By Harold Brutlag
I almost did a double take in Buffalo last week when a pickup was in the next lane to me at a stop light and he had an Elk and elk horns in the pickup box. The horns were detached and nearly took up the length of the pickup box and the harvested elk was laying alongside of them. I thought the horns were huge and wished I would have had an opportunity to visit with the hunter.
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Most football addicts should be satisfied with the games which were non-stop on TV Sunday. The Vikings were not in the parade to playoff wins when they lost to the Detroit Lions 20-30 behind quarterback Nick Mullens. The Lions finished their regular season on Sunday, beating the Vikings for their franchise-record tying 12th win. They’ll have the No. 3 seed in the NFC, which means they’ll take on the No. 6 seed — the Los Angeles Rams. I watched parts of the other games and was impressed with Green Bay’s win over Chicago Bears 17-9, behind their first year QB Jordan Love. They will face the Dallas Cowboys next.
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Most of the larger lakes in the Maple Lake area, Maple Lake, Buffalo Lake, Ramsey Lake, Cedar Lake and Sugar Lake were either wide open or mostly open which makes this one of the longest open water seasons that I can remember. It should also serve as a reminder we’ll need some below zero weather to make them safe for winter anglers. It’s supposed to be below zero Sunday morning which will help, but I’d say give it a few more nights before venturing out. Don’t get careless! Nick Pawlenty says there’s nothing happening at Sauk Lake as far as Walleye fishing is concerned. Fortunately for this part of Wright County we don’t have enough snow to make driving hazardous, but we’ll get more, so don’t hold our breath. It’s too early to wish for a January thaw, considering it has been thawing most of December and January!