While most deer hunters are on the watch for signs of chronic wasting disease, another suspected illness is taking its toll on whitetails around the state.
It’s call “blue tongue” — technically epizootic hemorrhagic disease — which is affecting whitetail herds in several states including Illinois.
Last week, while vacationing in Illinois’ deer capital — downstate Pope County — I heard disturbing tales from local hunters of recent deer deaths blamed on the blue tongue malady.
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Cody Brownfield, left, and Chaney Thomas
Even as hunting licenses are declining statewide, a new generation of young deer hunting enthusiasts may be following in their fathers’ footsteps.
And it took more than the unseasonably hot weather earlier this month to stop two of the area’s youngest deer hunters.
Cody Brownfield, 10, of St. Anne, and Chaney Thomas, 13, of Bourbonnais, both downed deer during the youth hunt earlier this month.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and five other Great Lakes sites are being threatened by pollution and staff shortages according to a new report by the National Parks Conservation Association.
Parks at risk include the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin and four Michigan site; Isle Royale National Park, Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshores.
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Here’s a pair of fishing stories — one about a veteran angler and another about a youngster’s first big catch.
They each touch on the joy of fishing running the gambit from the excitement of winning a cash bonanza in a bass tourney to the thrill of 7-year-old battling a big walleye.
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