Where do I buy a Illinois hunting license?

Illinois hunting licenses and tags are sold by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.

When is Illinois hunting season?

Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the Illinois season dates change every year. Our Illinois deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations before you plan a hunt.

What can you hunt in Illinois?

Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out Illinois for whitetail deer, eastern cottontail rabbit. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.

Where is public hunting land in Illinois?

Good starting points include Siloam Springs State Park, Sand Ridge State Forest, Pere Marquette State Park. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.

Hunting · State by State

Illinois Hunting Guide

What to hunt in Illinois, what it costs, the laws that matter and where the public land is — with the official Illinois Department of Natural Resources links.

Big-river bottoms and fertile farmland make Illinois one of the top trophy whitetail destinations in America.

Terrain is dominated by rolling row-crop farmland broken up by heavily timbered river-bottom corridors along the Mississippi, Illinois, Rock and Kaskaskia rivers — the timber-and-crop-edge combination in west-central counties is what produces the state's giant bucks.

Agency: Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Region: Midwest
Deer rank: #6 of 50
Species guides: 3

Illinois hunting license and tag costs

Deer license and tag prices as last reviewed. Other species' permits are listed in the agency fee schedule.

License / tag	Price
Resident archery permit	~$32.50
Resident firearm permit (first county)	~$32.50 (plus habitat stamp)
Nonresident archery permit	~$382.50
Nonresident firearm permit	~$382.50
Habitat stamp (all hunters)	~$10.75

Illinois hunting laws to know

Rules that catch hunters out most often. Not a substitute for the regulations book.

Topic	Rule
Blaze orange	At least 400 square inches of solid blaze orange or blaze pink on head, chest and back required during firearm and muzzleloader seasons; not required for archery-only hunting.
Baiting	Baiting deer is illegal statewide in Illinois.
Crossbows	Legal for all hunters during archery season, no permit or disability documentation required.
Sunday hunting	Allowed statewide.
Legal firearms	Shotguns with slugs, muzzleloaders, and straight-wall/handgun cartridge rifles are legal during firearm seasons; standard bottleneck centerfire rifles are not permitted for deer.
Tagging/reporting	Deer must be registered through the online/telephone harvest reporting system by 10 p.m. the day of kill.
CWD carcass transport	Whole carcasses from CWD-affected counties may not be transported outside those counties; deboned meat, cleaned skull plates, hides and finished taxidermy may move freely.
Hunter education	Required for anyone born after Jan. 1, 1980 who has never held a hunting license.

Illinois deer season structure (2025-26)

Illinois sets exact season dates by year and firearm counties may vary from archery-only counties; always confirm current dates on the Illinois DNR hunting digest before you hunt.

Season	Weapon	Typical window
Archery	Bow / crossbow	Early Oct – mid-Jan (closed during firearm seasons in the hunted county)
Youth firearm season	Shotgun, muzzleloader, or handgun	Columbus Day weekend (early Oct)
First firearm season	Shotgun, muzzleloader, or straight-wall/handgun cartridge	Mid-November, ~3 days (Fri–Sun)
Second firearm season	Shotgun, muzzleloader, or straight-wall/handgun cartridge	Late November-early December, ~4 days
Muzzleloader-only season	Muzzleloader	Early-to-mid December, ~3 days
Late-winter antlerless-only / CWD season	Shotgun, muzzleloader, or straight-wall/handgun cartridge	Mid-to-late December (varies by CWD county)

What you can hunt in Illinois

Deer — White-tailed deer
Elite · ranked #6 of 50 for deer.
Whitetail Deer
The best mature-buck genetics and age structure in the country
Access: Nonresident tags are limited draw — apply and build points
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit
Abundant fencerow and CRP edge habitat holding good rabbit numbers
Access: Over-the-counter small-game license

Public hunting land in Illinois

Illinois is heavily private, especially in the trophy-rich west-central counties, but the state's fish and wildlife areas and conservation areas along the major rivers hold huntable deer numbers for hunters willing to scout hard.

Siloam Springs State Park
State park · West-central Illinois (Adams/Brown counties)
Rugged, timbered terrain in the heart of trophy country, offering public access near some of the state's best private ground.
Sand Ridge State Forest
State forest · Central Illinois (Mason County)
Illinois' largest state forest, with extensive public timber and sandy ridge terrain good for still-hunting.
Pere Marquette State Park
State park · West-central Illinois
Bluff-and-timber terrain overlooking the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
Shawnee National Forest
National forest · Southern Illinois
Large contiguous public forest with rugged hills, offering the state's biggest block of huntable public land.
Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area
Fish and Wildlife Area · West-central Illinois (Fulton County)
River-bottom public ground near the Illinois River in a nationally renowned trophy county.

Official Illinois links

Last reviewed 2026-09.

Nearby state hunting guides

Questions

Frequently asked

Where do I buy a Illinois hunting license?: Illinois hunting licenses and tags are sold by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.
When is Illinois hunting season?: Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the Illinois season dates change every year. Our Illinois deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations before you plan a hunt.
What can you hunt in Illinois?: Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out Illinois for whitetail deer, eastern cottontail rabbit. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.
Where is public hunting land in Illinois?: Good starting points include Siloam Springs State Park, Sand Ridge State Forest, Pere Marquette State Park. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.