Announcements

Habitat: This site is characterized by flat to gently rolling terrain with a mix of hardwoods and pine with open prairie areas and wildlife management fields.

Active habitat management will occur throughout the year on the site, including prescribed burning.

Site Specific Regulations

Statewide and associated species regulations apply at the site unless noted hereafter.

The site requires the use of a windshield card, displayed on the vehicle dashboard, to report hunting effort and harvest by 15 February.

Deer

Hunters must remove tree stands or ground blinds from the area at the end of the day’s hunt.

Only one tree stand or ground blind per hunter.

Archery

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Firearm

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that a site-specific permit, issued via statewide lottery, is required.

Late Winter Antlerless

Not available at this site.

Muzzleloader

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that the season is closed during the second firearm season.

Special CWD

Not available at this site.

Youth Firearm

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Turkey

Fall Archery

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Fall Shotgun

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that a site-specific permit, issued via statewide lottery, is required.

Spring

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that a site-specific permit, issued via statewide lottery, is required.

Youth Spring

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that a site-specific permit, issued via statewide lottery, is required.

Waterfowl

The site’s 10 waterfowl blinds at Clear Lake SWMA are allocated at an annual drawing held on the last Sunday in July at the site office.

Site-specific rules apply at the Clear Lake Public Blinds. Contact the site for details.

Ducks, Coots, & Mergansers

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that this only applies in the Clear Lake SWMA area.

Teal

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that this only applies in the Clear Lake SWMA area

Goose

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that this only applies in the Clear Lake SWMA area

Snipe & Rail

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that this only applies in the Clear Lake SWMA area

Youth Waterfowl

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that this only applies in the Clear Lake SWMA area

Upland & Small Game

Controlled Pheasant

Available at this site. For further information on controlled pheasant hunting at this site, see the Controlled Pheasant Hunting webpage.

Dove

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except that the season closes on October 31.

Rabbits

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Requires a lottery-based Free Upland Game Permit that you can apply for online between Aug 1 and Aug 31. Harvest reporting materials will be mailed to successful permit holders via the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). You must report your harvest to INHS by February 15th to avoid the loss of hunting privileges for the following year.
Check-in is between 8 and 8:30 am .
When the daily quota is not met during the controlled hunting season, a drawing will occur at the site after check-in hours. If the quota is not filled, then permits will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until 12:00 noon unless an earlier time is posted at the site’s hunter check station.
Bag limit of 4 rabbits per hunter
Hours are 9 a.m – 4 p.m.
Every Friday – Sunday and Thanksgiving during the controlled season.
Daily fee required

Squirrels

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Hunting with a .22 or smaller caliber rimfire rifle, .25 or smaller caliber air rifle, or muzzle-loading black powder rifle is permitted.

Upland Birds

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Requires a lottery-based Free Upland Game Permit that you can apply for online between Aug 1 and Aug 31. Harvest reporting materials will be mailed to successful permit holders via the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). You must report your harvest to INHS by February 15th to avoid the loss of hunting privileges for the following year.
Check-in is between 8 and 8:30 am
When the daily quota is not met during the controlled hunting season, a drawing will occur at the site after check-in hours. If the quota is not filled, then permits will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until 12:00 noon unless an earlier time is posted at the site’s hunter check station.
Bag Limits: 2 pheasants of either sex, 8 quail
Hours are 9 a.m – 4 p.m.
Every Friday – Sunday and Thanksgiving during the controlled season.
Daily fee required

Woodcock

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Hours are 9 a.m – 4 p.m.
Open during the controlled pheasant hunting season to hunters with a controlled hunting permit.
Every Friday – Sunday and Thanksgiving during the controlled season.
Season-end date follows statewide regulations.

Youth Upland Birds

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Site permit reservation is required and can be applied for 3 ways: at the IDNR website here, by emailing dnr.pheasant@illinois.gov, or writing the IDNR Division of Parks and Recreation
Hunting hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Only one permit per person will be issued until the daily quota is filled.
Open on the first Saturday following the opening of the statewide upland game season.
All hunters must be between the ages of 10 and 17 inclusive and are not required to pay a daily fee.
Supervising adults are required to wear a cap and upper outer garment of solid and vivid blaze orange of at least 400 square inches. Hunters must wear a back patch issued by the check station.
All hunting must be done with shotguns. Only shot shells with a shot size of #5 lead or a nontoxic shot size ballistically equivalent to No. 5 lead or smaller may be used.
Bag Limit: Two pheasants of either sex

Furbearers

Hunting

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Permitted to hunt: raccoon, opossum, striped skunk, red and gray fox, , bobcat, and coyote.
Statewide regulations
Rimfire rifles .22 caliber and smaller may be used from sunset to sunrise.
Furbearer hunting is 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 opens with the state raccoon season and closes the day before the statewide spring turkey season.
Windshield Card required

Trapping

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Permitted to trap: Muskrat, mink, raccoon, opossum, striped skunk, red and gray fox, coyote, badger, bobcat, woodchuck, and weasel.
A site-specific permit is required. A permit is issued via a public drawing at the site office.
Contact the site for the date and time of the drawing.
Permits must be in possession while trapping in the area.
Must report harvest within 20 days following the close of the trapping season.
Body-gripping traps with a 10-inch jaw spread or larger must be totally submerged in water when set.
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.
.22 caliber or smaller rimfires permitted unless otherwise specified.

Falconry

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply, except:

Hunting is permitted on Mondays and Tuesdays only during the Controlled Daily Drawing Pheasant Program season
Only pheasant, quail, partridge, and rabbits can be hunted.
It is unlawful to hunt by falconry methods in the vicinity of pheasant releases while pheasants are being released.
Falconry hunters must obtain a free permit from the site office before hunting and report harvest by April 15; failure to report harvest by April 15 will result in loss of hunting privileges the following year.
Falconers must wear a cap and outer garment of solid and vivid blaze orange during upland game season when upland game hunting is in progress.

Amenities

Archery Range

Camping

Hiking Trails

Hunting

More Information