Notes come from all around Chicago outdoors.
WILD OF THE WEEK
For those of us who have trouble telling the difference between hairy and downy woodpeckers, here is a scene Tricia Lowery spotted last Saturday and John Heneghan photographed in Big Rock. I know hairys are a lot bigger, but the comparison makes it easier to understand how much bigger.
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
HUNTER SAFETY
March 13-14: Bridgeview, (708) 594-1818
WILD THINGS
Through today, Feb. 21 and Feb. 26-28: Wild Things 2021 Conference will held virtually, $15 per weekend or $30 for entire conference, wildthingscommunity.org.
DALE’S MAILBAG
‘I renewed my Illinois FOID card back in November of 2020. I have a conformation of payment made to Illinois State Police from my credit card company, but still have no new card. I know the State Police said my card would still be good (even though expired) for 12 months after pandemic. Do have any idea long it takes to get renewal card. I just worry about getting in a jam with an expired FOID?” Tom Munizzi
A: Beth Hundsdorfer, chief public information officer, reiterated not to worry. “FOID card holders, who submit their renewal application will remain valid during the duration of the state’s disaster proclamation and for a period of 12 months following the termination of the disaster, even if their renewal application is/was not submitted prior to expiration,” she emailed. “The Firearms Services Bureau suggests that card holders carry the renewal receipt with their card.”
BIG NUMBER
171.36: Percent that hiking increased in 2020 over 2019, according to study partnered by RunRepeat and AllTrails. Number of hikers increased by 134.7 percent; hikes per user by 52.12.
LAST WORD
“I can’t compare it to anything other than getting a big buck, but it’s better even that that. I’ve had it once in my life before, when my buddy got one years ago. It kind of tastes like pork — delicious. I used a spear my dad had built for me and I used a decoy I made this year.”
Andrew LaLonde, a road patrol sergeant for the Cheboygan County Sheriff in Michigan, on spearing the final season-ending sturgeon at Black Lake, via the Traverse City Record-Eagle. (The Black Lake sturgeon spearing experience is one o the wildest events I ever covered.)
