Wild Food

Tied to Nature by Eating Wild Food

by Lukas Leaf

Spring is akin to a great awakening in nature. Everything seems to emerge from hibernation at once, bursting back to life from a long winter waiting for warmer days. Spring also signals the beginning of our primary foraging, fishing, and hunting seasons, aside from the small amount of freezer-filling possible during the winter months. Gone is the need to tap into the reserves, as opportunities to harvest our own food begin to grow exponentially.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love our long winters here in Minnesota. Ice fishing, snowshoeing, and small game hunting during the dark winter months are some of my favorite activities of the year. We’re used to being creative in the bitter cold, like drilling holes in the ice so we can keep fishing year-round. Trust me: It really is fun! But nothing beats the spring fishing opener.

Over the years, I’ve spent the majority of my fishing openers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). My relationship with the BWCA began when I was 12 years old during a lake trout fishing trip with my Dad. It was chock-full of everything a backcountry camping trip can throw at you: amazing fishing, freezing rain, high winds, sunny days, a snowstorm, campfires, lessons in safety and stewardship principles, being wet and miserable, and so much more. And I loved it. It was a trip that would solidify my connection to the outdoors for the rest of my life.

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