Fox sparrow, Cubs, certified weighing: Notes, Chicago outdoors

Notes from around Chicago outdoors.

FIELD NOTES

WILD OF THE WEEK

Emil Baumbach photographed this fox sparrow, a forest-floor feeder with “blazing red hued chevrons,’’ on the Salt Creek Trail in Elmhurst.

Wild of the Week, a celebration of wild scenes 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

FISH GATHERINGS

Tuesday: Nov. 8: Capt. Chris Taurisano, Salmon Unlimited, Elk Grove Village VFW,, 7 p.m., salmonunlimitedinc.com

Tuesday: Nov. 8: John Bette of Stealth Tackle, Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies Inc., Giuseppe’s La Cantina, Des Plaines, 7:30 p.m., chicagolandmuskiehunters.org/meetingschedule.asp

Wednesday, Nov. 9: Free pizza night and southern Wisconsin muskie guide Phil Piscitello, Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies Inc., Schaumburg Golf Club, 7 p.m., frvmuskie.com

SHOWTIME

Next Sunday, Nov. 13: Early Show (fly-fishing show), co-presented by DRiFT and ISA, Mayslake Peabody Estate, Oak Brook, driftorg.com

ILLINOIS SEASONS

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

Thursday: Bobcat hunting statewide and bobcat trapping, south zone, opens, previous permits required . . . Fox (red and gray) hunting opens . . . Raccoon and opossum hunting, south zone, opens . . . South zone trapping for beaver, river otter, raccoon, opossum, skunk, weasel, mink, muskrat, fox (red and gray), coyote, badger opens

Friday, Nov. 11: Rail hunting ends . . . Duck and goose hunting, south central zone, opens

Saturday, Nov. 12: Canada goose, central zone, reopens

Saturday-next Sunday, Nov. 12-13: Youth waterfowl hunt, south zone

DUCKS UNLIMITED

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

Wednesday: Salt Creek Dinner, Butterfield Country Club, Oak Brook, 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: “What is the `best’ way to get a certified weight on a potential record fish that you’d want to release back into the water.’’ Michael Muniz

A: Around Chicago, get it in a bucket or live well and to Henry’s Sports and Bait ASAP. Around Waukegan, it’s the Salmon Stop. On the Kankakee River, it’s the Kankakee River Trading Post. They have certified scales. Henry’s is set up to keep a record fish alive until the biologist certifies it.

BIG NUMBER

2,016/1,375: Chinook captured/passed upstream, as of Monday, Oct. 31, at the Root River weir in Wisconsin

LAST WORD

“Frying up a bunch of white bass in the parking lot at my favorite watering hole and drinking good bourbon with some friends and game 7. This is unbelievable. Let’s go Cubs. Enjoy the ride.’’

Jason Fox, emailing before the start of the wild ride of the final World Series game (white bass were caught from the Wisconsin River)