new to coyote hunting in illinois
 

So I am new to hunting in general and I want to start hunting coyote. I want to hunt with my savage 11/111 trophy hunter xp but every hunting ground I have called from the Illinois digest says .22 rimfire or shotgun only. Is there any public hunting grounds that allow anything besides small caliber or do I have to knock on doors to get permission for private property just to use this rifle?

Help, anyone at all?

I have never seen an Illinois public site (and I have looked at quite a few) that would allow anything bigger than a .22 rimfire rifle, and a lot of them that permit rimfires only allow them after dark. Maybe there's something way down state in less populace areas. A shotgun would work, however (Silver Springs near Plano is shotgun only for coyotes). I suspect if you want to use your rifle, you're limited to private land.

Thats what I figured. All the guys hunting with larger rifles must be on private land. Guess I'll have to door knock.

Some of the fact sheet for different public sites are ambiguous with regard to shotguns. Marseilles specifically says no slugs outside deer season, but does not mention buckshot. Green River says shotgun only, but does not mention slugs at all. Silver Springs says "shotgun with shotshell only" -- is buckshot a shot shell? I have a Savage 220, so I wonder about these things. Point being, it's hard to get straight info on Public sites.

go knock on doors. i've never been turned down for coyote hunting. most people want them gone.