Waterfowl

The area is noted for its spectacular waterfowl populations that begin migrating into the area during late August. Blue winged teal stop over to enjoy the abundance of plant and animal life on the ponds, lakes, and back woods potholes. The season normally starts the first week in September. A limit of four green-winged or blue-winged teal can be harvested each day with eight in possession. Hunters find success in hunting them with two dozen or fewer teal decoys. Small shot sizes of #3 steel or #6 Bismuth will easily take these small ducks if your aim can catch up with them.

Early November finds duck hunters hiding in duck blinds, cattails, or behind oak trees in flooded timbers. Rend Lake and Crab Orchard draw migrating puddle and diving ducks by the thousands. Duck hunters come to the area to hunt mallards, teal, gadwalls, bluebills, redheads, and canvasbacks. Hunters should bring their duck boat, several dozen mallard decoys, a couple dozen Canada goose decoys, and a camera to record some lasting memories.

Waterfowl gunners flock to southern Illinois each fall when the Canada goose season opens. The Canada goose, snow goose, and white-fronted goose season is set by the Fish and Wildlife Service each year and recently it has been opening in late November. The majority of the Canada geese migrate into the area during late December. Hunters will find approximately 320,000 Canada's and over 90,000 snow geese in the area. Bird watchers enjoy photographing the ducks, geese, and bald eagles.

Waterfowl hunters will need a state license, federal duck stamp, state duck stamp, and Recreational User fee is charged to those hunting on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife property. The recreational User Permits are available at the Crab Orchard Visitor Center on Route 148 South, daily from 8 A.M.-5 P.M. Federal duck stamps may be purchased at your local U.S. Post Office. Hunting licenses are available through various vendors in southern Illinois. Hunters may also order license or stamp over the Internet immediately by visiting the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Home Page at http://dnr.state.il.us

Wild Turkey

One bird in America's woodland epitomized the world "wild" in wildlife. The turkey has a keen sense of sight and hearing. One false move by the hunter and this bird has flown or run into the next county. The wild turkey trusts no living creature. Wrapped up in some of the most beautiful plumage is a high strung bird which is hunted hard by gobbler chasers.

However, the gobbler has one weakness, and that is an affinity for the opposite sex. Their desire to mate with a hen is their biggest vulnerability during the spring hunting season. When the chill of winter is gone and the morel mushrooms are starting to pop up, the tom turkey starts gobbling to announce his territory to other males. Hens begin to show an interest in the gobbler, and with their seductive calling, they will bring immature (jake) and mature male turkeys running to the area. Hunters will use box calls, slate calls, and/or mouth calls to sound like a hen turkey. A well placed jake and hen turkey decoy makes the dominant male turkey mad and he will come running to whip this territorial invading young male.

Southern Illinois has several counties that provide excellent turkey hunting opportunities during the spring. Hunters in Illinois must apply to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for this $15 permit. The applications are drawn in late winter to determine the lucky hunters. The fall shotgun turkey season lasts for seven days during the last week in October. Fall hunters attempt to scatter the flock of young turkeys off the roost before daylight. The hunter will sit at the base of a large tree and try to call in the young poults. It won't be long until these young birds are calling and trying to regroup. Young turkeys will weigh 8-12 pounds and many hunters consider them one of the best eating wildgame birds in the mid-west.

The fall shotgun turkey permit costs $15.00. Fall turkey bow hunting is from October 1 through January 14, except during the fall deer shotgun seasons. A turkey bow permit is available from the local license vendors for $5.50. Many of these young birds are taken during the bow deer season.

White-Tailed Deer

If you think taking a big southern Illinois turkey is exciting, wait until you have drawn your bow or looked down the site of your slug gun at a big trophy buck. Fall archery season begins October 1st and several thousand bow hunters are hanging out of trees attempting to get a glimpse at nice buck. The south central area produces some of the best trophy bucks in the state. The #2 non-typical buck (23 pointer) came from Jefferson county in 1995. The #6 and #7 typical buck came from Jackson county (1990) and Franklin county (1997). The 16 point Jackson county buck scored over 185 Boone and Crockett points. Both of these counties take between 500-700 deer during the bow season.

The fall firearm deer season puts thousands of pounds of venison into the hunter's freezer. The 3-day season in November and the 4-day hunt in December produces some outstanding deer harvest in the area. The top counties which take between 1500-2250 deer are Jackson, Williamson, Jefferson, and Perry. The third largest Illinois buck (17 pointer) was taken in Williamson county during the 1991 season.

All of the counties provide excellent deer hunting habitat. State, federal, and private hunting areas are a blend of oak forest, agricultural fields, brushy strip-mined spoil banks, and bottom-land timbers which provide food, shelter, and breeding areas for the deer herd.

Small Game Hunting

If you were to pick one area of the state of Illinois to hunt small game, then southern Illinois is the area to plan a fall hunting vacation. Motels are located everywhere in the area near key hunting locations. State and federal ground offers hunters many choices for their small game hunting. Private land in many counties is available to hunt just for the asking. Also found in the south central region are some of the top Illinois Hunting Preserves in the state. Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, and Williamson counties offer quail, pheasant, chukar, dove, and in some cases deer hunting. Reasonable daily fees are charged for these outings. Dogs are furnished at many sites. Hunters can write to the Illinois Association of Hunting Preserves, P.O. Box 141, Dundee, IL 60118-0141 for a listing of the Illinois hunting preserves.

Squirrels

Saline, Williamson, and Jackson counties offer some of the best squirrel hunting in Illinois. Acres and acres of oak-hickory timber in the Shawnee National Forest provide food and shelter to thousands of fox and gray squirrels. Jefferson and Perry county are two of south centrals top fox squirrel counties. Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, and Williamson, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, are the best gray squirrel counties.

While squirrel season starts in August, the peak of quality squirrel hunting is during the week of September 5-11. This is the time of the year that many nut trees are being visited each morning and late afternoon by the bushytails. Bring your favorite shotgun or .22 caliber rifle to hunt these limb jumpers.

September is a great time to come to south central Illinois and camp in the forest. Wake up to bacon, eggs, and the aroma of fresh coffee in the air. After a quick breakfast, slowly start walking along the ridges listening to fox or gray squirrels jumping from limb to limb in search of nuts. You can hear squirrels cutting nuts for several hundred yards during calm mornings. During the cool mornings, the grays begin cutting nuts from 6 to 7 A.M. The fox squirrels are generally more active after 7 A.M. and during mid-day.

Don't forget the evening hunt when many squirrels will still be feeding thirty minutes after sun down. Don't forget hunting the forest during October. Some of the most enjoyable hunts and great eating squirrel are taken during this period. Many young squirrels that were born in late August and September are now putting on fat for winter. Many of these young squirrels (the natives call them white ribs) are easy to hunt and make great eating for a campfire supper. The squirrel season runs from August 1 - December 31. Five squirrels with 10 in possession may be taken.

Rabbits

Locate a brushy patch of weeds and brush near agricultural ground and you will find some of the best rabbit hunting in the state. According to local hunters and game biologists, some years have more abundant rabbit populations than previous years. Hunters can harvest four rabbits per day with eight in possession.

Hunters looking for top counties to hunt rabbits find that Jefferson and Perry counties are your best bets. A survey of over 3,000 rabbit hunters showed that they took over 28,000 rabbits. Bring your beagle and enjoy some great action on state and federal ground during November.

Doves

The first of September brings migrating flocks of doves. Northern cold fronts send doves winging southward during the entire month. They will feed in sunflower or silage fields, however, during the day they will water at the edge of a pond and roost at night in nearby hedgerows or pine groves. Shotguns with size eight shot are used with improved cylinder chokes. Some state and federal areas require steel shot, so call ahead to find out what shot is required.

A survey of 3,600 hunters in south central Illinois during recent years showed that they took an annual harvest of almost 88,000 doves. The hunters that were surveyed averaged approximately 24 doves per season. The top counties were Jefferson (29,000 doves) and Perry (19,600 doves). State and public ground offers hunters great opportunities during September and early October.

Quail

Find a good area with grassy fields, harvested cornfields, or wheat stubble near wooded areas, and you have a day of great quail hunting. Nothing beats an exciting day with your bird dog on point and a covey of quail exploding in every direction. This great game bird is admired for its fast moving target which can be challenge to catch up with your scattergun. Eight quail can be harvested each day with 16 in possession.

Quail populations seem to run in ten year cycles in southern Illinois. Compared with remainder of Illinois, southern Illinois is where the action is found each fall. Thousands of acres of public and federal land are available for the quail hunter. Franklin, Perry, Perry, Saline, and Jefferson counties offer some of the best hunting. The season begins during early November and runs through mid-January.