Governor signs bobcat bill into law, bobcat season can open in 2016

DNR now has authority to map out and hold a very limited bobcat season beginning in 2016. This after Gov. Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 352, legislation modeled after a 2014 bill that passed the General Assembly only to be vetoed by former Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this year.

Rauner, who signed the new law on July 14, was encouraged to repeat Quinn’s veto by a number of animal rights groups – even though DNR supported a bobcat season for the purpose of managing the animal’s population, which now exceeds 5,000.

Speaking of DNR, it has yet to make a statement on the new law. But some sort of timeline and guidance on future bobcat seasons is expected from DNR headquarters any day now.

Stay tuned.

Read more about the new bobcat law in the July 24 issue of Illinois Outdoor News.