outdoors

NORTHERN IOWA -- The temperature was a finger-numbing 8 degrees. The sky clear. The sun rising behind me.

My Lab and I had just started hiking through in an expansive public hunting area just across the Minnesota border when a rooster cackled, then exploded from the shoulder-high prairie grass coated with white frost.

The bird surprisingly rocketed toward me, then banked and flew past just 10 yards away. The scene unfolded as if in slow motion. I waited for it to get out about 30 yards, then stiffly shouldered my 12 gauge and squeezed the trigger. The bird tumbled.

My dog pounced into the thick cover, searching for the downed ringneck. After a few anxious minutes, she found it -- then proudly pranced back to me.

We soon found more birds, several of which flushed wild well out of shotgun range, as they tend to do late-season.

Pheasant numbers are down this year in Iowa because of rain and snow storms last year. But you couldn't tell it by my recent jaunt there. I found good numbers of birds -- hens and roosters on public lands. And the outlook is good for late-season hunters. As in Minnesota, Iowa ringneck hunters have been hampered by a late corn harvest. But the harvest is nearly complete in both states, which should make for some decent late-season hunting.

Of course, there's an extra cost to hunt pheasants outstate, besides the gas to get there. Iowa's nonresident small-game license is $92. The pheasant season there runs through Jan. 10. Minnesota's season runs through Jan. 4.

Here's one reason to stay in Minnesota for pheasants. Beginning Monday, the daily bag limit for pheasants increases from two to three birds. And the possession limit increases from six to nine birds. The Legislature made the move in hopes of boosting late-season hunting -- and income -- for rural communities in pheasant country.

Bill Souder and his 15-year-old son, Tom, of Stillwater, were hunting deer on the Wisconsin opener last weekend in Polk County when they had two unsettling encounters with black bears. Bill had to fire a warning shot to scare away one approaching bruin.

Here's what happened:

The pair were hunting in a ground blind, and Bill dropped a 6-point buck. He field-dressed it and dragged it to their blind.

"At 8:30 a.m., three bears showed up and began feeding on the gut pile,'' Bill said. "I think it was two adolescents and a sow, but all three were big and one seemed huge.''

After they consumed the gut pile, the sow began moving toward the Souders, following the bloody drag trail.

"I shouldered my gun and started yelling at her,'' Bill said. "She paused, looked around, flared her ears and looked in our direction. She kept coming and I yelled some more. The cubs retreated and one started up a tree. This caused the sow to turn around and leave.''

The hunters later took a break, dragged the deer out of the woods and had lunch. They went back around 3 p.m. At 4 p.m. another bear appeared.

"This one didn't waste time before picking up the trail to our blind and started coming at us,'' Bill said. "When it was 20 yards out I again shouldered my gun and started yelling at it. This one looked directly at us and kept coming. When it was 15 yards away I'd had enough. It was standing next to small tree, so I fired a shot into the base of the tree trunk. The bear turned and ran away.''

Added Bill: "Tom and I got one good deer and one great story from the opener.''

The big St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show -- billed as the largest in the U.S. -- runs Friday through Sunday at St. Paul RiverCentre. More than 130 exhibitors will be on hand, with everything for ice fishing, including fish houses, augers, underwater cameras, digital fish finders, rods, reels, tackle, assorted gear and gadgets and resort destinations.

Hours are 1-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, see www.agievents.com.

Ice fishing has started tentatively in some areas of northern Minnesota, and, as always, officials are warning anglers to use extreme caution. The Department of Natural Resources says you need at least 4 inches of clear, solid ice for walking, 5 inches for snowmobiles and 8 to 12 inches for small to medium-sized vehicles. Other safety tips from DNR conservation officer Chris Vinton of Perham: Tell someone where you are going and when you will return, carry ice spikes, wear a life jacket and review what to do if you fall through the ice.

• Minnesota's duck season ends Tuesday.

• Ron Kristofferson, a longtime Nisswa-area fishing guide, member of the Nisswa Guide's League and former mayor of Baxter, died last week of cancer. He was 63. Services are Monday in Baxter.

• Six hunters had their rifles seized when DNR conservation officer Paul Parthun of Lake George found them hunting in a closed refuge.

• Officer Marty Stage of Ely encountered a logger hauling an untagged deer out on his skidder blade. He wore no orange at all and had his loaded deer rifle strapped in front of him on the skidder hood. When he was told his skidder could be seized and forfeited in addition to the multiple fines and restitution amount for the illegal deer, he said he couldn't lose his skidder because it was his only way to make a living and that he still owed $5,000 on it.

"The skidder wasn't impounded, but the officer wonders why people don't think of these things until after they are caught violating,'' Stage reported.