Illinois House Bill 4291

---

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 4)
Status: Introduced on January 6 2026 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2026-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee
Pending: House Rules Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]

Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that tracking wounded wild birds or wounded wild mammals by use of unmanned aircraft is permissible under certain conditions, including that: (1) the wild bird or wild mammal is wounded when a properly licensed hunter has struck the animal with a projectile fired from a legal hunting device during the open season; (2) any person operating the unmanned aircraft has obtained permission from the public or private landowner, or the landowner's authorized representative, before launching or landing the unmanned aircraft from or on the landowner's property; (3) the person operating the unmanned aircraft does not possess or control a firearm, bow, or other implement whereby wildlife could be killed or taken while afield, whether acting singly or as a group of persons while the unmanned aircraft is in flight, except this prohibition does not apply to a person lawfully carrying a concealed firearm under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act if the concealed firearm is not used to take wildlife; and (4) the unmanned aircraft is operated in a manner that does not harass any wildlife. Exempts an operator of an unmanned aircraft that meets these conditions from hunting permit requirements if the operator is not the taker of the wounded animal. Effective July 1, 2027.

WILDLIFE CD-UAV TRACKING

Rep. Norine Hammond [R]

Rep. Daniel Swanson [R]

Rep. Wayne Rosenthal [R]

Rep. Charles Meier [R]

Date	Chamber	Action
2026-03-27	House	Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee
2026-03-20	House	Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Charles Meier
2026-03-20	House	Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Wayne A. Rosenthal
2026-03-20	House	Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Dan Swanson
2026-03-18	House	Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee
2026-01-14	House	Referred to Rules Committee
2026-01-14	House	First Reading
2026-01-06	House	Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Norine K. Hammond

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
520	5	2.11	Amended Code	Citation Text
520	5	2.26	Amended Code	Citation Text
520	5	2.33	Amended Code	Citation Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=4291&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104
Text	https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus/FullText?LegDocId=206136&DocName=10400HB4291&DocNum=4291&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=164788&GAID=18&SessionID=114&SpecSess=&Session=