Illinois Youth Firearm Deer Hunt is October 6 and 7
All Hunters Reminded of Blaze Orange Requirement During Youth Hunt
The 2012 Illinois Youth Firearm Deer Hunt is Oct. 6-7 for those hunters with a valid Youth Deer Permit who have not reached their 16th birthday by the first day of the hunt. Youth Deer Permits are available over-the-counter at Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) license vendors throughout the state. Hunters may purchase only one permit (either-sex) for one of the open counties and all participating youths must have completed an IDNR-approved Hunter Education course.
All youth hunters must have a current, valid Youth Deer Permit and have a hunting license or Apprentice Hunting License, unless exempt. Each hunter participating in the Youth Deer Hunt while using an Apprentice Hunter License must be accompanied by a non-hunting, validly-licensed (Illinois hunting license) parent, guardian or grandparent. All other hunters participating in the Youth Deer Hunt must each be accompanied by a non-hunting supervisor (parent, guardian or responsible adult) who has a valid Illinois hunting license or who has in his or her possession a valid Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card. The non-hunting supervisor must wear the orange garments required of gun deer hunters (blaze orange cap and upper garment with a minimum of 400 square inches of solid blaze orange material), and must remain with the hunting youth. Each supervisor may only accompany a single youth at any given time during the hunt.
All Illinois counties except Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties, and the portion of Kane County east of State Route 47, are open for the youth deer season. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise on to one-half hour after sunset on Oct. 6 and 7. The bag limit is one deer per legally authorized permit. All either-sex permits are subject to the following restrictions: no hunter, regardless of the quantity or type of permits in his/her possession, may harvest more than two (2) antlered deer during a year, including the youth, archery, muzzleloader and firearm seasons.
Successful hunters must register their harvest by 10 p.m. on the same calendar day the deer is taken by calling the toll-free telephone check-in system at 1-866-ILCHECK, or by accessing the online check-in system at www.dnr.illinois.gov/vcheck. They will be provided with a confirmation number to verify that they checked in their harvest.
This number must be written by the hunter on the temporary harvest tag (leg tag).
Youth hunters are reminded that archery deer season will be underway and archery hunters will be afield during the Oct. 6-7 youth hunt. Archery deer hunters and all other hunters are reminded that they must comply with requirements to wear blaze orange the weekend of the youth deer hunt (except in counties closed to the youth deer season).
The IDNR-managed sites in the counties listed below are open to youth hunting during the Youth Deer Hunt. Note that some of the IDNR sites allow participation in the Youth Deer Hunt only by site-specific permit. Contact the sites listed below for special site regulations:
- Adams – Mississippi River Pools 21 and 22
- Adams/Brown – Siloam Springs
- Alexander – Cape Bend SFWA, Horseshoe Lake SFWA
- Calhoun/Jersey – Mississippi River SFWA
- Cass – Jim Edgar Panther Creek SFWA
- Clinton – Carlyle Lake – East Fork Unit, Eldon Hazlet SP – North Allen Branch Unit
- Crawford – Crawford County SFWA
- Effingham – Wildcat Hollow SHA
- Fayette – Carlyle Lake SFWA
- Franklin – Campbell Pond SHA
- Hancock – Cedar Glen SNA
- Henderson – Mississippi River – Pool 18
- Jackson –Kinkaid Lake SFWA; Burning Star 5
- Jackson/Union – Giant City SP
- Jackson/Williamson/Union – Crab Orchard NWR
- Jasper – Meeker SHA, Newton Lake SFWA
- Jefferson/Franklin – Rend Lake SFWA and COE managed areas of Rend Lake
- Jefferson/Hamilton – Ten Mile Creek SFWA
- Jersey – Copperhead Hollow SFWA, Pere Marquette SP
- Jo Daviess – Apple River Canyon (Salem/Thompson Units), Hanover Bluff, Rall Woods
- (Falling Down Prairie), Tapley Woods, Upper Mississippi River NWFR – Lost Mound
- Unit to include IDNR properties Eagles Landing and Stewardship Park (special permit required from USFWS), Wards Grove, Winston Tunnel
- Johnson –Cypress Pond SNA, Deer Pond SNA, Ferne Clyffe – Cedar Draper Units only, Glass Hill SNA, Skinner Farm SHA, Wise Ridge SNA
- Johnson/Pulaski/Massac – Cache River SNA
- Knox – Spoon River SF
- Lawrence – Chauncey Marsh
- Lee – Green River SWA
- Marshall – Marshall SFWA
- Mason – Sand Ridge SF
- Massac – Fort Massac SP, Mermet Lake SFWA, Seilbeck Forest SNA
- Menard County – Oakford CA
- Mercer – Mississippi River – Pool 17
- Moultrie – Lake Shelbyville Project Lands in Moultrie County including Shelbyville SFWA
- Montgomery – Coffeen Lake SFWA (Upland Management Area only)
- Peoria – Portions of Marshall SFWA
- Perry – Pyramid SRA (East Conant, Galum and Old Park Management units only)
- Pike – Mississippi River (Pool 24), Ray Norbut SFWA
- Pope – Dixon Springs SP, Dog Island
- Randolph – Turkey Bluffs SFWA
- Randolph/St. Clair/Monroe – Kaskaskia River SFWA
- Saline – Saline County SFWA
- Sangamon – Sangamon River SFWA
- Shelby – Hidden Springs SF, Lake Shelbyville Project Lands (NOT including Eagle
- Creek and Wolf Creek State Recreation Areas)
- Schuyler/Brown – Weinberg King SFWA including Scripps and Spunky Bottoms units
- Tazewell – Mackinaw SFWA
- Union –Trail of Tears SF, and Union County SFWA
- Union/Alexander – Devil’s Island SFWA
Note: Crab Orchard, Dixon Springs, and Lake Le-Aqua-Na offer youth firearm hunts during the statewide firearm deer season and require a site specific firearm deer permit.
For more information on the Youth Deer Hunt in Illinois, check the IDNR website at www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deer.
