 "Firearm deer season in Illinois is an anxiously awaited time of
year for thousands of hunters," said Illinois Department of Natural
Resources Director Marc Miller. "We encourage hunters to enjoy their
outdoor heritage and time afield, but to always make ethics and
safety top priorities, for the good of the sport.""Conservation
Police officers will be out in full force during the firearm deer
season," said IDNR Conservation Police Chief Rafael
Gutierrez. "We will be conducting airplane details in addition to
our regular checks to prevent poaching and protect hunting
opportunities for the thousands of legal sportsmen and women in the
field."
Hunters in Illinois harvested 98,944 deer during the seven-day
firearm deer hunting season in 2010. So far this season, more than
327,000 permits have been issued. For information on remaining
permits, check the IDNR website at this link:
http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/
deer/Pages/default.aspx.
The legal hunting hours for the firearm deer season are a
half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset.
Hunters successful in taking a deer during the firearm season in
most counties must register the deer online through the IDNR website
at
http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/
Pages/HarvestReporting.aspx or by phoning 1-866-IL-CHECK
(1-866-452-4325). Hunters using the online or phone-in system must
register their harvest by 10 p.m. on the day they take the deer. It
is recommended that hunters using cellular phones to register their
harvest wait until they are out of the field and have a clear
cellphone signal before attempting to make the harvest report phone
call.
Firearm deer hunters in Boone, DeKalb, Grundy, JoDaviess, Kane,
LaSalle, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties are
reminded to bring their deer to mandatory check stations by 8 p.m.
on the day they harvest a deer. Biologists will be sampling adult
deer for chronic wasting disease to determine areas of infection and
prevalence rates. The check station locations are listed below.
(Note: The check station locations are the same as last year,
except for the addition of the JoDaviess County check station at
Elizabeth.)
-
Boone: Boone County
Fairgrounds, one-half mile north of Route 76 and Business Route
20, Belvidere
-
DeKalb: Shabbona
Lake State Recreation Area, 4201 Shabbona Grove Road, Shabbona
-
Grundy: Gebhard
Woods State Park; 401 Ottawa St., Morris
-
JoDaviess:
Elizabeth Community Center, 111 E. Myrtle St., Elizabeth;
one-half mile west of business district on Highway 20, next to
Highland Community College, Elizabeth campus.
-
Kane: Shabbona Lake
State Recreation Area, 4201 Shabbona Grove Road, Shabbona
-
LaSalle: Buffalo
Rock State Park, three miles west of Ottawa on Dee Bennett Road
-
McHenry: Moraine
Hills State Park, McHenry Dam day use area, east of McHenry on
River Road, 2.2 miles south of Route 120
-
Ogle: Castle Rock
State Park, Route 2, three miles south of Oregon
-
Stephenson: Stephenson County Fairgrounds, one mile east of
Route 26 and Fairgrounds Road, Freeport
-
Winnebago: Rock Cut State Park (Hunters
should use the Highway 173 entrance and follow the signs.)
[to top of second column] |
Hunters who participate in the CWD sampling can check the status
of their deer (listed by phone number) through the IDNR website at
http://dnr.state.il.us/cwd/.
Hunters who provide samples from deer that test positive are
notified by the IDNR.
While not believed to be contagious to humans or livestock, chronic wasting
disease is known to spread from animal to animal among deer and elk. The disease
affects the brain of infected animals, causing them to become emaciated, display
abnormal behavior, lose coordination and eventually die. Illinois expanded its
CWD surveillance effort in 2002 following the discovery of the disease in
neighboring Wisconsin.
For more information on Illinois deer hunting regulations, check
this link:
http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/
deer/Pages/default.aspx.
___
Hunting safety facts
-
Illinois law
requires that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1980, must
successfully complete a hunter safety course before a regular
Illinois hunting license is issued.
-
The No. 1 cause of
hunting accidents in Illinois is falling from a tree stand.
-
Last year in
Illinois, there were 22 reported hunting accidents, 11 involving
tree stands (two fatalities).
-
When using a tree
stand, remember the following:
-
Check ladder
stands before climbing to make sure they are secure.
-
Wear a fall arrest
system/full body safety harness when leaving the ground until
returning to the ground from the tree stand.
-
Use a haul line to
raise and lower your equipment and unloaded firearm or bow into
a tree stand.
-
When hunting with
a firearm, sportsmen should remember three primary rules of
firearm safety:
-
Know your target
and what is beyond your target.
-
Point the muzzle
in a safe direction.
-
Treat every
firearm as if it were loaded.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Natural Resources
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
 |
