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ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES — AND TIGHT BUDGETS 
ARE THINNING THE BOUNTY HUNTER'S RANKS 
An Illinois Summary 
by the Editor 
Bounty hunters are becoming a 
thing of the past in Illinois. The 
days of claiming fees for hunting 
and trapping predators and other 
wildlife are ending, according to 
Robert Greenberg, assistant wild- 
life specialist at the Illinois Natural 
History Survey. 
Bounties were paid for wolves 
even prior to 1850, but the wolf 
bounty was repealed by the Illinois 
State Legislature in 1967. 
Now there is no provision in the 
State statutes for bounty payments 
on wolves, and there never was 
any provision for bounties on 
coyotes. 
Crows and woodchucks or 
“ground hogs” were placed on the 
bounty option list in 1907 by acts 
of the State Legislature. Foxes 
were not added to the bounty list 
until 1943. 
Many Illinois counties discon- 
tinued their bounties in 1969, when 
the Illinois Department of Conser- 
vation established hunting and 
trapping seasons on foxes for the 
first time. 
Prior to 1969, foxes (both red 
and gray) could be hunted and 
trapped year round. The regula- 
tions were changed because of the 
increased value of fox pelts for 
trimming winter sportswear. Many 
county clerks were not aware of 
this change in the game regula- 
tions and were paying bounties on 
foxes illegally taken out of season. 
When the game wardens in- 
formed the county clerks of the 
new regulations, bounty payments 
on out-of-season foxes were stop- 
ped and many counties discontinu- 
ed their bounties altogether. 
Sixty-one of the 102 counties in 
Illinois paid bounties in 1968-1969. 
This was a transition period during 
which many counties began re- 
moving bounties on foxes and 
other species. Twenty-four of these 
counties each paid more than $500 
in bounties during the fiscal year 
1968-1969. 
Bounties from 10 cents to $15 
add up to being very expensive. 
Winnebago County spent $3,480 on 
fox bounties in 1968-1969 — the 
greatest amount of all Illinois 
counties. Bureau County spent 
nearly as much ($3,177), but re- 
moved their bounties in 1969, when 
about 30 other counties did the 
same. 
Peoria and Henry counties each 
spent nearly $2,000. Adams, Mar- 
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WOODCHUCK 
