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 10-17 inclusive on the date of the
hunt.
2) Only one permit per person
shall be issued for the hunt on December 28 at Horseshoe Lake State Fish and
Wildlife Area (Alexander County) and Union County State Fish and 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 if the regular season
is open at the date and location of the youth permit hunt. Adults may not hunt
during special youth hunts held prior to the opening of the regular waterfowl
season. 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 2 hunting youth, 2 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 or her 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 State Fish and Wildlife Area (Alexander County) and Union County
are from legal opening until 12:00 Noon on the day of the Youth Waterfowl Hunt.
Hunting hours at Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area, Clinton Lake State
Recreation Area also including the Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area and the
Disabled Hunt Unit, Donnelley State Fish and Wildlife Area, Larry D. Closson
State Habitat Area, Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area - Duck Ranch Unit 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 Banner Marsh State
Fish and Wildlife Area, 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 State Fish
and Wildlife Area, the first weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and the third
weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of the duck season for the zone the site is
located in shall be designated as Youth Hunt days open to hunters 10-17 years
old. Youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult. Blinds not allocated to
youth hunters shall be available for adults, except for the third Sunday, when
only permitted hunters are allowed. The blinds will be allocated by drawing the
day of the hunt. Preference will be given to youth hunters who have not been
drawn for a previous hunt at the site during the current season.
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) Larry D. Closson State Habitat Area will
be open during the Central Zone Youth Waterfowl Hunting days. Only one party
per day will be assigned to this site, consisting of the Youth Waterfowl
Hunting Permit holder, up to 3 additional youth hunters, and up to 2
non-hunting adult chaperones. This site does not have any permanent blind
structures. Hunters may construct temporary blinds that must be removed at the
end of each day's hunt.
F) At
Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area - Duck Ranch 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. A standby drawing will be held immediately after the
permit drawing for any unclaimed blinds by permit holders.
G) Black Crown Marsh State Natural Area will
be open during the Northern Zone Youth Waterfowl Hunting season. Walk-in
hunting only. A hunting party will consist of the Youth Waterfowl Hunting
Permit holder, up to 3 additional youth hunters, and up to 2 non-hunting adult
chaperones. This site does not have any permanent blind structures. Hunters may
construct temporary blinds that must be removed at the end of each day's hunt.
Hunting hours are from legal opening until 1:00 p.m. Hunters must be off the
site by 2:00 p.m. Sign-in/sign-out and report harvest at parking area
kiosk.
H) 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)
Shotguns 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 State Fish and Wildlife Area,
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. Airboats are not allowed in Casey Fork subimpoundment,
Big Muddy subimpoundment, and the impoundments on Corps of Engineers managed
areas during youth waterfowl season.
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.
Open sites that require the use of windshield cards by hunters as specified in
17 Ill. Adm. Code
510.10 will be noted
in the public announcement.
d) Violations of this Section are Class B
misdemeanors (see 520 ILCS 5/2.18), except that
hunting prior to 1/2 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)).