Chicago outdoors: Whooping cranes, Dan Gapen, crazy person asking about ice fishing, eclipse sequence

Whooping cranes in Kankakee County. | Bronson Ratcliff

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Bronson Ratcliff messaged on last Saturday, “Hey Dale, I had six whooping cranes this afternoon in Kankakee County!” He could only see the colors on the leg bands. He has seen some in Indiana at Kankakee Sands and a single at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area. “Never saw six though,” he messaged.

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

PHEASANTS FOREVER

Saturday, Dec. 4: Introduction to shotgun shooting, Tallgrass chapter, Palos Sportsman Club, Frankfort, (708) 987-6685

SHOWTIME

Friday, Dec. 3, to Dec. 5: St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show, St. Paul RiverCentre, Minn.,

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Today, Nov. 29: Woodcock season ends

Wednesday, Dec. 1: Final day, applications for first lottery, spring turkey

Thursday, Dec. 2, to Sunday, Dec. 5: Second firearm deer season

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I took moon shots with a wide angle lens every 2 minutes for about an hour before totality. Ended up with a string of pearls!” Dr. Elizabeth Pector,

Sequence of the lunar eclipse.

A: I had for glimpses of the lunar eclipse on Nov. 19 driving to hunt deer. But that memory can’t match the photography that Dr. Pector did.

BIG NUMBER

89: Age of Dan Gapen, one the greats in the North American fishing world and a regular of the show circuit around Chicago and elsewhere, who died last Saturday. A memorial is being planned for Mr. Gapen, who told the Monticello Times a year ago, “At 88 years old I’m still hoping to get back out there to our shows. I miss talking tackles with strangers and doing seminars.”

LAST WORD

“You did it. You are the first one, the first crazy person to ask, `How’s the ice.’ You always get one. Someone is gonna crawl out from under a rock. Here’s my answer, `No.’ “

Greg Dickson, proprietor o Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch, answering my question about the possibility of ice fishing.