Minnesota’s astronomical summer will hold on for one more week and with it will be a few more decidedly summer days.
Eventually the cool down will arrive, linger on select days and mornings, and then persist as the days grow shorter. Lately a few trees are showing early color as they cease production of chlorophyll and underlying pigments take center stage. Goldenrods and asters are displaying their early autumn colors, some of the final blooms of the year. School has started and football is back in season.
Fall hunting seasons have begun, an exciting time for those who wait all year for their hunting opportunities. Fall fishing is amazing and only improves as the lakes and rivers start cooling down. However, taking a pause from angling can be seen as justified owing to the brevity of hunting seasons and the fact that fishing can be done year around.
Dove hunting opened September 1, although our state’s dove hunting legacy can’t match the rich heritage and history of the sport as observed in the southern United States. Dove hunting in Minnesota was closed between 1946 and 2004, enough time for two generations of hunters to be entirely unfamiliar with any hunting tradition or legacy.
In the two decades that have passed since seasons were reinstated, relatively few hunters have participated. Timing of the return of the hunt in 2004 was serendipitous for yours truly; a rash of hail had destroyed a few corn and soybean fields near my childhood home.
As unfortunate as such an occasion was to the farmers of the area, it was a boon for mourning doves.
Hailed out crop fields were tilled up and weed seeds took hold, creating a buffet for doves with bare patches where the birds could loaf in the sun and pick grit. Nearby giant dead bur oak trees were ideal perches for the birds and a lake in the background was a natural watering hole.
Hunting opener 2004 was fantastic and each dove hunting excursion since has never measured up. Still, any day spent behind a shotgun in a field fencerow is a gift, even if you don’t fire a shell or ruffle a feather.
Waterfowl season kicked off last weekend with the five day early teal season.
Teal numbers in state surveys had dropped to around half of what was observed in 2024, so the hunting reports were of patchy birds. Hunters found singles and doubles visiting and few enjoyed large flocks of green and blue winged teal buzzing and flitting into the decoys.
The early goose season is open and underway through next week Sunday. Canada geese numbers are in good shape and hunters flock to cut silage fields, pastures, and ponds for a chance at the birds. Despite a shed with a few bags of decoys in the rafters, my time chasing geese remains mostly in my past.
I’ll still put out a few floaters during the duck season, but rare is the day I scout, secure permissions, and set decoys on fields in the dark for a chance to flag in a single here or there or the occasional flock on the horizon. Those are activities for the highly motivated waterfowl hunters, full of youthful vigor and running on gas station caffeinated drinks, immune to the effects of sleep deprivation. I was once that person and maybe some day I’ll again find that well of motivation.
Yesterday was the start of the archery deer season. If you made it out to hunt in temperatures ranging from the mid-60’s to the mid-80’s, you’re a daisy.
Early season deer are patternable, with their movements often restricted to early and late in the day when temperatures are cool, then frolicking more frequently when temperatures moderate and drop even further. They are also much more patternable to food sources like fruit trees, farm fields, and below oak trees dropping acorns. The thrill of watching a whitetail deer approach from a stand or a blind is an adrenaline inducing moment.
For diehard archers, these types of encounters are what keep them in stands for as many days and hours as they can, hoping to see a certain deer in close enough proximity to make an ethical shot.
Hunters in northern Minnesota where ruffed grouse roam began their seasons yesterday as well. Some hunters go out on the opener to get the dogs some work, and an occasional bird is brought to hand, but the thick vegetation largely inhibits effective hunting. As more foliage drops with time and cooling temperatures, the hunting gets better. In another month, upland hunters in the state’s prairie region turn their focus to ring-necked pheasant, hoping to bag a cock rooster or two behind the nose of a trusted dog.
The fall is a special time for foragers too. The hunt for mushrooms picks up in the autumn, with king boletes, oysters, hen of the woods, chicken of the woods and lobsters popping. Cooler temperatures and fall rains make for ideal fungi conditions. Some locations produce chanterelles into early October, even though chants are usually a summer mushroom.
Whatever your favorite fall activity is outside, whether hiking or camping, observing the changing seasons or tracking bird migrations, fishing, hunting, or foraging, make some time in your busy calendar to enjoy yourself in the outdoors. As quickly as the seasons change, time passes us by.
You’ll only get one fall 2025, so go and make it your best one yet.