SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After three years of closure, recreational fishers and local fishing guides welcomed the return of salmon fishing Thursday on the Sacramento River and in the Klamath River Basin.

“This year they bumped the limit to two per person, so I think it’s gonna be good,” said Austin Wilson, a year-round fishing guide who ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — One day a long, long time ago — in 2013 — Madison Grimm, then 6 years old, and her parents, Adam and Janet, were working in their garden at their home near Vermillion, S.D.

“That’s when our phone rang,” Madison said. “It was a friend who said my painting was among the top 10 in the national Junior Duck Stamp Art ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you point a flashlight into the waters of Lake Gaston after dark, you may see “glowing eyes staring back at you,” according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

That would be the walleye, an ambush predator known to have very sharp “canine teeth.”

Stranger still is the fact these non-native fish ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Whether catching bad guys is tougher than catching walleyes, perhaps only Tom Neustrom knew. But for sure different equipment was needed.

As an undercover narcotics cop in Chicago, Tom drove a van with a carpeted ceiling. Also he sported an Afro-style hairdo, and for bling, he swung gold chains around his neck.

Years later as a...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California wildlife officials have begun authorizing sheriffs in the state’s northern rangeland to use rubber bullets, paintballs, pepper balls and other injury-causing harassment methods against wolves, and are working on a plan to allow ranchers to use some of the same techniques.

The authorizations mark a significant...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — In 1955, the first year a hunting education and firearms safety program was offered in Minnesota, kids who took the classes were expected to show up for instruction in person — and perhaps bring a gun with them.

Breckan Nelson, 13, of Lakeville, took a different approach to graduate from the Department of Natural Resources’ ...Read more

SEATTLE — Summer crabbing season started Thursday. But while the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says it should be a similar season to last year’s, there are a few things that have already made this season unique.

From locational harvesting times and poisoned shellfish to tagged crabs and smuggled crustaceans, here are some key ...Read more

WANCHESE, N.C. — On a late March morning, barrels full of slippery bluefish straight off the boat glistened in the sun at O’Neal’s Sea Harvest in Wanchese. Within hours, the fresh catch would be shipped to seafood markets stretching from Canada to Louisiana.

“You try to get it in and out as quick as you can because it’s perishable,”...Read more