I am changing the format up slightly for the weekly posting of Sunday notes around Chicago outdoors.
FIELD NOTES
BUCK OF THE WEEK: UNPLUGGED
Marilyn Tumpis photographed this 10-point buck through her kitchen window in Crete. “How fitting, `No Hunting,’ ‘’ her son Jeff emailed.
Buck of the Week: Unplugged, a celebration of big live 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).
MUSKIE GATHERINGS
As usual, tangential events are scheduled around any muskie show in Chicago. Tony Grant and Gregg Thomas present “Musky Fishing through Seasons’’ for the Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies Inc. at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Schaumburg Golf Club. Admission is $10, buffet dinner beforehand is $16. . . . Steve Herbeck speaks to the Midwest Musky Club at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Village Sportsmen’s Club in Alsip.
DALE’S MAILBAG
Q: “Out of the places listed in the Chain [access], any advice which one is best to go to for a first-timer [ice fisherman]?’’ Chris Hardt
A: I would lean toward Nielsen’s Channel with access from Hermann’s Lowlife Bar & Grill in Port Barrington. In part because people there are more than willing to help with advice. Second choice for a first-timer would be Channel Lake.
BIG NUMBER
57: Muskies caught in Illinois topping 50 inches, in the unofficial list maintained by Ray Thompson, chairman of the Illini Muskies Alliance
LAST WORD
“Imperative to use creepers.’’
Kurt Justice, Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua, Wis., with advice to ice fishermen last week, which applies across the Midwest with this up-and-down weather
WILD TIMES
SHOWTIME
(Click here or the exhaustive list of shows, seminars, swap meets and auctions)
Friday-Sunday, Jan. 6-8: Muskie Expo Chicago, Pheasant Run, St. Charles
Saturday: St. Anne Outdoorsman Show: St. Anne Community High School, Saturday, (815) 214-8167
ILLINOIS SEASONS/PERMITS
Jan. 8: Final day, pheasant and quail hunting, north zone
Jan. 11: Deadline, second lottery, spring turkey applications, click here
HUNTER SAFETY
(Click here for full package of northeast Illinois hunter safety classes)
DUCKS UNLIMITED
(Click here for the general list of Illinois DU events)
PHEASANTS FOREVER
(Click here for general list of Illinois PF events)
NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION
(Click here for general list of banquets and events)