Column: Woods & Water, by Dick Herfindahl

Here it is! Winter is upon us, and although I wasn’t ready to greet Old Man Winter with open arms, I will make the best of it. That’s what we Minnesotans do. I am not a snowbird, nor do I have any plans of ever becoming one because this is where I have chosen to live and the best part of the package is the four seasons. Although winter probably takes the most getting used to, I can still find some good things to say about it.

Judging by the way that it has started out, I am beginning to wonder if this will be another one of those years where we get just enough snow so that we will have to shovel the walk pretty much every day. I know that we all dread the idea of moving snow, and I am on board with that, but that again is a part of what we do as Minnesotans. Driving cautiously on slick roads is an unwritten rule we must adhere to, and after the first snowfall of the season, we must reintroduce ourselves to the art of driving on these snowy, icy roads. This is where some folks get into trouble; going too fast for the conditions is the main cause of winter-time accidents. There are enough assorted media types telling us how to do things that we have been doing our whole lives, so I’m not getting involved in giving out any more free advice.

Getting back to the positives of winter, I have to say that the first light snowfall always brings out the kid in me, which I’m sure it might also do for a lot of folks. I always enjoy moonlit winter nights when the winds are calm and the moonlight lights up the countryside making everything seem so peaceful. There are also the little critter tracks in the freshly fallen snow that are a sign that there is wildlife about. This has always been something that, upon seeing, makes me feel just a little closer to nature. As winter drags on, however, the novelty eventually wears off and shoveling snow and bundling up for the cold becomes more of a chore for a lot of us.

I have written many times about venturing out into the slough on Bridge Avenue north of town, and how I always enjoyed the little tracks in the snow and trying to identify the critter that made them. Ahh, those were the days of youth, when venturing out on a cold winter’s day was full of fun and adventure. I’d wear long johns, my five-buckle overshoes, a parka, stocking cap, scarf and choppers, and to a kid getting cold was just not an option or something that you would ever want to admit to your buddies. I could always tell when it was time to start heading home because my pant legs would be frozen and banging together making a “clacking” sound like a couple of pieces of wood hitting together.

It was all fun with the only downside being warming up in front of the heat register when your cold skin which was usually a few degrees away from frostbite, and it would start to thaw out. It was like having your leg falling asleep with that prickly feeling you get when it starts coming out of it but with a burning sensation thrown in. I am sure that there are quite a few folks who can remember that feeling growing up.

I am not so sure there are as many kids who spend much time outdoors in the winter these days as there were when I was growing up. This is where a kid gets to use his or her imagination and have some unstructured fun. I sometimes feel that with the hectic schedule that we have in the today’s society, our kids don’t have enough time to be kids. Too many things seem to be planned out for them, and there can be such a thing as too much structure. Kids really need to have some time to themselves to spend with friends just doing kid stuff.

Hunters register 54,000 deer during first weekend

Minnesota hunters registered 54,000 deer during the first three days of firearms deer season, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Final numbers from the weekend show that the number of deer registered dropped 30,000 from 2013. So far this year, including special hunts and the archery season, hunters have harvested 67,000 deer, down from the 2013 to-date harvest total of 100,000.

“Comparing this year’s harvest to harvests in previous years doesn’t necessarily reflect hunter opportunity or the number of deer on the landscape in 2014,” said Leslie McInenly, DNR big game program leader. This year’s lower harvest is by design because regulations were implemented to place more deer – particularly does – off limits to increase Minnesota’s deer population.

Until next time, break out the ice melt, snow shovels, mittens and stocking caps because it looks like winter’s here to stay.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason that we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Dick Herfindahl’s column appears in the Tribune each Sunday.