Weather cooperated for turkey hunt
By Bill Bartusek
Great weather greeted area turkey hunters as they entered the fields for their hunts. Warmer weather finally arrived just in time for the turkey opener. The birds were out, and they were in full strut. Normally the better the weather, the better the hunt.
Early reports indicate that hunters had success. They saw a lot of birds and were able to call the birds in close enough to harvest them.
I got a chance to talk to a few hunters and see how they did. A group of four hunters all got their birds. Lenny Adamek of Lonsdale, Steve Klonnes of Montgomery, Ron Brandt of Prior Lake and Jerry Brandt of Mille Lacs Lake all harvested their birds during the first hunt near Webster. They encountered quite a few birds and obviously did very well.
The turkey season continues to run well into the month of May. We'll watch and see how the hunt progresses.
The ice left the lakes in our area last weekend, and anglers didn't wait very long to get out on the water.
Billy and Joseph Bartusek, along with Kurt and Brandon Palma, headed for some Cedar Lake bullheads Sunday night. The bite didn't start until after 9:30 p.m. But once the fish started biting, it didn't take long to catch several meals of the tasty fish. The boys were fishing from shore, using night crawlers.
Crappie fishing should start at any time, and the fish should start hitting in just a few days.
Brenda and I headed for the cabin and found lakes open as far north as the Twin Cities. The further north we went, the better the ice got. We even saw quite a few snow drifts from Milaca north. We found a couple of big drifts near the cabin as we pulled in. Small ponds were open, and they were full of ducks.
The lake ice looked good, and I could see a couple of ice anglers on the ice. It was also sunny and warm all weekend. Brenda raked lawn on one side of the cabin, while I blew snow on the other. Sunday morning came, and I couldn't stand it any longer. I walked out on the lake and caught some panfish. Last year at this time, our lake was open.
Only in Minnesota...
