Newly released trout fishing data collected by volunteer anglers a half-century ago provide a fascinating glimpse of what the fishing was like in dozens of Minnesota streams and lakes.

Christmas vacation once meant rabbits. Duluth's suburban outback where I grew up was bursting with bunnies. Cottontails inhabited backyards.

Minnesota's environmental health just had a checkup.

At daybreak Saturday morning the night’s darkness lingered, reluctant to retreat from a weak December sun struggling to penetrate the gloom.

"Did you ever wonder if you're the only hunter who doesn't have trail cameras set up everywhere?" my friend asked me as we got ready for hunting one morning.

In recent weeks I’ve played email and telephone tag with Seth Kantner of Kotzebue, Alaska, attempting to set up an interview.

Life is filled with firsts and, last weekend, 15-year-old Joe Hamsmith of Duluth passed a hunting milestone.

On the evening before deer season, a spike buck was grazing in my backyard.

Out There is a monthly segment from WTIP volunteer and commentator Shelby Gonzalez.

We stopped at Smokey’s Place for dinner two nights in a row because we were in the vicinity, even though we drove nearly 20 miles to get there.