Information for airgun hunting on IL public lands

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I sent a letter 2 weeks ago asking the DNR to set aside land for small game hunting only. Up north there are very few areas to hunt with air rifles, and they all close Oct 1st when deer season opens.

These areas are not accessable again until after Jan 20th.

So, when i want to teach my 11 year old grandson to hunt squirrels, i have between Aug 1st and Sep 30th (hot, humid, & leaves on the trees) and Jan 20th to Feb 15th. (Coldest time of year)

It seems the DNR in our state is only concerned with deer hunters as I'm sure they bring in the greatest amount of revenue.
 
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I am a new member here as of a few minutes ago. I just sent the IDNR this Inquiry before finding this thread. Will see what they have to say. 

"I see that the Green River State Park site only allows shotgun or bow for squirrel hunting. I was wondering what it would take to open that up to air guns as well? Archery for squirrels takes a certain amount of time and talent that I do not posses, not to mention the lethality of a falling arrow from someone not considering the backdrop of their shot... Even a well placed shotgun shot is almost always sure to ruin some of the front shoulder meat. I prefer to hunt squirrels with .22LR, but can somewhat understand some of the safety concerns you may have with that. But... an airgun could severely mitigate the majority of those concerns. While they may have similar velocities to rim fire cartridges, the energy is much lower. 

IE - I have a high quality .22 pellet gun that has been tuned to the max, and it is producing south of 19 FPE (foot lbs of energy), plenty to cleanly harvest small game at close range, but does not retain lethality much beyond that. On the other hand, a .22LR produces somewhere in the neighborhood of 128 FPE, much different than the pellet gun. 

I understand that there are big bore airguns out there that could enter into safety concern territory, but if you were to limit the size to .22-.25 cal the max FPE would still remain much lower than a rimfire, even on super hot pre-charged pneumatic airguns. It would be nice to enjoy the park quietly and harvest some squirrels without the loss of ruined meat. So how about it? 

I sent this question in regard to the park I am currently interested in hunting, but believe this policy could be considered in all parks with similar rules. 

Thanks for your time,

Jayson"
 
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Good deal Jason. Let us know what you hear. I can tell you that even if they grant your request, (and I hope they do it for all the shotgun sites), it can take until next season for it to move through the bureaucracy. Even then, the site to site information is often behind times, always pays to check with sites you have never visited beforehand.

I've had a blast squirrel hunting with my .22 Marauder, and this year it's been pretty good on the public lands over here around west central IL.
 
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This is all I have received thus far. Will let you know more as I know more. - 

"Jason – I have forwarded your email to the Regional Land Manager for a response but he is out until 12/10 so please give him a little time to respond.



Barbara Foster

Program Assistant

Designated Dog Training

Field Trial Assistant

Campground Host Coordinator

Wingshooting Coordinator

217-785-8129

[email protected]"
 
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