Waterfowl Hunting Dates
July 23rd, 2006 by Administrator
Proposed Waterfowl Hunting Dates for the 2006-07 Seasons
“For the North and Central zones, duck season opening days have been established for the next five years. However, we will be monitoring carefully the effects of the Thanksgiving opener in the South Zone this fall, particularly on duck hunting at Carlyle Lake and Rend Lake,” Flood said. “We heard some support for an earlier opener in the South Zone and will be evaluating the decision on the later opener prior to the 2007-08 seasons.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires that states select hunting zones as part of their regulatory framework every five years. Illinois is recommending changes in the existing boundary lines for its three zones that include moving farther south segments of both the dividing lines between the North and Central zones and the Central and South zones. The recommendation also includes a slight adjustment farther north of the existing Central-South zone line near the Mississippi River in southwest Illinois (see map and specific zone line descriptions below).
As announced earlier this year, Illinois is also recommending an elimination of Canada goose hunting harvest quotas and Canada goose quota zones, effective this fall.
In recent years, harvest quotas limiting the number of geese that could be taken during the season in each of the state’s waterfowl hunting zones occasionally resulted in goose seasons closing earlier than their scheduled ending dates. Harvest quotas were established to protect sub-arctic nesting Mississippi Valley Population migratory geese. Hunters in Illinois now harvest far more resident giant Canada geese. If the change is approved by federal authorities, there will be no quotas, no goose permits or phone-in required by hunters, and goose season dates selected will run to the end of the season.