Thanks to all who sent their kind words and well wishes regarding my latest health fiasco. Basically, one of the three bypasses that I had performed this past spring decided to collapse. They say it happens five percent of the time. Everything is fine now and the doctors tell me that I have many years coming to me – if …..
Yes, I got the law laid down about my weight. I need to lose 30 pounds through diet and exercise. The exercise has to continue and become part of my daily lifestyle. The second thing I need to do, according to the medics, is eliminate stress in my life. I believe that will be the hard part.
My problem is that I take things to heart and get aggravated rather quickly when I see or read about things that greatly annoy or disturb me. I know it’s hard to believe, but I have a bad temper that you wouldn’t guess by looking at my cherubic expression in my column photo.
I read a magazine story about poaching deer and my blood starts to boil. I see someone putting undersized bass on a stringer and can feel my blood pressure begin to skyrocket.
I guess I am going to have to adopt George Costanza’s credo from Seinfeld – “Serenity Now!”
It sure won’t be easy. How does a guy keep calm and stay in his “Zen space” when he hears something like this from Richard Pearson at the Illinois State Rifle Association?
“The president of the Cook County Board announced another in a long string of schemes to punish law-abiding firearm owners and firearm dealers. In the past, the county board has tried all sorts of schemes including banning firearms and heaping all sorts of red tape on firearm owners and dealers – all in an attempt to discourage county citizens from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. This latest proposal, a tax on firearms and ammunition, will raise very little revenue and do nothing to stem the violent crime that Cook County has become famous for.”
Apparently, the new tax would be used to pay the hospital bills of those people who are uninsured and can’t pay their hospital bills incurred when they are victims of gunshot wounds.
You need a valid FOID card to purchase guns or ammo anywhere in our state. That means that only legal, law-abiding citizens are allowed to purchase guns and ammo. It galls me to think that the “good guys” are going to be paying for the evil work of violent criminals.
Yes, we will be the ones punished for their criminal actions. I know my pulse is approaching stratospheric levels right now.
Until I received word of a great event coming to Northern Illinois. The Outdoor Sports Group, the folks that stage the Chicago Outdoor Sports Show in Rosemont, have announced that the inaugural Chicagoland Gun Show will be at the same place at the same time.
When the event draws nearer, I’ll talk about it in detail. A lot of people have misconceptions about gun shows. They’ve heard legislators use the term “gun show loophole” over and over again.
The loophole doesn’t exist and gun shows are perfectly safe places to be. Walk the halls and you’ll see friends and neighbors, hunters and target shooters and an awful lot of off-duty police personnel.
My thanks and best wishes go out to the Village of Rosemont and the Outdoor Sports Group. They are truly acting as guardians of our precious Second Amendment. I know my arteries will be running stress-free for five days in January.
• Northwest Herald outdoors columnist Steve Sarley’s radio show, “The Outdoors Experience,” airs live at 65 a.m. Sunday on AM-560. Sarley also runs a website for outdoors enthusiasts, OExperience.com. He can be reached by email at sarfishing@yahoo.com.
OUTDOORS NOTES
Fishing/hunting report
Northern Illinois: Dave Kranz from Dave’s Bait and Tackle in Crystal Lake reports: “Fox Chain o’ Lakes musky fishermen report good action on suckers this week. The Fox River keeps on being good for smallmouth bass and white bass. Use small spinners (Mepp’s) or crankbaits (Bandit 100 or 200 size]. Deer hunters continue to drop off deer for processing by Smokehouse and report good numbers seen while they hunt. The next two weeks will be the best pre-rut activity we will see.”
Call 815-455-2040 for updated reports.
We get a little light on fishing reports once October hits and that is unfortunate because this is truly the time for big fish. I understand being kept indoors because of foul weather, but if a decent day comes around, get out there and hit the water. Upsize your baits for just about any species that you are after and if you catch a fish, work the spot hard because the fish tend to school up tightly now.
For up-to-the-minute water conditions on the Fox Chain and Fox River, visit foxwaterway.state.il.us/ or call 847-587-8540.
Lake Michigan – Illinois: Captain Bob Rossa (migratorfishhunt.com) has put his vessel away for the year.
You can call Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan Fishing Hotline at 414-382-7920 to hear the latest fishing information for Lake Michigan and its tributaries.
Turkey applications
2013 Spring turkey applications are available and I’d advise you to get yours and file them right away. Spring turkey is the fastest growing segment of the sport of hunting, and Illinois is a great place to practice it. I was driving in Antioch the other day and had to hit the brakes for 11 gobblers scurrying across a road all at once. They were big ones, too. Resident licensing applications opened Tuesday, and nonresidents can begin Dec. 4. The Youth Spring Turkey Special Hunt online application process rund Jan. 15 to Feb. 18. The license fees are $15 for residents and $125 for nonresidents. The youth fee is $10. The 2013 Spring Turkey Season dates for the north zone are: 1st season – April 15 to 19; 2nd season – April 20 to 25; 3rd season – April 26 to, May 1; 4th season – May 2 to 8; 5th season – May 9 to 16. The 2013 Youth Spring Turkey Season dates for the north zone are April 6 and 7.
Coon Creek drawing
Who doesn’t like pheasant hunting? If you do, you have the chance to win a free hunt at Todd Graf’s Coon Creek Hunt Club. All you need do is go to Coon Creek’s Facebook page and click the “Like” button to enter. The drawing will take place at the end of the year. Coon Creek Hunt Club is located at 11050 Slough Road in Garden Prairie. For more information, visit cooncreekhuntclub.com or call 847-603-HUNT.
Walleyes Unlimited
Walleyes Unlimited, with around 450 members, is one of the Midwest’s most popular fishing clubs. They run two meetings a month. In Wisconsin, they usually meet on the second Wednesday of each month at the Root River Lane. In Illinois, they meet on the last Wednesday of the month at the Gurnee American Legion Hall at 749 Milwaukee Ave. in Gurnee, two miles east of I-94 off Grand Ave. On Oct. 31, the speaker will be Larry Smith, and his topic is “Fall Patterns and Ice Fishing Techniques on Lake Winnebago.” Both meetings begin promptly at 7 p.m. Check walleyesunlimitedusa.org for more information or send an email to club president Keith Hahn at redeyewalleye28@yahoo.com
Trout fishing season
The 2012 Illinois fall trout fishing season will open Saturday at 37 ponds and lakes throughout the state. Check the individual sites for site-specific rules and regulations. Some of the northern Illinois locations include:
Cook County: Axehead Lake - Cook County Forest Preserve District, 847/294-4134
Cook County: Belleau Lake - Cook County Forest Preserve District, 847/294-4134
DuPage County: Silver Lake DuPage County FPD, 630/933-7248
Kendall County: Big Lake at Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area, 630/553-6297
Lake County: Banana Lake - Lake County Forest Preserve, 815/675-2319
Lake County: Sand Lake at Illinois Beach State Park North Unit, 847/662-4828
SEnD Steve Sarley
