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