I've been working on an article about Illinois' updated baiting laws, and how they apply to waterfowl, deer and turkey hunters in the state. There have been a lot of changes over the past decade and after talking to several hunters for the piece, it's clear that many aren't familiar with the laws and how easy it is to be…
I could sense the despair in Dr. Walt Cottrell's voice. As the wildlife veterinarian for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Cottrell has seen virtually every malady that can strike any species in the state. He's seen it all… almost. The Game Commission has launched a media campaign, if you will, to raise awareness of the risk of chronic wasting disease and…
New stamps for turkey, pheasant and waterfowl hunters were selected on Aug. 25 and will be issued to hunters during the 2013 hunting seasons. Winning the wild turkey contest, with a painting of an early morning gobbler ready to depart from a tree branch was Craig Fairbert, of Ladysmith. Fairbert is no stranger to winning wildlife stamp contests as he…
Rare is the person who is so set in his or her ways, those who raise their voice every time a certain topic comes up, but then surprises us by being won over by our way of thinking. In other words, why would someone be swayed by someone else’s ideas? That’s asking them to give in to two things, not…
A few weeks ago, squirrel season opened in Illinois. As a bowhunter in the Prairie State, these cute, bushy-tailed, little critters morph into my arch-nemeses come Oct. 1. They have an annoying way of tampering with even the most in tune sense of audio as they manipulate the forest floor into continuously sounding like a sauntering whitetail approaching a shooting…
Now that the James Kroll report on Wisconsin deer management has been filed, and the bills paid, we’re beginning to understand that much of the problem was and is – us. In listening to the three consultants (James Kroll, David Guynn Jr. and Gary Alt) at one of the town meetings last April (Mount Horeb), I was most impressed with…
After a couple of months of scouting, as well as consulting with other hunters and foresters, I have to admit that my expectations for an action-packed August in the squirrel woods weren’t at an all time high this year. No small number of nut trees aborted their crop this summer due to the drought, and many of the mast-bearing trees…
Thanks to persistent efforts of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, in particular Ralph Fritsch, past president and current Wildlife Committee chair, the Natural Resources Board voted unanimously Aug. 8 to open the coyote hunting season during the gun deer season in wolf management zone one. The season had been closed because wolves were added to the Wisconsin and Federal Endangered Species…
Wisconsin’s duck hunters will get a 60 day hunting season this fall, with a six-duck daily bag limit. The daily bag limit is similar to last year, except that the scaup limit has been raised to four birds. The daily bag limit is six ducks, including: no more than four mallards of which only one can be a hen; three…
As I opened up my 2012 Whitetail Calendar, put out by Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine, and began counting the days until Illinois’ archery season, I stopped short. As I write, there are only 50-some days left until Oct. 1, a day that is sacred, a day in my calendar year that begins my number one rule for my children…
The much-anticipated crossbow law is finally a real-life law. Gov. Pat Quinn has signed House Bill 4819, meaning crossbows will be legal for hunting deer in Illinois this season between Dec. 3 and Jan. 20. Stay tuned for more details. Categories: Bloggers on Hunting, Illinois – Ralph Loos, Whitetail Deer
Maybe we – outdoors writers and media – should take some of the responsibility for there being so much angst swarming around Wisconsin’s deer hunting and managing issues, especially during the last decade. Seems it’s just too difficult for a writer to be unbiased when it comes to deer hunting (management), just as it probably is for most gun deer…
Sure, it's possible to hunt big game in July, but for us adults, we have to use our imagination a little bit. That's what's happening this week – this adult's imagination has been turning grasshoppers into big game critters for two days so far, largely due to the arrival in the Northwoods of my grandson, Mason, who is now 5…
About once each month I take a drive that practically covers Illinois from head to toe — from Carbondale all the way up to Chicago, and then back. I handle business, see friends and keep an eye out for anything that might be of interest to readers of Illinois Outdoor News. I've got to tell you this: our drought is…
It wasn’t the new laptop computer she had wanted, but Dawn Weyer did get something from her husband, Ron, for Christmas that could be loaded, just not with software. It was a Browning 22 LR – perfect for … target shooting? What? “I opened it up and was shocked,” she said. “It was about the last thing I expected to…
I was mowing my yard a few weeks ago and noticed a large patch of dug up turf. Grass roots were scattered everywhere. My first inclination was to get the varmint having the nerve to come into my yard and destroy my lawn. It annoyed me and I planned on getting even. My idea was to set a live trap…
By now everyone is pretty much aware that the state's proposed youth hunt over the Columbus Day weekend isn't going to happen, its fate sealed when a crossbow extension – extension, not expansion – bill was approved and carried a clause that limited firearms use during the regular archery season. It's pretty obvious that was a clear effort to ax…
I have hunted for nearly 50 years and have sent in a harvest report card for every deer, buck or doe that I have ever harvested in Pennsylvania. I wish every hunter would do the same. Our current statewide reporting rate of less than 40 percent is a sad commentary on hunters. With that said, I know that 100 percent…
Ducks have a new friend in town. It is the Friends of the Duck Stamp. This friends group is an independent, non-profit group devoted to the promotion, preservation, sale and better understanding of the Federal Migratory Bird and Conservation Stamp, better known as the Duck Stamp. Paul Baicich, group president, said that the “friends” is unlike any other refuge friends…
Deer registration stations are what makes an outdoors writer’s job more interesting, easier, and a whole lot of fun. There are all kinds of people there, many of whom killed deer, some who do not. The Department of Natural Resources employees are usually there. I could go on and on, but for many of these same reasons that I do…
If it seems things have been a little quiet about the annual public waterfowl blind drawings, that's because DNR has not made the kind of public announcement it typically does. By the way, the dates of this year's drawings are July 28-29. Those dates and an announcement about the drawing sites were posted on the DNR web site June 28….
This spring, I made up my mind that no matter how many late nights I had to endure in the name of research, I was going to plant a food plot. One of my mottos is, “When it comes to hunting, we should always give more than we take.” Aside from the act of hunting itself, I can’t think of…
The relationship between farmers and deer hunters in Illinois is intriguing, due to the fact that access to hunting land is a huge issue in our state. What I learned this week after crunching through a study by the Illinois Natural History Survey and talking to farmers and hunters is that farmers may play the most important role in deer…
A lot of attention has been devoted to the Duck Lake forest fire near the Luce/Chippewa county line in the Upper Peninsula. Fires happen every year in Michigan, but this year's dry, windy conditions fueled a blaze that made for some spectacular photos and video that caught the attention of people from as far away as the United Kingdom. The…
Trail cameras can now be placed on lands owned by the DNR that are open to hunting. The DNR published a notice in the official state newspaper June 1, beginning the new policy adopted by the Natural Resources Board on May 23. Normally it is illegal for people to place personal property on state lands and leave it overnight, but…
Some of you may recall a couple of blog posts and articles last year in which I reported – and lamented – that my preseason scouting for squirrels had revealed an almost non-existent hickory nut crop where I do most of my hunting. The 2011 nut yield in the southern part of the state did turn out to be spotty…
