Minnesota Outdoor News Radio

Late-breaking news arrives during this week’s show as Outdoor News Radio learns that longtime Backcountry Hunters and Anglers President and CEO Land Tawney is leaving the organization.

Tim Lesmeister and host Rob Drieslein discuss BHA and Tawney’s impact on the fight for the nation’s public lands. Other topics include the Minnesota ruffed grouse counts and lead on state Scientific and Natural Areas. Earlier in the program, Drieslein and Editor Tim Spielman talk about the great mushroom hunting controversy in Minnesota, plus some dates to remember, and the newest firearms safety instructor of the year. In between, Phil Frebault, vice president of sales and marketing at Outdoor News, shares fishing industry insight after his trip to the annual International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, the ICAST Show, in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month.

A full lineup this week starts with Managing Editor and host Rob Drieslein, who with Tim Spielman first discusses the DNR’s lead ammo ban on state Scientific and Natural Areas. Plus, why can’t Smokey Bear talk at the State Fair? Then the DNR’s Charlotte Roy joins the conversation to share the agency’s 2023 ruffed grouse drumming count results, which contains some good news. Old friend Rob Kimm jumps in to chat up some summer muskie fishing tactics plus his thoughts on forward-facing sonar. Tim Lesmeister helps wrap up the broadcast with Rob as they outline their concerns over the Upper Sioux State Park land transfer, news of the 2023 Governor’s Pheasant Opener in Owatonna, and why you should avoid punching bears – black or brown.

Host and Managing Editor Rob Drieslein plus Editor Tim Spielman lament the passing of the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance, then Taylor Bester from Bluffland Whitetails Association checks in to talk about his group’s participation in the 2023 Minnesota Governor’s Deer opener. Tim Lesmeister joins Rob for the back half of the broadcast to talk about Jeff Gustafson’s winning 2023 Bassmaster Classic smallmouth tactics, paddlefish in the Minnesota River, plus dogs versus fireworks.

Host and Outdoor News Managing Editor Rob Drieslein kicks off the show with Tim Spielman and a discussion on this summer’s canine influenza outbreak, plus thoughts on the Talon Mine proposal in Aitkin County and the Upper Sioux Agency land swap. Then Tony Sindt from Minnesota DNR Fisheries visits to talk about paddlefish and the new Minnesota River planning process (and how citizens can chime in.) Ron Hustvedt jumps in to talk about his recent border country houseboating experience plus a preview of Game Fair 2023. Tim Lesmeister helps wrap up the show with chatter on the lake herring (tullibee) explosion on Lake Superior and why Minnesotans shouldn’t take the Legacy Amendment and its funding for granted.

Tim Spielman returns from his Ontario fishing trip and shares notes on his success with Managing Editor Rob Drieslein. They also talk about fishing technology, new lakes infested with zebra mussels, and remember Minnesota waterfowl HOF inductee Don Parsons. Then Patrick Durkin joins the show from Wisconsin to share how calm the state’s Natural Resources Board has become in 2023, talk about Asian carp in a certain border river (hint: the Mississippi) that the Badger State and Gopher State share, and Durkin reflects on the music and outdoors connections of the late great Gordon Lightfoot. Fresh from an Alaskan trip, Tim Lesmeister talks early Minnesota crossbow sales, ticks possibly being a CWD vector, and quick thoughts on the passing of Ronald Reagan’s first secretary of interior, James G. Watt.

Outdoor News Managing Editor and host Rob Drieslein kicks off the program with old friend and contributor Ron Hustvedt. Top topics include moose numbers in the Upper Midwest, Hemingway country, houseboating in Voyageurs National Park, and a 2023 Game Fair preview.

Then Lori Naumann, public information officer from the Minnesota DNR’s nongame wildlife section, joins the show to gives listeners insight into becoming a state loon monitoring program volunteer. Tim Lesmeister and Rob wrap up the broadcast with more chatter about the live sonar debate, a couple of Minnesota boys who have become Bassmasters collegiate anglers of the year, and Minnesota’s brand new state record nontypical white-tailed deer.

This week’s show launches with Rob Drieslein and Tim Spielman discussing the latest update on the Asian carp advance up the Mississippi River, plus insight into a shovelnose sturgeon poaching case. Then Thomas Gable from the border country Voyageurs Wolf Project joins Rob to share fascinating new wolf behavior the study has documented: wolves hunting for fish in the spring. Tim Lesmeister and Rob then debate the recent Dennis Anderson story in the Star Tribune about forward-facing sonar, plus important, exclusive advice for national park visitors: don’t pet the bears or bison.

Get the straight outdoors scoop on the latest headlines with host and Managing Editor/Publisher Rob Drieslein plus Editor Tim Spielman as they take a final look at the legislative session and consider the implications on the latest U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting the Clean Water Act. Then Stan Tekiela pops in to chat nongame, including early nesting season, trumpeter swans showing migratory inclinations, and the latest ivory-billed woodpecker rumors and hubbub. Tim Lesmeister helps wrap up the program with chatter about MN-Fish, crossbows, and happy doctors and chiropractors.

With the 2023 legislative session wrapped up, host and Managing Editor/Publisher Rob Drieslein and Editor Tim Spielman break down what policy items passed, including crossbows statewide during the general archery hunting season (for all ages) and two-line fishing on the Minnesota and lower Mississippi rivers. Then the man behind the Outdoor News Fishing Report, Glen Schmitt, calls in to offer his perspective on the fine start to the 2023 open waters fishing season. Jeff Anderson from Lake of the Woods Family Resorts then visits the program to drill into the great walleye (and multi-species) fishing forecast for the LOWs region this summer and beyond. Rob and Tim Lesmeister wrap up the program with banter on Wisconsin elk, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, and the fact that fishing license fees DID NOT increase during the latest legislative session.

Tons of news topics dominate chatter with host and Managing Editor Rob Drieslein, Editor Tim Spielman, and regular contributor Tim Lesmeister. For starters, the bass season (starting in 2025) could be open year-round under a new proposal. Also, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association announced it is boycotting the annual Governor’s Deer Opener.

At the legislature, the two-line rule for the Minnesota River appears to have passed along with allowing crossbow hunting for hunters of all ages during the regular archery season. Other topics include chatter on the 3M property on Mantrap Lake, plus the Red Lake Band declaring its intentions to issue 30 permits for elk in northwestern Minnesota.

During the middle portion of this week’s program, author John Maclean joins Rob to talk about the new centennial edition of Ernest Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River that has hit print this spring. Maclean (son of author Norman Maclean, who wrote A River Runs Through It) wrote a foreward for the reprint, so he and Rob discuss the classic piece of outdoors literature.