Waterfowl and snipe
Hunting Brant in Illinois, 2026-27 Dates and Limits
From the Oct 24, 2026 opener to the Jan 31, 2027 close, the rules for brant in one place.
Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District (CC BY 2.0)
Quick read on brant in Illinois
Hunters chasing brant get 1 season line to work with, from the Oct 24, 2026 opener to the Jan 31, 2027 close. Bag rule in the Digest: 1 daily, 3 possession.
Brant ride on the light goose dates in every zone and are limited to 1 a day with 3 in possession, the smallest goose limit in the Digest. On the public land side, 105 sites name brant in their IDNR records; 105 have a full page here.
From 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Illinois brant dates, row by row
Each line is one IDNR row for brant, earliest first, with the area it covers and the permit it needs.
| Season | Zone or counties | Permit kind | Date range | Bag | Open? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Same dates as light geese (North, Central, South) | HIP and license |
| 1 daily, 3 possession |
From 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Brant: the three zone boundaries
IDNR defines each zone by roads and rivers and publishes no county list, so we show the legal wording and never assign a county; compare it with a road map before choosing dates.
| Zone name | Where it runs |
|---|---|
| North Zone | That portion of the state north of a line extending west from the Indiana border along Interstate 80 to I-39, south along I-39 to Illinois Route 18, west along Illinois Route 18 to Illinois Route 29, south along Illinois Route 29 to Illinois Route 17, west along Illinois Route 17 to the Mississippi River, and due south across the Mississippi River to the Iowa border. |
| Central Zone | That portion of the state south of the North Goose Zone line to a line extending west from the Indiana border along I-70 to Illinois Route 4, south along Illinois Route 4 to Illinois Route 161, west along Illinois Route 161 to Illinois Route 158, south and west along Illinois Route 158 to Illinois Route 159, south along Illinois Route 159 to Illinois Route 3, south along Illinois Route 3 to State Leo’s Road, south along State Leo’s road to Modoc Road, west along Modoc Road to Modoc Ferry Road, southwest along Modoc Ferry Road to Levee Road, southeast along Levee Road to County Route 12 (Modoc Ferry entrance Road), south along County Route 12 to the Modoc Ferry route and southwest on the Modoc Ferry route across the Mississippi River to the Missouri border. |
| South Zone | Same zone as for ducks. |
From Digest waterfowl zones and IDNR 2026-2030 waterfowl seasons and zones (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Limits and legal gear for brant
| Digest line | Daily and possession |
|---|---|
| brant | 1 daily, 3 possession |
In the species record, IDNR summarizes the legal means for brant as shotgun, non-toxic shot.
From Digest season tables and Digest equipment pages (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Buying list for brant in Illinois
| Permit | Residency | Digest | Fee table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident Hunting | Resident | $12.00 | $12.50 |
| Nonresident Hunting | Nonresident | $57.00 | $57.75 |
| State Habitat Stamp | Either | $5.00 | $5.50 |
| State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp | Either | $15.00 | $15.50 |
| Federal waterfowl stamp | Either | $25.00 | $25.50 |
| HIP Certification | Either | Free | $0.00 |
| Free site, upland and dove permits | Either | Free | $0.00 |
Expect to pay the fee-table price at a vendor; licenses and state stamps sold from March 1 stay valid through March 31 of the next year.
From Digest license pages (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Illinois field rules for brant
| Topic | Summary |
|---|---|
| Waterfowl devices | Shotguns may hold no more than three shells; nets, rifles, pistols, swivel, punt, battery and machine guns, hooks, poison, drugs, explosives are illegal; no hunting by driving or chasing with motorized conveyance. |
| Landowner permission | It is unlawful to take or attempt to take wildlife, or let a dog hunt, on land or waters of another, or knowingly shoot a gun or bow at wildlife on or flying over another person's property, without permission from the owner or the owner's designee (written authorization with notarized signature). Purple paint on trees or posts marks no-trespassing land. Illinois law does not grant a right of trespass to retrieve wounded wildlife. |
| Dogs | A dog may not be allowed to chase, harass or kill deer or turkey. Dogs may be used for hunting other species. Competitive dog events require an IDNR permit applied for 4 weeks ahead. |
This is a short list; IDNR sites can be more restrictive than the statewide rules, so check each site before you hunt brant.
From Digest general rules and Digest hunter orange page (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Public sites that list brant
The land hub covers 105 sites that name brant, for instance 51 state fish and wildlife areas, 16 state parks and 10 state wildlife management areas; the eight largest with pages follow.
| Place | Type | County | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Edgar Panther Creek | Fish and wildlife area | Cass | 16,400 |
| Cache River | Natural area | Johnson and Pulaski | 15,425 |
| Kaskaskia River | Fish and wildlife area | St. Clair and Randolph | 14,000 |
| Mississippi River Pool 24 | Fish and wildlife area | Pike and Calhoun | 10,211 |
| Carlyle Lake | Fish and wildlife area | Fayette and Clinton | 9,868 |
| Mississippi River Pool 21 | Fish and wildlife area | Adams | 8,536 |
| Rend Lake Project Lands | Fish and wildlife area | Jefferson and Franklin | 7,740 |
| Rend Lake | Fish and wildlife area | Jefferson | 7,690 |
Rules for brant can differ site by site, so use the page for the area you choose; acreage is as IDNR lists it.
From IDNR site records (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Legal hours and brant season points
IDNR ties the hours to the sun (one-half hour before sunrise to sunset); we applied the NOAA solar formula for Springfield to each date shown.
| Day | Note | Sunup | Sundown | Legal times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 2026 | North opens | 7:17 a.m. | 6:08 p.m. | 6:47 a.m. to 6:08 p.m. |
| Nov 14, 2026 | South opens | 6:42 a.m. | 4:45 p.m. | 6:12 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. |
| Jan 31, 2027 | Central and South close | 7:08 a.m. | 5:15 p.m. | 6:38 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. |
The state keeps Central Time throughout, with daylight time ending November 1 and returning March 14; county times are on the hours page.
Hours rules from the 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest (Illinois Department of Natural Resources); sunrise and sunset worked out with the NOAA solar formula on Central Time; checked November 13, 2026. Central Time with daylight time from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November; times worked out with the NOAA solar formula.
Brant gear picks
Four items that suit an Illinois year, from October bow hunts to January rabbits.
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Chest waders
Illinois River backwaters and flooded corn run knee to waist deep in Illinois.
Orange sunset over Horseshoe Lake with the St. Louis skyline beyondPhoto: Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0)
Morning light reflecting on the Ohio River at Paducah, across from Massac CountyPhoto: jjmusgrove (CC BY 2.0)
Sunset over the Mississippi River with the St. Louis skyline, the Gateway Arch and the Eads BridgePhoto: Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0)
Answers about brant in Illinois
Which days is brant open in Illinois?
Dates for brant are Regular season same dates as light geese (north, central, south): October 24, 2026 to January 31, 2027.
Is there a possession limit for brant?
Under the Digest, 1 daily, 3 possession.
What paperwork covers brant hunting?
Illinois asks for a hunting license ($12.00 resident, $57.00 nonresident, Digest base prices before vendor fees) and the State Habitat Stamp ($5.00), plus the State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp ($15.00) and Federal stamp for hunters 16 and older, and HIP certification.
What gear is legal for brant hunting?
IDNR summarizes legal methods as shotgun, non-toxic shot.
Where is the line between North, Central and South?
The legal description names roads, so confirm your location against it on the zones page before choosing dates.
Do I need a duck stamp for brant?
Besides the license and habitat stamp, you need state and federal waterfowl stamps (federal from age 16) and HIP; the federal stamp is not needed for the light goose Conservation Order.
When do the waterfowl lotteries run?
Many do, by lottery: the first round is open to residents only from August 16 to 31, the second runs September 1 to 15, the third September 16 to 28, and afterward permits go first come, first served; each site is on its public land page.
Can I hunt brant on a Sunday?
We found no statement on Sundays in the Digest or the IDNR pages, so this page says nothing either way.
Is a hunter safety certificate required for brant?
Yes if you were born on or after January 1, 1980: you must hold a hunter safety certificate, or show an Illinois or out-of-state hunting license from a prior year, before a license can be sold. Apprentice license holders skip the course and hunt with a licensed hunter 21 or older.
Are there public hunting areas for brant?
105 sites name brant among the allowed game, and the public land pages cover 105 of them with local rules.
Other photos on this page: Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0); jjmusgrove (CC BY 2.0); Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0).