Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
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 7/8 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 1/2 hour
before sunrise to 1/2 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.
