Illinois · Duck · 2026–27 Edition
Illinois Duck Season 2026–27: Zone Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons by zone
| Season / Segment | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Special Teal (Blue-winged, Green-winged & Cinnamon) | Statewide | Sep 5 – Sep 13 |
| Youth Waterfowl | North Zone | Oct 17 – Oct 18 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 1 | North Zone | Oct 24 – Oct 25 |
| Youth Waterfowl | Central Zone | Oct 24 – Oct 25 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 2 | North Zone | Oct 31 – Dec 27 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 1 | Central Zone | Oct 31 – Dec 13 |
| Youth Waterfowl · Day 1 | South Zone | Nov 7 – Nov 7 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 1 | South Zone | Nov 14 – Dec 6 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 2 | Central Zone | Dec 19 – Jan 3 |
| Duck, Coot & Merganser · Segment 2 | South Zone | Dec 19 – Jan 24 |
| Youth Waterfowl · Day 2 | South Zone | Jan 30 – Jan 30 |
02 — Bag limits
| Duck — Daily | 6, including no more than 4 mallards (max 2 hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasback, 2 black ducks, 3 pintails, 1 mottled duck, and scaup (1 daily for the first 15 days of each zone's season, 2 daily for the last 45 days — see the source for the exact per-zone step-up dates) |
|---|---|
| Duck — Possession | Three times the daily limit, by species and sex |
| Merganser — Daily / Possession | 5 / 15, only 2 may be hooded mergansers (hooded possession limit 6) — does not count toward the duck bag |
| Coot — Daily / Possession | 15 / 45 |
| Teal — Daily / Possession | 6 / 18, all teal species combined |
| Youth Waterfowl Days | Same as the regular season, except the scaup limit is 2/day. Hunters 18 and older may not hunt waterfowl or coots on Youth Waterfowl Days even while accompanying a youth, unless the regular season is also open. |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 5, 2026) 05:59 — 19:21
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset for ducks (per IDNR). Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Illinois sun times for any other date.
04 — License, HIP & Duck Stamp
Duck hunters in Illinois need three things (in addition to any state-specific waterfowl stamp): an Illinois hunting license, HIP registration (Harvest Information Program) and a Federal Duck Stamp — required for hunters 16+ under federal law.
Illinois hunting license cost & waterfowl stamp →
Where to hunt public land in Illinois — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does duck season open in Illinois?
The 2026–27 opener is September 5, 2026. Waterfowl seasons run under federal flyway frameworks with state-set zone splits — see the zone table above.
When does duck season end in Illinois?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is January 30, 2027. Late-zone and second-segment closes vary — see the zone table.
Do I need a Federal Duck Stamp?
Yes. Every waterfowl hunter 16 or older must carry a signed current-year Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Duck Stamp). It is available at U.S. Post Offices, many license retailers, most National Wildlife Refuges, and online from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
How many ducks can you shoot in Illinois per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Duck — Daily — 6, including no more than 4 mallards (max 2 hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasback, 2 black ducks, 3 pintails, 1 mottled duck, and scaup (1 daily for the first 15 days of each zone's season, 2 daily for the last 45 days — see the source for the exact per-zone step-up dates). Duck — Possession — Three times the daily limit, by species and sex. Merganser — Daily / Possession — 5 / 15, only 2 may be hooded mergansers (hooded possession limit 6) — does not count toward the duck bag. Coot — Daily / Possession — 15 / 45. Teal — Daily / Possession — 6 / 18, all teal species combined. Youth Waterfowl Days — Same as the regular season, except the scaup limit is 2/day. Hunters 18 and older may not hunt waterfowl or coots on Youth Waterfowl Days even while accompanying a youth, unless the regular season is also open. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting ducks in Illinois?
On opening day (September 5, 2026) legal light runs 05:59 to 19:21. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset for ducks (per IDNR). Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Illinois sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt ducks on my own land in Illinois without a license?
Illinois owners residing on, or bona fide tenants of, farmland — plus their children, parents, and siblings who live there too — may hunt any legal game on that land without a license. Deer and turkey run through a separate free Resident Landowner/Tenant Permit Program requiring 40 contiguous acres (20 in CWD counties).
Verified · Illinois Department of Natural Resources · Last verified 2026-08-16
Publisher's note. Dates from the 'Waterfowl Season Dates and Limits' table in the official Illinois Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations. Illinois runs three zones (North/Central/South), each split into two duck segments, plus its own zone-specific Youth Waterfowl day(s) — the South Zone youth day is unusually split into two single dates seven weeks apart (Nov. 7 and Jan. 30) rather than one weekend. Scaup steps from a 1-bird to a 2-bird daily limit partway through each zone's season on a schedule the source prints as its own set of dates (not a simple day-count like some other states) — reproduced here as the source states it. RE-VERIFIED 2026-09-01 — and that check showed the cited URL does not carry the data at all. dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/hunttrapdigest.html is a distribution page: it lists links to the PDF but contains not one season row itself. A fetch with a browser user agent succeeds and returns only that link list. The real source is the 2026-2027 Hunting and Trapping Digest (English) it links, at v3-wp.huntillinois.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/HuntTrapDigest.pdf, alongside a Quick Reference Card. Worth knowing before the next check: the Spanish and Polish editions on that same page are still the 2025-2026 ones, with a note that the new versions are coming — reach for those and you get last year. The dates in this file were not re-checked against the PDF on that date; all that is established is that the cited page cannot serve as the check.