Posted on 10/06/2022 8:23:59 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Jose Guzman became the first hunter to legally harvest a deer within Chicago in more than 150 years.
According to Joel Greenberg in “A Natural History of the Chicago Region,” (p. 452), the last deer killed within Chicago city limits [before reintroduction began] was in 1865 by first ward alderman William Cox, according to his son. It was “where `a forest of cottonwoods and oaks contested with a reluctant prairie,’ land that was to become the great stockyards.”
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources opened the first deer hunting season at William Powers this year. Eight of 37 applicants were awarded a 14-day hunting period. Guzman’s was first, from opening day of archery season on Oct. 1 through Oct. 14.
“It is a great privilege to be allowed in the area, I get to set the tone,” he said. “We’re helping to manage the deer population. It’s not like we don’t need the management program. Deer and wildlife management as a whole is really important.”
Guzman butchered the doe himself, then took tissue samples to Strahl to have the doe tested for CWD before eating the venison.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicago.suntimes.com ...
Alternate site full txt: https://archive.ph/b0rl2#selection-2525.0-2525.11
I guess they don’t count the deer hit by stray gunfire.
WOW, this is really good news! It gives hope across the board that we may be able to retrieve some of Legacy America.
yeah, they are really difficult to tell apart...................
We used to hunt rabbits after school out along Army Trail Rd west of Gary when I was in grade school. I wish they’d open some of the DuPage Forest Preserves to a deer lottery.
L
I guess you can’t say Mad Cow if it’s a deer.
:: I have heard that some pheasant hunters mistakenly harvested some deer. ::
That would be the Chicago definition of “mistakenly”.
“Oh see the deer, has the deer a little doe?”
“Why soitenly, two bucks!”
*slap*
nuck nuck nuck.
—”along Army Trail Rd west of Gary “
A friend owned property in the area and we used to use the rail embankment as a backstop for targets.
Occasionally a County Shariff would stop by and shoot with us.
Years back the Exec Dir of the Forest preserve was a former NRA exec and serious hunter he pushed hard for it and an outdoor range at Blackwell near the archery area.
Those days are gone.
First Deer Harvest that they officially know of.
“A friend owned property in the area and we used to use the rail embankment as a backstop for targets.”
Pretty sure I know right where you’re talking about.
We used to take our 22s to school and leave them in the Principal’s office until after school. We had to have a note from Mom so we could take the bus out that way instead of our normal route home. That or we’d ride our bikes with the rifles across the handlebars.
We’d hunt out by the old stone quarry that’s now owned by DCFPD or near Mallard Lake.
Try that these days and you’d meet a SWAT team.
L
—”I guess they don’t count the deer hit by stray gunfire.”
O’Hare is a mile or two west of the Chicago line, the city was forced to purchase a narrow strip down the middle of a road to technically make part of Chicago.
And the FAR west side of Chicago is a haven for many police/firemen keeping away from city problems and still maintaining the required city residency.
—”I guess you can’t say Mad Cow if it’s a deer.”
CWD concerns me and I stopped deer hunting, and only recently have eaten any.
Mallard Lake used to be a local swimming hole...
The last I recall was after RVN about 1972?
I’ve seen plenty of deer, pheasants, and coyotes, on the west side of Chicago. Had a deer struck and killed by a car at Lake St. and Pulaski Rd. An old black man came up to a sergeant on the scene and asked for the carcass for the meat.
Where we live in Eastern PA, the only deer you can see are in the suburbs and city limits.
The Amish don’t care about licenses or seasons, and will harvest a deer anytime they see it. They have hunted the countryside clean
So you hunt either on suburban soccer fields (LOL-beware of Karen!) or you have to go deep into state game lands.
“The last I recall was after RVN about 1972?”
That’s the year we moved into Bloomingdale. 900 people in the whole town. Army Trail was a two lane gravel road west of Gary. There wasn’t a stop light at Glen Ellyn and Lake St. Can’t remember how many times my mom almost got smacked by someone as we tried to turn left there.
My Junior High School graduated about 25 or so kids in ‘74. The yearbook was 3 whole pages. LOL.
Things have sure changed around here, and not much for the better.
L
William Powers Recreation Area: that’s Wolf Lake, which is kind of a unique “urban” location: remains of an abandoned Nike missile base on it’s north shore;
a Standard Oil refinery (once the biggest in the world) across the lake on the Indiana side; a trailer park and single-family homes to the south; and residual marshes and prairie to the west, and the Indiana Tollway connection to the Chicago Skyway running right down the middle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.