Chicago outdoors: Painted turtle, fish hatchery, ruffed grouse swing, perch charters in the notes

Hailey O’Malley still enjoys the discoveries of the natural world, such as this western painted turtle in northern Wisconsin. | Provided by Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Ken “Husker” O’Malley proudly emailed this photo of his daughter with a western painted turtle from a northern Wisconsin trip. “Even at 21, my daughter Hailey still loves to explore just as much as when she was little,” he emailed. “Memories that never get old.”

That’s living right.

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).

WILD TIMES

ILLINOIS PERMITS

Wednesday, June 30: Final day, applications for firearm and muzzleloader deer permits, second lottery

FISH GATHERING

Wednesday, June 30: Guide Doug Ide on Geneva Lake muskies, Walleyes Unlimited, Gurnee American Legion, 7 p.m., walleyesunlimitedusa.org

DALE’S MAILBAG

“Do you know of any perch fishing charters off shore, seems like salmon and trout only?” Jeff Kantor

A: Because perch fishing in southern Lake Michigan is so variable, very few do perch charters. The one captain I know focused on it is Capt. Douglas Stremplewski of Doug’s Charter Service–(219) 218-3357—out of Indiana. Some other captains will do it if requested.

BIG NUMBER

-6: Percentage of decline in the roadside ruffed grouse surveys by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (no surveys done in 2020). “Ruffed grouse typically follow a ten-year population cycle with cyclic highs occurring in years that end in 9, 0 or 1. It is likely that during this cycle, the grouse population peaked in 2019 or 2020 and it is likely that abundance will begin to decrease in the coming years as we enter the `down phase’ of the cycle.” Complete survey results are available on the Wisconsin DNR website here.

LAST WORD

“The Division of Fisheries is currently evaluating options that would allow the division to increase fish production for stocking multiple statewide programs and potentially initiating new programs over time.”

IDNR fisheries chief Mike McClelland, when asked if the Illinois Department of Natural Resources was considering buying or leasing the former Logan Hollow Fish Farm. He also noted a vendor was found to “supply sunfish to the Chicago Urban Fishing program for 2021 programs.”

The IDNR stocked sunfish at Chicago lagoons earlier this month.