Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB1544 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1544 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Li Arellano, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25 Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that any deer herd management plan established by the Department of Natural Resources, including length of seasons and bag and possession limits, shall take into account economic damage and public safety concerns caused by deer. LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1544 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Li Arellano, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25 520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25 Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that any deer herd management plan established by the Department of Natural Resources, including length of seasons and bag and possession limits, shall take into account economic damage and public safety concerns caused by deer. LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1544 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Li Arellano, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25 520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25
4	4	520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25
5	5	Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that any deer herd management plan established by the Department of Natural Resources, including length of seasons and bag and possession limits, shall take into account economic damage and public safety concerns caused by deer.
6	6	LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
7	7	LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	SB1544LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b SB1544 LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
10	10	SB1544 LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
11	11	1 AN ACT concerning wildlife.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 5. The Wildlife Code is amended by changing
15	15	5 Section 2.25 as follows:
16	16	6 (520 ILCS 5/2.25) (from Ch. 61, par. 2.25)
17	17	7 Sec. 2.25. It shall be unlawful for any person to take deer
18	18	8 except (i) with a shotgun, handgun, single shot centerfire
19	19	9 rifle, or muzzleloading rifle or (ii) as provided by
20	20	10 administrative rule, with a bow and arrow, during the open
21	21	11 season of not more than 14 days which will be set annually by
22	22	12 the Director between the dates of November 1st and December
23	23	13 31st, both inclusive, or a special 3-day, youth-only season
24	24	14 between the dates of September 1 and October 31. For the
25	25	15 purposes of this Section, legal handguns and rifles are
26	26	16 limited to centerfire handguns that are either a single shot
27	27	17 or revolver and centerfire rifles that are single shot. The
28	28	18 only legal ammunition for a centerfire handgun or rifle is a
29	29	19 bottleneck centerfire cartridge of .30 caliber or larger with
30	30	20 a case length not exceeding one and two-fifths inches, or a
31	31	21 straight-walled centerfire cartridge of .30 caliber or larger,
32	32	22 both of which must be available as a factory load with the
33	33	23 published ballistic tables of the manufacturer showing a
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1544 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Li Arellano, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25 520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25
39	39	520 ILCS 5/2.25 from Ch. 61, par. 2.25
40	40	Amends the Wildlife Code. Provides that any deer herd management plan established by the Department of Natural Resources, including length of seasons and bag and possession limits, shall take into account economic damage and public safety concerns caused by deer.
41	41	LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
42	42	LRB104 08608 BDA 18660 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
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68	68	1 capability of at least 500 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle.
69	69	2 The barrel of a handgun shall be at least 4 inches. Full metal
70	70	3 jacket bullets may not be used to harvest deer.
71	71	4 The Department shall make administrative rules concerning
72	72	5 management restrictions applicable to the firearm and bow and
73	73	6 arrow season.
74	74	7 It shall be unlawful for any person to take deer except
75	75	8 with a bow and arrow during the open season for bow and arrow
76	76	9 set annually by the Director between the dates of September
77	77	10 1st and January 31st, both inclusive.
78	78	11 It shall be unlawful for any person to take deer except
79	79	12 with (i) a muzzleloading rifle or (ii) bow and arrow during the
80	80	13 open season for muzzleloading rifles set annually by the
81	81	14 Director.
82	82	15 The Director shall cause an administrative rule setting
83	83	16 forth the prescribed rules and regulations, including bag and
84	84	17 possession limits and those counties of the State where open
85	85	18 seasons are established, to be published in accordance with
86	86	19 Sections 1.3 and 1.13 of this Act.
87	87	20 The Department may establish separate harvest periods for
88	88	21 the purpose of managing or eradicating disease that has been
89	89	22 found in the deer herd. This season shall be restricted to gun
90	90	23 or bow and arrow hunting only. The Department shall publicly
91	91	24 announce, via statewide news release, the season dates and
92	92	25 shooting hours, the counties and sites open to hunting.
93	93	26 The Department is authorized to establish a separate
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104	104	1 harvest period at specific sites within the State for the
105	105	2 purpose of harvesting surplus deer that cannot be taken during
106	106	3 the regular season provided for the taking of deer. This
107	107	4 season shall be restricted to gun or bow and arrow hunting only
108	108	5 and shall be established during the period of September 1st to
109	109	6 February 15th, both inclusive. The Department shall publicly
110	110	7 announce, via statewide news release, the season dates and
111	111	8 shooting hours, and the counties and sites open to hunting.
112	112	9 The Department shall publish suitable prescribed rules and
113	113	10 regulations established by administrative rule pertaining to
114	114	11 management restrictions applicable to this special harvest
115	115	12 program. The Department shall allow unused gun deer permits
116	116	13 that are left over from a regular season for the taking of deer
117	117	14 to be rolled over and used during any separate harvest period
118	118	15 held within 6 months of the season for which those tags were
119	119	16 issued at no additional cost to the permit holder subject to
120	120	17 the management restrictions applicable to the special harvest
121	121	18 program.
122	122	19 Beginning July 1, 2019, and on an annual basis thereafter,
123	123	20 the Department shall provide a report to the General Assembly
124	124	21 providing information regarding deer management programs
125	125	22 established by the Code or by administrative rule that
126	126	23 includes: (1) the number of surplus deer taken during each
127	127	24 separate harvest season; (2) the number of deer found to have a
128	128	25 communicable disease or other abnormality; and (3) what
129	129	26 happens to the deer taken during each separate harvest season.
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