A southern Illinois hunting club that described itself as the top waterfowl harvesting commercial club over a 15-year stretch and claimed to hold the state record for Canada goose harvests has been ordered to close its doors for two years after admitting to a federal charge of baiting.
Burns Hunting Club, which for decades hosted duck and goose hunters in pits on the south side of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, was given the order by a district judge after club owner Hugh Thomas “Tom” Burns, Jr. admitted to the baiting charges.
