A drive in the country brings back memories

This last Saturday we took a drive to my grandson Dylan’s mom and stepdad’s place to celebrate Dylan and Kloe’s baby shower. It was a rainy day, but that didn’t stop it from being a fun day. Our great granddaughter, Avery, was busy enjoying the festivities. She is a little “spitfire,” and she was running around greeting everyone. She took my son Brad’s daughters (her cousins) by the hand and led them around the place. Emma and Ava seemed to enjoy that she was doing. It was fun watching the future generations of our family in action.

 

While we were driving back, I talked with my son, Brad, about the years that he lived in Bricelyn and how much I enjoyed driving over and visiting him when he lived there. He said that he too had always enjoyed the drive to Albert Lea, especially the gravel roads. I always liked the drive east that took me over what locals called Kiester Mountain. When you got on top of that hill you could literally see for miles. With little or no traffic, I would stop at the top and just take in the view.

 

I am not sure how the deer hunters fared on the first weekend of slug season, but I did see quite a few vehicles parked alongside the road on the way to that baby shower. You do drive past a Fair amount of public land on County Road 46 on the way to Blue Earth. For a guy that no longer hunts, I still get a good feeling whenever I see a woods, CRP or WMA land. This means that the land is habitat for wildlife and WMA land is open to public hunting. In Freeborn County alone, we have eleven WMAs, and you can find them on the DNR website if you look.

 

When my grandsons, Trevor and Taylor were young aspiring outdoorsmen, I would take them to a WMA south of Twin Lakes, drop them off and come back in a couple of hours to pick them up. They were hunting waterfowl and would usually have a duck or two when I arrived. If they didn’t bag anything, they still had stories to tell. I can still hear the excitement in their voices when I first arrived there to pick them up.

 

These are some of the things that I shared with my grandsons when they were younger. My sons and I always encouraged them to explore the outdoors and take in any opportunity to better their knowledge of the outdoors experience. As I have said many times, our youth are the future of our outdoors heritage.

 

Until next time: Deer harvest numbers available online: People who are interested in deer harvest data can find current harvest data and past harvest reports on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ deer reports and statistics webpage (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/deer/management/statistics.html). The page also features an interactive map and graph that visualize the data.

 

In Minnesota, archery deer season began Sept. 14 and continues through Tuesday, Dec. 31. Firearms “A” deer season began Saturday, Nov. 9, with various closing dates depending on a hunter’s Deer Permit Area. Muzzleloader season begins Saturday, Nov. 30, and continues through Sunday, Dec. 15.

 

I want to thank my fellow veterans for their service to our country.

 

Please show your support for our troops who are now deployed. These service men and women are making that sacrifice, so that we may have the many freedoms that we enjoy today.