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Ralph Loos

Illinois bills aim to reshape deer hunts

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

Efforts to thin the deer herd in sections of Illinois continue to evolve, with lawmakers using the new General Assembly to float plans designed to appease farmers, landowners, and hunters.
It’s a tricky task, of course. The newest effort includes a piece of legislation that would provide 10 landowner deer permits to those eligible for the free permit. Current state law allows for four free landowner permits.

Illinois bills aim to reshape deer hunts Read More »

Ralph Loos: Cranes aren’t a problem in Illinois – but they aren’t innocent, either

Featured, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

Talks I give throughout the year to hunting and fishing clubs around Illinois typically end with a round of questions that almost always includes, “How do you coach your writers to write what hunters and fishermen want to read?”
My standard reply: I tell my writers to make a list of things they don’t know. Then write something that teaches them what they don’t know. Actually, opportunities to teach myself things roll across this desk on a regular basis. I work to take my own advice.

Ralph Loos: Cranes aren’t a problem in Illinois – but they aren’t innocent, either Read More »

A quick chat with Shane McKenzie on research to better understand urban otters

Home Page News, Nature Page & Night Sky, Quick Chats /

The river otter revival over the past two decades in more than two dozen states is proof of what’s possible when sportsmen collaborate with conservation – not only physically, but also financially.
“This restoration success would not have happened without Pittman-Robertson funds,” said Chris Dwyer, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “These federal excise tax dollars, matched with state trapping and hunting license funds, supported agency staff time, research, and relocation work making otter recovery possible nationwide.”

A quick chat with Shane McKenzie on research to better understand urban otters Read More »

‘Wipers’ remain a focus at Lake Glenn Shoals in central Illinois

Illinois, Lake Profile, Lake Profile /

DNR stocked nearly 16,000 fingerling “wipers” – a cross between a white bass and striped bass – in Lake Glenn Shoals in 2025, another step toward developing the species in the Montgomery County water.
Over the past few years, biologists have seen promising results during surveys that indicate wipers are growing in the 1,100-acre lake.

‘Wipers’ remain a focus at Lake Glenn Shoals in central Illinois Read More »

No bighead or silver carp discovered during fall monitoring in Chicago Area Waterway System

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

Two weeks of sampling the Chicago Area Waterway System this fall produced no bighead or silver carp – certainly good news for Illinois DNR and the many partners that make up the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.

No bighead or silver carp discovered during fall monitoring in Chicago Area Waterway System Read More »

Bass in Chicago’s harbors maintain trend in latest assessment

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

Smallmouth bass swimming in Lake Michigan’s harbors received another boost of notoriety last April when angler Kyle Danhausen pulled one out of Monroe Harbor weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces – a mere ounce short of the Illinois state record.
The standing record is a smallmouth caught in Monroe Harbor in 2019. While those two smallies were not caught in harbors sampled annually by DNR, the fish did represent a trend fisheries biologists and anglers have noted over the past decade or so.

Bass in Chicago’s harbors maintain trend in latest assessment Read More »

Ralph Loos: Illinois wild turkey survey relying too heavily on people like us?

Featured, Hunting, Illinois, National Hunting, Opinion /

It had been a bit since I last clicked on the Illinois DNR’s Wild Turkey Survey, a place anyone can visit to see the “what, when and where” of wild turkey sightings up and down and across the state.
As you may recall, biologists updated their method of collecting turkey data – from the old-fashioned tact of having people report turkey sightings by scribbling on mail-in postcards to an electronic version that can be accessed on both mobile devices and home computers.

Ralph Loos: Illinois wild turkey survey relying too heavily on people like us? Read More »

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