This year's legislative session is well underway in Illinois. One bill would ban wildlife killing contests in the state.
The proposed bill would amend the Wildlife Code by banning the practice of awarding prizes or giving incentives for killing wildlife.
Project Coyote supported the introduction of the bill in the legislature. Jane McBride, the Illinois representative for the project, said hundreds of animals can be hunted during a single contest.
"They will come in with, literally, pickup-bed loads of carcasses," she said. "Generally, these carcasses are good for nothing. They can’t be used because they’re shot up, and they are often just left to spoil somewhere."
The contests mainly target coyotes and raccoons.
McBride said the contests mostly take place in the southern and western parts of the state, but with greater public awareness, they have been advertised less widely.
"If you quit this volume of killing, we would be moving in the right direction that science tells us," she said. "We would have a much more balanced population that is going to help our ecosystems and help us in our overall efforts to maintain biodiversity across the landscape."
The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation opposed a similar bill that moved through the legislature in 2024. The group has said killing contests help manage local predator populations and support sporting stores and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The University of Illinois Extension published a report showing there was no positive ecological outcome to wildlife killing contests. Most experts contacted for the report recommended ending the contests in Illinois.
The proposed bill wouldn't impact normal hunting. Proponents of the bill are waiting for it to be assigned to a committee, which could happen in the coming days.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
