Notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.
WILD OF THE WEEK
Vince Oppedisano escaped to Boulder Junction in Wisconsin last week for muskie fishing: “28 hours of musky fishing, two muskies lost & none landed, no follows. Sometimes that’s how it goes.” Then came the evening of Aug. 19 when they spotted this albino buck. Boulder Junction takes pride in being “home to Wisconsin’s largest herd of albino deer.” What was unique for Oppedisano is that it was a buck. Go to boulderjct.org/the-great-white-wonder/ for more on the albino herd.
WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).
DALE’S MAILBAG
“Do you know when the locks will be closing this fall? Have they released a date? [I] can’t find it.” Glen Gorman
A: The tentative closure dates for the Chicago Harbor Lock for lock work are Nov. 15-April 15, according to the lockmaster.
LAST WORD
“This has been a season of just put your hook in the water and possibly be shocked by what you pull in!”
Stacey Greene-Fenlon, proprietor of Park Bait, on the wide variety of lakefront catches this summer.
WILD TIMES
ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS
Thursday, Aug. 31: Final day, applications, free upland game permit . . . Final day, first lottery, duck/goose permit applications, residents only
Friday, Sept. 1: Dove season opens . . . Early Canada goose season opens
Friday, Sept., to Sept. 15: Second lottery, duck/goose permit applications
HUNTER SAFETY
Sept. 9-10: Morris, (815) 942-6645
Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Ringwood, search “hunter safety” at anc.apm.activecommunities.com/mccdistrict/activity/search
WINGSHOOTING
Sept. 16 or 17: Des Plaines Conservation Area, Wilmington, (815) 423-5326
HUNTER CAMP
Sept. 23: For adult hunters of all levels, Deacon’s Bar, Wauconda, publish.illinois.edu/huntcampil/
