ILLINOIS RIVER REGION 



The Illinois River flows diagonally southwest ward throxigh the heart of Illinois' 

 big prairie district. From Its source at the confluence of the Des Plalnes and Kankakee 

 rivers to its mouth at Grafton is 270 miles. While waterfowl hunting Is conducted the entire 

 length of the Illinois River valley, the most intensive hunting occurs from Bureau to 

 Meredosia, where for 140 miles bottomland lakes flank the river channel. 



The amount of territory available for waterfowl in these shallow-basined, fluviatile 

 lakes varies greatly with the water level. In most years about 60,000 acres are available for 

 duck hunting, but this acreage was greatly increased in the 1941 and 1942 seasons by high 

 water. About 7 per cent of this area Is open to public hunting; the remainder is under the 

 control of private clubs or of individuals. 



Duck clubs reach a peak In numbers, size and pretentiousness in the Illinois River 

 valley. In 1941 about 55 per cent of the 792 waterfowl clubs in the state were in this sec- 

 tion. Of the approximately 435 clubs In the Illinois River valley during the 1941 season, 

 about 60 offered duck hunting on a daily fee basis. Most other clubs were private, composed 

 for the most part of lifetime members. A few clubs sold seasonal memberships. 



As shown in table 1 and figs. 5 and 6, hunters at private clubs in the Illinois 

 River valley were more successful in bagging ducks than were those in other regions of the 

 state. In 1940, Illinois River valley hunters bagged about 1.3 more ducks per hunter-day at 

 private clubs than did members of Illinois clubs along the Mississippi River. In 1941, the 

 bag per man-day at Illinois River valley clubs Increased, while that at the Mississippi River 

 clubs decreased so that the difference was about 1.8 ducks per hunter-day. High water seem- 

 ingly had little effect on the individual dally bag at private clubs In the Illinois River 

 valley, but it apparently adversely affected the dally bag along the Mississippi River. In 

 1942, the difference between the duck kill at clubs in the two regions was slightly less than 

 0.3 bird per hunter-day. 



A comparison of the species kill of the Illinois and Mississippi River club hunters 

 In 1940, 1941 and 1942, table 1, discloses that In the years of this study the Illinois River 

 hunters bagged more mallards, pintails, baldpates, gadwalls and canvasbacks per hunter-day, 

 while the Mississippi River hunters bagged more blue-winged and green-winged teals. The 

 individual daily take was about the same in the two regions for shovelers, lesser scaups, 

 ring-necked ducks, redheads and ruddy ducks. 



A high water stage in the Illinois River valley in 1941 resulted in fewer mallards 

 in the bag in that year than in 1940 or 1942, but more baldpates, lesser scaups and ring-necked 

 ducks. Successively fewer pintails and green-winged teals were killed in the Illinois River 

 valley each season following 1940, probably because of smaller flights. Increased numbers of 

 canvasbacks and redheads coincided with larger bags of these species in 1942. 



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