HUNTER SAFETY

ILLINOIS PERMITS/SEASONS

Tuesday-Wednesday: Chicago, (773) 355-1691 Oct. 26-27: Elgin, hsmagno48@gmail.com.

Today: Duck and Canada goose seasons open, north zone.

Today: Fall trout season opens. Nearby sites include (Cook County) Axehead, Belleau, Busse Woods North, Green, Sag Quarry East, Wolf; (DuPage) Silver, Pickerel, Grove; (Kankakee) Bird Park Quarry, Rock Creek (Kankakee River SP); (Kendall) Big Lake (Silver Springs SFWA); (Lake) Banana, Sand (Illinois Beach SP); (McHenry) Spring Grove Hatchery Pond; (Will) Lake Strini, Van Horn Woods.

DALE’S MAILBAG

“Where do you look up current Illinois archery records? Can’t find anything current on the DNR website or Google. Took a 139+ 8-point this morning with crossbow.’’ — Jim O.

A: Tim Walmsley used to keep the Illinois DNR Big Buck Program up to date. That hasn’t happened for years. He emailed that a 140inch 8-point buck is nice, but Illinois has produced numerous 8-point bucks in the 170s.

BIG NUMBER

2,385 Acres covered by the world’s largest mushroom, nicknamed Humongous Fungus, at Malheur National Forest, Oregon, according to nationalgeographic.com.

(In case you think your hen of the woods is huge.)

LAST WORD

“Took a 10-year-old first-timer and watched him shoot his first and four total ducks. Explained where and why while we set deks @ blind and he did AWESOME picking up in big wind. Took me back to when I fell in love with the experience and bonding with family and real friends.’’

A Glen Ellyn man, reporting on Ducks Unlimited Migration Map on a southwest Michigan hunt.