Illinois Hunting License 2026: Cost, Deer Tags & Online

The base resident hunting license ($12.50) and Habitat Stamp ($5.50) are the required starting point — total $18 — before you can purchase any deer permit. Non-residents pay $57.75 for the base license, with the Habitat Stamp included. The Resident Sportsman Combo ($48) bundles the hunting license, fishing license, and Habitat Stamp into a single purchase and is the better value for residents who also fish. These base licenses authorize small game, upland birds, and dove hunting but do not cover deer or turkey — a separate permit is required for every deer or turkey harvest attempt.

Illinois archery access depends on residency and permit type. Residents can generally buy archery deer permits without the same county lottery used for firearms. Non-resident archery combination permits are not a simple always-available OTC purchase: they use a June 1-30 application window, a limited quota, and remaining-permit rules. A single additional antlerless archery permit ($15 resident / $25.50 NR) can be added only after the required either-sex or qualifying landowner archery permit is in place.

Firearm deer permits operate differently. They are issued through a county-specific lottery: $17 for residents, $329 for non-residents. Illinois establishes a resident-priority application window in spring (approximately March through April); non-resident applications open in August. An OTC firearm either-sex permit ($25.50 resident / $300.50 NR, vendor fee included) becomes available after the lottery for any tags that remain unallocated — but in-demand counties frequently sell out through the draw, leaving nothing for OTC purchase. Resident landowners who own 40 or more qualifying acres receive free deer and fall turkey permits annually; non-resident landowners of qualifying Illinois property may apply for special landowner permits through IDNR.

Centerfire rifles are prohibited for deer hunting statewide in Illinois — a regulation that consistently surprises hunters from neighboring states where rifles are standard. Legal deer firearms are shotguns loaded with slugs, muzzleloaders, and handguns of at least .30 caliber. Straight-wall cartridge rifles are permitted in certain counties only — the approved county list changes annually and must be verified at dnr.illinois.gov before each season. Archery equipment (bow and crossbow) is legal during all deer seasons including firearm periods.

Illinois firearm deer seasons are intentionally short. The First Firearm season runs November 21–23 (three days); the Second Firearm season runs December 4–7 (four days); the Muzzleloader-Only season runs December 12–14 (three days). A Late Winter Antlerless season runs December 31 through January 4 in select counties for population management. A Youth Firearm season (October 11–13) falls inside the archery season, allowing youth hunters to use shotgun slugs, muzzleloaders, handguns, or archery equipment. Each firearm permit is county-specific — a permit issued for one county is not valid in another county, even during the same season period.

CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) check-station and sampling rules apply in designated Illinois surveillance counties and season windows, especially around firearm deer seasons. Hunters may need to bring deer to an IDNR check station or participating cooperator before processing or moving parts that include high-risk tissue. The county list and procedures can change as new cases are confirmed; check the current IDNR CWD map and deer permit rules each season before you hunt.

Illinois archery season runs October 1 through January 18 — 110 days. Crossbows are legal statewide for the entire season with no separate permit required beyond the appropriate archery permit. Resident and non-resident archery costs differ sharply, and non-residents should treat the June application window and remaining-permit process as part of trip planning rather than assuming last-minute availability.

The 3.5-month archery window is still one of the main access paths for non-resident deer hunters in Illinois, but it is not the same as unlimited OTC access. The county-specific firearm lottery restricts NR firearm access — resident hunters receive priority in the spring draw, and NR applications open later — while non-resident archery combination permits use their own application, quota, and remaining-permit rules. The season encompasses the pre-rut (October), peak rut (first two weeks of November), and secondary rut (late November through December) in a single permit.

Western Illinois — Pike, Adams, and Brown counties along the Mississippi River corridor — consistently produces mature whitetail bucks. The area's combination of river-bottom timber, hardwood draws, and surrounding row-crop agriculture creates high-quality deer habitat with sufficient food, cover, and natural movement corridors. The November rut is the most productive window within the archery season, when bucks travel outside their core home ranges and become more visible during daylight hours. Hunters who cannot take November off often find the late archery season (January) productive as deer concentrate around food sources in cold weather — and fewer hunters are in the field.