January offers plenty for the outdoors enthusiast

The next few months offer some opportunity for outdoors adventures. Whether you are an avid fisherman or a hunter, there are plenty of opportunities to do both. The ice is good on the area lakes, and I have seen a few “permanent” houses on Fountain Lake, along with some portable ones. I haven’t heard much about the catching so far, but early-on they were catching fish. My Grandson Trevor has not been on the ice as much as in past years, but I am sure he will be getting in the groove again. He has been going to Red Wing, fishing open water for Walleye. One Saturday he took his dog and went there a week before Christmas and caught 50 walleyes. My wife noticed in the video he had a counter and had clicked off the number. He didn’t keep any fish, but he just caught and released. The kid definitely knows how to catch fish!

If you have a youth who has taken the firearms safety class, the small game season is on until 02-28-25. Whether its mourning dove, squirrel or rabbit, getting started small game hunting is literally a walk through field and forest. It's a great way to learn as you observe your surroundings and what happens around you.

As a youth I didn’t have to take a firearms safety course. I just went out in the slough and walked it. We still had pheasant and waterfowl seasons, but I never hunted waterfowl. Squirrels, rabbits, and pheasants were much more plentiful back then. Those were fun times, and you didn’t ask permission to hunt because you knew the farmer, and we treated the landowner’s property with respect, which goes a long way.

One thing that winter does for me is it helps me anticipate the spring and warmer weather. I do enjoy sitting in a warm house while watching the birds at the feeder, and I also like to watch the squirrels and rabbits in the yard. I don’t believe that the rabbits are quite as abundant as in past years, but that may have something to do with all the cats that are allowed to roam the neighborhood.

You don’t have to leave the city to observe wildlife. One evening I arrived home after dark and spotted an animal trotting across my driveway. I quickly recognized that it was a coyote right here in my yard. This made me realize that these animals are getting more used to interacting with humans. Even though I thought that this was cool, I realized that it wasn’t a good sign. Two years ago, my wife spotted two deer walking down the street in front of our house. The next day she told me to look out the deck door at the fence between the neighbor’s house and our back yard. There was a hen turkey walking on the fence. After a few minutes, I spotted the turkey heading across the street with about seven little ones following her. This was a year for the books as far as wildlife goes. It was a wonderful day in the neighborhood!

Until next time: With the lack of snow and cooler temperatures, it is a good time to head to the State Park. You can take a nice walk and also see wildlife. There are not only deer and other furbearers to see, but also eagles, hawks and other birds so be seen.

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.