N.D. Game and Fish gathers fish eggs for hatchery

05/14/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota Game and Fish Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife crews recently completed gathering eggs from northern pike and walleye for hatchery operations, according to a press release from game and fish. The weather this spring caused mixed results in the quality of the eggs gathered.

Stretch of river reopened to paddlefishing

05/10/2008 12:00 AM
A stretch of the Yellowstone River in northwestern North Dakota has been reopened to paddlefishing after an investigation into what was believed to be human hair. An angler found what seemed to be a clump of hair when he pulled his snagging rig from the river on Monday, McKenzie County Sheriff Ron Rankin said.

Policymakers must learn wetlands importance

05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Prior to white settlement, our nation’s lower 48 states boasted more than 200 million acres of wetlands. Since then, we¹ve lost roughly half of them. It’s not surprising, really. Even up into the early 1900s, wetlands — from large swamps to playa lakes to bogs to prairie potholes‹were considered little more than watery wastelands, irritations that thwarted “progress” and hindered development and agricultural productivity.

Get out and see wilderness

05/09/2008 12:00 AM
I worked in Cheyenne, Wyo., for a number of years with a woman named Helen who was an adventurous sort, but who once admitted to me that while she lived her entire life in Wyoming she had never visited Yellowstone National Park!

Dakota Recreation Report for May 9, 2008

05/09/2008 12:00 AM

Jigs for early season walleyes

05/09/2008 12:00 AM
When it comes to catching walleyes early in the fishing season, it’s really tough to beat a jig. Other presentations can provide success, but if you told many of the best walleye catchers in the Midwest they could only use one presentation for walleyes this time of year, most of them would reach for their jig box. Here’s how you can catch more walleyes on jigs in the next few weeks.

Boats must display orange decals

05/09/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota boats displaying a green registration decal have an expired license. The current registration, which runs from Jan. 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2010, is an orange decal. All boat registrations with a green decal expired Dec. 31, 2007.

Survey shows healthy sheep population

05/09/2008 12:00 AM
Western North Dakota’s bighorn sheep population is in good shape, based on observations during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s bighorn sheep survey in March. Biologists counted 282 bighorn sheep — 93 rams, 147 ewes and 42 lambs. This year’s total represents a nine-percent increase from 2007.

Clean-burning outboard motors help environment

05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Angers are some of the most environmentally-conscious people on the planet. That’s because they understand the link between proper land and water stewardship and their fortunes as anglers.

Hunting costs going crazy

05/02/2008 12:00 AM
Sometimes when I examine catalogs that arrive in the mail or check websites for hunting and fishing trip costs I feel like Rip Van Winkle. The prices are incredible!

Fishing league set to start on May 6

05/02/2008 12:00 AM

Jamestown Sun Dakota Recreation Report for May 2, 2008

05/02/2008 12:00 AM

Deer hunting around the corner

05/02/2008 12:00 AM
North Dakota’s deer gun season doesn’t begin until Nov. 7, and applications aren’t even due until June 4. So why I’m a thinking about deer already? The reason is because in the last few weeks Game and Fish Department biologists have summarized last fall’s harvest numbers, which provide significant direction toward setting the 2008 season. It’s pretty basic math. If hunters were not as successful as in previous years, something contributed to that lower harvest. It’s a basic follow up question asked by not only hunters but wildlife managers too.

Fishing things to try this year

05/02/2008 12:00 AM
The arrival of another fishing season brings optimism and excitement. Anglers spend the months reading fishing articles, watching fishing shows and attending fishing seminars. At the beginning of the fishing season they have all sorts of new ideas and pieces of fishing equipment that they want to try out. Here are some ideas for new things you might want to try this year.

Night fishing

Forum Communications Co.
As the clock strikes midnight, some anglers open the Minnesota fishing season long before the sun rises
Otter Tail Lake, Minn. - Fishermen of all kinds were in the dark before the sun rose Saturday.

Keep it simple for Minnesota opener

Forum Communications Co.
Less is better. That’s the advice professional fishing guide Ross Hagemeister (pictured right) offers for the novice or occasional anglers who plan to cast a line during Saturday’s Minnesota fishing opener.

Photo of the week

Forum Communications Co.
Rick Bohn of Woodworth, N.D., photographed this pintail duck April 20 while he took a break taking pictures of shaptail grouse from his blind southeast of Woodworth.

Deer ticks

Tick-borne ailments up in Minn.

Associated Press
Deer ticks that cause Lyme disease and other ailments are moving north and west in Minnesota, and health officials say people should be on the lookout for the tiny critters now that spring is here.

Camouflage

Boy’s death reminder for hunter safety

Associated Press
Being a sportsman himself, Tom Conroy understands the excitement and pounding pulse hunters feel when they finally find the prey they’re pursuing within the sights of their guns.

Male sage grouse

Sage grouse numbers at record low in N.D.

Associated Press
A record-low number of male sage grouse counted on strutting grounds in North Dakota this spring has prompted state biologists to call for no hunting season for the first time in 45 years.