Mr. Anderson....

[Guest]

Is it just me or do any of you find yourself sick and tierd of Dennis Andersons "Gloom and Doom" columns?

What are your thoughts?

[Flash]

Is this the same Louisiana that Sportsmen from Minnesota bought a helicopter for to help catch the illegal shoots going on? Somehow, this helicopter crashed. Personally I think it was shot down. Now Dennis Anderson wants us to feel sorry for them. I've always said that these writers tell MN hunters to buy a license, spend a ton of money on gear, work you butt off to find a place to hunt, but whatever you do, DO NOT SHOOT ANYTHING. That way when Anderson and Schara go on the "Free" trips to Canada, Dakota's, Arkansas, etc., etc..etc., they can shoot them all. Not long ago, here in Minnesota, we couldn't shoot til sunrise and they were shooting ducks like crazy in Lousiana. I think there are just as many ducks but a lot of ducks are not going that far south anymore. Our climate has changed. Even in Minnesota, there a thousands of Mallards that stay here year round. The Miss. River remains open and with urban sprawl, there is plenty of food and open water where no one can hunt them and they are sticking around. Just had to rant and rave a little here.
Flash
"Set the Hook"

[dkhntr]

I think you guys are totally right. God forbid the common man shoot anything so these guys can get ducks left and right from there private club invites. I bet there is cracked corn right in front of their blinds!

Flash, I believe you are right about our climate changing. There is nothing here til January, that is cold enough to push the ducks futher south. Why would you fly 3,000 miles if you only need 1,000? My heart does not cry over the boys in Ark. and Louisiana. Let them start working for ducks.

[This message has been edited by dkhntr (edited 07-28-2004).]

[TV BOY]

If you want up-beat, have Jerry Carlson (St.Cloud Times) fill in! LOL..

[Bryce]

Used to look forward to reading the Sunday Trib after all the openers. Gee... wonder where they'll go this year? Florida Lake sloughs? Grew up only a few miles from there. Still haven't hunted it for good reason. Renville?? Don't know quite how many question marks I should put behind this opener location. Hope they wreaked havoc with all four broods. Glenwood area for roosters? The Danver's Bar at noon story was humerous the first year, cute the second, and now... should be passed out. Tradition may be one thing but in a high profile postion such as they have I would expext a sampling of what the state has to offer. This is my rant.

[Evenflow]

"All this negativity that's in this town sucks" or at least in the Star Trib. I get SO incredibly sick of Schara and Anderson's constant pleas about the resources.

Now I'm not saying they've never done any good bringing any of these topics into the public eye. But it seems that the only things they know how to do is journal about their openers and gripe about habitat conditions. They make EVERYTHING look so darn negative.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we can't improve habitat in MN and elsewhere. I'm not saying that wildlife conditions haven't worsened in the past 20 years. But what I am saying is their new rants are getting lost in their old rants. I'm beginning to blow them off whenever they write a piece like this, because it seems they do it EVERY week. So for the most part I've stopped reading their stuff and I'm going to wait until they find a few months worth of positive stories to write about before I go back.

Personally I think they've been there too long and I think they've gotten lazy to their jobs at the Strib. For them to take the time to investigate and interview people that put together a habitat development project somewhere in MN and write about the project from start to finish would be a brilliant inspiration to the average hunter in MN, but would take FAR too much time out of their lives. Especially when they could be filming another segment fishing for smallies in some small stream in MN or halibut fishing in AK.

As for Dennis and his buddy in Louisiana, I'd be curious to know if they've pounded ducks from the same blinds in the same spots in the same sloughs for the last 30 years. To think that bird habits won't change over the years due to hunter pressure is short sighted and arrogant.

Given the choice of believing Dennis and his friends or the USFWS that has logged thousands of miles in planes counting ducks, I'll take the USFWS.

Oh yeah, there are no birds in MN Dennis. Don't even buy a license this year, and make sure you tell your friends to do the same.

but that's just my 2 cents...

Evenflow

[SledNeck_X]

as for hunting in arkansas, when I go down there I work a hell of alot harder for ducks than I do when I hunt in minnesota. We hunt public timber in the morning and a leased rice field in the evening. With water levels being low in the timber the last few years hunting hasnt been all that great on public land, but the elite on the private timber always seem to get water pumping into their spots so they dont ever have to wonder where to go or scout for hours. Carrying 4 dozen decoys a half mile through the timber at 3am and managing to trip on every stick or stump or stump hole all while having every branch and vine get stuck on you and the bag is not easy work.

[fishface5]

Those Loisiana and Arky boys aren't quite the expert callers they where made out to be without the big yellow pile in the deaks.

[SledNeck_X]

I would say on average the guys in the Stuttgart ark area are 10x better callers than the the average duck hunters in say North Dakota and Minnesota. I thought I was a decent caller but going down there Id say my calling improved 90% thanks to a little instruction. And the other hunters in the woods down there arent afraid to tell you if your calling isnt up to par...in not so polite terms, lol.

[Sartell Angler]

while some of his articles might fit your description as "gloom or doom", I think he is doing a great service to us outdoorsmen by keeping us informed on the issues and doing the best he can to keep hunting and fishing as we know it as good as it can be. I have traded emails with him several times, and I can assure you that he is genuinely concerned about conservation, especially here in Minnesota. I also appreciate that many of his articles involve waterfowling and the future of the sport. We need people like him blowing the whistle when something goes wrong in the legislature, the DNR, etc. In addition, most of his articles are interesting to read. Bottom line- in my opinion, Dennis should keep up the good work!

S.A.

[Borch]

I haven't read the outdoor section of the strib for years. Mostly because of these two writers. I can tolerate Schara to an extent. But Anderson is horrible.

Borch

[Roosterslayer05]

I agree with Sartell Angler

[Chipn' Star]

Well I would say Mr. Anderson is right on and always has been. As he says in his article, many people are ignorant to the problems we have...and that is exactly right. Habitat conditions get worse every year, that is a fact, like it or not. About time people start to realize that. Ducks, geese, pheasants and any other thing we hunt is basically farming, just on a much grander scale. Ya gotta have the crop(birds) there in order to harvest them, not the other way around. If ya dont have habitat, ya dont have a crop, end of story.

[Evenflow]

I don't believe anyone has said that Dennis doesn't help inform the public or that he doesn't care about our resources. What I am saying is it's always SO negative.

Let's see a positive piece once in a while. People don't want to associate themselves with doom and gloom. Why doesn't he do an article about MWA in two weeks and let us know about some of the projects they are doing right now and how we can get involved to help out. (And I don't mean just join MWA) And while he's at it, why doesn't he let us know how many people signed up for the MWA at Game Fair.

I guarantee if he can start putting a more positive spin somewhere in these articles, waterfowl will see more benefit.

Evenflow

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It's all just theory till you hit the water.

[This message has been edited by Evenflow (edited 07-27-2004).]

[Evenflow]

And on second thought if Dennis doesn't do a piece like that, the MWA ought to do a similar press release themselves and ask the Strib to report on it. Call it the state of the wetlands address.

It'd be the best piece of marketing they've done in years.

Evenflow

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It's all just theory till you hit the water.

[WALLEYENUTZ]

Chipn-star is right on the money

[Seabass77]

I think there have been lots of good points made here. IMO Mr. Anderson is doing a fine job. Granted, MWA may be doing some good things, but in general the duck population continues to suffer and the efforts of the MWA and DU can do little to reverse the effects of corporate farming, resource mis-management, etc.

Supporting the MWA and DU is more important from a political point of view than it is for what they do for habitat, etc. Mr. Anderson is trying to get your attention to the issues, and hopefully get you to voice your opinion with your vote in November.

IMO, feel good stories do nothing but numb the public to the real issues at hand. The problems are rationalized and the public feels “O.K.” about the current duck situation. The real truth is that this is a dwindling resource.

Just one mans thoughts.

[FOOT]

There is a loss of habitat in Minnesota and other states which contributes to the perceived loss of waterfowl. However, with all of the water in the Prairie Pothole region of the Dakota's and Canada there has been a migration shift to the West. With the water levels receiding you will start to see the migration slowly move back to the East.
Groups like DU, MWA, Pheasants Forever, etc. are doing a tremendous job in preserving and restoring critical wetland habitat. BUT don't fool yourself in thinking they can do it all. Mother Nature still is TOP DOG and always will be.
I urge everyone who reads these columns to get pro-active in supporting these organizations. If you don't you are following yourself that your license money can do it all.
I support as many wildlife conservation organizations as I can (that I think are worth the effort) in both money and work. I have joined their planning committees and push and plead for friends and relatives to join.
Get with it folks join, attend, bring your freinds, GET INVOLVED.

[jblabsnduck]

Evenflow is on the right track.
When have you ever heard Anderson OR Shara promote the MWA which is located in the state they write about. Sure they write negative stuff and people also look at it as why should I help now it is all screwed up. No where do they EVER metion how to help fix the problem. The MWA is one way to help out. Chapters are always looking for new people to help out. Neither one of them belong to the MWA from what I know. WHY NOT??? They hunt here. WHY NOT help out?????????? Help promote the MWA? all the money stays here in MN and goes towards helping the duck.

[This message has been edited by jblabsnduck (edited 07-27-2004).]

[Seabass77]

O.K. After reading Mr. Andersons article in yesterday's paper, I do want to add to my last point on this topic.

I think Mr. Anderson makes some great points but he also makes no suggestions. He simply says, Don't just watch TV, well, ok what would you like us to do. What organizations are really doing something about it. What events are you Mr. Anderson putting together to help the cause.

How does that saying go, "Don't point out problems, point out solutions."

[Sartell Angler]

good points have been made by all on this topic. I enjoy his articles and believe that he is doing a good job, but I guess he could be a little less negative....maybe throw in some suggestions for the average joe shmo, but ultimatly the decision to preserve wetlands and to slow urban sprawl, etc, lies with the lawmakers, the DNR, the city planners, and the developers.

I'm 20 years old so I obviously have a lot of years left to hunt/fish...I just hope that I will still have the opportunity. For me, it is nice to see that people actually care and that some want to do something to preserve what we have. In the coming years I plan to become more active in conservation. Other than the obvious (joining DU/ MWA, building hen houses/wooddduck houses) what can a guy who has no wetlands of his own and isn't going to in the near future do to help the ducks?

Sartell Angler

[HighLife100]

The article in Sunday's paper made me sick. I can't stand his constant negative attitude and now it is all "OUR" fault that our state is in disarray. If all of our lakes are algae filled sewers then why did I have to fish in 22' of water on saturday because that is where the weedline was? If the water quality was so bad then light should not get down that far to grow weeds. Last I heard there were more native clams showing up in the Mississippi due to decrease in pollution but I guess that is not worth mentioning. The Gov pushed hard for CREP but didn't get all that he asked for because other lawmakers shot him down but I guess he is still a huge disappointment. I'm not trying to make excuses for him but how much can you do when the state has a huge budget deficit(sp)???? I give my money to DU and I buy my duck stamps but I guess I should still be ashamed of myself because other people haven't been able to do their job.

Mr Anderson,
I'm not blind enough to think that everything is great in our state but articles like that make me want to give up instead of work harder. Stop the whining and work out an action plan to improve things to actually do some good with your position instead of making people feel bad about themselves. Adopt a lake and start improving the water quality then write about how you did it so others can copy your effort. I no longer want to hear about "politicians" not getting it done, call them out by name if you know so much and let the voters know in their district what they did or did not do to help our waters.

Sorry for the rant...

[jblabsnduck]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anderson is all bad talk and never tells you how to help solve the problem but he is always willing to tell you about the problems. IMO he just spouts off because he can.
Help out by joining the MWA and get involved with your local chapter.