Carl Vizzone sent this photo for BOTW: Unplugged, and I wanted to compare it to one of my favorite buck photos from the same place.

I debated using one of my stock photos of Norm Minas, but decided to stick with the standard studio shot when guests appear on "Outside,'' which features Norm this afternoon.

One of Illinois' loudest voices for conservation was silenced Thursday when Gerald ``Gerry'' Rodeen died.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

With nothing of football interest, there seems like a hole in the weekend, but winter doings, some inside, pace this Wild Weekend Wandering around Chicago outdoors.

I am very uncomfortable with the FLW starting high school fishing on the national level, and I say that as somebody who is a huge supporter of Illinois' ground-breaking high school bass fishing championship; In fact I broke the story on it for the Sun-Times.

The Chicago Carp Classic is coming home.

Obviously, this is the week for the big show, America's Outdoor Show at the Stephens Center in Rosemont, but there are options in week three for outdoor shows around Chicago.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

There was a crush of people when America's Outdoor Show opened yesterday afternoon, then it tailed off to the usual dribble of opening day.

Ken Gortowski offered some soft soap, then lathered up about stretches of open water on the Fox River.

We settle into the mid-winter doldrums--thank God for show season--with some nice exceptions being caught

It only seems apt to run the Stray Cast here.

Last year, America's Outdoor Show drew families and hundreds of high school kids.

Click here for BOTW, Kevin Phillips' first bow kill.

Click here for Tom Kline's FOTW from Jackson Park.

Kankakee birder Jed Hertz talks about the final year of his 10-year project to document birds around Kankakee and the record-setting Kankakee Valley Christmas Bird Count as the guest on "Outside" radio show No. 4 this afternoon.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

I offered the kids a couple hikes Saturday afternoon, but the little guy popped up with sledding at "Poop Hill."

Click here for Mike Skwira's BOTW: Unplugged at Resurrection Cemetery.

The annual consumption advisories from the Illinois Department of Public Health for sport fish caught in Illinois waters may be some of the most overblown and worthless words to come each year, the ones for 2011 were released today.

I need some photographic help, as in does anybody have photos of the wrestling bear during the old outdoors show at the Amphitheater?

Ed Schmitt offers up ice fishing

in the context of real life, sort of an alternative to Packers/Bears mania.

I am late getting this up from

Ken Gortowski.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

So Pat Harrison called this week and suggested, well, let's say it applies to this Wild Weekend Wandering around Chicago outdoors.

The Hammond Outdoor Sports Show bridges the gap this weekend between the biggest week of outdoor shows around Chicago last week and the big show, America's Outdoor Show, coming next week.

Illinois deer hunters bagged a preliminary total of 181,936 deer in all seasons, down nearly 10 percent from the record year of 2005-06.

As the YouTube video shows, three is plenty of ice fishing around Chicago fishing, but let's lead this Midwest Fishing Report with some Downstate open-water options.

Click here for Bill Brown's Fish of the Week.

Click here for the Buck of the Week.

It only seems apt to run the Stray Cast here.

From Kurt Justice:

*** Kurt's Island Sport Shop will close for the afternoon at 2 pm on 1/23/2011 in observance of the Bears/Packers football game.

Back open at 6 am 1/24/2011 depending....

Leata Lawniczak took this Buck of the Week: Unplugged photo the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

I remembered to document "Outside" show history and took a shot of our first guest, Phil Willink (right), before recording the second radio show.

There are many mysteries about the die-off of gizzard shad on the Chicago lakefront.

For a change on a Friday afternoon, Chicago traffic was OK, so I doubled up on outdoor shows yesterday, hitting both the Chicago Muskie Show and the All-Canada Show.

The IDNR will host a public hearing at the Thompson Center from noon-4:30 p.m. February 18 on the new Illinois Coastal Management Program

Showtime tops this Wild Weekend Wandering around Chicago outdoors, but there are other options, too.

Here are my takes from hitting the 81st Chicago Boat, RV & Outdoors Show yesterday.

As requested and promised, here is the list of outdoor shows I consider within the range of Chicago.

Open water is starting to pull at some (good thing outdoor-show season opens this week) and leads this Midwest Fishing Report, and we add a new well-known contributor in Mike Norris.

Norm Minas sent a note on open-water fishing on the Kankakee River.

Click here for the tale of Bob Spence's 10-point near McHenry.

Because of all the outdoor show stuff this week, there was a break in FOTW.

It only seems apt to run the Stray Cast here.

Carl Vizzone posted this YouTube video of a Canada goose eating some of the dying or dead gizzard shad on Chicago's lakefront.

There's a die-off of young gizzard shad on the Chicago lakefront.

Click here for the story on the tranfer of nearly 600 acres, mostly around Lake Calumet.

In this the biggest week for outdoors shows around Chicago, I plan to hit all three shows on their opening nights.

Phil Willink, from the fish division at The Field Museum, discusses Asian carp on show No. 2 for "Outside" at 4:30 p.m. today on WKCC-FM (91.1).

Tony Herrera, ''proud member of CPD 011th District,'' sent this photo of "The Monster," a very worthy BOTW: Unplugged.

Mike Jackson

invited me to join him on his radio show about 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

I am still working on a project about eating on the road while roaming Illinois outdoors.

Ice fishing leads this Wild Weekend Wandering around Chicago outdoors, a bit of a doldrums one before the outdoor shows start next week.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

Kankakee River State Park is among the five sites where Illinois has extended controlled pheasant hunting.

Ice fishing, obviously, leads this Midwest Fishing Report.

It only seems apt to run the Stray Cast here.

Click here for BOTW.

For whatever reason, I never receive a lot of FOTW nominations from ice fishing, but Federico Saavedra's son nominated him.

Endings are beginning for hunting and lead this Illinois Hunting Report.

Spence Petros sends around a fishing report and thoughts every few weeks.

Mulling things on my morning ramble

with Storm, the family's mixed Lab.

"Outside" debuts on WKCC-FM (91.1) at 4:30 p.m. today.

Heartland Outdoors posted this photo of a 70--pound flathead caught by Julius Adams of Peoria from Powerton Lake on Tuesday.

Click here for the Buck of the Week: Unplugged, the weekly celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors.