Planning a Hunt on Public Land 2.0

HuntIllinois is no new tool to an adept Illinois hunter. But did you know it’s had a recent upgrade? For hunters planning to venture out this fall, HuntIllinois can be a crucial tool for finding all the site regulations for specific species. Even for experienced hunters, the site pages serve as a great tool for a quick refresher on all site-specific regulations.

For a general overview of the Public Hunting Areas (PHAs) across the state, be sure to check the PHA Tables at the back of the Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations. Pages 56 to 62 provide a chart with basic information on the acreage of each site, the types of hunting are available, and a general description of the types of permits required. Whether you’re new to hunting public land or you are looking to find a new site close to you, the Digest contains detailed region maps with listings for 242 PHAs.

For example, Green River State Fish and Wildlife Area (SFWA), which is located in Lee County and can be found in the Region 1 tables on page 54 of the 2025-2026 Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, is listed as site 20. With 2,515 huntable acres, Green River SFWA is open to a wide variety of hunting, including squirrel, deer archery and firearm, and turkey. The table also informs you through symbols that some hunting is available according to statewide rules but others require different permits. The PHA tables can provide basic information about the site, but for more in-depth regulations, your next stop is the HuntIllinois Public Hunting Area Site Pages Directory.

So you’ve narrowed down your short list of sites that you’re interested in knowing more about. Now it’s time to look into site-specific regulations. For example, you know you plan to hunt archery deer this fall, but you have missed the deadline to apply for site-specific lotteries—you will need to be sure that the site you have selected is open to archery deer hunting using a statewide archery permit.

Once you’ve navigated to HuntIllinois.org, you’ll scroll down and look for the tile labelled “Hunting Sites.” This takes you to a list of all the PHAs within the state of Illinois. You’ll notice that you can filter your results to better search for sites. If you know exactly the site you need information for, you can search by name. Or you can use the “Filter by Region” tool, if you know which area you would like to look for information but haven’t yet selected a site. Each PHA entry will also include a brief description including the site’s address, county, region and the game species that can be hunted at that site.

Then, once you’ve opened the page for your selected site, you will quickly find a plethora of information. At the top of the page, you will find a listing of all the site’s details, such as site coordinates and phone numbers, as well as links to contact information for local Site Superintendents, District Wildlife Biologists and Conservation Police Officers. Below that will be a section dedicated to maps of the site. Each site will have, at a minimum, a digital map link and a printable map. For sites such as Green River SFWA, there are specific hunting areas depending on the species you plan to hunt; thus, you will find multiple printable maps. There will also be a brief characteristics summary to let you know what sort(s) of terrain to expect at the site.

Finally, you’ve come to the “Site/Species Specific Regulations” portion of the page. There you will find any regulations that deviate from the standard statewide regulations. As a reminder, all statewide regulations are listed on pages 3 through 9 of the annual Digest. Don’t be dismayed, that some sites list a great deal of site-specific information. A new feature of the site pages allows you to click on a specific species category within the “Page Contents,” located along the left side of the page, and you will be instantly moved to that section on the page. Below each hunting category, the different species and seasons are listed alphabetically. There you will find season and hunt-specific information. For example, in the Dove section of the Green River SFWA page, you will find that dove hunting September 1 through 5 is legal from noon to 5 p.m., compared to September 6 through 30 season when it is legal to harvest doves from noon to sunset. Additionally, a permit issued via drawing is required for the first six days of the dove season, while the later segment does not require a permit or drawing.

HuntIllinois undergoes regular review by District Wildlife Biologists and IDNR staff and is frequently changing information to reflect new laws and regulations for hunting and trapping in Illinois. Along with site information, you can find season dates and limits, permit information and application links. And if by chance the site you’ve chosen to hunt requires site-specific or county-specific permits, you can also find all of the necessary information regarding permit applications, also linked on HuntIllinois, via the particular species page for the species you will be hunting.

Whether you’re a new hunter or old, HuntIllinois has everything you need to successfully plan your next hunt on public land.