Chicago outdoors: Bloody Butcher, velvet buck feeding, Michigan-record flathead, dolostone

Notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

WILD OF THE WEEK

From her backyard in Mokena, Gayle Schaumann emailed, “Deer thinks it’s a blue jay.” The buck in velvet caught my eye.

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email BowmanOutside@gmail.com or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I ID’ed the plant as prairie trillium. I don’t recall encountering it before. And no morels.” John Vukmirovich in the third week of May

A: That gives me the chance to use “bloody butcher,” one of my favorite common names in Chicago-area wilds. My all-time favorite common name, an apt one, is for a fairly common mushroom that I can’t get printed in the newspaper.

BIG NUMBER

Provided by the Michigan DNR

53.35/48: Pounds/inches of the Michigan record flathead catfish, caught by Lloyd Tanner of Hobart on May 29 from the St. Joseph River in Berrien County.

LAST WORD

“I encourage Illinoisans to learn more about dolostone, and although it may be similar to other rocks, we shouldn’t take it for granite.”

State Senator Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), this week when Gov. J.B. Pritzker designated dolostone as the official rock of Illinois because of an initiative led by students from Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge and Maplebrook Elementary School in Naperville.

WILD TIMES

FISH GATHERING

Thursday, June 16: Violetta Talley, “Finesse Tactics for Pressured Bass, Fish Tales Fishing Club, Worth Township offices, Alsip, 7 p.m., fishtalesfishingclub.com

WINGSHOOTING CLINICS

June 25-26: St. Charles Sportsmen’s Club, Elburn, scscwingshooting@gmail.com or (847)309-1093

U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY

Next Saturday, June 18: Boat America, Chicago, Dan O’Connell, cgaux.doc@gmail.com . . . Boat America, Fox Lake, Richard Stadelmann, rstad821@gmail.com

HALL OF FAME

Through July 11: Nominations accepted for the 2022 class to the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame, info@ilconservation.org, (217) 785-2003, ilconservation.org

ILLINOIS SEASONS/PERMITS

Wednesday, June 15: Frog season opens

Thursday, June 16: Perch season reopens on Lake Michigan

Through June 30: Second lottery, firearm and muzzleloader deer permit applications

Through June 30: Final day, first lottery, free dove hunting permit

Through July 4: Applications, first lottery, fall shotgun turkey