Predator Hunting News

Animals native to Minnesota

Minnesota has the largest wolf and bald eagle populations in the lower 48 states.

Mammal species in Minnesota: 78

Amphibian species in Minnesota: 22

Reptile species in Minnesota: 29

Bird species in Minnesota: 428

Bird species that are year-round residents: 44

Minnesota plants and animals listed as Federally Endangered and Threatened: 9

Minnesota plants and animals listed as State Endangered and Threatened: 197

Minnesota plants and animals listed as State Special Concern: 242

Largest waterfowl: Trumpeter swan

First birds back in the spring:

American kestrel
Bluebird
Eastern phoebe
Horned lark (January)
Red-winged blackbird
Robin

Bald eagles: 2,300+ pairs

Common loons: 12,000

Timber wolves: 2,900+

White-tailed deer: 1.5 million

Trumpeter swans: 3,000+

Trumpeter swans released: 300+

Black bears: 20,000-30,000

Moose: 7,500

Nongame species: 882

Peregrine falcons: 52 known breeding pairs

Minnesota vertebrate and bird biodiversity statistics

(Updated 2009)

Enforcement

Minnesota was the first state to establish a snowmobile safety training program. More than 2,000 volunteers annually donate over 10,000 hours to teach safe snowmobiling.

Advanced hunter and bow hunter education to date:
Active instructors: 784
Total students: 29,564

All-terrain vehicle certification to date:
Total students: 13,754

Bear hunting clinics:
Participants - 11,247

Firearms auction:
$64,000 (2005)

Firearms safety certification to date:
Active instructors: 4,747
Total students: over 1 million

Natural resource related prosecutions:
11,668 (2007)

Number of Minnesota conservation officers:
148

Off-highway motorcycle certification to date:
3,164

Snowmobile safety certification to date:
Active instructors: 1,632
Snowmobile students certified: 396,997 (through 6/13/2008)

TIP (Turn In Poachers) arrests to date:
7,896 (through 2007)

Turkey hunting clinics:
Participants - 12,698

Blind-Sided Bear

A blur of dark, thickly furred legs silently swishing through scrawny blueberry plants caught the hunter’s attention and opened the spigot of his adrenal gland. Without hesitation, the bold, black bear moved purposefully towards the bait, emerging from the cover afforded it by the dense jack pines. The animal sauntered past the bait barrel without so much as a glance towards the hunter and cameraman that were concealed in the ground blind, a mere twelve yards away. The duped bruin plopped its empty belly down on the ground and proceeded to consume a plastic bag containing grease, eating bag and all.

The hunter raised his crossbow, steadying his elbow on the arm of his wheelchair. It had been just one hour since the guides had wheeled him into the blind and already the first bear of the evening was at the bait barrel. After months of planning and arranging, the hunter was now staring out the porthole of the blind at a hungry 175 lb. spring bear. The adventure had started over a year ago when this author had approached the hunter, David Mallak, as he sat quietly in his wheelchair, people-watching in the hallway of the Crossroad Shopping Center in St Cloud, Minnesota. When asked if he was a bowhunter, David responded with, “No, I’ve never been hunting.”

           At the time, David was 50 years old. He confessed with his next sentence that he had always wanted to hunt, but that he had never been given the opportunity. I boldly told him that this was his lucky day and that his life was about to change; for the better. And it did! That very same fall, David attended the Annual UFFDA Camp Wilderness Hunt in Minnesota and became a member of the “Successful Bowhunter’s Club” by harvesting a handsome fork horn buck. The down side of his achievement was that many of us had to listen to him share the details of his triumph over and over and over again. Such a tough job!

           With his first big-game bow harvest behind him, he began to dream of expanding his horizons. Upon seeing details about the annual HBM Spring Fling Manitoba spring bear hunt in an issue of the Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine, Dave called me to gather more information. After many questions, he took the plunge by asking me if I would take him on that bear hunt, in spite of his wheelchair. The answer was, of course, yes.

           For almost two decades, outfitter Russ Bettschen of Lynn Lake Fly-in Outpost Camps has been our host for the Manitoba adventure for three very good reasons. Number one, he gladly works with our physically challenged comrades, doing more than is expected to assure that each one has the experience of a lifetime.
The second reason for our loyalty is that Russ has some of the finest bear hunting on the continent. His spring-bear population includes many large animals with a high percentage of color phases. The third and final reason is that the annual trek to Lynn Lake provides another opportunity to ride the rough ridges of northern Manitoba with Lee Nolden, Russ’ chief guide for the early wave of spring bear hunters.