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 be occurring throughout the year on the site, including prescribed burning.

Site/Species Specific Regulations

Statewide and associated species regulations in accordance with the Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping 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.

Deer

Archery

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

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.

Firearm

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Site-specific permit is required as issued through the annual permit lottery system by Springfield office.
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.

Late Winter Antlerless

Not available at this site.

Muzzleloader

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Closed during second firearm season.
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.

Special CWD

Not available at this site.

Youth Firearm

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Turkey

Fall Archery

Statewide regulations apply.

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

Fall Shotgun

Statewide regulations apply.

Site-specific permits are required through the Permit Lottery System.

Spring

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Site-specific permits are required through the Permit Lottery System.

Youth Spring

Available at this site. Statewide regulations apply.

Site-specific permits are required through the Permit Lottery System.

Waterfowl

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

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 site for details

Ducks/Coots/ Mergansers

Available at Clear Lake SWMA. Statewide regulations apply.

Teal

Available at Clear Lake SWMA. Statewide regulations apply.

Goose

Available at Clear Lake SWMA. Statewide regulations apply.

Snipe/Rail

Available at Clear Lake SWMA. Statewide regulations apply.

Youth Waterfowl

Available at Clear Lake SWMA. Statewide regulations apply.

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.

Crow

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Free windshield card required
All harvested crows must be removed from site by the hunter.

Dove

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Season closes on October 31

Pheasant/Quail/Partridge

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Upland bird hunting requires controlled hunting permit.
Check-in is between 8-8:30 am
When the daily quota is not met during 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 serve 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

Rabbits

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Rabbit hunting requires a controlled hunting permit.
Check-in is between 8-8:30 am
When the daily quota is not met during 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 serve 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. See further site-specific regulations below:

Use of a windshield card is required.
Hunting with a .22 or smaller caliber rimfire rifle, .25 or smaller caliber air rifle, or muzzleloading black powder rifle is permitted.

Woodcock

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

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 Pheasant/Quail/Partridge

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

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 a 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

Furbearer Hunting

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

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 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 state raccoon season and closes the day before statewide spring turkey season.
Windshield Card required

Furbearer Trapping

Available at this site. See further site-specific regulations below:

Permitted to trap: Muskrat, mink, raccoon, opossum, striped skunk, red and gray fox, coyote, badger, bobcat, woodchuck and weasel.
Site-specific permit is required. Permit is issued via a public drawing at the site office.
Contact site for date and time of drawing.
Permits must be in possession while trapping on the area.
Must report harvest within 20 days following close of 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. See further site-specific regulations below:

Hunting is permitted on Mondays and Tuesday only during the Controlled Daily Drawing Pheasant Program season
Only pheasant, quail, partridge, and rabbits can be falconry hunted.
It is unlawful to hunt by falconry methods in the vicinity of pheasant releases as pheasants are being released.
Falconry hunters must obtain a free permit from 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