The first day of August was not noticeably different from the July days that preceded it, with a temperature that climbed into the mid-80’s, humid and the prospect of thunderstorms. Based on my own recollections, August can be even more summerlike than July.

But for those whose act ivities follow the turning of the seasons, the first day of August is a turning point of the mind, if not the thermometer or the dew point readings. It’s a psychological glimmer, like a long trek across a canoe country portage when you spot the silvery reflection of water ahead and know that you’ll soon be shedding your load and dipping your paddle. When the first of August rolls around, the end of the wait for autumn is in sight.

The outdoor news these days has fueled that anticipation. There are recurring headlines on the new sand hill crane hunting season that will be held this year in the far Northwest corner of the state. There’s been an undercurrent of controversy over the process – some say a lack of due process – by which the DNR set this new season for 2010, without a great deal of input from the public.

It’s well known that Minnesota has a long and colorful tradition of hunting. But there is also a strong preservationist streak here. Transitioning a wildlife species from nongame to fair game is not an everyday thing and generates a lot of interest and emotion. This was certainly the case when the state reestablished a mourning dove season several years ago, with controversy that still has not disappeared.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently released early season migratory bird hunting regulations and in this document described its reasons for approving a sand hill crane hunting season for Minnesota. The cranes that migrate through the northwestern corner of our state belong to the Mid-Continent Population, which primarily migrates through the Central Flyway, states mostly to the south and west of Minnesota. (Most Minnesota ducks and gees migrate through the Mississippi Flyway, which tends eastward.)

All but one of the states of the Central Flyway hold a sand hill crane hunting season and the Mid-Continent Population is currently higher than the U.S. FWS’s population goal. To those of us who see cranes as more like herons or storks than ducks or geese and are familiar with the edge-of-extinction status of whooping cranes not so long ago, the debate is understandable. But it seems reasonable that the sand hill crane’s status has been decided on the basis of science, rather than prejudice or emotion.

No “Extra Woodie”

Recent news has also included 2010 daily bag limits for several duck species that have special harvest regulations. These include mallards, pintails, blue bills, redheads, canvasback and wood ducks. The one that many hunters have been anticipating is the daily limit on wood ducks, a species that is often a large part of Minnesota’s early season harvest and whose return to abundance is one of the great conservation success stories.

All the other states in the Mississippi Flyway allow three wood ducks to be harvested daily. Minnesota has declined to expand our traditional two bird daily limit to three this year. The DNR commissioner, who is credited (or blamed) with making the decision, said that the agency didn’t receive a significant amount of hunter input asking that the daily limit be increased.

Minnesota has traditionally erred on the side of under-harvesting ducks and the wood duck decision is consistent with that approach. Plus, with the as-yet-unknown impact of the Gulf oil spill on ducks and geese, there seems little reason to liberalize the limit on a species that already needs special harvest rules.

Pitiful duck harvest,

hunter numbers

Sadly apparent is the recent slump in duck hunting interest in Minnesota. Hunter data released recently shows a drop in duck hunter numbers from 71,700 in 2008 to 61,100 in 2009. That’s a drop of almost 15 percent in one year. This was accompanied by a duck harvest that was the fifth lowest since 1961.

There are multiple reasons for the decline of Minnesota duck hunting. Among them are less – and poorer – habitat, a shift in breeding ducks from Canada to the Dakotas, more disturbance during migration from greatly increased fall fishing and competing non-hunting activities. But, whatever the causes and however the blame is apportioned, it’s clear that more and more Minnesota hunters are giving up on duck hunting. It’s a sad story for a state with such a rich waterfowling heritage.

Game fair upcoming

Another unmistakable sign of autumn is Game Fair, a hunting festival to which many Minnesotans migrate each August to whet their appetites for the seasons about to begin. Game Fair is to hunting what the Minnesota State Fair is to the general population. The event is held Friday through Sunday August 6-8 and 13-15, at Armstrong Ranch and Kennels just north of Anoka.

This two-weekend event includes not only learning opportunities, but handson and “paws-on” activities. Among the attractions are sporting clays for those who bring their favorite shotgun, retrieving and other dog events (dogs are obviously welcome, but on a leash), demonstrations of duck and goose calling technique, archery, competitive shotgunning and deer hunting seminars and many exhibitors of hunting products and services.

For complete information, check out their web site, www.gamefair.com, or

call 763-427-0944. I’ve found

Game Fair to be a great “fix” to ease the wait for the

real thing.