Articles

Duluth area building a mountain bike mecca

Mountain bikers in the Duluth area will see a flurry of trail-building this summer as Duluth forges ahead in its goal to become a premier trail city.

• Mountain biker

Northland anglers, bait shop owners concerned about new minnow-harvesting ban

Spottail shiners, a favorite early season bait for anglers on Lake Winnibigoshish and other lakes, could be in short supply this year as the result of a new minnow-harvesting ban starting next month.

• Spottail shiner
• Map

Field reports: Northland fishing contests begin soon

Here’s a look at some upcoming fishing contests in the Duluth area. If you have one to add to our list, e-mail the details to outdoors@duluthnews.com.

Anglers find that ice-free McQuade Safe Harbor will do — for now

Like a lot of other North Shore anglers, Justin Jokinen would rather have been knee-deep in a river, making drifts for steelhead. But on Wednesday morning, with most North Shore streams still sealed under ice and snow, Jokinen was doing the next-best thing.

• Jared Whiting and crowd
• Photo gallery: Fishing at McQuade

St. Louis River anglers will face new challenges this summer

As winter loosens its grasp on the St. Louis River, recreational boaters and anglers will face a new problem. Namely, how to navigate a river channel changed by last summer’s flooding without the aid of navigational buoys upriver from Spirit Lake.

Birds killed after hitting windows in downtown Duluth

Two off-course flights into downtown buildings this week resulted in the deaths of almost 30 Bohemian waxwings and the injury of several others.

• Bohemian waxwings
• Witness: Birds fell like scene from horror movie

Outdoors blog: Surfers play on big waves at Stoney Point

Cold delays DNR walleye sampling, egg-taking

Fisheries biologists with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Duluth and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Superior annually sample the St. Louis River walleye population by electro-fishing above the Minnesota Highway 23 bridge in early spring. Most years, they sample about 1,000 walleyes to learn their ages and lengths. This year, DNR officials plan to sample 5,000 to 7,000 fish and do a full-fledged population estimate, said John Lindgren, fisheries specialist senior at the Minnesota DNR.

Northland anglers, wildlife caught between seasons

Anglers are getting twitchy about the fishing opener. Whitetail fawns are dying up north. Steelheaders are iced out of North Shore streams. Fisheries biologists wonder when they’ll be able to strip walleye eggs for stocking. Here’s a look at how this stubborn winter is affecting fish, wildlife and the people who pursue them.

• Angler on ice floe
• Tough winter for deer
• When will the ice go out?
• DNR may struggle to open boat launches
• Anglers could see bait shortages
• Cold delays DNR walleye sampling, egg-taking
• Average ice-out dates for some Minn. lakes
• Anglers waiting for North Shore steelhead, catching lots of Kamloops rainbow trout
• Bird migration well behind normal
• Winter, by the numbers

When will the ice go out?

With Wisconsin’s fishing opener set for May 4 and Minnesota’s for May 11, anglers are wondering whether the ice will go out in time to fish open water.

• Average ice-out dates for some Minn. lakes

Columns

Sam Cook: Tree toppling tradition takes odd turn

There are lots of ways to get your Christmas tree. You can drive to a tree farm in the country and pick out a living tree. And then there’s my friend John, whose family tradition is to go out and — this is true — shoot a Christmas tree.

• Sam Cook

Hunter’s wolf encounter persuades him not to shoot

Early this past week, I received an e-mail from a deer hunter who had a story to tell. I am acquainted with the man who wrote the e-mail, although he prefers to remain anonymous.

Embrace the dark

SAM COOK: What is it about the shrinking daylight hours that seizes us all so deeply?

• Sam Cook

Forests remind us to stand strong

SAM COOK: Early Wednesday morning, with the election in the rear-view mirror, I went to the woods. I went because I had had my fill of red and blue. I needed to somehow reaffirm that my world was still shades of green and brown and black and buff.

• Sam Cook

'Little hunt' packs big sound

SAM COOK: We come to this farm in southwestern Minnesota primarily to hunt pheasants, and shooting hours for pheasants don’t begin until 9 a.m. each day. There’s plenty of time for the little hunt before that.

• Sam Cook
• Outdoors shops help keep deer hunters shooting straight
• Who rules the roost? Wrenshall woman loses patience with pesky pheasant

Sam Cook column: October’s bluster a reminder of the way it's supposed to be in the Northland

Daylight comes grudgingly on this late October morning. A bully of a northwest wind throws rain against the windows. Forty degrees.

• Snow-flocked trees
• Up to 5 inches of snow recorded around Range

Travels impart changed world view

Sam Cook column: She had gone to Africa, to Zimbabwe in particular, to hunt. Not to hunt big game, but to hunt birds. She told me a little about the hunting, but not much. What she wanted to tell me about were the people she encountered. As she talked, she began to cry.

• Sam Cook

Sam Cook column: Gun safety should be top priority for hunters in the field

SAM COOK COLUMN: In the pitch black of a November morning, three of us were getting ready to go deer hunting. I was still inside when I heard the unmistakable sound of a rifle report just outside the house.

• Sam Cook

Leaves hold a lesson for us about letting go

SAM COOK: When I went out to feed the yellow dog one morning this week, I got sidetracked watching leaves fall. It doesn’t take much to sidetrack a simple mind.

• Sam Cook

Sam Cook column: Hunting trip made memorable by Great Plains hospitality

We met her in a convenience store where we had stopped to pick up some ice. The three of us were in new territory in northeastern Montana, hunting sharp-tailed grouse.

• Sam Cook
• Haybale camp
• Christoffersen family