Picture the rut, I mean really picture it: Chicago outdoors notes

Notes from around Chicago outdoors.

FIELD NOTES

BUCK WILD OF THE WEEK: UNPLUGGED

“Not the sort of thing you expect in Glen Ellyn, even during the rut,’’ Jeff Norris texted. In the rut, even big bucks strolling through suburban lawns looking for love isn’t surprising.

Buck of the Week: Unplugged, a celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors runs on Sundays on the Sun-Times outdoors page as warranted. Send nominations by Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or email (straycasts@sbcglobal.net).

WILD TIMES

ILLINOIS SEASONS/PERMITS

Nov. 14, Monday: First dove season ends

Nov. 18-20, Friday-next Sunday: First firearm deer season

Now: Remaining firearm and muzzleloader-only deer permits are available over the counter

DUCKS UNLIMITED

(Click here for the general list of Illinois DU events)

Wednesday: Barrington Area Dinner, Onion Pub and Brewery, Lake Barrington. Click here

HUNTER SAFETY

(Click here for full package of northeast Illinois hunter safety classes)

PHEASANTS FOREVER

(Click here for general list of Illinois PF events)

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION

(Click here for general list of banquets and events)

DALE’S MAILBAG

Q: “I was disheartened by your recent bobcat article, Dale, as well as by the recent permitting of hunting and trapping them in Illinois. There is really no justification for same, other than the egos and power of the hunters and firearms and hunting lobby. Several times the articles refer to them as `predators,’ sending a not so subliminal message that they are somehow a danger and have to be controlled or eradicated.’’ John Grove, Wheaton (opening of letter opposing Illinois’ bobcat season)

A: Bobcats are the No. 1 or 2 predator in Illinois, depending on how coyotes are ranked (wolves and mountain lions remain visitors, not residents). That’s what bobcats are, predators.

BIG NUMBER

116,000: Advanced growth walleye fingerlings stocked by Perch America on the Indiana side of Wolf Lake through the last 19 years, including the 3,000 stocked last Sunday.

LAST WORD

“Why can’t they just leave this —- here?’’

Stacey Greene, proprietor of Park Bait, with an aptly graphic question on the seasonal removal of portable toilets around Montrose, other than two by the soccer fields near Foster