Out & About

OUTDINE

Wild Game Dinner an elegant event

Time to get reservations and start fasting for the popular annual Wild Game Dinner, a North Idaho College Alumni fundraiser. Tickets for the Jan. 24 event at NIC cost $55.

This is not a Bambi-burger-on-a-grill affair. The six-course meal starts with appetizers, including rabbit and duck sausage in a horseradish and dill cream sauce, elk bratwurst in a sweet Black Butte Porter sauce, smoked salmon mousse canapés and duck pate.

Dinner includes cream of wild mushroom and toasted hazelnut soup, spring salad with duck confit salad, fresh lemon and rosemary sorbet, venison osso bucco over herbed risotto with roasted root vegetables as the main entrée, plus wine, and chocolate decadence for dessert.

Let say it’s at least one step up from elk camp cuisine.

Tickets: (208) 769-5978; www.nic.edu/alumni .

OUTLICENSE

Wildlife graces plates

Washington rules allow all drivers, including those with personalized license plates, to choose from an expanded list of wildlife themes for an extra fee that benefits wildlife conservation.

If you’re tired of Mount Rainier, try a bald eagle, orca, black bear, elk or mule deer.

Idaho also offers wildlife plates: bluebird, elk and trout.

Get details and fees through license agents or online:

•ID: itd.idaho.gov/dmv/ vehicleservices/registr.htm.

•WA: wdfw.wa.gov/ license_plates.

OUTSPOKEN

Readers chime in

Notable feedback to recent Outdoors stories and columns:

Birds hitting windows: Hanging wind chimes outside windows seems to catch the attention of birds and reduce the chance they will collide with the windows, e-mailed an anonymous reader. “Putting stuff inside the window or on the window does not help that much, but for some reason the chimes did work and it has been several years since we have had a bird hit the window.”

•Another anonymous reader pointed out that dirty windows are less reflective, reducing bird collisions.

“I never clean my windows,” she said. “I do it for the birds.”

OUTLOOK

Best fishing times

Lunar tables from the U.S. Naval Observatory. Be fishing at least one hour before and one hour after peak times. Applies to all time zones.

(* indicates best days.)

Through Dec. 7

Today

2:25 p.m., 2:45 a.m.

Monday

3:10 p.m., 3:35 a.m.

* Tuesday

4 p.m., 4:20 a.m.

* Wednesday

4:40 p.m., 5 a.m.

* Thursday

5:25 p.m., 5:45 a.m.

Friday

6:10 p.m., 6:30 a.m.

Saturday

6:50 p.m., 7:15 a.m.

Next Sunday

7:40 p.m., 8 a.m.

See the Hunting-Fishing Report

every Friday in Sports