Bill Title: 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.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 4)

Status: (Introduced) 2026-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4291 Detail]

Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]

---

PolitiCorps Conversations

Start PolitiCorps Debate

Title	PolitiCorps	Access	Comments	Views	Last Post
There are no visible public or private PolitiCorps discussions concerning the 2025 Illinois HB4291 at this time.