In a move that some suggest is undemocratic and hasty, the legislature may legalize wolf hunting.

​Yesterday, gray wolves were removed from the federal protection list, putting the animals under the control of the Minnesota DNR. And before the day was through, legislators were already developing plans to introduce a wolf hunting season later this year.

Ed Boggess, director of fish and wildlife for the DNR, told legislators that "there's been a pent-up enthusiasm, a pent-up demand to hunt wolves." But some wolf experts aren't so sure "pent-up demand" is a good reason to expose the relatively scarce animals to the tender mercies of hunters.

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This was a first for Bob Schuder, a hunter since 1959.

​A northern Minnesota man found an effective way to save on ammo this weekend.

Hunting near Grand Rapids Sunday, Bob Schuder squeezed off a near-impossibly timed shot, bagging two deer with the same round. Apparently this isn't entirely unheard of, but it's pretty damn rare.

For Schuder, a 74-year-old who's been hunting since 1959, it was certainly a first.

"Unbelievable," says Schuder. "I felt a little amazed. I had heard of it happening before, but never talked to anyone it happened to."

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Photo courtesy MN DNR.

Heidenreich helped poach already-poached animal mounts.

​Timothy Heidenreich, one of three men charged with stealing animal mounts from the Department of Natural Resources, was ordered to pay more than $8,000 in restitution yesterday by a Ramsey County judge.

Heidenreich was also sentenced to 70 days in jail, but he'll get credit for already serving the time in custody since his arrest.

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TurnInPoachers.org

The "Wall of Shame" has been stolen.

​A private group called Turn In Poachers has spent years assembling a "Wall of Shame" that it displays around the state as a way of heaping scorn on wildlife poachers.

Now somebody's poached the Wall of Shame.

That's low.

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An image to keep with you on Thanksgiving.

​Back in the day, the Puritans had to hunt down their turkeys for Thanksgiving. And we have no doubt that, along with a helping hand from Indians, our forefathers came up with some ingenious ways of luring the big birds to within musket range.

We are absolutely positive, however, that they never came up with anything like this over-sized bobble-headed contraption called The Buckwing LifeLite Bobb'n Head Breeding Turkey Decoy Pair.

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Chris Blakes family is battered and bruised. The deer? We're not sure.

​Stories about drivers hitting deer on Minnesota highways at this time of year are fairly common.

But when a cloven-hoofed beast crashes through the front windshield of a car and keeps on going through the rear window, well, that's a deer of a different color.

Incredibly, Chris Blake of New Ulm, his wife and their 17-year-old daughter survived to tell the tale.

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Image via Lily The Black Bear/Facebook

Sarah the research bear and her radio collar

​Sarah the research bear had brightly-colored ribbons tied to her radio collar as she wandered the northern Minnesota woods.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources posted pictures of bears wearing collars like Sarah's, warning hunters not to shoot bears. The Minnesota Bear Guides Association asked members to leave the research bears alone.

But none of that mattered. Sarah's dead.

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Photo: Keven Law

I-35E is Minnesota's deer-killingest highway

​So there you are, dragging your ass out of the woods up north, decked out in camo gear, narry a shot fired from from your rifle, your bullets stowed away with exactly the same count as when you left home in the morning. And no deer. How are you going to explain that to your buddies at the bar? Maybe you don't have to.

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​In order to get more youths involved, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is considering four-day statewide youth-only deer season in October, a couple weeks before start of the regular season. Kids between the ages of 10 and 17 would be allowed to kill one deer, either a doe or a buck.

"We're seeking public input at this point," says Jay Johnson, a DNR recruitment and retention coordinator. "One of the best things you can do from a recruiting and retention standpoint is providing a positive introductory experience for first-time hunters. That's the goal here."
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Photo: tiffa130

​A new report by the the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says that 11 people were arrested for being armed and drunk during the state's 2009 nine-day deer hunting season. Five of them were repeat offenders.

Game wardens also arrested 29 convicted felons carrying firearms -- a big increase compared to previous years. It's not illegal for felons to purchase hunting permits in Wisconsin, but they can't carry guns.

On the bright side, hunters managed not to kill each other this year, although a handful of them shot themselves or each other one way or another. Wisconsin DNR says the 2009 season was the fourth safest on record.

You can read the full report here.