The 2021 Illinois chipmunk hunting season began earlier this week on August 1 and will run through February 15.
During the 2021 firearm deer hunting seasons, November 19-21 and December 2-5, squirrel hunting stops in counties where firearm deer hunting is permitted, but it resumes afterwards.
Hunters can go out half an hour before sunrise until half an hour after sunset. The daily limit is 5 squirrels, and 10 squirrels are allowed at a time.
If you plan on hunting squirrels this year, keep in mind that if you don’t have ammo for your hunting season yet, we are still in the midst of an ongoing ammunition shortage.
Last year he demonstrated how fear creates scarcity. The ammunition shortage began here in our small town of Kewanee on Friday March 13, 2020.
Two days earlier, on the 11th, the WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and shortly thereafter the Trump Administration announced two national emergency declarations under the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act.
Political rumors spread, claiming that cities with Democratic mayors from cities like Champaign, Illinois, were about to “abuse” the powers granted under this new national state of emergency to ban the sale of firearms and ammunition.
Despite the federal government declaring that all firearms retailers were “essential businesses” and would not close during the pandemic, fearful individuals ignored this and, in a panic, began stockpiling firearms and ammunition.
Gun owners went to local suppliers and cleared out ammo racks in a matter of minutes. As new supplies arrived, those on the waiting list for ammunition were already talking about them.
Gun sales soared, with the FBI recording more than 2.3 million NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) checks for firearms sales during the month of March.
After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the subsequent protests against police brutality that summer, ammunition remained in short supply as a second wave of firearm purchases swept across the country.
As of August 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation had compiled information from NICS and determined that about 5 million people became first-time gun owners so far this year.
As the presidential election race heated up across the United States in the fall of 2020, ammunition supplies remained tight and firearm sales continued to rise, creating a THIRD wave of buying sprees.
By the time President Biden was elected to office, the shelves of local and national ammunition retailers had been nearly empty for months.
While ammunition manufacturers have increased production, costs have increased because demand is high and supply is still low.
Hunters may want to pool their ammo resources within their friend group or even try aiming their hunting rifles at some off-brand ammo they can get their hands on during this hunting season.