Silver Springs Pheasant (Yorkville, IL)

Looking for a place to take my dog for his first bird hunt and a friend suggested I check out Silver Springs, so I’m lookin go for some more first hand info on it. I’m open to other suggestions too.

I see that you can hunt Permitted or Non-permitted, and I’m assuming that the difference is that you get birds released in the field with a Permitted hunt. Is that accurate?

Can someone walk me through about what to expect after signing in and stuff? I’m curious if hunters just get assigned a field and go, or if it’s more regulated.

What terrain should I expect there? Tall grass? Corn?

Anything else I need to know before heading there?

Thanks!

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Pages/SilverSprings.aspx

Joe

Not sure where you or Silver Springs is located at. I tried to do a Google search for silver springs game farm and got limited results. I have also never heard of Permitted or Non Permitted in regards to game farms before so no help there. Its often helpful if your location is listed in your profile so members here know what are you are from. Each Game farm I’ve been to are a little different. I’ve hunted at some where the cover was nothing more than a mowed field and others where the cover was worse than any wild cover I’ve hunted. Often they offer different covers depending on what the customer is looking for. If its your Dogs first hunt I would try to avoid real heavy cover so you can keep a eye on the dog and try to keep it fairly close. Game farm birds tend to run a lot and if your hunting in cover where you cant keep a eye on the dog its possible it will get on a running bird and chase it all the way to the end of the cover and possibly beyond. Good luck and give it a report on the place and how it goes for you.

Thanks for the reply and advice. I edited my original post to include a link to the Wildlife park page. It’s a parcel of land run by the Illinois DNR, that offered deer, squirrel, upland, coyote hunting. If you follow the link you’ll read about permit and non permit hunt dates.

This place doesn’t sound like a game farm to me. More of a county park that allows hunting. Then again Game Farms in Il. may be way different than those here in Minnesota. If they have Game Farm’s near you that you pay to have a # of birds released and you show up and hunt them – That is what I’d look into. These type of places are a excellent way to get a new hunting dog on some easier birds.

After heading out and hunting here one day, I figured I’d post a follow-up, in case anyone else has similar questions. I’m not sure how to change color of font on thread replies, so my responses are in all caps.

Uhoh429 wrote:

Looking for a place to take my dog for his first bird hunt and a friend suggested I check out Silver Springs, so I’m lookin go for some more first hand info on it. I’m open to other suggestions too.

I see that you can hunt Permitted or Non-permitted, and I’m assuming that the difference is that you get birds released in the field with a Permitted hunt. Is that accurate? THIS TURNED OUT TO BE EXACTLY HOW THE HUNT WORKS.

Can someone walk me through about what to expect after signing in and stuff? I’m curious if hunters just get assigned a field and go, or if it’s more regulated. YOU PICK WHICH AREA YOU WOULD LIKE TO HUNT, AND HAVE TO START HUNTING THERE. AFTER AN HOUR, YOU’RE FREE TO HUNT OTHER AREAS.

What terrain should I expect there? Tall grass? Corn? NO CORN THAT I SAW. MOSTLY TALL GRASS WITH SPARSE PARCELS OF CEDARS AND OTHER TREES.

Anything else I need to know before heading there? FRIENLY PEOPLE, AND OVERALL REALLY DECENT PUBLIC LAND TO HUNT, HOWEVER I DON’T THINK THEY RELEASED AS MANY BIRDS AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. THE AREA I WALKED HAD 8 HUNTERS AND 10 DOGS AND ONLY KICKED UP 6 BIRDS IN 3 HOURS.

Thanks!

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Pages/SilverSprings.aspx

Hi Joe, I lived in the area about 20 years ago. I have hunted silver springs but I think there are better options. Check out desplaines wildlife area, it is run the same,on pay to hunt days,you either have a reservation you can apply for or go standby in case they don’t fill up. They usually fill up. Green river,out west,south of dixon was my favorite but a bit of a drive. Out in that area is Rogers hunt club but that is all pay to hunt,still a good option for a new pup.During the season,look into Steward wildlife area. I helped plant the cover out there with the Dnr and our sportsman’s club. I think you have to mail in an application. I was in the area when crp was big and had a blast on private land but those days were going fast when I left in 2001. Good luck and post pictures!!!😎