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Best times for anglers

Sports / Outdoors /

(Table for Feb. 9-Feb. 23)

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

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Sunday………............10:05 p.m........………...................................................10:35 a.m.

...Read more

Julie Feinstein/Dreamstime/TNS

Pittsburgh's Christmas bird count sets records for counters and feathered friends

Sports / Outdoors /

PITTSBURGH — A record-breaking number of volunteer watchers tallied the most species ever in December for the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count in Pittsburgh.

"With 209 people and a balmy 65-degree day, we blew the doors off our species record," said Brian Shema, operations manager for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Dennis Anderson: At DNR, Dave Trauba, a prairie guy, now oversees wildlife throughout Minnesota

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Longtime Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager Dave Trauba was appointed Jan. 15 to lead the agency’s Wildlife Section, overseeing species as diverse as mallards and mink, moose and mourning doves.

Trauba had been appointed interim Wildlife Section manager in July 2024, replacing Kelly Straka, who was promoted to ...Read more

Sophia Bolivar/Miami Herald/TNS

A cop peeked into a Florida man's fishing bucket and found a gator. Here's what happened.

Sports / Outdoors /

MIAMI — A Hollywood, Fla., man was arrested last week after Florida wildlife police say they caught him with a live baby alligator when officers checked his fishing bucket in Monroe County.

The small reptile was found by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission police officer during a check on Loop Road in mainland Monroe County ...Read more

Amy Lutz/Dreamstime/TNS

Bird flu kills 5,000 snow geese in Northampton and snowy owl in NW Pa.

Sports / Outdoors /

PITTSBURGH — A resurgence of the avian bird flu recently killed an estimated 5,000 snow geese in Northampton County in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is impacting more wild birds in other parts of the state. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is urging the public to report sick and dead birds, said Travis Lau...Read more

David Joles/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Dennis Anderson: Wolves more likely to be delisted under Trump, but whether deer numbers increase is uncertain

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump didn’t mention wolves in his inauguration speech last Monday. But that doesn’t mean change isn’t coming in the way these apex predators are managed.

With the help of the Republican-controlled Congress, such a change is possible, if not probable. Whether deer numbers in northern Minnesota increase as ...Read more

Joey McLeister/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

DNR expands fight against CWD after the deer disease crops up in Hennepin and Clay counties

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s fight against chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer has expanded following confirmed infections near Greenfield in western Hennepin County and Hawley in Clay County, which borders Fargo, N.D.

The positive test results were detected in antlered bucks harvested by hunters during the firearms season. The two findings ...Read more

Best times for anglers

Sports / Outdoors /

(Table for Feb. 2-Feb. 16)

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

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Sunday……….............3:40 p.m......………………….............................................4:05 a.m....Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Jaclyn Cosgrove: These 28 hiking trails burned in the Palisades fire

Sports / Outdoors /

LOS ANGELES — Since the Palisades Fire broke out on Jan. 7, it has burned almost 24,000 acres through Pacific Palisades and several neighborhoods along Pacific Coast Highway. Many of those acres were populated by homes, and other popular hiking trails throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters continue to make progress on ...Read more

Dennis Anderson/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Dennis Anderson: Pheasants, ducks, butterflies: Their chances -- and yours -- improve 80 acres at a time

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Radiologists can look at an X-ray and determine fairly quickly whether the image they’re seeing is of a healthy person, or a sick one.

Similarly, hunters and other conservationists can examine the photograph accompanying this column — which I took after a recent late-season pheasant hunt — and assess the health of the land...Read more

Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Ice fishing is hot in Minnesota this winter, thanks to the cold

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota fishing license sales have been fast and furious since Thanksgiving, popping at a rate not seen in more than a decade as ice fishing makes a comeback after two difficult years.

For the six-week period between Nov. 28 and Jan. 13, anglers purchased 56,500 licenses from the Department of Natural Resources. That’s the ...Read more

Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Divided Minnesota? Not when it comes to outdoors and lottery money.

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans are politically divided on a lot of issues, but clearly not when it comes to investing state lottery proceeds in the outdoors.

Voters set a record Nov. 5 in approving the ballot question extending dedication of lottery proceeds to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. It sailed with 2,526,205 “yes” ...Read more

Best times for anglers

Sports / Outdoors /

(Table for Jan. 26-Feb. 9)

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

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Sunday.….................9:25 a.m......………………….…….......................................9:55 p.m....Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Snowy owl influx excites birders, keeps MSP airport officials on alert

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — An irregular but popular winter visitor is stirring the interest of Minnesota bird-watchers, wildlife specialists and even the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Snowy owls, which typically migrate this time of year from the Canadian Arctic to the warmer climes of Minnesota and other parts of the northern U.S., ...Read more

Best times for anglers

Sports / Outdoors /

(Table for Jan. 19-Feb. 2)

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming weeks. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones.

———

Sunday…………..........4:05 a.m........……….....................................................4:25 p.m.

...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Coyotes, more common in Pittsburgh than you might realize, saw dramatic population bumps nationwide

Sports / Outdoors /

PITTSBURGH — Maybe you heard their barks and howls or have caught a glimpse of an Eastern coyote.

In Pittsburgh, it is surprising and usually fleeting to see this slim, dog-like creature with its scruffy brown and red coloring with no distinct markings. But be aware that they can be present at any time, even if you don't see them. Coyotes, ...Read more

Aaron Lavinsky/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Dennis Anderson: The ice fishing is nice in Minnesota, for a change, but bring cleats

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — Two winters ago, Minnesota’s frozen lakes were awash in so much slush that anglers needed hip boots to venture onto ice in search of walleyes, crappies and other fish.

Thanks to unseasonably warm weather, ice fishing was a bust last winter, too. Not just for anglers. But for the scores of Minnesota bait shop owners, sporting-...Read more

Snowy owl influx excites birders, keeps MSP airport officials on alert

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — An irregular but popular winter visitor is stirring the interest of Minnesota bird-watchers, wildlife specialists and even the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Snowy owls, which typically migrate this time of year from the Canadian Arctic to the warmer climes of Minnesota and other parts of the northern U.S., ...Read more

Brian Peterson/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS

Soaring CWD numbers in southeastern Minnesota prompt DNR to stop culling deer

Sports / Outdoors /

MINNEAPOLIS — A startling increase in the prevalence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in southeastern Minnesota’s deer population has triggered a new management response from the Department of Natural Resources that might surprise hunters.

Starting immediately, the agency will end its deployment of sharpshooters in all Driftless Area ...Read more

Parin Parmar/Dreamstime/TNS

Fishermen use fruit to lure 'large' river creature and discover new species in India

Sports / Outdoors /

Fishermen baited a trap with fruit and dropped it into a river in southern India. When they hauled in their catch, they found a “large” river creature with “prominent” eyes.

It turned out to be a new species.

Scientists visited a river in Kerala in 2019 to search for black collared catfish with the help of local fishermen, according to...Read more