dog.  The start of a new season, no matter the challenges hunters might be facing this year in terms of bird abundance, brings with it the hope, the rush and the ensuing memories that come with each step in the field and each bird that rises.  Converting on those early trips […]

Our Outdoors: Fall Fever By Nick Simonson She came into the north end of the field with that certain nervousness, her grey coat shivering off the dew around her hips and white-knobbed knees while she warily glanced back into the creek bottom stand of orange and yellow boxelders and ash trees on the trail behind her.  The doe’s demeanor said it all: “wait for it…he’s right behind me.” She began nibbling the emergent greens on the edge of the hay lot 80 yards from my vantage point, every so often checking behind her.  Out of sheer anticipation I clipped the […]

Our Outdoors: A New Routine By Nick Simonson Fall is a busy time.  Even more so if you’re a hunter ready to hit the field after several months off, or an angler looking to squeeze in a few last trips on the water before the season’s chill locks things away until next spring. On top of that, there is a return to school, Friday night lights, practices, and seasonal routine of sorts that is anything but.  This fall – and particularly in the warmth of Sunday’s shift in the weather – I found myself in a familiar setting, falling back […]

Our Outdoors: How to Help Habitat Now By Nick Simonson Numbers are down across the board for pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge in the upper Midwest.  In states like North Dakota and Montana, it was the persistent drought this summer which hurt hatching chicks straight out of the egg.  In Minnesota, a rainy spring in the state’s pheasant belt prevented a successful nesting season. A mix of those conditions at the midway point in South Dakota did the damage in that state.  However, above and beyond the uncontrollable weather elements experienced across the region this year, no one factor […]

Our Outdoors: Sense of the Hunt By Nick Simonson Amid on-again-off-again training for an upcoming half marathon (which will be run at a leisurely pace this year, I can assure you) I found myself headed to the stand in the white glow of my LED headlamp for the opening of North Dakota’s deer archery season.  Stiffness in my legs and left hip – a new trouble spot as I approach middle age, and vividly recall the moment of cause from my younger years – were evident as I climbed up and settled in on the small camo seat on a […]

Our Outdoors: Safe & Successful By Nick Simonson A safe hunt is a successful hunt.  Every time you ascend the stand, set foot into the grass, or toss out a spread of decoys should end with a safe descent, a return to the truck and a retrieval of those ducks – both fake and real.  The quarry means less than the memories of wildlife at sunrise, time with friends and family or the adrenaline of a flushing or approaching animal.  Safety is something that can’t be belabored and should be second nature, but with time and the excitement of approaching […]

Our Outdoors: A Summer Disappearing Act By Nick Simonson “Hey Nick, what are we going to catch,” asked Rylyn, the oldest son of my wife’s cousin, as we made our way out to the dock. “Ninety-nine percent bluegills,” I replied as his brother Radlee and father Chase made their way behind us, trailed closely by my son AJ. Unsealing the red top of the dozen crawlers purchased the night before from the baitshop on the other side of the lake, I sat on the still-warm metal of the dock that had baked all day in the sun, which was setting […]