Minnesota Outdoor News Radio
Every week, Outdoor News Radio explores timely outdoors topics emerging from Minnesota, the Upper Midwest, and around the country. For one hour, host Rob Drieslein, managing editor and president of Outdoor News, Inc., interviews a slate of natural resource experts, conservation advocates, and top outdoors writers. Along with regular co-host Tim Lesmeister, expect raucous and sometimes irreverent banter about hunting and fishing, shooting sports, wild game cooking, and nature. Among the program’s many guests, get news updates from editors Tim Spielman, Dean Bortz, and Brian Peterson. Hear fishing tips from Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame legendary angler Terry Tuma, hu...
Episode 611 – Duck opener, Minnesota Valley 50th anniversary, Hank Shaw, Hope for American elms
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Minnesota’s regular duck season kicks off this weekend, and Tim Lesmeister and Rob Drieslein offer some hunting tips before talking “truth to power” and reminding listeners that the comment period on rescinding the federal roadless rule now runs through Oct. 6. Then Kara Swickey from Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington joins the show to talk about the refuge’s 50th Anniversary and special events happening on Saturday, Sept. 26. Old friend Hank Shaw shows up to talk about his new and improved big-game hunting cookbook “Buck, Buck, Moose” and events happe...
Episode 610 – Coot hunting? Cost-share for woodland owners, hawk talk, and Rock-and-Roll HOF snubs
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Minnesota regular duck season kicks off next week, and Tim Lesmeister and Rob Drieslein preview the season and kick around bagging a few coots (mud hens?) if the mallards and teal do not cooperate. Then Sharon “The Birdchick” Stiteler joins Drieslein for the second week in a row; lots of hawk talk with Shaz this week. Special DNR guest Jennifer Teegarden then shares information with listeners on a great cost-share program that helps small landowners pay for trees and materials if they’re looking to reforest their property. (Sign up while...
Episode 609 – MN pheasant count, early autumn bird migration, archery deer preview with Eric Morken
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The Minnesota DNR released its 2026 August roadside survey results, and the numbers bode well for ring-necked pheasant hunting this fall. Tim Lesmeister and Rob Drieslein break it all down. Then Sharon “The Birdchick” Stiteler joins Drieslein to talk hungry hummingbirds and other aspects of fall migration. Eric Morken, the Outdoor News web editor and a hardcore bowhunter, shares his insight on whitetail behavior so far this late summer and previews his top tactics for the Minnesota archery opener next Saturday, Sept. 19. Lesmeister and Drieslein chat about some national topics, including the...
Episode 608 – Federal duck numbers, new tool from onX, record bowfin, hunting season, Iowa pheasants
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally has released the results of its 2026 annual spring waterfowl survey, and the results aren’t stellar. Rob Drieslein and Tim Lesmeister offer their gut response to the data, then John Devney from Delta Waterfowl chimes in to break the report down in detail. Becky Marcelliano from onX then joins the program to discuss the company’s latest tool for conservationists around the continent: its awesome new Public Lands Comment Hub, which will make it easier for you to chime in on national publ...
Episode 607 – Bluegills in Japan, wild rice, black bear preview, Doug Hartke, Ambler Road debate
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Did you know the humble bluegill has become an aquatic invasive species in Japan? Host Rob Drieslein and Tim Lesmeister kick that topic around, as well as grizzly bear debate in California, and Drieslein gives a first-hand, fresh wild rice report from last weekend. Other guests include bear biologist Andrew Tri from the Minnesota DNR who offers some insight into the 2026 black bear hunting season, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 1. Drieslein also spends a segment with Doug Hartke from the Fox Lake Conservation League and Ducks Unlimited who talks about the 20...
Episode 606 – Roadless rule, USFWS backs off drainage rules, Walz and BWCA, Citizens Council
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National issues dominate random chatter this week, including the Trump administration announcing that it intends to move forward with ending the popular 2001 U.S. Forest Service Roadless Rule. Also, much to U.S. Sen. Kevin Kramer’s chagrin, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced no further action examining drain tile easement setbacks. Here in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz delivered an executive order halting copper/nickel sulfide ore mining in the Boundary Waters watershed. Hosts Rob Drieslein and Tim Lesmeister break all that down, plus the latest upbeat st...
Episode 605 – Recapping Klobuchar interview, Alaska and Ambler Road, Outdoor Leaders, Leech Lake
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Alaska tops the discussion this week following Rob Drieslein’s fishing trip there last week. He talks with Tim Lesmeister about fishing shallow August lake trout and Arctic grayling, then Stan Tekiela joins the show. He and Drieslein discuss the incredible, wild ecosystem in the north-central region of Alaska near Gates of the Arctic National Park where the Ambler Road threatens fisheries and wildlife. Lesmeister and Drieslein also break down Amy Klobuchar’s interview about outdoor topics last weekend at Game Fair and preview Lisa Demuth’s interview this coming weeken...
Episode 604 – Retiring MN DNR fisheries chief Brad Parsons, “What3Words” app, sharp-tailed grouse
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Brad Parsons recently announced his retirement from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries division effective this September, and he joins Rob Drieslein for a two-part interviewing recapping his career and analyzing the state of sportfishing in the state. Tim Lesmeister also joins Drieslein to make the case for his favorite new location app, What3words. The pair also discuss the status of sharp-tailed grouse in Minnesota and Wisconsin where seasons for the gamebird have been restricted, or even closed.
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Episode 603 – Warm-water fishing, DNR’s Nate Huck on 3-duck bag limit proposal, Fish kills in 2026
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Nate Huck from the Minnesota DNR joins the show this week to outline the three-bird, any-duck bag limit alternative the agency is pitching to state waterfowlers. Tim Lesmeister and host Rob Drieslein talk warm-water fishing plus new chronic wasting disease surveillance from the Minnesota DNR this fall. They also discuss a new public comment period (through August 7) from the Trump administration on drain-tile rules near public wetlands, and the administration’s rule changes for the Endangered Species Act. Minnesota DNR Fish Health Supervisor Isaiah Tolo also joins the program this we...
Episode 602 – 3-duck limit in MN? ICAST, Ducks Unlimited, Black bear kills couple in Saskatchewan
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Should Minnesota offer waterfowlers a three-bird, any-duck bag as an alternative to the regular six-bird bag? Tim Lesmeister and host Rob Drieslein tackle that question to start the show. Then Brian Knutson, sales and marketing director for Outdoor News, visits the broadcast to share the latest news and fishing industry insights from last week’s ICAST show in Orlando, Fla. Scott Anderson from Ducks Unlimited then previews the situation in the Duck Factory as the waterfowl season looms, plus insight into DU’s National Trip Auction happening in August and the...
