Hunting & Heritage  |  07/24/2018

Summer Pheasant Report: Illinois


afc942bd-9efa-4270-8f90-b468a5117c28
By Tom Carpenter, Editor- Pheasants Forever
 

Weather

“The timing of near record rains in May and June have not been good, as they have coincided with peak hatching here in Illinois,” reports Wade Louis, Habitat Team Program Manager with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
 

Habitat

“On the other hand, plenty of rain has the habitat there is looking good,” says Louis.
 

Programs

“CRP is the main habitat player here in Illinois,” says Louis. Illinois hunter-conservationists need to not just hope for, but advocate far, a string conservation element to the 2018 Farm Bill.
 

Prospects

“It’s too early to tell,” says Louis. Hunters should hope for a mild and somewhat dryer close to summer so birds can pull off their original hatch, or perhaps get a second nesting attempt in if the first nest was washed away.”