2016-2017 Illinois Trapper Report: Harvest, Effort, and Wildlife Sightings

We sampled 1,200 purchasers of 2016resident Illinois trapping licenses from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources licensing database. Licensees were mailed a 4-page questionnaire, and we received 802(68%) questionnaires. Trapping license sales decreased 17%from 2015 (6,468licenses) to 2016 (5,352). Trappers set an average of 16.1traps for an average of 23.7 days or nights during the 2016-2017 season, and harvested an estimated125,605furbearers (up2% from the 125,314harvested in 2015-2016). An estimated 57,324raccoons (Procyon lotor) were trapped during the 2016-2017 Illinois trapping season, an increase of 3.5% from the estimated 55,390trapped during the 2015-2016 season. Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) harvest was the next highest at 24,217 muskrats(24% decrease from the previous year).U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration W-112-R-26Illinois Department of Natural Resourcesunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe