Chicago outdoors: Urohydrosis, ‘rascal buck,’ 1st woman to win kayak TOC, 25,000 smallmouth, certified scale

“This handsome rascal” of a buck. | Bob Coine

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

BUCK OF THE WEEK: UNPLUGGED

Bob Coine emailed, “If you a Buck of the Week, I’ll offer up this handsome rascal.” Handsome indeed.

BOTW Unplugged, the celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors, runs as apt 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 OF THE WEEK

A black vulture spotted last Saturday, Nov. 13, in Lincoln Park in a rare sighting in northern Illinois, had an interesting few days this week. Black vultures, smaller than turkey vultures, are year-round in southern Illinois. The Lincoln Park black vulture, after being mobbed by crows and hawks, was rescued and sent to Oaken Acres Wildlife Center (oakenacres.org) in Sycamore, where it is recovering.

While looking up black vultures in Illinois, I found this gem from the Illinois Natural History Survey: “Black Vultures are not birds of prey. Their claws are weak, they do not catch what they eat, and their beaks are not strong enough to rip fresh meat. Instead, vultures are in the same order as storks and herons. Like members of this group, vultures practice urohydrosis, where they squirt liquid excrement onto their legs for an evaporative cooling effect.“

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). ALE’S

WILD TIMES

ILLINOIS SEASONS

Sunday, Nov. 21: First firearm deer season ends

Next Saturday, Nov. 27: South zone, duck, Canada geese, white-fronted geese and first scaup seasons open

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I just attempted to email the IDNR to apply for or to obtain the steps . . . for getting a certified scale for fish-weighing purposes.” Mike

A: Scales are usually certified at the county or city level. A muskie angler who keeps a certified portable scale had it certified as part of doing business. Enlighten us, if you know how a private citizen can certify a scale.

Kristine Fischer with her bounty for winning the Hobie Bass Open Series Tournament of Champions, the first woman to do so.

BIG NUMBER

1st: Woman, Kristine Fischer, to win the kayak-fishing event, Hobie Bass Open Series Tournament of Champions, on Sunday at Lake Eufala, Alabama. She measured a winning total of 240.5 inches on the way to earning $35,000.

Dustin Murguia, of Forest Park, was in the title hunt and finished fifth. He totaled 230.25 inches.

LAST WORD

“I love river fishing, and rivers have accounted for many of my catches over the years. But I wanted to be up on Lake Michigan in Door County to maximize my chances for a bigger fish for number 25,000.”

Bill Schultz, who has kept a fishing log since 1992, on catching his 25,000th smallmouth bass on Aug. 4, via the National Professional Anglers Association