2024-2025 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest

Two eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) mid-flight appear on this year’s cover of the 2024-2025 Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations. The image was captured by wildlife photographer, Leroy Buckley.

As the largest member of the Galliformes order of birds, which includes game birds such as pheasants, quail and grouse, wild turkeys are abundant throughout the state. In Illinois, the eastern wild turkey can be found from the northernmost to southernmost tip, particularly in mixed forests, especially those with mature hardwoods for food and roosting and open areas for nest and brood rearing. Despite having a wide repertoire of sounds, the large game bird is best known for its iconic “gobble.”

In Illinois, eastern wild turkeys are native and abundant, especially in wooded areas near river corridors. Historically, wild turkeys were in abundance across the state. However, due to overhunting and habitat destruction in the early 1900s, wild turkeys were extirpated in Illinois. Habitat protection measures, such as trap and release efforts and regulated hunting seasons, resulted in today’s current population level, with thriving populations in all counties. For more information on the ecology and population management of eastern wild turkeys in Illinois, visit (https://huntillinois.org/turkey#management-and-ecology).

Printed copies of the 2024-2025 Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations can be found at vendors located throughout the state starting in early August. You can also stop by the Illinois State Fair tent in Conservation World, August 8 through 18, 2024, to inquire about a printed copy. To pick up a printed copy elsewhere, you can find a vendor near you at (https://www.exploremoreil.com/agentlocator).

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife Resources coordinated preparation of this annual digest. Four key changes have been identified that hunters and trappers should note.

First, as of January 1, 2024, a new amendment to the Illinois Wildlife Code, under SB1232, was adopted giving Illinois residents the option for a three-year fishing, hunting or sportsmen’s combination license. This three-year license will cost the same as three, one-year licenses–$45 for a fishing license, $37.50 for a hunting license and $78.75 for a sportsmen’s combination license. One thing of note, the three-year option is not an option for stamps needed for certain species when hunting and fishing, such as waterfowl or habitat stamps. Hunters will still need to replace stamps yearly. For more information, visit page 3 of the Digest.

Second, following the signing into law of the Duck Stamp Modernization Act of 2023, the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, better known as the Duck Stamp, has been adapted so that hunters may carry an electronic stamp (E-stamp) for the entire waterfowl hunting season. In previous seasons, hunters could purchase an electronic stamp that remained valid for only part of the waterfowl season. However, under the signing of the law in December 2023, electronic stamps will remain legal for the entire year. Migratory Bird Hunters (primarily duck and goose hunters) 16 years of age or older must possess a current, signed Federal Duck Stamp, along with state licenses and permits, to hunt legally. An E-stamp allows a hunter to purchase a stamp online and immediately use the certification to legally hunt, whereas older physical copies resulted in a waiting period before hunting. Hunters are required to maintain a copy of their purchase to verify their electronic stamp, but a physical stamp is no longer required. For more information, visit page 33 of the Digest.

Third, two species have been removed from the list of protected, migratory game birds in Illinois: Eurasian collared dove and ringed turtle-dove. These two doves are invasive species and may be legally harvested year-round. For the list of migratory game bird species that remain protected under structured hunting seasons, visit page 5.

Finally, a few additions have been made to the Public Hunt Area (PHA) tables the Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations. PHA tables are viewable from pages 54 to 60 and provide a large amount of information for readers including the size of the PHA, what species and seasons are offered at the location, and what type of permit would be required for hunting a particular species at that site. The three new sites equate to more than 2,000 acres of hunting ground being available to hunters accessing publicly owned lands.

In Region 1, Ken Russell “T” Lake (Knox County) provides 188 acres of huntable ground open to deer and fall turkey archery hunting, along with quail and pheasant hunting. In Region 5, Dug Hill State Fish and Wildlife Area (Union County) provides 272 acres of ground open to waterfowl, deer, upland and small game hunting as well as furbearer trapping. In Region 5, Fox Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (Richland and Wayne counties) provides 2,000 acres of ground open to waterfowl, deer, furbearer trapping along with select small and upland game hunting.

The Digest is available in many various formats, allowing hunters to access hunting and trapping information from a phone, tablet, computer or as a printed copy. The 2024-2025 Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations also includes a quick reference card with easily identifiable dates for seasons and lotteries as well as daily and possession limits.

The 2024-2025 Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations and insert card will also be available in Spanish and Polish online at HuntIllinois and IDNR webpages.

Suggestions regarding the annual Digest are welcomed and may be emailed to DNR.Wildliferecep@Illinois.gov.

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Kaleigh Gabriel is a Wildlife Outreach Specialist with Lewis and Clark Community College, working out of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources building to assist the Division of Wildlife Resources. Growing up just between Sangamon and Christian counties, she spent a lot of her time hunting and fishing in Illinois. She received her bachelor’s degree in writing/journalism from Manchester University, Indiana.