2018–2019 Illinois Hunting Forecast: Wild Turkey and Squirrels

by Luke Garver | August 1, 2018 | Recreation

Photo by Michael R. Jeffords

Wild Turkey Hunting

Fall Gun Season Fifty-six counties in northwestern, western and southern Illinois are open for the 2018 Fall Gun Wild Turkey hunting season. Although not every county in the state is open, those that are have very liberal quotas relative to the current demand. The fall gun season is very underutilized, and virtually anyone applying for a county-specific permit can successfully be drawn through the lottery. Site-specific permits are available for 13 public hunting areas in 10 counties as well. Applicants for these sites typically enjoy greater success rates than during the spring season lotteries for public sites.

The 2018 season runs from Saturday, October 20 through Sunday, October 28 and hunting hours are from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. The permit-application lottery dates are: May 8–July 2 (1st lottery), July 3–August 20 (2nd lottery), August 21–September 17 (3rd lottery).

Fall Archery Season Perhaps the most accessible method and season for turkey hunting in Illinois is the Fall Archery Season. The season runs from October 1, 2018 through January 20, 2019. Permits may be purchased over-the-counter and are available in every county in the state. Many fall archery turkey hunters purchase these permits in hopes of opportunistic encounters with wild turkeys while deer hunting. However, with thorough scouting, turkeys can be successfully patterned during the fall as they travel to and from roosting and feeding sites. Patience and good concealment are imperative to avoid detection when attempting to take a turkey with a bow and arrow.

Spring Season While the 2018 Spring Season saw one of the lowest harvest totals on record, Illinois turkey hunters should not be discouraged about the 2019 season. We predicted below average harvest in 2018 because of poor reproductive numbers from the summer of 2017. What we could not anticipate were the winter-like conditions which persisted into the first few weeks of the 2018 season. Snow was even reported by many turkey hunters in both the north and south zones. The weather drove participation way down, resulting in low harvest numbers, particularly in the early season segments.

Looking ahead to the spring of 2019, it is obviously impossible to predict what the weather will bring. Preliminary data shows reproduction could be higher than last year, and statewide the weather has certainly been more conducive to successful broods compared to last year.

Squirrel Hunting

While the 2017 acorn crop was reportedly not as abundant as in 2016, squirrel hunters will undoubtedly see no shortage of squirrels in Illinois woodlands. Illinois has robust populations of both fox and gray squirrels in every county. The season starts August 1, so squirrel hunters get an earlier crack at their quarry before other hunters are in the woods. In addition, the season runs until February 15, 2019, continuing later in the winter than most other hunting seasons. Squirrel hunting is permitted on nearly 150 state managed sites. In addition, squirrel hunters typically have better opportunities for permission to hunt private land, particularly early in the season.

Luke Garver has been Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Wild Turkey Project Manager since October 2016. Prior to this position, he was Program Coordinator for CREP in the Private Lands Division. He earned a BS in Animal Science from the University of Illinois and an MS in Wildlife Management from Texas A&M–Kingsville.