Minnesota
Northwest Minnesota elk numbers hover above goal in Lancaster area
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Division of Pure Assets is providing 30 licenses for the 2022 elk season in Kittson County of northwest Minnesota, similar as final 12 months, in response to
looking season data printed on the DNR web site
.
The appliance deadline is Friday, June 17. Elk licenses are a once-in-a-lifetime alternative in Minnesota open to residents solely, and demand far outpaces out there tags.
In Zone 20 close to Lancaster, Minnesota, an space that features Cranium Lake, Seashores Lake and Percy wildlife administration areas, the DNR is providing two “hunter alternative” licenses – good for both a bull or a cow – in every of 4 seasons: Aug. 27-Sept. 4, Sept. 10-18, Sept. 24-Oct. 2 and Oct. 8-16.
Throughout those self same time frames, 5 antlerless licenses will probably be out there for every of the 4 Zone 20 seasons.
In Zone 30, which incorporates the Caribou Township space of northeast Kittson County, the DNR is providing two bull-only licenses for a season that may start Sept. 10 and proceed by way of Sept. 18.
There are at present three acknowledged elk herds in northwest Minnesota: Grygla, Kittson Central and Kittson Northeast, which can be known as the Caribou-Vita or border herd, as a result of the animals vary between Minnesota and Manitoba.
The announcement concerning the upcoming season comes on the heels of the DNR’s winter aerial elk survey, which tallied 84 elk – 33 bulls and 51 antlerless – within the Lancaster survey space. That compares with 16 bulls and 45 antlerless elk in 2017, 18 bulls and 57 antlerless elk in 2018, 33 bulls and 61 antlerless elk in 2019 and 33 bulls and 69 antlerless elk in 2020.
The DNR didn’t fly a survey in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beneath state legislation, the DNR should attempt to handle the Kittson County herd with a inhabitants aim of fifty to 60 elk.
Elk hunters in northwest Minnesota had an general success price of 82% final fall in the course of the 4, nine-day seasons in Zone 20 and 100% success for the 2 bull-only tags that had been out there in Zone 30 of northeast Kittson County.
“We’re aggressively making an attempt to get that herd over there in Lancaster to that inhabitants aim vary,” mentioned Blane Klemek, performing Northwest Area wildlife supervisor for the DNR in Bemidji. “There have to be some impact to that administration, to that hunt administration technique, as a result of clearly, the quantity is smaller, however what can be smaller, moreso, is that antlerless quantity. That actually did drop fairly a bit – 69 antlerless animals in 2020 and two years later, 51.
“So you’ll be able to, I suppose, surmise that the looking technique is impacting these antlerless numbers to a point.”
As a part of the survey, DNR personnel in a fixed-wing plane fly one-fifth-mile transects at an altitude of 300 to 400 ft and speeds of 80 to 90 mph, counting the elk they see under.
In northeast Kittson County, the DNR didn’t survey the Caribou-Vita herd as a result of Manitoba did not fly its portion of the survey. The DNR solely surveys the Caribou-Vita herd throughout winters when it could possibly coordinate the survey with Manitoba as a result of numbers on all sides of the border can range dramatically from in the future to the following.
The DNR did depend six bulls in the course of the Lancaster survey that had been in Zone 30, the realm in northeast Kittson County, the place two bull-only tags can be found this fall.
“I must say that Caribou-Vita herd is doing very properly,” and approaching Manitoba’s inhabitants aim of 200 elk, Klemek mentioned, a minimal for establishing a hunt on that aspect of the border. “The inhabitants hasn’t reached that 200 quantity but, nevertheless it’s inching up that method.”
Elk looking in that a part of Manitoba at present is proscribed to First Nations members.
Additionally encouraging was an uptick in elk numbers for the Grygla herd, Klemek mentioned. The winter survey tallied 29 elk – 14 bulls and 15 antlerless – which is under the DNR’s aim of a pre-calving inhabitants of about 35 elk, however greater than any of the earlier 4 surveys.
In 2017, survey crews counted solely 17 elk within the Grygla herd.The DNR hasn’t supplied a season within the Grygla space for a number of years.
“We’ve had quite a lot of concern about that inhabitants as a result of it actually form of tanked,” Klemek mentioned. “It wasn’t all that way back there have been 50 some animals in that Grygla inhabitants that we might depend, and again in 2017, solely 17 animals and this 12 months 29. That’s signal.
“We nonetheless received’t be looking that inhabitants till it will get up into that inhabitants aim vary of 30 to 38.”
The DNR’s four-year elk administration plan for northwest Minnesota expired in 2019, Klemek mentioned, however the COVID-19 pandemic delayed work on drafting and growing a brand new plan. The plan ultimately will probably be up to date, he mentioned, however administration plans for grey wolves and moose probably will take precedence inside the DNR’s Part of Wildlife within the quick time period.
“(The) workers’s capability to do two plans directly just isn’t actually one thing we are able to do at this cut-off date,” Klemek mentioned. “We right here within the area will probably be serving to write this new administration plan, nevertheless it should wait a short while but.”
Minnesota
Vikings vs. Lions score, live updates: Detroit, Minnesota face off for the NFC's No. 1 seed in 2024 NFL finale
Game 272 of the 2024 NFL regular season is a special one. In a year where so much of the playoff dust settled early, one Week 18 game stands out, not just for this season but in the history of the league, with the 14-2 Minnesota Vikings taking on the 14-2 Detroit Lions in the first regular-season game between two teams with 14 wins. The stakes are simple but extremely high: the winner is the NFC North champion and the No. 1 seed, with a first-round bye in the loaded NFC; while the loser is the No. 5 seed and will open the playoffs on the road during wild-card weekend. If the game should end in a tie, Detroit would win the division and be the 1-seed, thanks to winning the first matchup between the teams back in Week 7.
No matter how the game ends, this will be the first time in league history a wild-card team will have 14 wins. The only time a wild-card team had 13 wins in a season was 1999, when the 13-3 Tennessee Titans finished second in the AFC Central to the 14-2 Jacksonville Jaguars. Tennessee won the AFC championship game in Jacksonville that season before losing to the Rams in Super Bowl 34.
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Minnesota
Key Matchup: Justin Jefferson vs. Lions’ Secondary
Aaron Glenn’s secondary is going to be undeniably tested on Sunday night against the Vikings.
And it’s not just because Minnesota signal-caller Sam Darnold is enjoying a breakthrough campaign, with a career-best 35 touchdowns and 4,153 yards to his name. Instead, it’s also due to the Vikings’ deep receiving corps, which is highlighted by Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson.
Addison has caught 62 balls for 875 yards and nine touchdowns through 14 games this season, while Jefferson leads the way with 100 catches, 1,479 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Jefferson has cemented himself as not only Minnesota’s best pass-catcher, but also one of the most prolific receivers in today’s game.
Now in his fifth NFL season, the LSU product has amassed north of 1,000 receiving yards each year, including a league-best 1,809 yards in 2022. During the aforementioned ‘22 campaign, he also caught an NFL-high 128 passes, and recorded a league-best 106.4 receiving yards per game and earned first-team All-Pro honors.
Fast-forward to the 2024 campaign, a season in which he’s found himself catching passes from Darnold. Jefferson has established a tremendous rapport with the former journeyman quarterback, and so much so that he ranks No. 2 among all pass-catchers in receiving yards this season.
Additionally, in his first meeting with the Lions this season (Week 7), he caught seven balls for 81 yards and a score. At that juncture, Detroit’s secondary was still equipped with its top cornerback, Carlton Davis. That is no longer the case, though, as Davis suffered a fractured jaw in Week 15 against the Bills and hasn’t played a single snap since.
Report: Alex Anzalone to Play Against Vikings, Snap Count Monitored
Jefferson has a chance to feast on Sunday against a Lions cornerbacks group that is now led by rookie Terrion Arnold and veteran defensive back Amik Robertson. Arnold and Robertson have each struggled this season, with zero interceptions to their names and Pro Football Focus pass-coverage grades of 48.8 and 62.1, respectively.
I’m expecting Jefferson to be a matchup nightmare for both Arnold and Robertson on the outside, as well as for the Lions’ secondary as a whole. Detroit has been subpar at defending the pass all season long. In fact, it’s allowed the second-most passing yards to opponents (4,006), plus the most yards per game to opposing wide receivers (per PFF).
Glenn had high praise for the standout Vikings receiver earlier this week.
“I think he’s one of the toughest guys playing in that position,” the Detroit defensive play-caller expressed. “He’s an old-school player, in my opinion. It’s almost like he’s a defensive guy playing receiver.”
In nine career games against the Lions, Jefferson has produced 69 receptions for 1,154 yards and four touchdowns. Four of those games have come at Ford Field, in which the game-changing wideout has amassed a staggering 43 catches for 730 yards and two scores.
On Sunday, I’m predicting the three-time Pro Bowl receiver to finish with eight catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Minnesota
Detroit Lions picks vs Minnesota Vikings: NFL Week 18 showdown for NFC North
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There’s plenty of history on the line in arguably the Detroit Lions’ biggest regular-season game of the past six decades (and definitely the biggest game in Ford Field’s two-plus decades), but also the future: Beat the Minnesota Vikings and not only are the Lions NFC North champs — which would be their first time repeating as division champs since 1953-54 — but they’re the NFC’s No. 1 seed, with the lone bye week in the conference.
Getting the first weekend of the playoffs isn’t required to reach the Super Bowl — the Kansas City Chiefs made it last season after playing a wild-card game, as did the Cincinnati Bengals and LA Rams in 2021 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, the first season of the current playoff setup. But even out of those four teams, just one — the Bucs — did it starting out on the road. (Tom Brady’s wild-card squad took out Washington, New Orleans and Green Bay in three straight road games.)
So will the Lions wrap up a week off and a late-January playoff opener at Ford Field, or will they hit the road — most likely either Atlanta or Tampa — for next week’s wild-card round? Four Free Press sports writers have some thoughts:
Dave Birkett
What a game to end the season. Lions and Vikings for the NFC North title. Winner gets a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, loser goes on the road next week as the five seed. Campbell tried to keep the hype train in check this week by noting this isn’t playoff game. It feels like it, though, and that’s as big a reason as any why I think the Lions squeak out a win.
These are two evenly-matched teams. The Lions have the more explosive offense, the Vikings have the more dynamic defense. Last time they met, Bates kicked the game-winning field goal with 15 seconds to play, one series after Darnold misfired on a pass to an open Jefferson that might have clinched a Minnesota win. I expect this game to come down to the wire in similar fashion. The Lions don’t have much room for error because of their injuries on defense, but Goff has played lights-out football of late and homefield advantage has to count for something. The pick: Lions 27, Vikings 26.
Carlos Monarrez
The Lions were the better team when they beat the Vikings 2½ months ago. Now the Vikings are by far the healthier team, which makes them the better team. Minnesota is a balanced team featuring a superstar receiver and a defense that produces interceptions and sacks from numerous players and hasn’t allowed more than 27 points since late October. The Lions have the NFL’s best offense, but it has to be nearly perfect on every drive against good teams to make up for a banged-up defense that’s allowing an average of 30 points the past five games and needed Jake Moody’s balky leg to bail it out last week. The pick: Vikings 36, Lions 31.
Jeff Seidel
Punt? Who needs to punt? Get ready for a wild shootout in the biggest regular season game ever played in Ford Field. Get ready for a whole bunch of Gamblin’ Dan Campbell. Get ready for hold-your-breath drama. The Lions won’t be able to stop the Vikings through most of this game. Then again, the Vikings won’t be able to the Lions. It is going to be incredibly stressful and dramatic. But the Lions will get one big play, one turnover, that will change everything. The pick: Lions 35, Vikings 32.
Shawn Windsor
The defense is worrisome. The offense not so much. The stakes, meanwhile, are historic. The crowd should help and a turnover or two will be the difference. These Lions aren’t just resilient, they’re opportunistic, and they will make the play against Sam Darnold they could not against Josh Allen. The pick: Lions 27, Vikings 24.
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