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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Report from a very wild party
Deer hoof prints in cement trailed into the corner of Jim Adams’ work garage. His friends take their whitetail deer seriously, yet have a sense of wit. Adams was cutting up grilled deer back straps and snow goose breast wrapped in bacon when I arrived. …Read More
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High school bass fishing on the rise
Iwondered what Jim O’Neil was doing in a Brother Rice photo. Saturday was a historic day for high school bass fishing. And word came last week that Kentucky will be the next state to follow Illinois’ lead and have a state championship for high school …Read More
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IDNR must get sustainable funding to prevent crippling cuts
Within days or weeks, LaSalle Lake might be back to a restricted schedule again, a symptom of more economic issues with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. ‘‘This is going on throughout the entire system,’’ IDNR director Marc Miller said. ‘‘This isn’t just LaSalle.’’ This …Read More
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Outdoors folks should avoid downtown during NATO Summit
Around the NATO Summit, the general idea for fishermen, boaters, bikers and walkers/ runners on the Chicago lakefront from Friday through Monday will be to avoid the area from the Museum Campus to 39th. ‘‘Common sense tells you to stay the hell away from downtown,’’ a …Read More
05/23: Midwest Fishing Report
COTTONWOOD FLUFF: I repeat advice from Steve Magdziarz from three years ago: ‘‘Reel in with the rod tip under- water. Minimizes the dam stuff!’’ CHAIN O’LAKES AREA: Triangle reported bluegills (shallow) should be the holiday bite. White bass are good. For walleye, try split-shot rigs with …
05/23: Fish of the Week
Joe Collette of Hoffman Estates made a couple of casts at Independence Grove with a classic spring bass lure, a black-and-blue jig, then hooked up. But it was a muskie, not a bass. ‘‘He came out of the water, it was like a tarpon,’’ Collette …
05/23: Turkey of the Week
A lot of young people had TOTW this spring. Let’s end it at the other end of the age spectrum. Spring turkey hunting in Illinois ended with 15,941 turkeys bagged, well more than the 15,121 in 2011 but less than the record 16,605 in 2006. …
05/16: Midwest Fishing Report
WOLF RIVER WHITE BASS: In Fremont, Wis., guide Bill Stoeger said this should be the peak week for white bass; numbers pick up daily. Best presentation has been jigs and minnows, but spinners and even flies are working. Good-sized fish running 12 to 14 inches …Read More
05/16: Fish of the Week
It’s time for big largemouth bass, and Jim Mrugacz sent a photo of this one. ‘‘Caught this 21-incher on [Thursday] in Itasca casting a night crawler on my ultralight,’’ he emailed. ‘‘Thought it might qualify for FOTW.’’ Works for me. …
05/16: Turkey of the Week
Bob Spagnoli of Buffalo Grove knows how to fit hunting into a busy schedule. The New Trier teacher and girls track coach made the most of the day he had to hunt turkey this spring on April 22. After a track meet at Lake Park, …
Film about Indiana wetlands is one big, unhappy ending
While tales of passenger pigeons darkening the sky and ducks so thick one shot could down many show the rich natural history of the Grand Kankakee Marsh, the stories of the horse thieves and counterfeiters hanging out on Bogus Island in Beaver Lake define the …
Carlyle becoming great lake
CARLYLE, Ill. — The extended Jarvis clan asked if I wanted to go crappie fishing as I stashed a computer and camera bags Saturday night. The Northwest Side family knows fishing Carlyle Lake by now. They’ve made three trips Downstate in the last four years. …
Capt. Tim Wojnicz might have caught Illinois’ first record for burbot
When I reached Capt. Tim Wojnicz as he was fishing for perch Thursday, he cheerily said: ‘‘You are talking to Capt. Burbot here.’’ He appears to be the right guy to have caught what should be Illinois’ first record for burbot. It could be the …
Is this duck call worth $100,000?
As Peter Marsh, Roger Ludwig and Donna Tonelli looked at the Beckhart duck call — a rattlesnake carved around the mouthpiece with an alligator, hound, duck, pheasant and other intricacies on the body — they all knew it was special. So Donna called her husband. …Read More
5/9: Midwest Fishing Report
WOLF RIVER, WIS.: FREMONT: Mother’s Day is the traditional peak for white bass. Guide Bill Stoeger reported they are picking up in the shallows, but the water needs to warm before the peak comes. Most are being caught with a jig and minnow; a few …
5/9: Turkey of the Week
Tony Farinella and his son Andrew heard toms on the roost Saturday in Jo Daviess County, but some hens quieted them. After four hours, they repositioned 100 yards past two tons on a ridge. Farinella, a West Chicago accountant, did some soft calling. “We never …
5/9: Fish of the Week
Two “awesome’’ FOTW, caught during prefishing for the IHSA state championship for bass fishing last week, highlight the variety of Carlyle Lake. Working a classic black and blue jig, Zach Eldredge of Streamwood High School (with holding help from volunteer coach Mike Rubino) boated a …
05/02: Midwest Fishing Report
WISCONSIN OPENER: Inland fishing opener is Saturday. Walleye, sauger and pike open statewide. Largemouth and smallmouth bass open in the southern zone, while the northern bass zone opens for catch and release and runs through June 15. Muskie opens in the southern zone; the northern …Read More
05/02: Fish of the Week
The good year for big brown trout around Chicago fishing keeps going. Chris Ranney caught this 36-incher with a girth of 22 inches at Navy Pier in mid-April. Weighed at Henry’s Sports & Bait, it topped 23 pounds. I think it is the biggest brown …Read More
05/02: Turkey of the Week
Jake Pals, 11, had the complete turkey experience April 22 in Fulton County. Not only did he shoot his first tom while hunting from a blind with his dad, but they came across a hen on a nest (took a quick photo and kept going). …
