Home › Illinois › Hunting services
Statewide directory
Illinois Hunting Services
964 game processors, taxidermists, outfitters and licensed preserves, gun, archery and outdoor stores, IDNR headquarters and CWD head drop-off sites, with a county for every row, gathered from IDNR outfitter and sampling lists, Hunters Feeding Illinois, store locators and Yellow Pages listings.
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain)
Illinois processors, stores, outfitters and IDNR sites mapped
831 listings have a point from the Census geocoder, a store locator or an IDNR list and show as dots; the near-me button sorts them by distance. 133 have no point, most of them outfitters with a mailing address, and sit in the lists only.
Where Illinois hunters find a butcher, a mount or a guide
IDNR keeps no list of game processors, taxidermists or stores, so this directory is built from IDNR outfitter and sampling lists, business listings and store locators, then sorted the way IDNR draws its regions, by region and county. The 71 processor listings cluster in Marshall, Louisville, Vienna and Springfield, so a hunter in the Shawnee hills or the Mississippi bottoms should plan coolers and ice before the hunt. Taxidermists are listed most often in Cook County, Tazewell County and Woodford County, and the stores cluster in Cook County, DuPage County and Will County. Of the 234 outfitter and preserve rows, 226 come straight from IDNR lists, and 39 of the 496 stores belong to chains.
Five Illinois service directories
The lists run by IDNR region and then county. Every card has a tap-to-call number when the listing had one and a directions link, plus a website if one was listed, and typing in the filter hides the cards that do not match. Chain stores sit at the end of the store list, and the IDNR list holds headquarters and the head drop-off stations for chronic wasting disease sampling.
Rules that shape what these businesses do
CWD head drop-offs
38 IDNR sites take deer heads for chronic wasting disease sampling in 2026-27; a self-serve card goes with the head.
Licensed outfitters
165 deer and turkey outfitters and 26 waterfowl outfitters appear on IDNR lists dated November 5, 2026.
Tag before hauling
Attach the temporary harvest tag immediately; antlered deer: attach both tags if head/antlers will be separated.
Check stations
18 counties require firearm deer to go to a check station on the day of the kill, and 17 station addresses are listed.
Illinois services by IDNR region
The West Central region holds 257 business listings against 126 in the East Central region. Game processors are the thinnest list: 55 counties have none, and taxidermists are missing from 40.
| IDNR region | Processors | Taxidermists | Outfitters | Stores | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest region | 14 | 39 | 37 | 106 | 196 |
| Northeast region | 4 | 19 | 19 | 164 | 206 |
| East Central region | 13 | 16 | 24 | 73 | 126 |
| West Central region | 22 | 31 | 105 | 99 | 257 |
| South region | 18 | 18 | 49 | 54 | 139 |
| Kind of listing | Counties with none |
|---|---|
| Game processors | 55 of 102 |
| Taxidermists | 40 of 102 |
| Outfitters and preserves | 26 of 102 |
| Stores | 16 of 102 |
Counts from the five directories, checked November 13, 2026. Regions follow the IDNR fact-sheet county lists; 11 counties on no list take the region most of their neighbours sit in. Alexander County, Hardin County, Pulaski County and Stark County came up with no business listing at all.
Illinois hunting services questions
Which agency licenses Illinois outfitters?
IDNR licenses deer and turkey outfitters, waterfowl outfitters and hunting preserves, and posts the lists used here; the outfitter license fee is in the IDNR fee table.
Who at IDNR should I phone first?
The district biologist named on each county page, or IDNR headquarters in Springfield at (217) 782-6302.
What do the five service directories add up to?
496 stores, 234 outfitter and preserve rows, 123 taxidermists and 71 game processors, 924 businesses in all, plus 40 IDNR sites.
Where are hunting businesses most concentrated?
Cook County with 56 listings, Pike County with 31 listings and Will County with 29 listings come out on top.
Are there counties with no hunting business listed?
98 of the 102 counties have at least one; Alexander County, Hardin County, Pulaski County and Stark County have none. Cumberland County, Ford County, Marshall County, Massac County, Mercer County and Piatt County have two or fewer.
What sources fed the service directories?
IDNR outfitter and waterfowl outfitter lists, the IDNR licensed preserves page and the 2026-27 CWD sampling list, the Hunters Feeding Illinois processor list, the DICK'S, Academy and Bass Pro store locators, and Yellow Pages listings for everything else.
Are DICK'S, Academy and Bass Pro on the Illinois list?
Yes, all 39 chain outlets found are there, grouped by county after the independent shops.
Why are some Illinois outfitters missing from the map?
133 listings have no point: the IDNR outfitter lists give mailing addresses that often will not geocode, and a few business addresses would not match.
Read the Digest yourself
Cell coverage thins out in the river bottoms and the Shawnee hills, so save the Digest PDF and your permit confirmations to your phone before the drive.
Other photos on this page: Charles Patrick Ewing (CC BY 2.0); Russ (CC BY 2.0); Mike Budd (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region) (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Ben Sutherland (CC BY 2.0); Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); NPS Photo (Public domain); ZionNPS (CC BY 2.0); ShenandoahNPS (Public domain); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District (CC BY 2.0).