Illinois › Species › Hawks, Eagles and Owls
No season
Hawks, Eagles and Owls in Illinois and Why There Is No Season
Why hawks, eagles and owls are not hunted in Illinois, what the Digest says and what you can hunt.
Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER (CC0 1.0)
Illinois status of hawks, eagles and owls
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Species | Hawks, eagles and owls |
| Illinois season | Closed all year |
| Rule | May not be harvested, molested or disturbed (including feathers, nests and eggs) at any time, except as provided by falconry regulations. |
This is the rule as the 2026-27 Digest prints it, on PDF page 11; no table of seasons, bag limits or permits exists for hawks, eagles and owls because nothing may be taken.
From Digest rule (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Illinois legal game list and hawks, eagles and owls
| Group | Legal game | Digest note |
|---|---|---|
| Big game | white-tailed deer and wild turkey | Deer and turkey by permit; deer total limit two antlered deer per year. No elk, bear or other big game season. |
| Upland game birds | ring-necked pheasant (roosters only), bobwhite quail and Hungarian partridge | Chukar partridge is defined as a game bird in the Digest but has no season in the season tables; hen pheasants illegal except on controlled hunting areas. |
| Game mammals | eastern cottontail and swamp rabbit, gray squirrel and fox squirrel and woodchuck (groundhog) | |
| Small game (migratory) | mourning and white-winged dove, woodcock and crow | HIP certification required for doves and woodcock, not crows. |
| Migratory waterfowl | ducks, mergansers, coots, teal (early season), Canada goose, light geese (snow and Ross's), white-fronted goose, brant, rails (sora and Virginia) and Wilson's snipe | |
| Furbearers | raccoon, opossum, red fox, coyote, striped skunk, bobcat (by permit), badger, mink, muskrat, weasel (least and long-tailed), beaver, river otter and woodchuck | Gray fox hunting and trapping seasons are closed. |
The table lists the animals that do have seasons, which is where to go if hawks, eagles and owls is closed.
From Digest legal species pages (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Hawks, Eagles and Owls: penalties in the Digest
| Item | Text |
|---|---|
| False turkey permit applications | Providing false or deceptive information on a turkey permit application, in addition to criminal charges, results in rejected applications, revoked permit and forfeited fees (17 Ill. Adm. Code 710.10(k)(4)). |
| Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact | A wildlife privilege suspension in a compact state is also a suspension in Illinois for the duration; a violator who fails to comply with a citation in a participating state may have home-state privileges suspended until the terms are met. |
| Statutory fines and jail terms | The Digest does not state criminal penalty amounts. The Wildlife Code (520 ILCS 5) penalty sections were not retrieved (ilga.gov unreachable), so no fines or terms are listed. |
Penalty amounts are not stated in the Digest, and the Wildlife Code sections that set fines were not reachable when this page was built, so we list none.
From Digest page and 17 Ill. Adm. Code 710 (LII mirror, unofficial) (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
What to do about a violation involving hawks, eagles and owls
Report violations through Target Illinois Poachers; the Digest is the document that points to it.
| Topic | Rule |
|---|---|
| Wanton waste | Must make a reasonable effort to retrieve and include killed or crippled limited species in the bag; may not wantonly waste the usable meat (breast of a bird; hind ham and front shoulders of a mammal) or dump carcasses on a right-of-way or property without permission. |
| Possession limits and bags | May not possess game or furbearers over the daily or possession limit; each hunter must keep a separate bag; wildlife of another person must be tagged with name, address, species count and date unless in a home. |
From Digest page (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Snow on the bank of the Ohio River at Locks and Dam 53 near Grand ChainPhoto: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District (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)
Sunset over the Mississippi River at Buffalo, Iowa, across from Rock Island CountyPhoto: David Brossard (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Questions on hawks, eagles and owls in Illinois
What is the legal status of hawks, eagles and owls?
Not under the Digest tables. May not be harvested, molested or disturbed (including feathers, nests and eggs) at any time, except as provided by falconry regulations.
Where is the rule for hawks, eagles and owls printed?
The Digest page that covers it is printed as page 9, which is page 11 of the PDF; the 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest is the source.
What can I hunt instead of hawks, eagles and owls?
Pick from the six legal groups in the Digest, and use the hunting seasons page for every dated row.
What does Illinois say about wildlife violations?
A wildlife privilege suspension in a compact state is also a suspension in Illinois for the duration; a violator who fails to comply with a citation in a participating state may have home-state privileges suspended until the terms are met. The Digest does not print fine amounts and we do not guess them.
Who do I call about a wildlife violation?
IDNR points to Target Illinois Poachers at dnr.illinois.gov/lawenforcement/target-poachers for reporting violations.
Can I take hawks, eagles and owls on private property?
A landowner cannot open a season: permission matters only for species that are legal to take in season. See the laws page.
Does watching hawks, eagles and owls need a license?
Licenses in the data cover taking game, and we found no license for watching wildlife, so this page makes no claim either way beyond that.
Which other animals does the Digest protect?
Also protected: wild birds not listed as game; flying squirrel, red squirrel, white squirrel, eastern woodrat, golden mouse, rice rat, bats; black bear, gray wolf, mountain lion; trumpeter swan.
Other photos on this page: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District (CC BY 2.0); Bryan Werner (CC BY 2.0); David Brossard (CC BY-SA 2.0).