Section 685.110  Youth Waterfowl Hunting

a)         Permit Requirements

1)         Permit reservations shall be accepted starting in September. Initial acceptance dates shall be publicly announced.  Applicants must be between the ages of 10-15 inclusive on the date of the hunt.

2)         Only one permit per person shall be issued for the hunt on the first weekday after December 26 other than a Monday at Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (Alexander County) and Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area and on the Sunday immediately preceding the first firearm deer season as set forth in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 650.10 at Donnelley/DePue State Wildlife Area (3 "i" unit), and on the first weekend and third Saturday of the Illinois Central Zone Waterfowl season at Donnelley State Wildlife Area, and on the second Sunday in November of the Illinois Central Zone Waterfowl season at Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area – Spring Lake Bottoms Unit.

3)         The permit shall be for the use of the entire blind and it shall be the responsibility of the permit holder to bring one supervising adult who may also hunt.  The supervising adult shall be criminally liable for the actions of the youth in the hunting party, and be subject to the criminal penalties provided by law.  Each youth and supervising adult may be accompanied by a non-hunting guide. The maximum number of people in a blind is two hunting youth, two hunting adults and a non-hunting guide.

4)         Permit reservations and transferability.

A)        All duplicate permit reservations shall be rejected and the hunter shall forfeit his rights to a permit.  Permits are not transferable.  Previous participants are ineligible to apply for a permit.

B)        For other information write to:

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Youth Waterfowl Hunt

One Natural Resources Way

P.O. Box 19457

Springfield IL  62794-9457

5)         Permits for the Illinois Youth Waterfowl Hunt will be issued from the Springfield Permit Office.

b)         General Waterfowl Hunting Regulations at the Youth Waterfowl Hunting Areas

1)         Hours, Permits and Stamp Charges

A)        Hunting hours at Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) and Union County are from legal opening until 12:00 Noon on the day of the Youth Waterfowl Hunt.  Hunting hours at Donnelley/DePue State Wildlife Area (3 "i" Unit), Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area and Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area – Spring Lake Bottoms Unit are from statewide opening to 1:00 p.m. on the days of the youth waterfowl hunts.

B)        At Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area and Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (Alexander County), hunters with Illinois Youth Waterfowl Hunt Permit reservations are required to check in at the check station between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.  Permits are void after 5:00 a.m.  A drawing shall be held on the morning of the hunt to allocate blind sites.

C)        At Donnelley/DePue State Wildlife Area (3 "i" Unit) and Banner Marsh Fish and Wildlife Area, hunters with Illinois Youth Waterfowl Hunt Permit reservations are required to check in one hour before shooting time.  The blinds will be allocated by drawing.  For the youth hunts other than the Illinois Youth Waterfowl Hunt, hunters with permit reservations must check in at the check station no later than one hour before shooting time or the permit is void.

D)        At Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area – Spring Lake Bottoms Unit, hunters with Illinois Youth Waterfowl Permit reservations are required to check-in at the check station no later than one hour before legal shooting time, after which time permits are void.  A drawing shall be held on the morning of the hunt to allocate blind sites.

E)         There is no fee for the Illinois Youth Waterfowl Hunting Permit.

2)         Hunting must be done from assigned blinds only and hunters, unless authorized, shall not move from blind to blind or leave the blind and return.

3)         Guns must be unloaded and encased at all times when not hunting.

4)         At Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area and Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (Alexander County), each youth shall not possess more than 25 shells.  Each adult shall not possess more than 5 shells for each Canada goose allowed in the daily bag.  Hunters without their guns may leave the blind to retrieve crippled waterfowl.

5)         At Rend Lake, hunters participating in the youth hunt must sign in and out, no entry into subimpoundments before 4:30 a.m. and must be out of subimpoundments by 2:00 p.m.  A drawing will be held at 4:00 a.m. each day of the youth hunt for hunters wanting to hunt the Casey Fork impoundment.  Drawing will be held at the Cottonwood Access Area.

c)         Special Hunts

If, by regulation published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets any special dates for youth-only waterfowl hunting, the Department shall, by public announcement, open those Department sites that, under the circumstances prevailing at the time, the Department believes may be opened without unduly disturbing other Department programs.

d)         Violations of this Section are Class B misdemeanors (see 520 ILCS 5/2.18), except that hunting prior to ½ hour before sunrise is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum $500 fine and a maximum $5,000 fine in addition to other statutory penalties (see 520 ILCS 5/2.33(y)).

(Source:  Amended at 32 Ill. Reg. 10115, effective June 30, 2008)