DNR reports perfect hunter safety record in ’04
DNR Fisheries drops proposed bass regulation for Namakan Reservoir
DNR announces walleye regulation changes for some Itasca County lakes
Some restaurants may not be serving walleye as marketed
At age 96, Backus man is still hunting
DNR
reports perfect hunter safety record in ’04
Hunting
continues to get safer in Minnesota
DNR Reports
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported a perfect hunter
safety record in 2004.
For the second time in six years, there were no fatalities during small game,
big game, waterfowl, wild turkey and prairie chicken hunting seasons in the
state. Only a dozen non-fatal hunting-related accidents occurred this year,
a 50 percent reduction compared with last year.
A DNR official says safety is very important to Minnesota hunters.
“Hunting is one of the most valued traditions in Minnesota and is safer
than ever, thanks in large part to the DNR’s hunter education programs,”
said Captain Mike Hammer, DNR Enforcement education program coordinator.
Through these programs, 3,500 volunteer instructors have taught nearly one
million hunters how to properly handle a firearm, outdoor survival skills and
Minnesota’s basic hunting safety laws.
Those safety laws require all hunters born after Dec. 31, 1979 to take a DNR
firearm safety training class, emphasize the importance of wearing blaze orange
and prohibit hunters from having a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle.
As a result of these laws and others, the number of hunting accidents has decreased
considerably since firearm safety training was mandated in 1955. In the 1960s,
for example, Minnesota averaged 14 hunting fatalities per year and 110 non-fatal
accidents. In the past 10 years, hunting accidents dropped to two fatalities
and 35 non-fatal accidents annually.
The DNR sold more than 500,000 hunting licenses in 2004, resulting in millions
of hunter recreation days across the state. Conservation officers said fewer
and fewer hunting incidents occur each year, which is a strong indication that
the state’s hunter education programs, including youth firearms safety,
advanced hunter education, Minnesota bowhunter education, as well as bear, turkey
and deer hunting clinics, are working.
“While we hate to see any incidents at all, when you compare the number
of hunters and the amount of time they spend in the field with no fatalities
and a dozen non-fatal incidents, it tells us that we are getting through to
hunters with our safety message,” said DNR Chief Conservation Officer Mike
Hamm. “Because of the quality of our programs and commitment of our volunteer
instructors, we are confident that the trend of fewer incidents will continue
into the future.”
The DNR is always looking for experienced hunters to pass on the tradition
of hunting safety and responsibility to the next generation. If you are interested
in joining DNR in this rewarding volunteer activity, call 1-800-366-8917 for
information on becoming an instructor, or visit the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us
“These people dedicate their personal time to teach the skills of safe and responsible hunting to help make the sport safer,” Hamm said. As a result of hunter education courses, hunting today is safer than many outdoor activities. Based on the number of people seeking emergency-room treatment for sports injuries, The National Safety Council reports that hunting has fewer injuries per 100,000 people participating than football, baseball, cycling, volleyball, swimming, golf, tennis, fishing, bowling, badminton, billiards and ping-pong.
DNR
Fisheries drops proposed bass regulation for Namakan Reservoir
The International Falls Area Fisheries office announced Wednesday,
Dec. 1 that it would not implement a protective size regulation for bass on
Namakan Reservoir due to lack of support from the public.
A 12-inch maximum size limit for largemouth and smallmouth bass
was proposed for Kabetogama, Namakan, Sand Point, Crane and Little Vermilion
lakes. The proposal was aimed at maintaining and improving the quality bass
fishery that currently exists on these lakes. Although many anglers currently
practice voluntary catch and release, bass harvest has been increasing. Increased
harvest could eventually reduce the size of fish available to anglers, with
fewer opportunities to encounter trophy-sized bass.
The Namakan Reservoir proposal was part of a statewide initiative
to maintain and improve Minnesota’s walleye, bass, crappie and sunfish
populations through a simplified set of possession limits and length-based regulations.
The decision to drop the Namakan Reservoir proposal followed a year of discussions
with stakeholders and a public meeting in Orr in September.
Although some anglers favored increased protection for bass in
the Reservoir, most of those who participated in the public input process were
opposed to the proposal. Some felt the proposed regulation was too restrictive,
while others were afraid that maintaining a quality bass fishery would have
a negative affect on the walleye population. Quality bass fisheries have never
been demonstrated to negatively affect walleye populations.
Kevin Peterson, Area Fisheries Supervisor at International Falls said, “This isn’t a conservation issue; it’s a question of what kind of bass fishery anglers want.” Peterson went on to say, “It seems that most anglers are satisfied with the bass fishery that currently exists, and there is little interest in taking a conservative approach to managing this bass fishery. Therefore, we decided to drop the proposal.”
DNR
announces walleye regulation changes for some Itasca County lakes
The Grand Rapids Area Fisheries office announced on Monday, Dec. 6 the decision
to implement walleye harvest regulations on seven lakes throughout Itasca County.
“Public support for the 17- to 26-inch protected slot on Swan, Splithand,
Trout (near Coleraine), Moose (near Deer River), Round (near
Squaw Lake), Deer/Battle/Pickerel (near Effie), and Island (near
Northome) was very good so we decided to implement the regulation beginning
on May 14, 2005,” said Chris Kavanaugh, Area Fisheries Supervisor. “For
Sand, Bowstring and Jessie there was a lack of support so the regulation
will not be implemented at this time.”
These proposals were part of a statewide initiative to maintain and improve
recreational fisheries using a “tool-box” of simplified regulation
options. The decision to implement or drop the proposals was based on comments
received between May and early October, and two public meetings held in September.
Signs were posted at access points and at resorts informing anglers of the
proposals and requesting comments. “We asked anglers what they thought
about the proposals,” said Kavanaugh, “and 528 people responded with
calls, letters, or e-mails. Additionally, 67 people came to the public meetings
and made comments.”
The comments represent a diverse group of individual anglers. For most lakes
anglers supported the regulation because they have seen the benefits at Winnibigoshish
and other regulated waters and they felt we needed to do something to conserve
or improve these fisheries. Comments in opposition were generally related to
the feeling that this proposal was too restrictive, catered to some other group
of anglers, or they felt it wasn’t necessary.
Signs will be posted at the accesses on lakes reminding anglers of the change.
“We will step up our monitoring efforts on those lakes to keep track of
changes in the fish population in order to assess the effectiveness of the regulation,”
said Kavanaugh.
Sand, Bowstring, and Jessie will also be monitored regularly to see if any
changes are noted there as well.
For more information on the regulation changes please feel free to contact the Grand Rapids Area Fisheries Office at 1201 E. Highway 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744, (218) 327-4430 or e-mail chris.kavanaugh@dnr.state.mn.us.
Some
restaurants may not be serving walleye as marketed
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Some Twin Cities restaurants that list walleye on their
menus may be pulling a bait and switch on their customers.
Instead of serving walleye, a handful of restaurants are serving up a related
fish species from eastern Europe called zander, according to an investigation
by KARE television.
In recent weeks, television station employees ordered walleye at more than
a dozen restaurants in the Twin Cities, and samples of those meals were shipped
to a private laboratory in New York for DNA testing.
The tests showed that the “Beer Battered Walleye” on the menu at
Spectators Grille & Bar in Savage was really zander. The “Northwoods
Walleye” at the Sunshine Factory Restaurant and Bistro in New Hope was
zander. And Maynard’s Restaurant in Excelsior, which advertises walleye
as its specialty, also served up zander.
And the list goes on.
Some of the restaurants said they thought they were purchasing walleye from
their distributors. But others say money may be an explanation, as zander is
cheaper than walleye.
“I can understand the incentive, but I don’t agree with it,”
said Brad Rebers, a manager at Tavern on Grand in St. Paul. DNA tests showed
the walleye a KARE employee ordered there was the real thing.
Tavern on Grand sells 50,000 pounds of walleye a year. Based on walleye and
zander prices quoted by a Minneapolis fish distributor, Tavern on Grand could
save $2 per pound by switching to zander, for a potential savings of $100,000
per year.
But Rebers said he wouldn’t do it.
“I think you jeopardize your business in the long run if you do that,”
he said.
Walleye produces income for a thousand commercial fishermen on Canada’s
Lake Winnipeg, and Minnesota consumes more walleye than any other state, KARE
reported last week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said such “species substitution”
is against the law.
The FDA publishes a list of acceptable market names for fish sold in the United
States. Walleye, for example, can be legally sold as walleye or walleye pike.
But the FDA does not allow zander to be sold as walleye.
Andrew Simons, the curator of fishes at the Bell Museum of Natural History
at the University of Minnesota, said the lineage that led to the walleye and
the lineage that led to the zander split about 12 million years ago.
“They are definitely different species,” he said.
Other places where advertised walleye turned out to be zander: Majors Sports
Cafe in Woodbury; Jake’s Sports Cafe in Crystal; and the St. Croix Casino
in Turtle Lake, Wis.
Ryan Wentz, a vice president for the Majors and Spectators restaurant chains,
said his chef purchased walleye only after being assured by a distributor that
it was European walleye.
Wentz said his company feels it was misled and said, “if we had known, we wouldn’t have purchased it.”
The Majors and Spectators chain has since made sure it is purchasing only walleye.
Other restaurants also claimed they were misled.
But some food distributors denied wrongdoing.
Jim Walstrom, the president of Morey’s Seafood, displayed restaurant invoices
that showed fish labeled as zander, not walleye.
“We make responsible decisions for our own business, how we market our
products,” Walstrom said. “How someone else chooses to market it is
beyond our control.”
At
age 96, Backus man is still hunting
This
fall, 28 Minnesota deer hunting licenses were issued to 90-year-olds
By Dennis Anderson
Star Tribune
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Question: How many deer-hunting licenses did the Department
of Natural Resources issue to 96-year-old Minnesotans this fall?
If your guess is “zero,” you’d be wrong – but understandably
so. Deer hunting, after all, though enjoyable, often is no walk in the park:
Temperatures during the season are low. Distances that must be traveled can
be long. And snow sometimes is deep.
For those reasons and others, even ardent hunters often hang up their guns
in their 70s. Fewer still are hunting in their 80s. And only a relative handful
of hunters are in the field at age 90 and beyond.
Still, four 96-year-old Minnesotans purchased hunting licenses this fall: LeRoy
Tilbury of Backus, Edward Schoenborn of Mahnomen, Alvin Holmberg of Willmar
and Gunnar Erickson of Grand Marais.
A fifth deer hunter, John Trebnick, of Bovey won’t be 96 until Dec. 26.
In all, 28 deer hunting licenses were issued in Minnesota this fall to hunters
90 years of age and older, according to DNR records. Included were two 93-year-old
women, Myrtie Hunt of Bemidji and Gladys Prussia of Twin Valley.
Of these, Tilbury is the patriarch – the oldest deer hunter in the state.
Born Feb. 23, 1908, during what he recalls today as “the winter of the
blue snow,” Tilbury, amazingly, does not wear glasses – nor has he
ever. “I can read the newspaper or shoot a rifle at a target 100 yards
away without them,” he said.
And, yes, Tilbury did shoot a buck this fall, felling the animal with his pump
action Remington .270. The deer was not big, but has been a good eater, Tilbury
said, and was an animal he skinned and butchered himself.
“Venison and moose are my favorites to eat,” he said.
Tilbury lives alone outside of Backus in north-central Minnesota on a parcel
just shy of 30 acres. His wife of 52 years has been dead about two decades.
They had nine sons and two daughters, some of whom live nearby.
Tilbury, however, a former “logger and saw-miller” who has hunted
a lot of game in many different places, relies largely on himself.
“I only own 27 acres now,” he said. “But I used to own four
40s. I bought some of that land for $2 to $4 an acre. I’m sorry I ever
sold any of it. If I hadn’t, I’d be rich today.”
Tilbury’s parents were born in Iowa, and after moving north, his father
supported his family by working in the woods.
Come autumn, as a boy, LeRoy accompanied his father to hunt deer. When he was
“13 or 14,” the younger Tilbury killed two deer in one season –
until recently one of the few years in his life, he said, that was legal.
“Having game to eat was important to our family when I was young,”
Tilbury said. “But even as a boy, we were lawful. We respected game laws.”
Tilbury’s work as a timberman took him west in 1938, to California, where
– regrettably to him – he cut the giant redwoods.
“Those were beautiful trees and it was a shame to cut them,” he said.
“I was out there for about three years, maybe a little more. I also hunted
that country for deer and elk.”
Timber cutting later took Tilbury to Oregon and Montana, where he also hunted.
He also has traveled to Florida, Mexico, Texas and Canada seeking game. Asked
why he still hunts, Tilbury speaks first of his love of venison. But there’s
more.
“To be in the woods and feel free, that’s it,” he said. “That’s
what I love about deer hunting.
“When you’re in the woods, you go by the rules of nature and the
game laws. You have to have steady nerves. If you see a deer that isn’t
legal, you leave it. But if you see a legal deer, well, that’s the point.”
Tilbury is unsure why he has lived so long. Nothing about his personal habits
or practices, he said, would suggest he might live to see 100 years of age or
beyond.
“It’s a gift of God, I guess,” he said. “He’s got
control, I always figure. When He says you’ve lived long enough, that’s
it. You take two guys and they’re both healthy, and one guy makes it to
100, but the other only lives to 25. Why that is, I don’t know. I just
think you’re born and your days are numbered.”
Possible as it is that Tilbury has another deer season in him, and perhaps
another and another still, he’ll never take a deer closer to home than
he did this year.
“I shot my deer right out the back door,” he said. “One of my
sons was here at my house, and I looked out the window and I said, ‘There’s
a deer.’ I told my son, ‘Come here and hold the door.’ I got
my gun, and that’s how I shot my deer this year, with my son holding the
door.
“Which is good, because I can’t get around like I used to.”
© 2004 Outdoor Outlines, Inc.