There’s a moment each spring in southern Illinois when the woods stop belonging to winter and start belonging to wings.
It doesn’t happen all at once. There’s no grand announcement, no clean turning of a page.
Gretchen Steele: Spring migration a magical time in southern Illinois Read More »
There is a quiet that settles over the deer woods after the season. It is not silence, but a pause many of us trust – a familiar, brief stillness in the rhythm of the land.
For over two decades, Illinois hunters and wildlife managers relied on another kind of steadiness. It was determined, often controversial, but mostly effective. The aim was to hold chronic wasting disease at bay.
Commentary: Illinois recalibrates its fight against CWD Read More »
Easter has just passed through, we’ve been eating big grey morels for a good week, and even the big sought-after yellows were found by a few in the last few days. Lilacs are blooming.
Then today, as I sat down with my plate of morels, bluegill, and an omelet full of spring greens for my lunch, the weatherman on the noon news forecasted snow tonight and in the morning.
Gretchen Steele: In southern Illinois’ outdoors, April lies Read More »
Late March into early April might be the most underrated window of the year for getting kids outside.
It’s easy to wait for “real spring” or push plans into summer, but once school lets out, schedules fill fast – camps, games, vacations, and long, hot days that tend to pull everyone back indoors by afternoon. Good intentions get crowded out.
Gretchen Steele: Ideas for getting kids outdoors before summer chaos Read More »
You expect a little unpredictability with spring in Illinois. What you don’t expect – what nobody quite plans for – is a youth pheasant hunt that feels like it ought to come with sunscreen and a cooler full of ice.
In heat wave, kids showed up for Youth Pheasant Hunt in Illinois Read More »
Every year, it happens the same way. Somewhere in late winter, after one too many gray afternoons and one too many evenings spent looking out the window instead of being out in the woods, the camping itch starts up again. It begins as a harmless thought.
Maybe it’s time to go camping.
Gretchen Steele: Finally, the first night back in the campground Read More »
There’s a particular kind of ache that settles into southern Illinois by early March. As I write this in the early morning hours, the temperature is a cool 16 degrees, and the wind chill is sub-zero at minus 2 degrees. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago we were enjoying a preview of spring with temps in the 70’s.
Gretchen Steele: About now, Illinois outdoorsmen yearn for spring Read More »
By the end of February in southern Illinois, winter has worn out its welcome — but it hasn’t quite left. And here we are in March. More of the same, but with some hope attached.
The snow is mostly gone. The heavy gray skies are beginning to fracture into blue. Red maples along the creeks show the faintest blush of color. And yet, we are not fully delivered into spring. We are suspended — in mud, in wind, in want.
Gretchen Steele: Turkey hunters and outdoor fans in southern Illinois can smell spring Read More »
If you want to understand politics, family dynamics, or the delicate art of running a rural committee meeting, I strongly recommend spending a February afternoon watching a backyard bird feeder in Southern Illinois.
The recent winter storms have given me plenty of opportunities to be endlessly entertained by the feeder drama outside my window. Late winter is prime time.
Gretchen Steele: Birds deal with politics, too – the feeder pecking order Read More »
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