Hunting Page
Access for upland hunting in Illinois was identified by an IDNR survey as the major prohibitive factor in recruiting new hunters. We know through years of experience, that hunters make the best conservationists. Illinois ranks in the bottom 5 of all states for public land ownership.
Pheasant hunters across the country have long awaited a way to "score" their harvested roosters. Recently Pheasants Forever rolled out a standardized method to score your long-tailed and sharp-spurred roosters so you can claim bragging rights with your friends.
Download the Rooster Record Book Scoring and Registry Form
IDNR Free Upland Lottery Permit
IDNR
takes applications for their free upland lottery each August.
The
lottery includes 20 Pheasant Habitat Areas, 4 Quail Managment Units and
16 Upland Game Areas which provide a total of 600 opportunities for a
hunter and his friends to hunt wild birds on those public lands on a
given day of the season. Applications and additional
information
can be found on the Upland Game Page of the IDNR website.Many of the IDNR permit areas were purchased with funding assistance from the local chapter of Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever.
Pheasants Forever Walk-In Sites
In
an effort to increase the opportunities
for hunting upland
birds, PF / QF through our Forever Land Trust has purchased lands for
habitat management that are open to walk in hunting. These
include:1) Busby-Meyer Habitat Area (108 acres in Vermilion County) - this unit was purchased by Pheasants Forever and donated to the Vermilion County Conservation District with the caveat that it remain open to public walk-in hunting for upland game. For more information visit the VCCD website.
2) Forever Fields (508 acres in Knox County, 2 mi E of Victoria) - this project was purchased by Pheasants Forever and will be open to the publc in 2012 (after parking lots and habitat restoration has been completed).
Other Public Walk-In Sites
Coming soon a list of other sites in Illinois that provide walk in
hunting opportunities for upland game birds.