Section 720.10  Hunting Seasons and Counties Open to Hunting

 

a)         All regulations set forth in Section 2.9 of the Wildlife Code [520 ILCS 5/2.9] apply in this Part.

 

b)         For Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties, and that portion of Kane County east of State Route 47 – The season shall be October 1 through the first Sunday after January 13.

 

c)         For all other counties, or parts of counties – The season shall be October 1 through the first Sunday after January 13, closed during the period when deer hunting with a firearm is permitted as set out in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 650, except Department of Natural Resources owned or managed sites designated in Section 720.40 by an asterisk (*) shall be open to archery turkey hunting without regard to firearm deer season (no firearm deer hunting pursuant to 17 Ill. Adm. Code 650 allowed).

 

(Source:  Amended at 37 Ill. Reg. 19297, effective November 14, 2013)

 

Section 720.20  Statewide Turkey Permit Requirements

 

a)         All turkey hunters must have a current, valid Fall Archery Wild Turkey Hunting Permit.  Lifetime licenses issued after August 15, 2006 shall not qualify a non-resident of Illinois for a resident turkey permit.  All hunters, except those exempted by Section 3.1 of the Wildlife Code [520 ILCS 5] are also required to obtain a hunting license before hunting wild turkey. Archery turkey permits are only available over-the-counter (OTC) from license vendors located throughout the State. Prices for OTC permits sold by license vendors include the vendor's issuing fee. Fees for fall archery turkey permits are as follows:

 

1)         Illinois Resident OTC Permit − $5.50

 

2)         Nonresident OTC Permit − $75.50

 

b)         Hunters purchasing an archery turkey permit must supply all necessary applicant information to the license vendor in order to properly complete the permit.

 

c)         An individual may purchase a maximum of two archery turkey permits per season. Permits are not transferable.  For the purpose of this Section, "transfer" means the modification or changing, by the Department or any other person, individual or group of the name or the location on an issued permit to another person or location. 

 

d)         A $3 service fee will be charged for replacement permits issued by the Department.  The procedures for obtaining a replacement license are detailed in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 2520.50.

 

e)         It shall be unlawful to:

 

1)         Purchase or attempt to purchase or receive more than two archery turkey permits.

 

2)         Provide false and/or deceptive information to a vendor when purchasing a permit.  In addition to criminal charges, individuals found guilty of violating this Section shall have their permit revoked and fees forfeited.  The procedure by which an individual may appeal an application rejection, permit revocation, and the forfeiture of fees is set forth in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 2530 (Revocation Procedures for Conservation Offenses).

 

f)         Refunds and Cancellations

 

1)         A refund shall be issued by the Department for a permit that has been granted, or for an application that has been submitted, under the following circumstances:

 

A)        Upon the request of the permit holder, a permit was issued due to an error of the Department, the OTC point-of-sale vendor or the applicant.  The permit that was issued in error and the request for a refund must be delivered to the Department before the last day of the season listed on the permit.  Permits shall be considered delivered to the Department if the permit is received or postmarked before the last day of the season listed on the permit; or

 

B)        Upon the return of an issued permit to the Department before the first day of the season listed on the issued permit.  Permits shall be considered delivered to the Department if the permit is received or postmarked before the first day of the season listed on the permit.  No refund shall be issued under this subsection (f)(1)(B) if the permit is returned or postmarked after the first day of the season listed on the permit.

 

2)         A permit shall be cancelled if a refund is approved pursuant to subsection (f)(1)(A) or (B).  Once a permit has been cancelled, the cancelled permit shall not count towards the total number of permits that an applicant may obtain for the Spring Turkey Hunting Season.

 

3)         Upon the request of a permit holder, a refund may be issued by the Department for a permit that has been granted under the following circumstances:

 

A)        A medical condition or death of the permit holder that prevented the permit holder from hunting.  A death certificate or medical documentation showing that the permit holder was unable to or advised not to hunt may be required by the Department before any refund is issued.  Requests must be made before the last day of the season that the permit was issued for and must accompany the return of the permit to the Department at its headquarters in Springfield, Illinois.  No refunds shall be issued under this subsection if the request or permit is delivered or postmarked to the Department at its headquarters in Springfield, Illinois after the last day of the season listed on the permit; or

 

B)        The permit holder was unable to travel or use the permit that was issued to him or her due to a national or State issued emergency or disaster declaration that resulted in a danger to the health or safety of the permit holder had they attempted to use the issued permit.  Requests must be made within 60 days after the start of the season for which the permit was issued and must accompany the return of the permit to the Department at its headquarters in Springfield, Illinois.  No refund shall be issued under this subsection (f)(3)(B) if the request or permit is delivered or postmarked 60 days after the first day of the season listed on the permit. 

 

C)        A permit that was issued due to an error of the Department, the OTC point-of-sale vendor, or the applicant, if the permit is returned to the Department before the last day of the season for which the permit was issued.

 

(Source:  Amended at 49 Ill. Reg. 11886, effective September 2, 2025)

 

Section 720.25  Turkey Permit Requirements – Landowner/Tenant Permits

 

Requirements and procedures for obtaining landowner/tenant permits are provided in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 528.

 

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 8762, effective June 28, 2017)

 

Section 720.30  Turkey Hunting Regulations

 

a)         It is unlawful:

 

1)         to use live or electronic turkey decoys, recorded calls, dogs or bait.  An area is considered as baited during the presence of and for 10 consecutive days following the removal of bait;

 

2)         to take, or attempt to take, more than 1 wild turkey per valid permit during the fall archery season (either sex may be harvested);

 

3)         to use any weapon except:

 

A)        a long, recurved or compound bow with a minimum pull of 30 pounds at some point within a 28 inch draw.  Minimum arrow length is 20 inches;

 

B)        crossbows and bolts specified in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 670.30;

 

C)        arrows or bolts equipped with broadheads.  Broadheads may have fixed or expandable cutting surfaces, but they must have a minimum ⅞ inch diameter when fully opened.  Broadheads with fixed blades must be metal or flint-, chert-, or obsidian-napped; broadheads with expandable cutting surfaces must be metal.  All other bows and arrows, including electronic arrow tracking systems utilizing radio telemetry, are illegal;

 

4)         to hunt except from ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour past sunset each day of the season;

 

5)         for any person having taken the limit of wild turkeys to further participate with a weapon in any hunting party for the purpose of taking additional turkeys;

 

6)         for any person to hunt wild turkeys without having a signed Archery Wild Turkey Hunting Permit in possession, except that a person without a weapon may accompany a turkey hunter as a caller or observer;

 

7)         to transport or leave a wild turkey without first affixing the turkey permit securely around the leg.  Immediately upon kill and before the turkey is moved, transported or field dressed, the hunter must invalidate the leg tag and the tag must be affixed to the turkey (for over-the-counter permits the leg tag is invalidated by detaching it from the permit; for property only hunting (POH) landowner permits, the leg tag is invalidated by cutting out

the designated notch on the tag);

 

8)         for any person to shoot a wild turkey while it is in a tree before 7:00 a.m.; and

 

9)         to possess, while in the field during archery turkey season, any turkey permit issued to another person.

 

b)         Successful hunters must register their harvest by 10:00 p.m. on the same calendar day the turkey was taken by calling the toll-free telephone check-in system at 1‑866-ILCHECK or by accessing the on-line check-in system at www.dnr.illinois.gov.  Hunters must provide all information requested by the check-in system, and will be provided with a confirmation number to verify that they checked in their harvest.  The confirmation number must be written by the hunter onto the leg tag.  The leg tag must remain attached to the leg of the turkey until it is at the legal residence of the person who legally took or possessed the turkey and the turkey has been checked in.  The turkey must remain whole (or field dressed) until it has been checked in.

 

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 18785, effective November 2, 2022)

 

Section 720.40  Regulations at Various Department-Owned, -Leased or -Managed Sites

 

Statewide regulations shall apply for the following sites, except those sites designated below by asterisk (*) shall be open to archery turkey hunting without regard to firearm deer season. Those sites followed by (1) require hunters to check in and check out. Those sites followed by a (2) require hunters to obtain a permit from the site before hunting. Sites that require use of windshield cards by hunters as specified in 17 Ill. Adm. Code 510.10 are followed by (3).

 

Alvah Borah State Habitat Area (3)

 

*          Anderson Lake State Conservation Area (1)

 

Apple River Canyon State Park – Salem and Thompson Units (3)

 

Argyle Lake State Park (3)

 

*          Beaver Dam State Park (disabled hunting is available in the designated blind location upon request; Class P2A, disabled hunters, are required to be accompanied by a non-disabled hunter, who may also hunt from the same blind location) (1)

 

Big Bend State Fish and Wildlife Area (1)

 

Big Grand Pierre State Natural Area (3)

 

Big River State Forest (3)

 

Butterfield Trail State Recreation Area (3)

 

Cache River State Natural Area (1)

 

Campbell Pond State Wildlife Management Area (3)

 

Cape Bend State Fish and Wildlife Area (1)

 

Carlyle Lake Lands and Waters – Corps of Engineers Managed Lands

 

Carlyle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Management Area (subimpoundment area closes 7 days prior to the start of the waterfowl season for the zone in which Carlyle Lake is located) (3)

 

Castle Rock State Park (3)

 

Cave-In-Rock State Park – Kaegi Tract (3)

 

Chain O'Lakes State Park (closed Friday through Sunday of pheasant season; opens Monday prior to pheasant season and closes Tuesday following close of pheasant season; reopens December 26 through the close of regular season) (1)

 

Chauncey Marsh State Natural Area (3)

 

Clinton Lake State Recreation Area (3)

 

Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Copperhead Hollow State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Crawford County State Conservation Area (3)

 

Cretaceous Hills State Natural Area (3)

 

Cypress Pond State Natural Area (1)

 

Deer Pond State Natural Area (1)

 

Devil's Island State Fish and Wildlife Area

 

Dixon Springs State Park (1)

 

Dog Island State Wildlife Management Area (3)

 

*          Donnelley State Fish and Wildlife Area – Putnam County Unit (1)

 

Dug Hill State Fish and Wildlife Area (1)

 

Eagle Creek State Park (3)

 

Eldon Hazlet State Park (archery hunting is closed in the designated controlled pheasant hunting area on days when the controlled pheasant hunting program is in operation) (3)

 

Embarrass River Bottoms State Habitat Area (3)

 

Ferne Clyffe State Park – Cedar Draper Bluffs Hunting Area (1)

 

Ferne Clyffe State Park – Ferne Clyffe Hunting Area (1)

 

Flag Pond State Natural Area (3)

 

Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

 

*          Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site (opens November 1) (1)

 

Fort Massac State Park (1)

 

Fox Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Fox Ridge State Park (3)

 

Frank Holten State Park (opens November 1; crossing of Harding Ditch within confines of site allowed, no hunting from Harding Ditch right-of-way) (3)

 

Franklin Creek State Park (hunting in designated area only) (3)

 

French Bluff State Natural Area (3)

 

Giant City State Park (1)

 

Green River State Wildlife Area (3)

 

*          Hackmatack State Natural Area (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday only; 1 hunter allowed at a time; first-come, first-served; (1) (3)

 

Hamilton County State Conservation Area (3)

 

Hanover Bluff State Natural Area (3)

 

Harry "Babe" Woodyard State Natural Area (3)

 

Hennepin Canal Parkway (open only to hunters with valid site deer permit and a valid archery turkey permit) (2)

 

Hidden Springs State Forest (3)

 

Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (Alexander County) (controlled hunting area closes October 31) (1)

 

*          Horseshoe Lake State Park (Madison County) – Gabaret, Mosenthein and Chouteau Island Units (2)

 

Iroquois County State Wildlife Area (3)

 

Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Johnson-Sauk Trail State Park (statewide regulations apply, except that on Wednesdays through Sundays of the site's permit pheasant permit season, hunting only allowed 2:00 p.m. until sunset) (3)

 

Jubilee College State Park (1)

 

Kankakee River State Park (archery hunters must wear a cap and upper outer garment with at least 400 square inches of solid blaze orange/pink between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on days when upland game hunting is allowed during the site's controlled hunting season) (3)

 

Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area (no hunting within 50 yards of the Baldwin Lake Waterfowl Rest Area's main north-south road; this defined waterfowl rest area is closed until the Columbus Day holiday) (1 – except south of Highway 154 and north of Highway 13)

 

Kickapoo State Recreation Area (3)

 

Kinkaid Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (1)

 

Kishwaukee River State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

*          Lincoln Trail State Park (opens November 1) (1)

 

Lowden-Miller State Forest (3)

 

Lowden State Park (closed Friday through Sunday and on Columbus Day in October; beginning November 1, archery hunting is allowed 7 days a week) (3)

 

Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Marseilles State Fish and Wildlife Area (fall archery turkey season closes the first Thursday after January 10; closed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in October; unauthorized personnel may not be on the site outside of the posted check station operating hours; hunters may only enter the site from designated parking lots) (1)

 

Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Maytown Pheasant Habitat Area (hunting allowed during October only) (3)

 

Meeker State Habitat Area (3)

 

Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Mississippi Palisades State Park (3)

 

Mississippi River State Fish and Waterfowl Management Area (Pools 25 and 26)

 

Mississippi River Pools 16, 17 and 18

 

Mississippi River Pools 21, 22 and 24

 

Moraine Hills State Park (2)

 

Moraine View State Park (closed Wednesday through Sunday during site's controlled pheasant season) (3)

 

*          Mt. Vernon Propagation Center (1)

 

Nauvoo State Park (Max Rowe Unit only) (3)

 

Newton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Oakford State Conservation Area

 

Peabody River King State Fish and Wildlife Area (east subunit closed November 1) (1)

 

Pere Marquette State Park (3)

 

Pere Marquette State Park – Group Camp Area (2)

 

Pyramid State Park – East Conant and Park Units (3)

 

Rall Woods State Natural Area (3)

 

Ralph Clover State Natural Area

 

*          Ramsey Lake State Park (3)

 

*          Randolph County State Conservation Area

 

Rauchfuss Hill State Recreation Area (3)

 

Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

*          Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area – Dutch Creek Unit (3)

 

Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area – East Hannibal Unit (3)

 

Red Hills State Park (3)

 

*          Rend Lake Project Lands and Waters – Corps of Engineers Managed Lands

 

*          Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

 

*          Rockton Bog State Natural Area (3)

 

Sahara Woods State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Saline County State Conservation Area (3)

 

*          Sam Dale Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

*          Sam Parr State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Sand Ridge State Forest (3)

 

            Sandy Ford State Natural Area (1)

 

Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

*          Sangchris Lake State Park (site will be closed to archery deer and turkey hunting during the second firearm deer season) (3)

 

*          Shabbona Lake State Park (3)

 

Shelbyville Lake – Corps of Engineers Managed Lands

 

Shelbyville State Fish and Wildlife Management Area (3)

 

Sielbeck Forest State Natural Area (3)

 

Siloam Springs State Park (3)

 

*          Siloam Springs State Park – Buckhorn Unit (resident hunters only) (3)

 

Skinner Farm State Habitat Area (3)

 

*          Sparks Pond Land and Water Reserve (3)

 

Spoon River State Forest (3)

 

*          Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Starved Rock State Park/Matthiessen State Park (no turkey hunting in the nature preserves; open only in areas where archery deer hunting is allowed other than nature preserves; must have valid archery deer permit in possession to hunt turkeys; open concurrent with site archery deer season) (1)

 

*          Stephen A. Forbes State Park (3)

 

Tapley Woods State Natural Area (3)

 

Ten Mile Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (3)

 

Trail of Tears State Forest (1)

 

Turkey Bluffs State Fish and Wildlife Area

 

Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area (Fire Line Unit open throughout statewide season; Controlled Hunting Area open October 1 through October 31) (1)

 

Volo Bog State Natural Area (2)

 

Walnut Point State Park (3)

 

*          Washington County State Conservation Area (1)

 

Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park (no hunting during controlled hunts as posted at the site) (1)

 

Weinberg-King State Park (3)

 

Weinberg-King State Park – Cecil White Unit (3)

 

Weinberg-King State Park – Scripps Unit (resident hunters only) (3)

 

Weinberg-King State Park – Spunky Bottoms Unit (resident hunters only) (3)

 

White Pines Forest State Park (closed Friday through Sunday and on Columbus Day in October; beginning November 1, archery hunting is allowed 7 days a week, excluding the site's special firearm deer season) (3)

 

Wildcat Hollow State Forest (3)

 

Winston Tunnel State Natural Area (3)

 

Wise Ridge State Natural Area

 

Witkowsky State Wildlife Area (opens October 15) (3)

 

*          Zoeller State Natural Area (site specific archery deer permit hunters only) (3)

 

(Source:  Amended at 49 Ill. Reg. 11886, effective September 2, 2025)

 

Section 720.50 Releasing or Stocking of Turkeys (Repealed)

 

(Source:  Repealed at 9 Ill. Reg. 14311, effective September 5, 1985)