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Pyramid State Recreation Area
Park Unit
Site Contact Info
- Office phone: 618-357-2574
- Office address: 1562 Pyramid Park Rd., Pinckneyville, IL 62274
- Site coordinates: 38.00583 -89.4172
- County: Perry
- Site Superintendent
- District Wildlife Biologist
- Conservation Police
Site Characteristics
- Huntable acres: 2,754
- Habitat: Pyramid State Park consists of 5 separate management units. The Park Unit consists of heavily forested hills interspersed with lakes and ponds. All of the strip mined area has been replanted to hardwoods and pines with small fields planted to food plots. Active habitat management will be occurring throughout the year on the site.
- Digital Map
- Printable Map
Site Specific Regulations
- All statewide hunting regulations apply at site unless noted hereafter.
- Site requires use of windshield card, displayed on vehicle dashboard, to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February.
- Use Hunt Planner to find hunting seasons open at this site.
- Tree stands must be portable and removed from the area at the end of each day’s hunt.
- The windshield card number must be displayed on the tree stand.
- Species-specific rules:
Deer
- Designated as a Quality Deer Management Area. Only antlerless deer or deer having at least four points on a side may be taken. This applies to all deer hunting.
- Archery Deer Hunting
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Firearm Deer Hunting
- Site-specific permit through statewide lottery
- Muzzleloader Deer Hunting
- County permits are required during the muzzleloader only season.
- Youth Firearm Deer Hunting
- Open for youth deer firearm season. Contact the site for more information.
Turkey
- Spring
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit through statewide lottery
- Fall Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Fall Firearm Turkey hunting not permitted.
Waterfowl
- Waterfowl hunting is not permitted.
Squirrels/Rabbits
- Squirrels
- Squirrel hunting season dates shall be the day after Labor Day through the end of statewide season.
- Rabbits
- Statewide regulations apply.
Upland Birds
- Quail and Woodcock
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Dove
- Dove hunting hours are 12 pm – 5 pm
- Hunters must participate in a daily lottery at 11 am at the Denmark multi-purpose building Sept 1-5 to hunt over sunflower or wheat fields. No dove hunting is allowed Sept 1-5 within 200 yards of a designated dove management field, except for hunters who are part of the hunter quota for that field.
Furbearers
- Hunting
- Statewide regulations
- Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
- Furbearer hunting closed during Firearm Deer Season
- Hunters with a valid, unfilled firearm deer permit for the hunt area may take coyotes during legal hours of the firearm deer season. Otherwise, the use of shotgun slugs to take furbearing mammals is prohibited on state sites.
- Coyote and striped skunk season coincides with the statewide fox season.
- Trapping
- Statewide regulations apply
- Site-specific permit
- Only Egg Traps®, D-P (Dog-Proof) Traps®, Lil Grizz Get’rz®, box traps, cage traps, and traps of similar design may be used for land sets
Amenities
Captain Unit
Site Contact Info
- Office phone: 618-357-2574
- Office address: 1562 Pyramid Park Rd., Pinckneyville, IL 62274
- Site coordinates: 38.00583 -89.4172
- County: Perry
- Site Superintendent
- District Wildlife Biologist
- Conservation Police
Site Characteristics
- Huntable acres: 6,105
- Habitat: The Captain Unit is one of 5 management units that comprise Pyramid State Park. The area is dominated by large grasslands/pastures which are interspersed with crop fields, large lakes and small wetlands. A 1,968 acre seasonal waterfowl refuge has been established which provides land and water habitat for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. Active habitat management will be occurring throughout the year on the site.
- Digital Map
- Printable Map
Site Specific Regulations
- All statewide hunting regulations apply at site unless noted hereafter.
- Site requires use of windshield card displayed on vehicle dashboard to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February.
- Use Hunt Planner to find hunting seasons open at this site.
- Tree stands must be portable and removed from the area at the end of each day’s hunt.
- The windshield card number must be displayed on the tree stand.
- Species-specific rules:
Deer
- Designated as a Quality Deer Management Area. Only antlerless deer or deer having at least four points on a side may be taken. This applies to all deer hunting.
- Archery
- Statewide regulations apply
- Firearm
- Site-specific permit required
- Late Winter Antlerless Only Firearm
- Statewide regulations; when Perry County is open.
Turkey
- Spring
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit required
- Fall Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Fall Shotgun turkey hunting not permitted.
Waterfowl
- The area is closed to all waterfowl hunting on Mondays.
- The land and water portion of the Super Lake refuge will be closed to all access from Oct 29 through Feb 28.
- A daily lottery will be conducted for staked waterfowl locations during duck season only at the Denmark multi-purpose building beginning at 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- Shooting hours are legal opening to 1 pm
- Waterfowl hunters not participating in the daily lottery may not access Pyramid State Park property until 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- After duck season is closed, hunters may not possess more than 5 shot shells for every Canada goose allowed in the daily bag
- Must use at least 6 decoys
- Waterfowl hunters may not hunt on main lakes other than staked locations. Hunters may hunt in crop fields and wetlands which have not been staked, however they must be a minimum of 200 yards from the nearest staked location.
- Early Canada Goose hunting not permitted.
- Teal hunting not permitted in the refuge.
- Youth: Youth Waterfowl season is held the weekend preceding the South Central Zone duck opener.
Squirrels/Rabbits
- Squirrels
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Rabbits
- Statewide regulations apply.
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required. Applicants may apply only once and receive one permit per year. Each permittee will be allowed to bring up to 2 hunting partners.
Upland Birds
- Quail
- Statewide regulations apply.
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required.
- Dove
- Dove hunting hours are 12 pm – 5 pm.
- Hunters must participate in a daily lottery at 11 am at the Denmark multi-purpose building Sept 1-5 to hunt over sunflower or wheat fields. Statewide regulations thereafter.
- Non-toxic shot size number 6 or smaller must be used.
- Unsuccessful lottery participants and other hunters not participating in the lottery drawing may only hunt in designated areas during Sept 1-5. This area is: all land west of the western haul road and all land east of the eastern haul road to the shore of the super lake to south haul road.
Furbearers
- Hunting
- Statewide regulations
- No hunting on waterfowl refuge
- Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
- Furbearer hunting closed during Firearm Deer Season
- Hunters with a valid, unfilled firearm deer permit for the hunt area may take coyotes during legal hours of the firearm deer season. Otherwise, the use of shotgun slugs to take furbearing mammals is prohibited on state sites.
- Coyote and striped skunk season coincides with the statewide fox season.
- Trapping
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit
- Only Egg Traps, D-P (Dog-Proof) Traps, Lil Grizz Get’rz, box traps, cage traps, and traps of similar design may be used for land sets; only body-gripping traps with a jaw spread of 5 inches or less and square body-grapping traps with a 10 inch jaw spread may be used for water sets; snares may be used for water sets
- Water sets must be submerged
Amenities
Denmark Unit
Site Contact Info
- Office phone: 618-357-2574
- Office address: 1562 Pyramid Park Rd., Pinckneyville, IL 62274
- Site coordinates: 38.00583 -89.4172
- County: Perry
- Site Superintendent
- District Wildlife Biologist
- Conservation Police
Site Characteristics
- Huntable acres: 4, 385; Cropfields: 553; Timber: 282; Grasslands/Pastures: 3,156; Lakes/Wetlands: 394
- Habitat: The Denmark Unit is one of five management units that comprise Pyramid State Park. The reclaimed surface strip mine property was purchased from Ark Land Company on December 15, 2000. The area is dominated by large grasslands which are interspersed with crop fields, large lakes and small wetlands. A 539 acre seasonal waterfowl refuge (October 28 – February 28) has been established which provides land and water habitat for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. The site is open to deer, dove, waterfowl, rabbit, squirrel and quail hunting by permit only. Hunter quotas and other site specific restrictions are in effect to improve the quality of the hunting experience. Active habitat management will be occurring throughout the year on the site
- Digital Map
- Printable Map
Site Specific Regulations
- All statewide hunting regulations apply at site unless noted hereafter.
- Site requires use of windshield card displayed on vehicle dashboard to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February. Failure to submit harvest data will result in loss of hunting privileges for the following year. Hunters must maintain accurate records of each hunt.
- Use Hunt Planner to find hunting seasons open at this site.
- Tree stands must be portable and removed from the area at the end of each day’s hunt.
- The windshield card number must be displayed on the tree stand.
2022 Hunting Season Updates:
• Hunters will need to pick up their harvest cards at the unit they wish to hunt.
• A list of stakes for the unit will be provided each day in the harvest box.
• Hunters will be asked to mark the stake they have chosen so other hunters will know the stake is taken for the day.
- Species-specific rules:
Deer
- Designated as a Quality Deer Management Area. Only antlerless deer or deer having at least four points on a side may be taken. This applies to all deer hunting.
Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
Firearm
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit required.
Late Winter Antlerless Only Firearm
- Statewide regulations; when Perry County is open.
Turkey
- Fall Firearm Turkey hunting not permitted.
Spring
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit required
Fall Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
Waterfowl
- The area is closed to all waterfowl hunting on Mondays.
- The land and water portion of the Denmark refuge will be closed to all access from Oct 29 through Feb 28.
- A daily lottery will be conducted for staked waterfowl locations during duck season only at the Denmark multi-purpose building beginning at 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- Shooting hours are legal opening to 1 pm
- Waterfowl hunters not participating in the daily lottery may not access Pyramid State Park property until 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- After duck season is closed, hunters may not possess more than 5 shot shells for every Canada goose allowed in the daily bag.
- Waterfowl hunters may not hunt on main lakes other than staked locations. Hunters may hunt in crop fields and wetlands which have not been staked, however they must be a minimum of 200 yards from the nearest staked location
- Must use at least 6 decoys
- Early Canada Goose hunting not permitted.
- Teal hunting not permitted in the refuge.
- Youth: Youth Waterfowl season is held the weekend preceding the South Central Zone duck opener.
Squirrels/Rabbits
- Squirrels
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Rabbits
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required. Applicants may apply only once and receive one permit per year. Each permittee will be allowed to bring up to 2 hunting partners.
Upland Birds
- Quail and Woodcock
- Statewide regulations apply.
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required.
- Dove
- Dove hunting hours are 12 pm – 5 pm.
- Hunters must participate in a daily lottery at 11 am at the Denmark multi-purpose building Sept 1-5 to hunt over sunflower or wheat fields. Statewide regulations thereafter.
- Non-toxic shot size number 6 or smaller.
- Unsuccessful lottery participants and other hunters not participating in the lottery drawing may only hunt in designated areas during Sept 1-5. This area is: all land south of Quonset Hut road to Tangen Cemetery Road to Brushy Creek Road.
Furbearers
- Hunting
- Statewide regulations
- No hunting on waterfowl refuge
- Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
- Furbearer hunting closed during Firearm Deer Season
- Hunters with a valid, unfilled firearm deer permit for the hunt area may take coyotes during legal hours of the firearm deer season. Otherwise, the use of shotgun slugs to take furbearing mammals is prohibited on state sites.
- Coyote and striped skunk season coincides with the statewide fox season.
- Trapping
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit required
- Only Egg Traps, D-P (Dog-Proof) Traps, Lil Grizz Get’rz, cage traps, and traps of similar design may be used for land sets. Only body gripping traps with a jaw spread of 5 inches or less and square body-gripping traps with a 10-inch jaw spread or larger may be used for water sets; snares may be used for water sets must be submerged.
Amenities
East Conant Unit
Site Contact Info
- Office phone: 618-357-2574
- Office address: 1562 Pyramid Park Rd., Pinckneyville, IL 62274
- Site coordinates: 38.00583 -89.4172
- County: Perry
- Site Superintendent
- District Wildlife Biologist
- Conservation Police
Site Characteristics
- Huntable acres: 2,824
- Habitat: The East Conant Unit is one of 5 management units that comprise Pyramid State Park. The unmined property is dominated by large crop fields which are interspersed with fencerows and two large blocks of forest. Active habitat management will be occurring throughout the year on the site.
- Digital Map
- Printable Map
Site Specific Regulations
- All statewide hunting regulations apply at site unless noted hereafter.
- Site requires use of windshield card displayed on vehicle dashboard to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February.
- Use Hunt Planner to find hunting seasons open at this site.
- Tree stands must be portable and removed from the area at the end of each day’s hunt.
- The windshield card number must be displayed on the tree stand.
- Species-specific rules:
Deer
Designated as a Quality Deer Management Area. Only antlerless deer or deer having at least four points on a side may be taken. This applies to all deer hunting.
- Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Firearm
- Site-specific permit required
- Muzzleloader
- County permits required during the muzzleloader only season.
- Late Winter Antlerless Only
- Late Winter Antlerless Only not permitted
- Youth
- Open for youth deer firearm season. Contact site for more information.
Turkey
- Spring
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit required
- Fall Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Fall Firearm Turkey hunting not permitted.
Waterfowl
- The area is closed to all waterfowl hunting on Mondays.
- Shooting hours are legal opening to 1 pm
- Waterfowl hunters not participating in the daily lottery may not access Pyramid State Park property until 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- After duck season is closed, hunters may not possess more than 5 shot shells for every Canada goose allowed in the daily bag.
- Must use at least 6 decoys
- Minimum of 200 yards between hunting parties.
- Early Canada Goose hunting not permitted.
- Youth
- Youth Waterfowl season is held the weekend preceding the South Central Zone duck opener.
Squirrels/Rabbits
- Squirrels
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Rabbits
- Statewide regulations apply.
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required. Applicants may apply only once and receive one permit per year. Each permittee will be allowed to bring up to 2 hunting partners.
Upland Birds
- Quail and Woodcock
- Statewide regulations apply.
- A Free Upland Game Permit issued by statewide lottery is required.
- Dove
- Dove hunting hours are 12 pm – 5 pm
- Hunters must participate in a daily lottery at 11 am at the Denmark multi-purpose building Sept 1-5 to hunt over sunflower or wheat fields. Statewide regulations thereafter.
- Non-toxic shot size number 6 or smaller must be used.
- Unsuccessful lottery participants and other hunters not participating in the lottery drawing may not hunt within 200 yards of sunflower or wheat fields Sept 1-5.
Furbearers
- Hunting
- Statewide regulations
- Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
- Furbearer hunting closed during Firearm Deer Season
- Hunters with a valid, unfilled firearm deer permit for the hunt area may take coyotes during legal hours of the firearm deer season. Otherwise, the use of shotgun slugs to take furbearing mammals is prohibited on state sites.
- Coyote and striped skunk season coincides with the statewide fox season.
- Trapping
- Site-specific permit required
- Only egg traps, D-P traps, cage traps, and traps of similar design may be used for land sets. Body gripping traps with a 10-inch jaw spread or larger must be submerged
Amenities
Galum Unit
Site Contact Info
- Office phone: 618-357-2574
- Office address: 1562 Pyramid Park Rd., Pinckneyville, IL 62274
- Site coordinates: 38.00583 -89.4172
- County: Perry
- Site Superintendent
- District Wildlife Biologist
- Conservation Police
Site Characteristics
- Huntable acres: 2,520
- Habitat: The Galum Unit is one of five management units that comprise Pyramid State Park. The reclaimed surface stripmine property is dominated by large grasslands, eight cropfields, four lakes, small wetlands, and a forest corridor along Galum Creek. Active habitat management will be occurring throughout the year on the site.
- Digital Map
- Printable Map
Site Specific Regulations
- All statewide hunting regulations apply at site unless noted hereafter.
- Site requires use of windshield card displayed on vehicle dashboard to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February.
- Use Hunt Planner to find hunting seasons open at this site.
- Tree stands must be portable and removed from the area at the end of each day’s hunt.
- The windshield card number must be displayed on the tree stand.
- Species-specific rules:
Deer
- Designated as a Quality Deer Management Area. Only antlerless deer or deer having at least four points on a side may be taken. This applies to all deer hunting.
- Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Firearm
- Site-specific permit required
- Muzzleloader
- Muzzleloader not permitted.
- Late Winter Antlerless Only Firearm
- Statewide regulations; when Perry County is open.
- Youth
- Open for youth deer firearm season. Contact site for more information.
Turkey
- Spring Turkey
- Site specific permit is required
- Fall Archery
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Fall Firearm Turkey hunting not permitted.
Waterfowl
- The area is closed to all waterfowl hunting on Mondays.
- A daily lottery will be conducted for staked waterfowl locations during duck season only at the Denmark multi-purpose building beginning at 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec, and 5:30 am in Jan.
- Shooting hours are legal opening to 1 pm.
- After duck season is closed, hunters may not possess more than 5 shot shells for every Canada goose allowed in the daily bag.
- Hunters not participating in the daily draw must be 200 yards from the next hunting party.
- Waterfowl hunters not participating in the daily lottery may not access Pyramid State Park property until 4:30 am in Nov, 5 am in Dec and 5:30 am in Jan.
- Must use at least 6 decoys
- Waterfowl hunters may not hunt on main lakes other than staked locations, with the exception of Goldeneye and Redhead Lakes. Hunters may hunt in crop fields and wetlands which have not been staked, however they must be a minimum of 200 yards from the nearest staked location.
- Early Canada Goose hunting not permitted.
Squirrels/Rabbits
- Squirrels
- Squirrel hunters may use .22 caliber rimfire firearms or muzzleloading black powder rifles.
- Rabbits
- Statewide regulations apply.
Upland Birds
- Quail, Pheasant, and Woodcock
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Dove
- Dove hunting hours are 12-5 pm from Sept 1-5, with statewide regulations thereafter.
- Non-toxic shot no larger than 6 may be used.
- Unsuccessful lottery participants and other hunters not participating in the lottery drawing may not hunt within 200 yards of sunflower or wheat fields Sept 1-5.
Furbearers
- Hunting
- Statewide regulations
- Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
- Furbearer hunting closed during Firearm Deer Season
- Hunters with a valid, unfilled firearm deer permit for the hunt area may take coyotes during legal hours of the firearm deer season. Otherwise, the use of shotgun slugs to take furbearing mammals is prohibited on state sites.
- Coyote and striped skunk season coincides with the statewide fox season.
- Trapping
- Statewide regulations apply.
- Site-specific permit
- Only egg traps, D-P traps, cage traps, and traps of similar design may be used for land sets. Body gripping traps with a 10-inch jaw spread or larger must be submerged