Bill Text: IL HB4184 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that a person with a valid concealed carry license issued under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, or an off-duty law enforcement official or officer, may carry a handgun on or about his or her person while hunting. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB4184 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB4184-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 HB4184 Introduced , by Rep. David B. Reis SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
520 ILCS 5/2.26 from Ch. 61, par. 2.26
Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that a person with a valid concealed carry license issued under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, or an off-duty law enforcement official or officer, may carry a handgun on or about his or her person while hunting. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning wildlife.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Wildlife Code is amended by changing Section
2.26 as follows:
(520 ILCS 5/2.26) (from Ch. 61, par. 2.26)
Sec. 2.26. Deer hunting permits. Any person attempting to
take deer shall first obtain a "Deer Hunting Permit" issued by
the Department in accordance with its administrative rules.
Those rules must provide for the issuance of the following
types of resident deer archery permits: (i) a combination
permit, consisting of one either-sex permit and one
antlerless-only permit, (ii) a single antlerless-only permit,
and (iii) a single either-sex permit. The fee for a Deer
Hunting Permit to take deer with either bow and arrow or gun
shall not exceed $25.00 for residents of the State. The
Department may by administrative rule provide for non-resident
deer hunting permits for which the fee will not exceed $300 in
2005, $350 in 2006, and $400 in 2007 and thereafter except as
provided below for non-resident landowners and non-resident
archery hunters. The Department may by administrative rule
provide for a non-resident archery deer permit consisting of
not more than 2 harvest tags at a total cost not to exceed $325

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in 2005, $375 in 2006, and $425 in 2007 and thereafter.
The standards and specifications for use of guns and bow
and arrow for deer hunting shall be established by
administrative rule.
No person may have in his or her possession any firearm not
authorized by administrative rule for a specific hunting season
when taking deer. However, a person with a valid concealed
carry license issued under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, or
an off-duty law enforcement official or officer, may carry a
handgun on or about his or her person while hunting.
Persons having a firearm deer hunting permit shall be
permitted to take deer only during the period from 1/2 hour
before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset, and only during those
days for which an open season is established for the taking of
deer by use of shotgun, handgun, or muzzle loading rifle.
Persons having an archery deer hunting permit shall be
permitted to take deer only during the period from 1/2 hour
before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset, and only during those
days for which an open season is established for the taking of
deer by use of bow and arrow.
It shall be unlawful for any person to take deer by use of
dogs, horses, automobiles, aircraft or other vehicles, or by
the use or aid of bait or baiting of any kind. For the purposes
of this Section, "bait" means any material, whether liquid or
solid, including food, salt, minerals, and other products,
except pure water, that can be ingested, placed, or scattered

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in such a manner as to attract or lure white-tailed deer.
"Baiting" means the placement or scattering of bait to attract
deer. An area is considered as baited during the presence of
and for 10 consecutive days following the removal of bait.
Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the use of a dog to
track wounded deer. Any person using a dog for tracking wounded
deer must maintain physical control of the dog at all times by
means of a maximum 50 foot lead attached to the dog's collar or
harness. Tracking wounded deer is permissible at night, but at
no time outside of legal deer hunting hours or seasons shall
any person handling or accompanying a dog being used for
tracking wounded deer be in possession of any firearm or
archery device. Persons tracking wounded deer with a dog during
the firearm deer seasons shall wear blaze orange as required.
Dog handlers tracking wounded deer with a dog are exempt from
hunting license and deer permit requirements so long as they
are accompanied by the licensed deer hunter who wounded the
deer.
It shall be unlawful to possess or transport any wild deer
which has been injured or killed in any manner upon a public
highway or public right-of-way of this State unless exempted by
administrative rule.
Persons hunting deer must have gun unloaded and no bow and
arrow device shall be carried with the arrow in the nocked
position during hours when deer hunting is unlawful.
It shall be unlawful for any person, having taken the legal

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limit of deer by gun, to further participate with gun in any
deer hunting party.
It shall be unlawful for any person, having taken the legal
limit of deer by bow and arrow, to further participate with bow
and arrow in any deer hunting party.
The Department may prohibit upland game hunting during the
gun deer season by administrative rule.
The Department shall not limit the number of non-resident,
either-sex archery deer hunting permits to less than 20,000.
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this
Section, including administrative rules, shall be guilty of a
Class B misdemeanor.
For the purposes of calculating acreage under this Section,
the Department shall, after determining the total acreage of
the applicable tract or tracts of land, round remaining
fractional portions of an acre greater than or equal to half of
an acre up to the next whole acre.
For the purposes of taking white-tailed deer, nothing in
this Section shall be construed to prevent the manipulation,
including mowing or cutting, of standing crops as a normal
agricultural or soil stabilization practice, food plots, or
normal agricultural practices, including planting, harvesting,
and maintenance such as cultivating or the use of products
designed for scent only and not capable of ingestion, solid or
liquid, placed or scattered, in such a manner as to attract or
lure deer. Such manipulation for the purpose of taking

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white-tailed deer may be further modified by administrative
rule.
(Source: P.A. 98-180, eff. 8-5-13; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16;
99-869, eff. 1-1-17.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.