IL upland birds

[afilko]

Does anyone hunt wild birds in Illinois? I'm around St Louis and have flushed a few quail on public when deer hunting but cant find them when I have the dog with me. I have heard the bobcats have exploded in central IL and bird hunting is poor as a result. Do I just need to travel to a better state to get my dog on birds?

 

[dtrkyman]

Tough to find ample cover there to hold birds anymore. Very isolated coveys as far as quail go. Even Pheasants are hard to find anymore, used to be prime Pheasant state back in the day!

You are near St. Louis, I would look into Missouri for quail, a friend is in the NE. corner of the state and their are a decent amount of birds up that way.

 

[yotesniper66]

I'm in Springfied, IL and my buddy is a big bird hunter. He does allot of put n take hunts as well as state parks. Not allot of birds on private ground anymore around here

 

[Scottf270]

I got a hobby permit from MDC for like 20 bucks to keep up to 50 bobwhite quail. I built a small pen and buy from local bird breeders. I train my dogs at a buddies place. I hunt wild birds some but this allows me to maximize my time and keep my dogs on birds.

 

[ks farmer]

Cover has been lost everywhere due to intensive farming methods.

 

[JeffP_Or]

Cover has been lost everywhere due to intensive farming methods.

Agree with this. Spent time in the Shelbyville/Effingham area - the state used to plant [maybe still does] plant birds around Lake Shelbyville in the WMA type places but the farming in that area extends property line to property line with no cover and no cover crops. Soil is too high-quality to give it away.....

 

[ks farmer]

CRP programs can’t match grain prices even on poor soils.

 

[TheGreek]

Does anyone hunt wild birds in Illinois? I'm around St Louis and have flushed a few quail on public when deer hunting but cant find them when I have the dog with me. I have heard the bobcats have exploded in central IL and bird hunting is poor as a result. Do I just need to travel to a better state to get my dog on birds?

These were a few wild quail killed at JEPC this past Dec on the upland game permit. I’ve flushed a few wild pheasants at Clinton Lake as well. A few of the PHAs hold a lot of birds but it’s just about impossible to draw an upland game permit for the good ones.

Other than that, it’s hard to get on wild birds in IL. Drive to WI and hunted ruffed grouse. Unlimited public land and tons of birds to boot.

 

[DadOperator]

These were a few wild quail killed at JEPC this past Dec on the upland game permit. I’ve flushed a few wild pheasants at Clinton Lake as well. A few of the PHAs hold a lot of birds but it’s just about impossible to draw an upland game permit for the good ones.

Other than that, it’s hard to get on wild birds in IL. Drive to WI and hunted ruffed grouse. Unlimited public land and tons of birds to boot.

View attachment 507831

I want to get up to northern Wisconsin next fall for grouse. I don’t know where to start. I’ve looked a bit but don’t know…..

Any tips?

 

[TheGreek]

I want to get up to northern Wisconsin next fall for grouse. I don’t know where to start. I’ve looked a bit but don’t know…..

Any tips?

Hit the northern third of WI. Look for logging cuts between 8-16 years old with real prime cuts between 8-12 years old. Ann Jandernoa’s Scout N Hunt app is worth every penny for grouse hunting. The better habitat is usually on county forest land over NF as they log more on county land than federal land but there are still a lot of grouse in the national forests. And shoot at every bird you flush.

 

[dtrkyman]

There is a lot of publicly accessible private lands in Wisconsin, they have some kind of app on their DNR site showing it, ONX does a better job with it, it is not marked so you need mapping to find it.