Bill Text: IL HB4226 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Wildlife Code. Removes the prohibition on taking bobcats in the State. Provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to trap or to hunt bobcats with gun, dog, dog and gun, or bow and arrow, except during the open season which will be set annually by the Director of Natural Resources between 12:01 a.m., November 1 to 12:00 midnight, February 15, both inclusive. Provides that the season limit for bobcat shall not exceed one bobcat per person per season. Provides that the pelts of bobcats shall be tagged in accordance with federal regulations and the Department of Natural Resources may require harvest registration and set forth procedures, fees for registration, and the process of tagging pelts in administrative rules. Provides that bobcats may be taken during the open season by use of a small light which is worn on the body or hand-held by a person on foot and not in any vehicle.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2015-01-12 - Governor Vetoed [HB4226 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB4226-Enrolled.html

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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
Sections 2.30, 2.30b, 2.33, and 2.33a as follows:
(520 ILCS 5/2.30) (from Ch. 61, par. 2.30)
Sec. 2.30. It shall be unlawful for any person to trap or
to hunt with gun, dog, dog and gun, or bow and arrow, gray fox,
red fox, raccoon, weasel, mink, muskrat, badger, bobcat, and
opossum except during the open season which will be set
annually by the Director between 12:01 a.m., November 1 to
12:00 midnight, February 15, both inclusive.
It is unlawful for any person to take bobcat in this State
at any time.
It is unlawful to pursue any fur-bearing mammal with a dog
or dogs between the hours of sunset and sunrise during the 10
day period preceding the opening date of the raccoon hunting
season and the 10 day period following the closing date of the
raccoon hunting season except that the Department may issue
field trial permits in accordance with Section 2.34 of this
Act. A non-resident from a state with more restrictive
fur-bearer pursuit regulations for any particular species than
provided for that species in this Act may not pursue that

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species in Illinois except during the period of time that
Illinois residents are allowed to pursue that species in the
non-resident's state of residence. Hound running areas
approved by the Department shall be exempt from the provisions
of this Section.
It shall be unlawful to take beaver, river otter, weasel,
mink or muskrat except during the open season set annually by
the Director, and then, only with traps.
It shall be unlawful for any person to trap beaver or river
otter with traps except during the open season which will be
set annually by the Director between 12:01 a.m., November 1st
and 12:00 midnight, March 31, both inclusive.
Coyote may be taken by trapping methods only during the
period from September 1 to March 1, both inclusive, and by
hunting methods at any time.
Striped skunk may be taken by trapping methods only during
the period from September 1 to March 1, both inclusive, and by
hunting methods at any time.
Muskrat may be taken by trapping methods during an open
season set annually by the Director.
For the purpose of taking fur-bearing mammals, the State
may be divided into management zones by administrative rule.
It shall be unlawful to take or possess more than the
season limit or possession limit of fur-bearing mammals that
shall be set annually by the Director. The season limit for
river otter shall not exceed 5 river otters per person per

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season. The season limit for bobcat shall not exceed one bobcat
permit. Possession limits shall not apply to fur buyers,
tanners, manufacturers, and taxidermists, as defined by this
Act, who possess fur-bearing mammals in accordance with laws
governing such activities.
Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the taking or
possessing of fur-bearing mammals found dead or
unintentionally killed by a vehicle along a roadway during the
open season provided the person who possesses such fur-bearing
mammals has all appropriate licenses, stamps, or permits; the
season for which the species possessed is open; and that such
possession and disposal of such fur-bearing mammals is
otherwise subject to the provisions of this Section.
The provisions of this Section are subject to modification
by administrative rule.
(Source: P.A. 97-19, eff. 6-28-11; 97-31, eff. 6-28-11; 97-628,
eff. 11-10-11; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)
(520 ILCS 5/2.30b)
Sec. 2.30b. River otter and bobcat pelts. The pelts of
river otters and bobcats shall be tagged in accordance with
federal regulation 50 CFR 23.69(e). The Department may require
harvest registration and set forth procedures, fees for
registration, and the process of tagging pelts in
administrative rules. Fees for registration and tagging shall
not exceed $5 per pelt.

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(Source: P.A. 97-31, eff. 6-28-11.)
(520 ILCS 5/2.33) (from Ch. 61, par. 2.33)
Sec. 2.33. Prohibitions.
(a) It is unlawful to carry or possess any gun in any State
refuge unless otherwise permitted by administrative rule.
(b) It is unlawful to use or possess any snare or
snare-like device, deadfall, net, or pit trap to take any
species, except that snares not powered by springs or other
mechanical devices may be used to trap fur-bearing mammals, in
water sets only, if at least one-half of the snare noose is
located underwater at all times.
(c) It is unlawful for any person at any time to take a
wild mammal protected by this Act from its den by means of any
mechanical device, spade, or digging device or to use smoke or
other gases to dislodge or remove such mammal except as
provided in Section 2.37.
(d) It is unlawful to use a ferret or any other small
mammal which is used in the same or similar manner for which
ferrets are used for the purpose of frightening or driving any
mammals from their dens or hiding places.
(e) (Blank).
(f) It is unlawful to use spears, gigs, hooks or any like
device to take any species protected by this Act.
(g) It is unlawful to use poisons, chemicals or explosives
for the purpose of taking any species protected by this Act.

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(h) It is unlawful to hunt adjacent to or near any peat,
grass, brush or other inflammable substance when it is burning.
(i) It is unlawful to take, pursue or intentionally harass
or disturb in any manner any wild birds or mammals by use or
aid of any vehicle or conveyance, except as permitted by the
Code of Federal Regulations for the taking of waterfowl. It is
also unlawful to use the lights of any vehicle or conveyance or
any light from or any light connected to the vehicle or
conveyance in any area where wildlife may be found except in
accordance with Section 2.37 of this Act; however, nothing in
this Section shall prohibit the normal use of headlamps for the
purpose of driving upon a roadway. Striped skunk, opossum, red
fox, gray fox, raccoon, bobcat, and coyote may be taken during
the open season by use of a small light which is worn on the
body or hand-held by a person on foot and not in any vehicle.
(j) It is unlawful to use any shotgun larger than 10 gauge
while taking or attempting to take any of the species protected
by this Act.
(k) It is unlawful to use or possess in the field any
shotgun shell loaded with a shot size larger than lead BB or
steel T (.20 diameter) when taking or attempting to take any
species of wild game mammals (excluding white-tailed deer),
wild game birds, migratory waterfowl or migratory game birds
protected by this Act, except white-tailed deer as provided for
in Section 2.26 and other species as provided for by subsection
(l) or administrative rule.

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(l) It is unlawful to take any species of wild game, except
white-tailed deer and fur-bearing mammals, with a shotgun
loaded with slugs unless otherwise provided for by
administrative rule.
(m) It is unlawful to use any shotgun capable of holding
more than 3 shells in the magazine or chamber combined, except
on game breeding and hunting preserve areas licensed under
Section 3.27 and except as permitted by the Code of Federal
Regulations for the taking of waterfowl. If the shotgun is
capable of holding more than 3 shells, it shall, while being
used on an area other than a game breeding and shooting
preserve area licensed pursuant to Section 3.27, be fitted with
a one piece plug that is irremovable without dismantling the
shotgun or otherwise altered to render it incapable of holding
more than 3 shells in the magazine and chamber, combined.
(n) It is unlawful for any person, except persons who
possess a permit to hunt from a vehicle as provided in this
Section and persons otherwise permitted by law, to have or
carry any gun in or on any vehicle, conveyance or aircraft,
unless such gun is unloaded and enclosed in a case, except that
at field trials authorized by Section 2.34 of this Act,
unloaded guns or guns loaded with blank cartridges only, may be
carried on horseback while not contained in a case, or to have
or carry any bow or arrow device in or on any vehicle unless
such bow or arrow device is unstrung or enclosed in a case, or
otherwise made inoperable.

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(o) It is unlawful to use any crossbow for the purpose of
taking any wild birds or mammals, except as provided for in
Section 2.5.
(p) It is unlawful to take game birds, migratory game birds
or migratory waterfowl with a rifle, pistol, revolver or
airgun.
(q) It is unlawful to fire a rifle, pistol, revolver or
airgun on, over or into any waters of this State, including
frozen waters.
(r) It is unlawful to discharge any gun or bow and arrow
device along, upon, across, or from any public right-of-way or
highway in this State.
(s) It is unlawful to use a silencer or other device to
muffle or mute the sound of the explosion or report resulting
from the firing of any gun.
(t) It is unlawful for any person to take or attempt to
take any species of wildlife or parts thereof, intentionally or
wantonly allow a dog to hunt, within or upon the land of
another, or upon waters flowing over or standing on the land of
another, or to knowingly shoot a gun or bow and arrow device at
any wildlife physically on or flying over the property of
another without first obtaining permission from the owner or
the owner's designee. For the purposes of this Section, the
owner's designee means anyone who the owner designates in a
written authorization and the authorization must contain (i)
the legal or common description of property for such authority

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is given, (ii) the extent that the owner's designee is
authorized to make decisions regarding who is allowed to take
or attempt to take any species of wildlife or parts thereof,
and (iii) the owner's notarized signature. Before enforcing
this Section the law enforcement officer must have received
notice from the owner or the owner's designee of a violation of
this Section. Statements made to the law enforcement officer
regarding this notice shall not be rendered inadmissible by the
hearsay rule when offered for the purpose of showing the
required notice.
(u) It is unlawful for any person to discharge any firearm
for the purpose of taking any of the species protected by this
Act, or hunt with gun or dog, or intentionally or wantonly
allow a dog to hunt, within 300 yards of an inhabited dwelling
without first obtaining permission from the owner or tenant,
except that while trapping, hunting with bow and arrow, hunting
with dog and shotgun using shot shells only, or hunting with
shotgun using shot shells only, or on licensed game breeding
and hunting preserve areas, as defined in Section 3.27, on
property operated under a Migratory Waterfowl Hunting Area
Permit, on federally owned and managed lands and on Department
owned, managed, leased or controlled lands, a 100 yard
restriction shall apply.
(v) It is unlawful for any person to remove fur-bearing
mammals from, or to move or disturb in any manner, the traps
owned by another person without written authorization of the

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owner to do so.
(w) It is unlawful for any owner of a dog to knowingly or
wantonly allow his or her dog to pursue, harass or kill deer,
except that nothing in this Section shall prohibit the tracking
of wounded deer with a dog in accordance with the provisions of
Section 2.26 of this Code.
(x) It is unlawful for any person to wantonly or carelessly
injure or destroy, in any manner whatsoever, any real or
personal property on the land of another while engaged in
hunting or trapping thereon.
(y) It is unlawful to hunt wild game protected by this Act
between one half hour after sunset and one half hour before
sunrise, except that hunting hours between one half hour after
sunset and one half hour before sunrise may be established by
administrative rule for fur-bearing mammals.
(z) It is unlawful to take any game bird (excluding wild
turkeys and crippled pheasants not capable of normal flight and
otherwise irretrievable) protected by this Act when not flying.
Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a person from carrying
an uncased, unloaded shotgun in a boat, while in pursuit of a
crippled migratory waterfowl that is incapable of normal
flight, for the purpose of attempting to reduce the migratory
waterfowl to possession, provided that the attempt is made
immediately upon downing the migratory waterfowl and is done
within 400 yards of the blind from which the migratory
waterfowl was downed. This exception shall apply only to

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migratory game birds that are not capable of normal flight.
Migratory waterfowl that are crippled may be taken only with a
shotgun as regulated by subsection (j) of this Section using
shotgun shells as regulated in subsection (k) of this Section.
(aa) It is unlawful to use or possess any device that may
be used for tree climbing or cutting, while hunting fur-bearing
mammals, excluding coyotes.
(bb) It is unlawful for any person, except licensed game
breeders, pursuant to Section 2.29 to import, carry into, or
possess alive in this State any species of wildlife taken
outside of this State, without obtaining permission to do so
from the Director.
(cc) It is unlawful for any person to have in his or her
possession any freshly killed species protected by this Act
during the season closed for taking.
(dd) It is unlawful to take any species protected by this
Act and retain it alive except as provided by administrative
rule.
(ee) It is unlawful to possess any rifle while in the field
during gun deer season except as provided in Section 2.26 and
administrative rules.
(ff) It is unlawful for any person to take any species
protected by this Act, except migratory waterfowl, during the
gun deer hunting season in those counties open to gun deer
hunting, unless he or she wears, when in the field, a cap and
upper outer garment of a solid blaze orange color, with such

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articles of clothing displaying a minimum of 400 square inches
of blaze orange material.
(gg) It is unlawful during the upland game season for any
person to take upland game with a firearm unless he or she
wears, while in the field, a cap of solid blaze orange color.
For purposes of this Act, upland game is defined as Bobwhite
Quail, Hungarian Partridge, Ring-necked Pheasant, Eastern
Cottontail and Swamp Rabbit.
(hh) It shall be unlawful to kill or cripple any species
protected by this Act for which there is a bag limit without
making a reasonable effort to retrieve such species and include
such in the bag limit. It shall be unlawful for any person
having control over harvested game mammals, game birds, or
migratory game birds for which there is a bag limit to wantonly
waste or destroy the usable meat of the game, except this shall
not apply to wildlife taken under Sections 2.37 or 3.22 of this
Code. For purposes of this subsection, "usable meat" means the
breast meat of a game bird or migratory game bird and the hind
ham and front shoulders of a game mammal. It shall be unlawful
for any person to place, leave, dump, or abandon a wildlife
carcass or parts of it along or upon a public right-of-way or
highway or on public or private property, including a waterway
or stream, without the permission of the owner or tenant. It
shall not be unlawful to discard game meat that is determined
to be unfit for human consumption.
(ii) This Section shall apply only to those species

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protected by this Act taken within the State. Any species or
any parts thereof, legally taken in and transported from other
states or countries, may be possessed within the State, except
as provided in this Section and Sections 2.35, 2.36 and 3.21.
(jj) (Blank).
(kk) Nothing contained in this Section shall prohibit the
Director from issuing permits to paraplegics or to other
disabled persons who meet the requirements set forth in
administrative rule to shoot or hunt from a vehicle as provided
by that rule, provided that such is otherwise in accord with
this Act.
(ll) Nothing contained in this Act shall prohibit the
taking of aquatic life protected by the Fish and Aquatic Life
Code or birds and mammals protected by this Act, except deer
and fur-bearing mammals, from a boat not camouflaged or
disguised to alter its identity or to further provide a place
of concealment and not propelled by sail or mechanical power.
However, only shotguns not larger than 10 gauge nor smaller
than .410 bore loaded with not more than 3 shells of a shot
size no larger than lead BB or steel T (.20 diameter) may be
used to take species protected by this Act.
(mm) Nothing contained in this Act shall prohibit the use
of a shotgun, not larger than 10 gauge nor smaller than a 20
gauge, with a rifled barrel.
(nn) It shall be unlawful to possess any species of
wildlife or wildlife parts taken unlawfully in Illinois, any

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other state, or any other country, whether or not the wildlife
or wildlife parts is indigenous to Illinois. For the purposes
of this subsection, the statute of limitations for unlawful
possession of wildlife or wildlife parts shall not cease until
2 years after the possession has permanently ended.
(Source: P.A. 97-645, eff. 12-30-11; 97-907, eff. 8-7-12;
98-119, eff. 1-1-14; 98-181, eff. 8-5-13; 98-183, eff. 1-1-14;
98-290, eff. 8-9-13; revised 9-24-13.)
(520 ILCS 5/2.33a) (from Ch. 61, par. 2.33a)
Sec. 2.33a. Trapping.
(a) It is unlawful to fail to visit and remove all animals
from traps staked out, set, used, tended, placed or maintained
at least once each calendar day.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to place, set, use, or
maintain a leghold trap or one of similar construction on land,
that has a jaw spread of larger than 6 1/2 inches (16.6 CM), or
a body-gripping trap or one of similar construction having a
jaw spread larger than 7 inches (17.8 CM) on a side if square
and 8 inches (20.4 CM) if round.
(c) It is unlawful for any person to place, set, use, or
maintain a leghold trap or one of similar construction in
water, that has a jaw spread of larger than 7 1/2 inches (19.1
CM), or a body-gripping trap or one of similar construction
having a jaw spread larger than 10 inches (25.4 CM) on a side
if square and 12 inches (30.5 CM) if round.

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(d) It is unlawful to use any trap with saw-toothed,
spiked, or toothed jaws.
(e) It is unlawful to destroy, disturb or in any manner
interfere with dams, lodges, burrows or feed beds of beaver
while trapping for beaver or to set a trap inside a muskrat
house or beaver lodge, except that this shall not apply to
Drainage Districts who are acting pursuant to the provisions of
Section 2.37.
(f) It is unlawful to trap beaver or river otter with: (1)
a leghold trap or one of similar construction having a jaw
spread of less than 5 1/2 inches (13.9 CM) or more than 7 1/2
inches (19.1 CM), or (2) a body-gripping trap or one of similar
construction having a jaw spread of less than 7 inches (17.7
CM) or more than 10 inches (25.4 CM) on a side if square and 12
inches (30.5 CM) if round, except that these restrictions shall
not apply during the open season for trapping raccoons.
(g) It is unlawful to set traps closer than 10 feet (3.05
M) from any hole or den which may be occupied by a game mammal
or fur-bearing mammal except that this restriction shall not
apply to water sets.
(h) It is unlawful to trap or attempt to trap any
fur-bearing mammal with any colony, cage, box, or stove-pipe
trap designed to take more than one mammal at a single setting.
(i) It is unlawful for any person to set or place any trap
designed to take any fur-bearing mammal protected by this Act
during the closed trapping season. Proof that any trap was

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placed during the closed trapping season shall be deemed prima
facie evidence of a violation of this provision.
(j) It is unlawful to place, set, or maintain any leghold
trap or one of similar construction within thirty (30) feet
(9.14 m) of bait placed in such a manner or position that it is
not completely covered and concealed from sight, except that
this shall not apply to underwater sets. Bait shall mean and
include any bait composed of mammal, bird, or fish flesh, fur,
hide, entrails or feathers.
(k) (Blank). It shall be unlawful for hunters or trappers
to have the green hides of fur-bearing mammals, protected by
this Act, in their possession except during the open season and
for an additional period of 10 days succeeding such open
season.
(l) It is unlawful for any person to place, set, use or
maintain a snare trap or one of similar construction in water,
that has a loop diameter exceeding 15 inches (38.1 CM) or a
cable or wire diameter of more than 1/8 inch (3.2 MM) or less
than 5/64 inch (2.0 MM), that is constructed of stainless steel
metal cable or wire, and that does not have a mechanical lock,
anchor swivel and stop device to prevent the mechanical lock
from closing the noose loop to a diameter of less than 2 1/2
inches (6.4 CM).
(m) It is unlawful to trap muskrat or mink with (1) a
leghold trap or one of similar construction or (2) a
body-gripping trap or one of similar construction unless the

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body-gripping trap or similar trap is completely submerged
underwater when set. These restrictions shall not apply during
the open season for trapping raccoons.
(Source: P.A. 97-19, eff. 6-28-11; 97-31, eff. 6-28-11; 97-813,
eff. 7-13-12.)