Illinois › Species › Early Teal
Waterfowl and snipe
Early Teal Hunting in Illinois, 2026-27
Season lines, limits and licenses for early-season teal, checked November 13, 2026.
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie (CC BY 2.0)
Where early-season teal stand in the 2026-27 Digest
The window for early-season teal stretches from Sep 5, 2026 to Sep 13, 2026, split into 1 row by weapon, zone or segment. On limits, IDNR says 6 daily, 18 possession.
The teal-only season runs September 5 to 13 statewide, with a limit of 6 a day, and covers blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon teal only. You can look at 121 site pages here that list early-season teal, out of 121 such sites in the IDNR records.
From 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
All dated windows for early-season teal in Illinois
Read across: season, area, permit, dates, bag and whether it is open now.
| Hunt | Applies to | Permit or stamp | Season | Daily limit | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early teal | Statewide | Waterfowl stamps |
| 6 daily, 18 possession |
From 2026-27 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Digest (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Early Teal and the three waterfowl zones
The early-season teal rows are statewide, so no zone line splits the dates; the North, Central and South zones matter for ducks, scaup and geese, and their road wording is on the zones page.
From Digest waterfowl zones and IDNR 2026-2030 waterfowl seasons and zones (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Early Teal: limits, weapons and methods
| Species | Bag |
|---|---|
| teal | 6 daily, 18 possession |
For early-season teal, the data lists these means: shotgun, non-toxic shot.
From Digest season tables and Digest equipment pages (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
What early-season teal hunters buy and what it costs
| Product | Resident or not | Base price | With vendor fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
The fee-table column includes the vendor fee, the Digest column does not, and the license year runs March 1 to March 31 of the next year.
From Digest license pages (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Legal points for early-season teal in Illinois
| Topic | What it says |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| Windshield cards | Free windshield cards are required at many Illinois public hunting sites; hunters return to record harvest before February 15. |
| Sale of wildlife | May not buy, sell or offer to sell or barter game birds, migratory game birds or parts (including feathers, nests, eggs and wild turkey parts) or the edible parts of game mammals except under specific permits. |
Only a few topics are shown; the hunting laws page has the rest, and site rules can go beyond the Digest.
From Digest general rules and Digest hunter orange page (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Land options for early-season teal
121 public sites list early-season teal, led by 51 state fish and wildlife areas, 15 state parks and 10 state wildlife management areas, and the biggest ones with pages are in the table.
| Public site | Kind | Where | Size in acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnee National Forest | National Forest | Pope and Jackson | 286,498 |
| Hidden Springs Ranger District | Ranger district | Pope and Hardin | 169,222 |
| Mississippi Bluffs Ranger District | Ranger district | Jackson and Union | 117,276 |
| Crab Orchard | Wildlife refuge | Williamson and Union | 44,415 |
| Upper Mississippi River National | Wildlife refuge | Carroll and Jo Daviess | 32,868 |
| Illinois Recreational Access Program | Hunting Access Program | Bond and Christian | 27,000 |
| Cypress Creek | Wildlife refuge | Pulaski and Union | 16,758 |
| Jim Edgar Panther Creek | Fish and wildlife area | Cass | 16,400 |
Acres are fact-sheet figures, and each site page lists the permits, check-in rules and seasons that apply to early-season teal there.
From IDNR site records (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), checked November 13, 2026.
Shooting light for early-season teal
Hunting hours for early-season teal follow the sun, as sunrise to sunset; the times below come from the NOAA solar formula for Springfield.
| Day | Why it matters | Sun up | Sun down | Legal window |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2026 | Teal opens | 6:29 a.m. | 7:26 p.m. | 6:29 a.m. to 7:26 p.m. |
| Sep 13, 2026 | Teal closes | 6:37 a.m. | 7:13 p.m. | 6:37 a.m. to 7:13 p.m. |
Only the Springfield column is shown here, and the legal hours page gives all 102 counties.
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.
Teal gear picks
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Male wood duckPhoto: Frank.Vassen (CC BY 2.0)
White-fronted geese and wigeonPhoto: USFWS/Southeast (Public domain)
Wood duck drake on still waterPhoto: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain)
Early Teal, answered
When is early-season teal season in Illinois for 2026-27?
The Digest lists Early teal statewide: September 5 to 13.
What does IDNR allow for the early-season teal bag?
IDNR lists 6 daily, 18 possession.
What license do I need to hunt early-season teal in Illinois?
Plan on 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 does Illinois allow for taking early-season teal?
According to the data, shotgun, non-toxic shot.
Can I find a county list for the early-season teal zones?
No county list exists: zone lines follow roads such as Interstate 80, Illinois 18 and Interstate 70, so check the zone text against where you will hunt.
What shot is legal for early-season teal?
Prepare the license, habitat stamp, state stamp ($15.00), federal stamp, free HIP certification and non-toxic shot.
How do I get a spot at a state waterfowl site?
Three online rounds come first, residents only in the second half of August and everyone in the first two weeks of September and again from September 16 to 28, with first come, first served after that. Site rules are on the land pages.
Does Illinois allow early-season teal hunting on Sundays?
Sunday hunting is not addressed in the sources used for this page; check with IDNR before relying on any answer.
Do first-time early-season teal hunters need a course?
A certificate of competency is required for anyone born January 1, 1980 or later, unless they can show a previous hunting license. Beginners may instead buy an apprentice license and hunt beside a licensed adult aged 21 or more.
Where do IDNR sites allow early-season teal?
Public options exist, 121 of them, and 121 are written up on the public land pages with their own rules.
Other photos on this page: Frank.Vassen (CC BY 2.0); USFWS/Southeast (Public domain); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain).