Prospects and conditions for the dove-hunting opener at select Illinois public sites
Mourning doves on wires in early August.
Dale Bowman
Dove hunting in Illinois opens Friday, Sept. 1. As usual, here are the prospects for nearby and select Downstate sites.
Please reported banded birds at reportband.gov.
Reports on conditions came from site staff, mostly on Friday. Sites listed in order of prospects:
Jim Edgar-Panther Creek SFWA: More sunflowers planted than usual; seeing birds. Usual hunting even fields on even days, odd fields on odd days.
Iroquois County SWA: Really good sunflowers, seeing birds.
Green River SWA: Really good stands of sunflowers, some fields better than others.
Shabbona Lake SRA: Sunflowers looking good, dry, promising.
Matthiessen SP: All fields in sunflowers, cut and drying, some a little green, some doves around.
Des Plaines SFWA: Good sunflowers, seeing birds.
Silver Springs SFWA: Five fields in sunflowers, three in wheat, look good not great.
Johnson-Sauk Trail SRA: Returning to to a sunrise start. Two fields in sunflowers, two in secondary planting of millet.
Kankakee SP: Millet planted, fair prospects.
Chain O’Lakes SP: Hunting over annual weeds, mostly foxtail.
Marseilles SFWA: Closed Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays in September and October. Sign in to hunt.