Stray Casts

One of my pet peeves in hunting is the downward spiral in rabbit hunting.

Steve Sarley returns with his Outdoor Experience radion show beginning Sunday for a ``soft opening.'' The ``grand opening'' will be on Nov. 15.

It was one of those days, where the cooler filled with perch--limits of them.

Senate Bill 1846 passed on Friday during the veto session of the Illinois General Assembly. Gov. Quinn is expected to sign the bill, which makes small increases in licenses and other fees. Many of the fee hikes should have happened years ago and/or been much higher this time.

Hunter effort and success during the nine-day fall firearm season for wild turkeys in Illinois keeps sliding. The 2009 season, which ended Sunday, had a preliminary harvest of only 756 turkeys, less than half of harvest only nine years ago.

The first call came Sunday afternoon after the Bears game while I was hiking with the family--a guy just raving about the yellow perch caught out of East Chicago (Ind.) Marina. Two days later, Minocqua (Wisc.) guide Kurt Justice slipped this in: ``Will keep tabs on water temps for first ice anglers.'' Late fall patterns lead the Midwest Fishing Report this week.

Wally Neumann bagged his third book buck in the rain, and this 10-pointer taken Oct. 15 earns Buck of the Week honors.