outdoors
Dale Bowman biography
Outdoors columnist Dale Bowman began his reporting career as a correspondent covering state government for WTAJ-TV in 1982. While in graduate school in 1984, he …
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Checking in on CWD check-ins
MORRIS, Ill. — Emily Miller bounced around the side of her father’s pickup. The 13-year-old from Plainfield shot her first deer Friday morning in Grundy County. ‘‘We had an awesome time,’’ she said, watching intently as Illinois Department of Natural Resources staffers checked in her …Read More
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OUTDOORS: Some prospects for firearm deer season
As always, there are questions about the biggest weekend in Illinois outdoors, when more than 200,000 hunters go afield for the first firearm deer season Friday through Sunday. Here’s an email interview with forest wildlife program manager Paul Shelton about the prospects for 2012. Sun-Times: …Read More
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Wonders of nature never cease
Julie Taylor was watching from her window as sparrows fed this month. Her home is near the railroad tracks in Canaryville on the South Side. ‘‘To my surprise, as I was standing watching the sparrows, I saw a magnificent flash of brown,’’ she emailed. ‘‘A …Read More
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Sportsmen’s best friend is big government
From walleye stocking in Wolf Lake to river otter trapping beginning again in Illinois, the importance of big government to 21st century conservation and sportsmen’s issues was driven home repeatedly in recent days. Big government has been sucker-punched just as repeatedly in the rhetoric of …
Midwest Fishing Report
FISH OF THE WEEK: Stephen Lanigan Sr. of Evergreen Park caught this 44 3/8 -inch muskie on a black and chartreuse spinner bait with a modified spinner Saturday from Indiana’s fabled Webster Lake. ICE FISHING? Muskie fishermen busted ice last week to get out in …
11/14: Buck of the Week
Court Spain of Downers Grove was bowhunting during the peak of the rut Nov. 4 on a friend’s farm near Tiskilwa in Bureau County. ‘‘This big boy was in hot pursuit of a doe, grunting and scraping as it neared,’’ Spain emailed. ‘‘Best hunt ever …
Fishing regulations are ‘science-based’ or they aren’t
Vic Santucci’s promotion to head the Lake Michigan Program is a smart personnel move by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. I hope that isn’t sabotaged when the first Lake Michigan informational meeting in years is held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the DNR offices, …
FISHING & OUTDOOR GUIDE: (Swim) jig is up on Crab Orchard Lake
CARTERVILLE, Ill. — Matt Strobel handed me a baitcaster with braided line and a scum frog as we set up this month in a cove on Crab Orchard Lake. That made my morning. Few things top a largemouth bass blowing up on a scum frog, …Read More
Habitat major issue for upland game
Government inaction might do more than the drought of 2012 to affect upland-game habitat and hunting. Hunting for pheasant, quail, rabbits and partridge opens Saturday in Illinois. Once the favorite of hunters, upland game has been far surpassed by deer. An estimated 12,301 hunters harvested …Read More
Vic Santucci to head Lake Michigan Program
Vic Santucci of Crystal Lake will become the head of the Lake Michigan Program for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on Nov. 16. The position has been unfilled since Tom Trudeau retired nearly six years ago. The program, which once included as many as …
11/07: Fish of the Week
Czeslaw Czaia was casting a big Rapala on Saturday on the Des Plaines River near the abandoned Willow Springs Road bridge. That caught the eye of Cicero photographer Nicholas Kriho, who was lunching there with his wife, Dawne. ‘‘We had not been there much longer …
11/07: Midwest Fishing Report
AREA LAKES: Primary focus is on crappie. More fishermen will be out for the weekend with the balmy forecast. Henry’s said best reports are from Tampier and Wolf Lake, plus a few from city lagoons. CHAIN O’LAKES AREA: Drawdown started last week, so be prepared. …
OUTDOORS REPORT: Sharpshooter downs two elk near Antioch
With deer rut peaking in Illinois, Ron Mulholland was sitting in his stand last week, like thousands of other bowhunters. Only he had something different happen while hunting a farm near Antioch. ‘‘I was pretty shocked when these three elk ran up to me,’’ he …
Hunter Grounds: No. 1 with a Bullet
MARION, Ill. — Hunter Grounds smiled. It wore well on the bearded 25-year-old, grown up since he was little. With good reason, he’s the most accomplished young outdoorsman in Illinois. ‘‘I have been around it my whole life — being raised, that is the only …
High school fishing coming of age in Illinois
It was comforting to hear Jim Ciurej say he and fellow Brother Rice senior Matt Caulfield ‘‘found a good pattern around deeper weed edges.’’ That’s timeless fishing talk coming from a high schooler. Those of us who want to see the love of the outdoors …
Waterfowl populations are huge, but you have to flock to the right places
At best, hunting in suburban/urban areas is an odd business. Be it sailing a goose into a subdivision and making the evening news, trouble explaining legal nuances of hunting to suburban authorities or changes caused by annexations or sale of farmland, there’s always a challenge …
10/31: Fish of the Week
Matthew Kirs of Hanover Park caught and released a 42-inch muskie Saturday while fishing a black 10-inch Suick in the Lake Shelbyville spillway. ‘‘I can see why you get hooked fishing for muskie!’’ Kirs emailed. ‘‘I always read the Wednesday fishing report and dreamed of …
10/24: Fish of the Week
Richard Peckler caught a bonus northern pike early Friday while trying for walleye on Wolf Lake. The pike hit a chrome/blue floating Rapala worked slowly over the weeds. ‘‘Luckily I was able to land her by myself on a medium/medium-light combo,’’ emailed Peckler, who is …
10/24: Buck of the Week
Riley Dean Walk arrowed this 10-pointer on opening day in Cumberland County. The 17-year-old from Downstate Neoga sent the earliest nomination ever for BOTW. …
