CPD, The special property permits go quickly. Very few are left after the first draw. They look at eachapplicant's 1st choice before looking at 2nd picks, so the A1 tags are gone after the first go through. You won't draw a great permit on a 2nd choice, but possibly a mediocre one if you specify such apermit there.

Don K has has not drawn his top pick in 7 years of applying. All different than a county permit. It's a very good idea to use all your choices and fill in all choices all the way to your desperation pick at the end, because if you don't draw one in that first lottery you will go back to ground zero and have to compete with nonresidents in the 2nd lottery. I'd rather have a crappy permit and at least have somewhere to go instead of sitting home doing nothing between archery seasons. Someone told me theSNF does not have special permits, so if you draw one of the counties down there you will have a public place to hunt as a last resort. Sounds like a reasonable strategy if you don't have private land to hunt.

Does anyone know if ILDNR publishes the remaining tags from last year's 1st lottery? This would be nice to reference for last pick options this year.