CHANDLERVILLE – A public drawing for the allocation of Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area trapping permits will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15.

Registration will begin at 1 p.m. at the site headquarters at 10149 County Highway 11, about five miles southeast of Chandlerville. Participants are reminded to follow any site-specific drawing procedures.

One permit for each of the six trapping zones will be allocated through a lottery-type drawing. All people attempting to enter the draw must be in attendance in person and have a current 2022-2023 trapping license in their possession.

Dog proof (DP) traps, live traps, and traps of similar action may be used. Homemade dog-proof traps must be designed with a foothold trap no larger than a #2 in an enclosed wood, metal, or durable plastic container with a single access opening of no larger than 1½ inches in diameter. All body-gripping traps must be totally submerged.

Everyone who draws in to trap must obtain a free windshield card permit for the site by going online to https://dnr2.illinois.gov/Windshieldcard/.

Trappers are required to report harvest/hunter trips at no later than Feb. 15 each year (or two weeks after the season closes for those seasons ending after Feb. 1). Failure to report in this manner for two consecutive years will result in forfeiture of hunting privileges at this site for the following year.

For more information, contact Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area at 217-452-7741.

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