I see it from the point of view that the lick was put there by a person for the benifit of the cattle. ...you are now aware that the lick has disolved into the soil, and the deer are now attracted to and frequenting this soil . and the mineraL in the soil is not there for the livestocks benifit...... with you knowing this bait is present and if you knowingly hunting over it they would deem the site as baited................ try looking for a natural lick on the property But rememmber its not my point of view that counts......... THE ONLY VIEW POINTS THAT COUNT ARE THE IDNR's POINT OF VIEW AND YOUR CONSCIENCE.
As for the deer feed and mineral attractants being sold in Illinois, I agree.....why should it be legal to sell the attractants if they are Illegal to use in the state of Illinois...but even if the sale of deer feed and mineral attractants are outlawed there will still be poachers out there baiting them with something else ( Corn Piles... Feeders etc ) when it comes to poachers where there is a will they will find a way[:'(]

All you guys from Illinois, I have a question.

Is it illeagal to use bait, feed, mineral licks, etc... , etc... at all? If this is the case what about food Plots specifically for deer, ie ... clover and such? This is what i am taking from the post.

Here in Missouri it is not illegal to bait as long as it is removed 10 days prior to hunting it. I can use anything under the sun to bait as long as it is removed. I am eventually going to put feeders up up on on of my farms and I will not hunt them that way I can keep them up year round. I have an agrrement with the land owner who rifle hunts along with his familiy to set up certain ares on the property that are off limits to hunt, so we can start growing some big bucks.

Yes , since the arrival of CWD the state of Illinois has outlawed the feeding of wilddeer,it is now Ilegal to feed wilddeer and that includes you may not place salt , mineral or other attractants for wilddeer injestion... if you are placeing out licks for the intended use and benifit of livestock they are legal and any deer frequenting them would be secondary, but it would be Ilegal to hunt over them.
Food plots and hunting over food plots are legal in the state of Illinois.

My take on the regulations regarding food plots in IL is that they are unlawful if the crop's sole purpose is to feed deer - that is - it has no other agricultural market - such as clover etc. A corn field planted only for deer and never intended to take to market would also be considered a food plot in this instance. The Biologic and other food plot mixes have no market value - ie if you don't sell the fruit of the crop, it is a food plot.

So would it still be legal to plant an alfalfa plot and cut it for hay and then hunt over it if the deer use it? Im not planning on doing this...I just was curious. Thanks for all the input guys. It's a pretty controversial issue. CWD has only been detected in northern IL right? Why are they enforcing all the regulations to all of the counties...even though it is 150 miles from here? I remember when a few counties had regulation on shooting does in the early season. Why can't they do the same things with the counties with CWD and the surrounding counties?
Just my two cents. Jacob

Yes i think it would be legal to hunt over a cut alfalfa field just like cut beans or cut corn, but like others have said - IDNR and a visiting Conservation Officer would have the final say. Thats just my interpretation.

(Edit) With that in mind - imagine all the oak trees dropping non market acorns all over the state Its kind of silly really.

Personally I don't see a problem with food plots or salt licks. There hasn't been any evidence provided to prove how CWD is spread. It is still very much a mystery. The food plot and salt lick banning is just in hopes to stem the spread south.

I saw salt blocks for sale at Walmart here the other day.