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Gretchen Steele

Gretchen Steele: Big year for Kaskaskia River Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Illinois

Featured, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting /

There’s a certain kind of magic that happens along Illinois’ Kaskaskia River before dawn.
You know it if you’ve ever been there – when the mist rises off the water, the air holds its breath, and a handful of hunters lean forward just a little, waiting for the first flock to swing in. That feeling – that mix of anticipation, tradition, and camaraderie – isn’t something you can explain easily to folks who’ve never shouldered a shotgun in the half-light.

Gretchen Steele: Big year for Kaskaskia River Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Illinois Read More »

Gretchen Steele: Mid-August in southern Illinois is when hoverflies and spiders rule

Featured, Illinois, Nature Page & Night Sky /

I just came in from my daylight coffee on the back porch and quick sashay through the fence row squirrel hunt, and boy howdy, can you tell it’s August in southern Illinois!
The “corn tassel bees,” as they are called in our neighborhood, are everywhere, and yeegads, the abundance of spiders and webs. (I swear every spider from the door to and through the fence row had built a web at face height) By mid-August, Illinois is at its late-summer peak – fields are thick and green, waterways are warm and inviting, and the air feels just a little heavier with the buzz of life.

Gretchen Steele: Mid-August in southern Illinois is when hoverflies and spiders rule Read More »

Kaskaskia River Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Illinois sets fundraising record

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, National News, News /

The Kaskaskia River Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Illinois celebrated a milestone achievement at its 2025 annual banquet by raising a record-breaking $51,250 in net proceeds.
This marks the highest fundraising total in the chapter’s 19-year history, surpassing all previous goals and reaffirming its commitment to waterfowl conservation and outdoor heritage.

Kaskaskia River Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Illinois sets fundraising record Read More »

Gretchen Steele: A late-summer bucket list to accomplish in Illinois’ outdoors

Featured, Fishing, Illinois, Nature Page & Night Sky /

August in southern Illinois is not for the faint of heart – or the poorly hydrated. The tomatoes are splitting on the vine, the cicadas scream like tiny chainsaws in the trees, and the air feels like someone left the soup pot on. Still, somehow, this month holds a wild, golden magic.

Gretchen Steele: A late-summer bucket list to accomplish in Illinois’ outdoors Read More »

Mallards could receive big boost from HEN Act introduced in Congress

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, National News, New York, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

An initiative that could bring direct benefits to duck hunters by bolstering mallard and other duck populations in areas that produce the birds that migrate down the flyways each fall has taken wing.
The Habitat Enhancement Now –  a.k.a.“the HEN Act” – was introduced in the Senate July 16. Addressing a lingering problem with habitat, the measure proposes authorizing $3.5 million annually for five years to fund Hen House nesting structures.

Mallards could receive big boost from HEN Act introduced in Congress Read More »

Gretchen Steele: Here are Illinois hiking trails worth exploring in late summer

Featured, Home Page News, Illinois, Nature Page & Night Sky /

Late July is the sweet spot of summer in Illinois. The bugs (mostly) settle down, the early morning air still holds a touch of cool, and the woods are a riot of green growth, blooms, birdsong, and rustling leaves. It’s the perfect time to lace up your hiking boots or pump up those bike tires and get out on your local trails.
But don’t underestimate the magic just down the road.

Gretchen Steele: Here are Illinois hiking trails worth exploring in late summer Read More »

Gretchen Steele: Old-school outdoor skills still worth knowing

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Hunting, Illinois, National Fishing, National Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky /

In a recent long phone conversation with my nephew, he regaled me with his upcoming summer plans for him and his son.
Canoeing for several days down the Missouri, from Fort Benton, on past their home near Great Falls, Ill. They were taking an extra-long trial run for hunting big horn sheep. He wanted to reinforce the old ways and the basic, old-school skills he had learned from his grandpa, dad, and me with his son.

Gretchen Steele: Old-school outdoor skills still worth knowing Read More »

Gretchen Steele: Remembering outdoor adventures that made us

Featured, Fishing, Hunting, Illinois /

I realize that Father’s Day will have come and gone by the time you read this, but it is Father’s Day when I sit down to pen my upcoming column on an early Sunday morning. My own father, a man of few words but immense wisdom, has been gone a very long time now, but I seem to be in a reflective mood.
It’s a familiar image, almost mythic: a father and child setting out into the great outdoors, a tackle box in one hand, a trail map in the other, and the quiet promise of discovery stretched ahead.

Gretchen Steele: Remembering outdoor adventures that made us Read More »

Gretchen Steele: Dangerous plants lurking on Illinois trails, roadsides, streambanks

Featured, Illinois, Nature Page & Night Sky /

If you spend any time hiking, hunting, fishing, or working outdoors in Illinois, you’ve likely passed within inches of some deceptively beautiful but hazardous plants.

These plants, with their umbrella-shaped white or yellow flowers, are more common than you might think. They might catch your eye along a shaded trail or the edge of a creek, but some of them can send you to the emergency room – or worse. I just wanted to scream the other day as I drove along several of our county roads.

Gretchen Steele: Dangerous plants lurking on Illinois trails, roadsides, streambanks Read More »

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