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New hunting season in Illinois opens at tree level on Aug. 1

WHERE THE NUTS HANG OUT. The Illinois hunting season officially opens Aug. 1 with the statewide squirrels season. Despite the heat that hit the state this summer, acorns and other mast appear plentiful, setting up good hunts. (Stock photo)

Illinois lost an estimated 20,000 squirrel hunters between 2012 and 2022 – part of an ongoing decline in overall hunter participation that had begun three decades prior.
But something – no one is quite sure what – happened to cause lines on charts that had been drifting downward to suddenly reverse course. The state regained nearly 10,000 squirrel hunters by the time the 2025 season came around. Was it a data glitch? Or had interest in one of Illinois’ most traditional hunting seasons been sparked in a new generation or sportsmen and women?

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