Springfield, IL… “Extending deer hunting hours is long overdue in Illinois,” State Representative David Leitch (R-Peoria) said yesterday as legislation to extend deer shotgun hunting to a half hour after sunset passed unanimously in the Illinois House.
“Deer are more active just after sunset than they are at any other point in the day,” said Leitch. “Extending the shotgun hunting hours to a half an hour after sunset will give hunters more of an opportunity to harvest deer. Because of overpopulation, farmers and motorists are experiencing more crop damage and deer related accidents. Extending the hunting period will help reduce the deer population and reduce some of these problems.”
Leitch said extending the hunting hours to one half hour after sunset will be just as safe as a half hour before sunset. “The half hours before sunrise and after sunset are known as civil twilight,” said Leitch. This measure is long overdue, and it is time that we bring deer shotgun hunting laws in line with already existing Illinois bow hunting laws.
Thirty nine other states already permit shotgun hunting from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, including all surrounding states. (Wisconsin is 20 minutes after sunset.)
Retired Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer, Jeff Baile, and another constituent, Jerry Wyatt, recommended the bill to Leitch and testified before the Agriculture and Conservation Committee.