r i • 
~Yj Ik/) ■ 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
October, 1974 
Vo 1. 17, No. 10 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat q 3 . j ose 1 y 
At this time, slightly less than 3 weeks before the opening of the pheasant 
season on 9 November, it appears that considerable corn will be unpicked 
throughout a large part of east-central Illinois on opening day. The soybean 
arvest is nearly complete in Ford and surrounding counties, but the corn 
harvest is just getting under way. Probably only 10-15 percent of the corn 
has been harvested. Some farmers appear to be waiting to take advantage of 
good drying weather to reduce moisture content before beginning the harvest. 
On the Sibley study area over the years, hunter success on the openinq 
weekend of the pheasant season has been more or less inversely proportional 
to the acreage of crops still standing. Thus, with considerable corn still 
in the fields and pheasant numbers substantially reduced from I 973 , hunter 
success this year may be below average on the opening weekend of the season. 
Eco1oqy and Management of Squirre 1s 
C. M. Nixon, 
S. P. Havera 
A ZOning s Y stem to control hunting seasons in Illinois has been used to 
1 fferent 1 ate squirrel hunting seasons between northern and southern Illinois 
for the past 50 years. The Illinois legislature set up the first zoning 
system in 1923 , believing that uniform statewide hunting regulations could not 
provide adequate protection for game animals in a state as large as Illinois. 
Three zones were used between I 923 and 1954; since 1955 , only two zones 
nave been used, but the zone line was moved northward in 1 965 to State Route 36 . 
An examination of the hunting season in each zone since 1923 provides these 
general conclusions: ( 1 ) the squirrel season for northern Illinois has usually 
opened on or about 1 September with the exception of 1939-40, when the squirrel 
season opened 1 August; ( 2 ) the squirrel season has never opened later than 1 
August in southern Illinois, and for nearly half of the 50-year pe-iod (22 years) 
the squirrel season opened in July; and ( 3 ) season closing dates in all zones 
were relatively early, frequently in October, with most squirrel seasons adjusted 
to last between 2 and 3 months in each zone. 
h !• e va 1 ua 11 ng the present Illinois squirrel season in te 
hunter satisfaction, hunter interest, and effect on the statewide squir 
population. We have concluded that the framework of the present 
rms of 
squirrel 
season is a 
