Hu n t i n g
SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 | Page 1B
Central
MN
GUIDE
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Travis Sobania (from left), Ashlee Brunn and Cody Brunn kneel next to their black bears Sept. 5. The three took boars – weighing 305, 220 and 172 pounds, respectively – during the first week of Minnesota’s bear season.
Bringing in the bear Rice couple fills tags in first week of the season
Camp Ripley archery hunt available first come, first served
BY NATASHA BARBER | STAFF WRITER
RICE – Wall mounts and pelts of various wildlife line the walls at the home of Travis Sobania and Ashlee Brunn in Rice. And, after this past week, the couple – who hunts, traps and fishes for everything from turkey to deer, coyotes to carp – will have more to add to their collection. As Minnesota’s bear season opened Sept. 1, the two – along with Brunn’s brother, Cody, – each filled their tags. Sobania, 31, took his third bear in 12 years, and Brunn, 29, harvested her first after seven years of dedicated hunting. “We got three just in our group,” Sobania said of the past week’s harvest. “We have four more hunters who need to harvest a bear.” With bear season spanning a little over six weeks, the couple’s family and friends will have until Oct. 18 to continue their hunt. Bear hunting in Minnesota
starts days, if not months, before opening day. Hunters must apply for a license each year by May 1 and hope they are selected through the state’s preference drawing. If chosen, people are notified prior to June and have two months to purchase the license. Unclaimed licenses are then sold statewide on a first-come, first-served basis in early August. Sobania purchased a tag for a no quota area; and Brunn, who hunts within a quota area, did not draw a tag. Luckily, she secured a surplus license in the open sale. Hunters are allowed to attract bear beginning in midAugust. “Granola, bread; we have trail mix with candy in it. We have mini marshmallows, candy corn, gummy bears,” said Brunn as she listed foods the two purchase through baiting outfits in Cambridge
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE
4,000 permits allowed PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Ashlee Brunn is with her 220-pound black bear harvest Sept. 1. Brunn, who has hunted bear for seven years, tagged her animal on opening day.
and Wisconsin. The two, who take off two weeks of work prior to and at the beginning of bear season, began their hunt Aug. 15 when they prepped their registered bait stations on the public land where they hunt in Aitkin and Kanabec counties. “We left here, and it was a downpour rain,” Sobania said. “So, we stopped in Onamia
and had breakfast. It looked like it was clearing up, so we said we’d go try it; it was a downpour rain the whole time we were baiting bear.” The two returned the next day and set up a few more stations. The next weekend, they repeated the process – once again, in the rain. Bear page 2B
ST. PAUL – Hunters can purchase permits for the archery deer hunts at Camp Ripley near Little Falls. Permits will remain on sale as long as they are available or until Oct. 2. This year, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will not hold a preference lottery for Camp Ripley archery permits. Instead, hunters can purchase permits for the hunt directly, on a first-come, first-served basis. Hunters will need to use surplus permit code 677 to purchase a permit, and then choose from one of two hunt dates: Oct. 15-16 (code 668) or Oct. 31-Nov. 1 (code 669). A person may only purchase a permit for one time period. A total of 4,000 permits, with 2,000 per two-day hunt, will be available. Camp Ripley page 2B