Snowy owl, deer harvest, bald eagles and lakefront steelhead come in Chicago outdoors

A snowy owl in a field near the Kankakee River in Indiana. | Provided by Bill Peak

Readers help with notes from around Chicago outdoors.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Bill Peak photographed this snowy owl roosting in a field near the Kankakee River near Shelby, Indiana while rambling around checking out other wild spots.

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. Send nominations to @BowmanOutside on Twitter or Instagram, to Dale Bowman on Facebook or email BowmanOutside@gmail.com.

WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY

Jan. 4-5: Palatine, palatineparks.org/rccms

Jan. 10-11: Bartlett, (847) 608-3163

YOUTH GOOSE HUNT

Jan. 3: Registration deadline for Central Illinois Youth Goose Hunt, Jan. 19-20, register at (217) 785-8060.

OUTDOORS & ART

Through Jan. 5: ``Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum,’’ 50 acres of trees transformed with lights and music, $13-$23 for adults, $7-15 for children, mortonarb.org/illumination.

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Today, Dec. 15: Final day, muzzleloader deer

Tuesday, Dec. 17: Final day, duck hunting, north zone

DALE’S MAILBAG

``This the third Eagle I’ve spotted at Illinois Beach [State] Park in the past month, [near North] Section road heading to the hotel.’’ Ed Pasiewicz

A: Some things live beyond becoming passe. Bald eagles fall in that group.

BIG NUMBER

75,349: Deer harvested during both parts of Illinois’ firearm season, down from 80,957 in 2018. Harvest during the four-day second season, which ended Sunday, was 25,176, up from 22,060 second season last year. A fuller breakdown of the numbers, click here.

A file photo from the McHenry County deer check station earlier this fall.

LAST WORD

``I look at my bobber and I say `no dude that’s a steelhead.’ I set the hook and this steelhead goes absolutely berserk. It puts on a show 5 feet in front of us. So o]many jumps, it was incredible to see. I am running back and forth in [goose guano] trying not to lose it and keep the fish from going under a pier. After a solid battle the fish was in the net. My buddy couldn’t believe what just happened. Very unexpected to get a bite so close to the wall and land two steelhead 10 minutes apart!’’

Danny ``Tags’’ Borgert, describing on Instagram a Chicago harbor experience this week.