Chicago outdoors: Bucks holding antlers, goldfinch colors, Turkey Run SP, pelicans
Notes come from the Chicago area and beyond.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Michael Dodd photographed American goldfinches in both winter and spring colors at a thistle cottage in the southern suburbs. It’s that time of year.
WOTW, the outdoor celebration of Chicago’s wild stories and photos, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoor section of Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email [email protected] or contact me on facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
Dale’s mail bag
‘I’m driving down Sandbar Road [Wednesday] Morning on the Kankakee River near the McHie Ferry sign [upstream of Route 17] and saw these beauties. I thought at first they were swans, but turns out they are pelicans. I’ve never seen these on the river. The geese and mallards screeched at them.” Jeff Habedank
American white pelicans on the Kankakee River near the McHie Ferry sign.
A: American white pelicans, sightings of which have drifted east in Illinois in recent decades, are remarkable birds, appearance and size. Jaelyn French Anderson also posted about the pelicans. I vividly remember the first time I saw them in Illinois circling the Illinois River in Spring Valley over the Masters Walleye Circuit event about 20 years ago.
BIG NUMBER
1: Ranking Turkey Run State Park Trail 3 in Parke County, Indiana in the best hike of the Midwest in Living’s annual Best of the Midwest list. Turkey Run is a state park popular with families.
Hiking in Indiana’s recently awarded Turkey Run State Park.
Provided by the Indiana DNR
LAST WORD
“Some still wear a chapeau.”
Jeff NorrisTexting about an antlered buck late Tuesday night on a trail cam in the western suburbs (bucks shedding antlers in Illinois typically peak in mid-February).
A buck with antlers on March 21 in the western suburbs.
WILD TIMES
UNLIMITED DUCKS
Thursday, March 30: Dinner in the Windy City, The Elmcrest, Elmwood Park,
Friday March 31: Lockport Dinner, Crystal Grand Banquet Hall, Lemont,
SHOW TIME
Click here for the full list of shows, outdoor classes and swap meets.
Today, March 25th: Walleyes Unlimited Exchange Meet, Antioch VFW Post 4551, 8:00am-1:00pm
Until Sunday, March 26th:Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo, Knoxville Convention Center, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Friday, March 31st to April 2nd:Illinois Deer Classic, Peoria Civic Center
ILLINOIS SEASONS
Until Sunday, 25.-26. March: First youth turkey hunt in spring
Next weekend, 1-2 April: Second spring turkey hunt of the youth
Next Saturday, April 1st: Freshwater trout season opened. . . . Smelt Netting opens in Chicago.
Until April 30: First lottery, Illinois residents only, firearms or muzzle-loading stag permits
HUNTER SECURITY
22-23 April: Now, (815) 472-4900
28-29 April:Morris, [email protected] or (815) 343-7330
6th-7th May: Ingleside, [email protected]
US Coast Guard Auxiliary
Next Saturday, April 1st: Weekend Navigator, Villa Park, Don Goff, [email protected]
FISHING IN LAKE MICHIGAN
April 5: Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Spring Workshop, Wilmette Harbor Club, 6pm-8:30pm (Virtual Tour will be April 13 6pm-8pm), sign up for both at tinyurl.com/ 2tx6p9sf on
FUNDRAiser
Saturday April 29: Help send autistic anglers Robbie “Goose” Hendersoncurrently sixth in the nation, to National Bass Trail National Championships, Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Musky Tales, Antioch, 5-9 p.m., contact Jeff Henderson (847) 409-1410 or [email protected]
SAFARIC CLUB INTERNATIONAL
April 22: 50th Annual Illinois & Chicago Chapter Fundraiser and Banquet, Medinah Banquets, Addison