Illinois DNR Wild Turkey Project Manager Luke Garver gave himself plenty of wiggle room this winter when sharing his vague forecast for the spring hunting season.
“Being an optimist, I’m predicting the 2025 season to be close to the record harvest of 2024,” Garver wrote back in February.
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
Spring turkey harvest in Illinois hits record levels for second straight year Read More »
All the twists and turns and trips and tricks navigated by Tammy Miller over her nearly three decades with the DNR were the result of a particular skill learned by rural small-town farm kids across Illinois unafraid to change gears – even if some grinding is involved.
That skill: “Figuring things out.”
In fact, that’s exactly how one Outdoor News reader described Miller while nominating her for the Illinois Outdoor News “Person of the Year.”
The catch rate for muskies during DNR’s 2024 netting survey of Lake Carlton was down compared to previous years, as was the average size of the fish – 35 inches in 2023 to 32 inches last year.
But a consistent stocking program and an overall healthy population has DNR confident the small 77-acre lake will continue to develop as a muskie hotspot in Whiteside County.
Muskies, saugeyes keep steady in Lake Carlton in Illinois’ Whiteside County Read More »
Even readers in deep southern Illinois are keeping a close eye on a largemouth bass tracking project taking place in waters most from the south will never drop a hook, line or sinker into.
The Chicago River, of all places. The project we speak of here is one that in 2024 placed numbered tags on largemouth bass to make it easy for anglers who catch bass in the Chicago River to report individual fish to a research team. The goal is to help biologists better understand movements and motivations.
Ralph Loos: Examining some results from Chicago River bass study Read More »
Just weeks after a DNR report suggested smallmouth bass continue to grow and thrive in the Chicago harbors of Lake Michigan, a Kankakee angler backed up biologists with a near-record catch.
In fact, Kyle Danhausen’s Burnham Harbor smallie missed a new Illinois state record by a mere ounce. Danhausen’s April 24 catch weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, just shy of the 7-pound, 3-ounce smallie caught by caught by Joe Capilupo in Monroe Harbor in 2019.
Smallmouth bass an ounce light of an Illinois record Read More »
Legislation that would allow the DNR to issue more antlerless-only nuisance deer permits and expand the number of tags given to youth hunters passed the Illinois Senate by a unanimous vote.
Senate Bill 710, which is designed to give landowners and farmers more opportunity to thin the deer herd on their properties, moved on a 51-0 vote. The measure was then sent to the House, where it had its first reading on May 6 before being sent to the Agriculture and Conservation Committee.
Bill to boost Illinois deer harvest charges on Read More »
Above: A “wake” of black vultures feeds on a dead animal in an Illinois farm field. Right: A map depicting the home range of black vultures in Illinois. The Illinois Farm Bureau, DNR, and the U.S.
Black vulture depredation permits again available for Illinois farmers Read More »
Predators create an attraction at the Rice Lake complex, with both northern pike and alligator gars swimming – and eating – in the collection of lakes and backwaters near the Illinois River in Fulton County.
The Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area lies adjacent to the river and includes a collection of lakes ranging in size from Duck Island Little Lake (57 acres) to Rice Lake (1,400 acres).
Rice Lake summer fishing can be an ‘adventure’ in Fulton County, Ill. Read More »
Two of the most enjoyable days of my career involved topics covered in a pair of stories that appear in this issue of Illinois Outdoor News.
The article about the beginning of the “fish sampling” season in Illinois reminded me of the time almost 30 years ago when I joined now-retired DNR fisheries biologist and Fisheries Chief Dan Stephenson to sample Lake Springfield. As a kid who grew up threading worms and grasshoppers on hooks to fish small farm ponds in southern Illinois, my imagination always provided an image of a fish the size of a mule flopping at my feet.
Sign up for the Outdoor News Weekly Newsletter and get 2 months of FREE access to OutdoorNews.com – packed with hunting, fishing, and conservation news. No Catch.
This offer includes digital access only (not the printed edition)
We’ve simplified things. Now you only need one password to access all your Outdoor News digital content.
If you hit the help page, follow the directions so you don’t miss out on any of our great content.
Let’s get you reading!
We’ve simplified things. Now you only need one password to access all your Outdoor News digital content.
• Click Continue below.
• You’ll be taken to the OutdoorNews.com sign-in screen.
• Don’t have an account yet? Create one—it’s quick!
• After signing in, click the E-Edition Login button again. When the pop-up appears, just click Continue. You’ll either:
If you hit the help page, follow the directions so you don’t miss out on any of our great content.
We know you love the outdoors—now we want to make OutdoorNews.com the ultimate destination for all things hunting, fishing, and conservation.
Take our brief 3 minute survey to share your thoughts, and help us build the best outdoor website on the planet. As a thank you, we’ll send you a special offer!
Together, we can make OutdoorNews.com even better.
For a limited time, you can get full access to breaking news, all original Outdoor News stories and updates from the entire Great Lakes Region and beyond, the most up-to-date fishing & hunting reports, lake maps, photo & video galleries, the latest gear, wild game cooking tips and recipes, fishing & hunting tips from pros and experts, bonus web content and much, much more, all on your smartphone, tablet or desktop For just a buck per month!
Some restrictions apply. Not valid with other promotions. $1 per month for 6 months (you will be billed $6) and then your subscription will renew at standard subscription rates. For more information see Terms and Conditions. This offer only applies to OutdoorNews.com and not for any Outdoor News print subscriptions. Offer valid thru 3/31/23.
Already a subscriber to OutdoorNews.com? Click here to login.
