Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area: Rules, Seasons and Permits

Season availability at Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

Open count for Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area: 19 of 21 lines. The open seasons divide as 5 deer, 5 waterfowl, 5 upland and small game, 3 turkey and 1 furbearers. IDNR marks special cwd and fall archery as unavailable.

The fact sheet attaches these conditions to open lines:

• Archery: In the refuge area only (south of the site headquarters) from October 1st through October 31st. Hunting the refuge, each hunter must sign in / sign out and report harvest at the sign-in box next to the site headquarters. An antlerless deer must be taken in the refuge before an antlered deer is harvested. Hunters not hunting the refuge DO NOT have to sign in.
• Firearm: The refuge is closed to firearm deer hunting.
• Fall Shotgun: A county-specific permit, issued through the statewide lottery, is required.
• Spring: A county-specific permit, issued through the statewide lottery, is required.
• Youth Spring: A county-specific permit, issued through the statewide lottery, is required.
• Ducks, Coots, Mergansers: All waterfowl hunters must sign in prior to hunting and sign out and report harvest at the end of each day's hunt. No hunting is permitted from the sub-impoundment dams. Waterfowl hunters must maintain a distance of 200 yards between hunting parties, except for Department-constructed blinds or staked locations.
• Goose: All waterfowl hunters must sign in prior to hunting, sign out, and report harvest at the end of each day's hunt No hunting is permitted from the subimpoundment dams Waterfowl hunters must maintain a distance of 200 yards between hunting parties, except for Department-constructed blinds or staked locations No waterfowl hunting is permitted within 200 yards of the refuge..
• Snipe/Rail: Hunting from a completed blind or staked site is waived during seasons held before the regular duck season or for seasons held after the regular Canada goose season. Statewide Regulations Waterfowl hunters must maintain a distance of 200 yards between hunting parties.
• Youth Waterfowl: The youth hunt is typically held on the weekend preceding the Illinois South Central Zone duck season opener. Hunters participating in the youth hunt must sign in and out A drawing will be held at 4:00 am and 9:00 am each day of the youth hunt for hunters wanting to hunt the Casey Fork impoundment. Drawing will held be held at the Cottonwood Access Area.

Availability and exceptions from the IDNR Hunt Illinois fact sheet (record source); statewide dates in the Digest; checked November 13, 2026.

2025-26 results for Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

IDNR's report for 2025-26 logged 8,000 hunter trips at Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. It places 4th out of 218 areas in the trip count. Hunters reported 207 animals in all, led by dove (155). Divide trips by harvest and you get roughly 39 trips per animal. Reported deer total 44, a rank of 54th out of 218.

Dove hunters made 85 of those trips.

IDNR Public Hunting Areas Report 2025-26 (report PDF), row Rend Lake; ranks are counted across the 218 areas with a report. Checked November 13, 2026.

Nearest towns and an IDNR site for Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

Measured as the crow flies, Bonnie lies under a mile from Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. Mount Vernon (14,162 people in 2024) is the larger service town in the list. Towns whose 10-mile circle takes in Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area: Bonnie, Ina and Mount Vernon.

Towns from places.json (Census 2024 estimates); IDNR sites from the CWD sampling list and the IDNR contact page; businesses from services.json listings; straight-line miles. Checked November 13, 2026.

Events at Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area and close by

On the ground or within about 10 miles: 2 dates ahead (IDNR youth clinic and hunt and NWTF banquet), read November 13, 2026. Of these, 1 is a chapter dinner with tickets from the host.

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Confirm these before heading to Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area

Recheck your permit, county rules and season dates for Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area before packing up.

Sources: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4; statewide seasons from the 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest. Checked November 13, 2026.