MINNEAPOLIS — The increased freedom to use crossbows to hunt deer is drawing more people into the sport in Minnesota, particularly youth hunters, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

License sales data and a survey of hunters indicate that the state’s removal of restrictions around crossbows may benefit recruitment and ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — When the Minnesota pheasant season opened Saturday, some hunters were tested not only for their skills afield, but for their generosity.

If they were fortunate enough to bag a rooster or two, in some parts of the state’s pheasant range they were asked to forfeit their hard-earned bounty.

The sacrifices are for a good cause. ...Read more

MADELIA, Minn. – Jason Gordon of Caledonia, Minn., is an active upland and waterfowl hunter who favors outings close to home on the Mississippi River in the state’s southeast corner.

But to partake in Minnesota’s pheasant opener this past Saturday, he chose to drive west to a particular state Wildlife Management Area in Watonwan County, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A leading outdoors trade show that is considered a showplace for emerging gear and trends is pulling its western stakes for a new home in Minnesota.

Organizers of Outdoor Retailer (OR) said the state has several advantages as a new home: Recreation that generates billions of dollars through business and participation; a ...Read more

A fishing tournament took an odd turn in West Virginia when an angler turned to see a deer standing on his boat.

It happened Saturday, Sept. 27, on East Lynn Lake, during B.A.S.S. Nation of West Virginia’s qualifying tournament for the state championship.

“One of our anglers had a once in a lifetime experience,” the tournament reported ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A few weeks ago I proposed a Duck Summit be held this winter in Minnesota, and suggested the Department of Natural Resources lead it.

I can report now a Summit will be held, though where and when haven’t been decided.

I can also report the DNR, whose job it is to manage ducks and duck hunting in the state, and sell licenses ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — They dove and snorkeled in the Mercer County portion of the Shenango River the second week of September to locate Pennsylvania's rarest endangered freshwater mussel: the round hickorynut.

They found two specimens — one live, one dead — of the plain-looking mussel species, which is round and the size of a golf ball.

"The fact...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — For duck hunters and their dogs, the first day of the season is the best time of year.

That’s because the chance to pull on waders and slog through wetlands and shallow lakes in the still-dark of early morning is an experience like few others.

Coffee is part of these good times, cup after cup, that and setting decoys, hiding ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — States like Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine have been issuing eating advisories relating to contaminants in wild game, but Minnesota — where similar results have been found — has not.

While the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) provides guidelines for eating fish, it doesn’t have enough resources to consider other game.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s wildlife agency took in more than 160,000 requests to participate in its upcoming black bear hunt, the state’s first in a decade, but many appear to have been submitted by conservationists who plan to sit out the event.

With the hunt capped at 172 animals, an application’s chance of winning a tag to bag a bear ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans chasing a cavalcade of seasonal colors often parade at this time of year from the Twin Cities to Duluth and from there farther north along the Lake Superior shoreline. Alternatively they divert at Moose Lake or Cloquet and angle toward Grand Rapids or perhaps continue to Ely or International Falls.

What’s missed in...Read more

DENVER — The two elk hunters found dead last week in southern Colorado were killed by lightning, according to the Conejos County coroner.

Andrew Porter, 25, of Asheville, N.C., and Ian Stasko, 25, of Salt Lake City, went missing on a hunting trip near the Colorado-New Mexico border in the Rio Grande National Forest. They were last heard from ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Geoff Smith, a biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), unfurled a weighted seine and plunged it into the water last Monday at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.

Smith and two other PFBC scientists dragged the net through the shallows of the Heinz impoundment, a sprawling wetland in Philly fed by Darby...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Carson Wentz might be the only quarterback in the NFL who tosses a football with his right arm but shoots a bow with his left.

Granted, very few archers sling a football for a living.

But the right-arm, left-arm switcheroo is a head-scratcher nevertheless, and prompts a question: Is the recently acquired Vikings backup ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Birds descend from the sky at dawn to take a break after their red-eye flight migrating south.

Where do they get breakfast and other meals to refuel for their journeys south, with some flying thousands of miles to reach their wintering grounds in South America?

During fall migration, Hays Woods, Pittsburgh's newest park, hosts ...Read more