Attention hunters.
Here’s your chance to post a field report on the dove, teal and goose seasons in northern Illinois and Indiana.
Simply post a comment to this entry and let us know what’s happening out there; what birds are on the move and what’s working — and not working — on the hunting grounds in our area.
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After a deluge of rain things are finally brightening for folks along the Kankakee River.
It has been a strange few days. I can’t remember when the river ran this high in late August. The roaring water seems more like early spring or late fall rather than the end of summer.
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Here’s a great get-away just for the ladies; a day of outdoor fun learning new skills at the South Wilmington Sportsman’s Club near Essex.
The Women in the Outdoors event, set for Sept. 16, features activities such as archery, recreational shooting, macrame, outdoor cooking, canoeing and even basic auto mechanics among other topics. Cost is $40 per person before Sept. 2 or $50 thereafter. Registration includes classes, lunch, equipment and supplies and membership in the Women in the Outdoors program.
The event is co-hosted by the Tri-County Callers and the Kankakee River Valley Gobblers, both chapters of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
For more information, contat Liz Veronda at (815) 405-6735 or e-mail: lveronda@hotmail.com. Information is also available on the Wild Turkey Federation web site at: www.womenintheoutdoors.org.
Lake Superior, the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes, is getting warmer and shrinking according to one Michigan Tech University researcher.
Out west scientists are noting an increase in the death of trees at Yosemite and Sequoia national parks.
Are these warning signs of global warming?
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The annual Mars-Moon myth is again making the rounds on the Internet and via e-mail.
Two moons on Aug. 27” proudly proclaims the latest hoax in an e-mail received this week at The Daily Journal.
The message takes several different forms all proclaiming that around Aug. 27 “Mars with be as large as the full moon to the naked eye.” The newest version adds, “It will look like the Earth has two moons.”
“It is physically impossible for Mars to ever appear as large as the full Moon in the sky,” replies Paul A. Heckert an astrophysicist whose work has been published in the “Astronomical Journal” and “The Information Bulletin on Variable Stars.”
“Like any urban legend, the myth resurfaces with a new date and some altered details,” Heckert said.
“The Moon,” he explains, “has a diameter of about 2,174 miles compared to about 4,225 miles for Mars.” But the Moon is much closer to Earth, Heckert says. “Hence at its closest approach, Mars appears about 1/100th the size of the full Moon.”
The myth got its start in August of 2003 when Mars was at its closest distance to the Sun in about 60,000 years, Heckert said. Even then, he adds, “Mars was still tens of millions of kilometers from Earth and nowhere close to the size and brightness of the full Moon.”
Serious astronomers around the country are urging people not to forward this e-mail hoax if it appears in your in-box.
Permit applications are now being taken at http://dnr.state.il.us for the Illinois resident youth deer hunt.
There is an Aug. 14 permit deadline for the Oct. 6-7 hunt. Paper applications are no longer available.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 6, non-residents can purchase remaining archery deer combination permits.
Approximately 1,450 permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Purchases can be made by calling toll-free 1-888-673-7648 or on-line at http://dnr.state.il.us.
Illinois and Indiana hunters are getting what they hoped for — 85 days of goose hunting and 60 days for ducks.
Federal regulators approved the season proposals on Thursday according to H. Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Illinois and Indiana waterfowling begins with a 15-day Canada goose hunt and a 16-day teal season in September. The early Canada goose hunt runs from Sept. 1-15.Indiana’s teal season begins Sept. 1 while Illinois’s teal season starts on Sept. 8.Teal hunting is not allowed at the Kankakee Fish & Wildlife Area in Indiana.
The regular duck season for Illinois runs from Oct. 20-Dec. 18 in the north zone; Oct. 27-Dec. 25 for the central zone; and Nov. 22-Jan. 20, 2008 in the south zone.
The regular goose season be Oct. 20-Jan. 12 for the north zone; Oct. 27-Nov. 8 and Nov. 21-Jan. 31 for the central zone; and Nov. 22-25 and Dec. 1-Jan. 31 in the south zone.
There will be no possession limit for the light goose hunts this year.
“We propose to give hunters a wide range of hunting opportunities,” Hall said. “We have five species that are at record or near record highs, including canvasbacks, and there are good breeding conditions on the prairies.
One extra canvasback will be added to the bag limit for the Mississippi Flyway which includes Illinois and Indiana.
“However, we remain concerned that pintails and scaup have not yet responded to the improved habitat conditions and remain well below long-term averages,” Hall said.
“The scaup population has experienced a significant long-term decline and this year’s estimate is the third lowest on record.” Reduced daily bag limits on scaups will continue for all flyways and more restrictions may come in the future “if the trend continues,” Hall added.
