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Page of 148The Illinois Daily Usage Stampsby David R. Torre, ARAIntroductionThe purpose of this article, the second of two discussing the stamps used on waterfowl management areas in California and Illinois, is to tell the story of the Illinois Daily Usage stamps. In Illinois, as in California, a number of such areas were developed in the 1940s and 1950s. In contrast to the situation in California, waterfowl depredations to agricultural crops did not serve as a major stimulus for these projects. The Illinois Department of Conservation (IDOC) had two priorities at this time. The first was to provide additional food and refuge for the large population of Canada geese that annually winters in the state. The second was to provide regulated public shooting grounds for sportsmen who could not afford to belong to private hunting clubs.Since the early 1950s, daily usage stamps have been used at the public hunting grounds which operate on a (daily) permit basis. These have included waterfowl areas such as Rice Lake, Sanganois, Horseshoe Lake and Union County. The stamps are an integral part of the permit system; they act as a control limiting the number of hunters to the area’s specific daily capacity, they provide evidence that the appropriate fees have been paid and they validate hunter’s permits or stand-by cards for the day’s hunt. Following the end of the season, they are also available as an auditing device.Information about the stamps was first published in the State Revenue Newsletter in June of 1960. Editor David C. Strock reported that daily usage stamps had been issued on public hunting grounds in Illinois from 1955 through 1958 with a $2.00 face value for ducks and a $4.00 face value for pheasants. A $4.00 stamp from 1957 was illustrated. In November of 1960 Joseph J. Janousek, in his State Game Hunting and Fishing Revenue Stamps column, stated that the first daily usage stamps had been issued in 1953 (see Figure 1). Janousek provided descriptions of both values from 1953, 1956 and 1957. A question mark followed the years 1954 and 1955. In the early 1960s [Frank L.] Applegate’s Catalogue of state and Territorial Game and Fishing License Stamps was published. The catalog included descriptions of both values from 1958 and 1959. FIGURE 1. IN 1960, JOSEPH J. JANOUSEK REPORTED THE FIRST DAILY USAGE STAMPS WERE ISSUED IN 1953.Page of 248In 1973 the State Revenue society (SRS) published E. L. Vanderford’s Handbook of Fish and Game Stamps. The handbook included descriptions of daily usage stamps from 1953 through 1969, with the exception of 1954 and 1955 which were listed as “information wanted.” The handbook stated that starting in 1959, the stamp with the higher face value was required to hunt geese in addition to pheasants on public hunting grounds (see Figure 2). In 1977 the SRS published Vanderford’s Check List of State and Locally Issued Migratory Waterfowl License Stamps. Daily usage stamps from 1970 and 1971 were described. Vanderford added, “Daily usage duck stamps were discontinued after 1970 and the goose-pheasant stamps discontinued after 1971.” FIGURE 2. E. L. VANDERFORD’S HANDBOOK OF FISH AND GAME STAMPS STATED THAT THE $5.00 STAMP FROM 1959 WAS THE FIRST REQUIRED TO HUNT GEESE.In 1991 Scott Publishing Company came out with a Federal and State Duck Stamp Catalogue. The catalog listed and pictured daily usage duck stamps for 1953, 1956-70 and 1972. Daily usage stamps required to hunt geese (and pheasants) were listed for 1959-72. The 1972 goose/pheasant stamp was also pictured. Scott did not list daily usage stamps from 1954 or 1955. By this time most consultants to the catalogue, including E. L Vanderford and myself, had come to believe that stamps had not been issued for those years. Since the 1991 Scott catalogue was published, much more has been learned about the Illinois Daily Usage stamps. Some of the more important facts to be presented in this article are as follows:1.We now know Illinois issued daily usage stamps in 1951 and possibly as early as 1950. In any event, the state became the third to issue stamps required to hunt waterfowl (following Ohio in 1937 and South Dakota in 1949).2.Daily Usage Stamps were required to hunt geese prior to 1959. Starting in 1953, the $2.00 stamps were used on the public hunting ground operated at the Horseshoe Lake Goose Refuge. Starting in 1954, the same stamps were also used at the Union County Goose Refuge.3.Illinois has continued to issue Daily Usage Stamps through the present time. The stamps have been employed over a longer period (60+ years) than any other state-issued waterfowl series on record.4.The series has not been consecutively issued, however. Although stamps were issued in 1954 and 1955, tickets (similar to enlarged theater tickets), were used in their place from 1973 through 1976.Page of 348The Canada Goose RefugesIllinois is located within the Mississippi Flyway, as are all the states which border the Mississippi River. Illinois provides one of the most important wintering areas for Canada Geese in North America. From their nesting grounds along the west side of James Bay in Canada, a large segment of the Mississippi Flyway Canada goose population migrates southwest and winters in the southern part of the state (Hanson and smith, 1950).Horseshoe Lake is located in the southern tip of Illinois, in Alexander County. It was formed when an ancient U-Shaped bend in the Mississippi River pinched off ( see Figure 3). FIGURE 3. HORSESHOE LAKE IS LOCATED IN SOUTHERNMOST ILLINOIS.Page of 448For many years Horseshoe Lake was known as one of the World’s greatest goose hunting areas (New Migratory Waterfowl, 1944). There are numerous private goose hunting clubs in the area, lining the shores of the lake and the river. Many of these date back to the 19th century (see Figure 4). FIGURE 4. THE HORSESHOE LAKE HUNTING AND FISHING CLUB WAS FOUNDED IN 1895.In an effort to provide protection for the Canada goose population in Southern Illinois, the IDOC purchased Horseshoe Lake and turned it into a refuge. Most of the refuge, including an island, was acquired in 1927. This amounted to 3490 acres. Once the refuge was established, Canada Geese, which had previously wintered all along the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois, began to concentrate there. By the 1940s, about 50 percent of the Canada geese in the Mississippi Flyway were wintering within a very small area in and around the Horseshoe Lake Refuge (Hanson and Smith 1950).Prior to 1944 there were no special goose hunting regulations for the Horseshoe Lake area. Hunting was conducted under statewide regulations (Thomburg, 1994). Private goose hunting clubs were licensed by the IDOC and were required to report the number of geese killed on their property daily. The IDOC also allowed some hunting on portions of the refuge. This policy stemmed from the belief that a successful refuge operation should incorporate an annual harvest (Callaway, 1956).Page of 548A curious and potentially disastrous occurrence took place at Horseshoe Lake in the late 1930s and early 1940s—the goose flock became tame (see Figure 5). According to an excerpt from Canada Geese of the Mississippi Flyway, published by the Illinois Department of Registration and Education in 1950: “Along with the increase in numbers of Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake there were two developments of primary importance: a tremendous increase in shooting pressure on the flock and an alteration in the behavior of the geese… The goose flock using Horseshoe Lake gradually lost most of its fear of man and gunfire while near the refuge. The result…was a tremendous increase in the kill.” FIGURE 5. DOCILE CANADA GEESE AT THE HORSESHOE LAKE REFUGE.The average number of Canada geese killed at Horseshoe Lake from 1939 through 1945 was 9,800. This figure includes the geese killed on private property as well as on the refuge itself. In all other parts of Illinois combined the average was only 1,100. The state with the next highest average in the Mississippi Flyway, Michigan, was under 3,000 statewide.The large annual kills at Horseshoe Lake greatly exceeded the breeding potential for Mississippi Flyway Canada geese. This resulted in the goose population being reduced by nearly one-half within a two-year span. The number of geese wintering in Illinois during 1943-44 was approximately 50,000. By 1945-46 it was down to 26,000—an all time low for the state (Hanson and Smith, 1950; Callaway, 1956).According to F. C. Lincoln, the significance of his flyway concept was “If the birds should be exterminated in any one of the four major flyways now definitely recognized, it would at best be a long time before that region [of North America] could be repopulated, even though birds of the species affected should continue over other flyways to return to their great breeding grounds of the North.” As canada geese have a fairly low breeding potential, the overkilling at Horseshoe Lake posed serious consequences for the entire Mississippi Flyway (Hanson and Smith, 1950).Page of 648The situation quickly attracted the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In response, a new federal hunting regulation was established in 1944 specifically for the Horseshoe Lake area. It provided that after 6,000 geese were killed, the goose season would be closed. A second regulation closed all goose hunting in Alexander County at noon each day (New Migratory Waterfowl, 1944).After the grim goose census results were obtained in 1945, shooting at Horseshoe Lake was halted after only five half-days. In part to divert attention away from the Canada geese, the IDOC purchased and developed additional public duck hunting areas at this time (detailed later in this article). No open season for Canada geese was permitted along the entire Mississippi Flyway during 1946-47. Goose hunting resumed along the flyway during 1947-48 on a restricted basis. Limited hunting was allowed at Horseshoe Lake during this time (Hanson and Smith, 1950; Callaway 1956).Recognizing the need for a second Canada goose refuge, in 1947 the IDOC began acquiring land in Union County, about 25 miles north of Horseshoe Lake. By the early 1950s, the new Union County Wildlife Refuge totalled 5,600 acres. At this time the IDOC emphasized a feeding program at both refuges. Corn was grown at the areas, then knocked down a few rows at a time so that the geese could reach it (1950 Annual Report; 1951 Annual Report). Due in large part to the efforts of the IDOC and the USFWS, the Mississippi Flyway Canada goose population rebounded the late 1940s and early 1950s (see Figure 6). FIGURE 6. CANADA GEESE AT A SOUTHERN ILLINOIS REFUGE AREA.Page of 748Public Duck Hunting AreasDucks using the Mississippi Flyway breed and nest primarily in the prairie province of Manitoba, but also to some extent in the Dakotas and Minnesota. In the fall, Mississippi Flyway ducks migrate southeast on the way to their principal wintering grounds in eastern Arkansas and northeastern Louisiana (Wesley and Leitch, 1987).The main migration corridor for Mississippi Flyway mallards centers over the Illinois River Valley in west-central Illinois (see Figure 7). Consequently, the area has become nationally known for its mallard hunting. Significant numbers of other species of ducks also occupy the valley during peak migration times. These include bluewing teal, lesser scaup, and ruddy. The valley owes its rich history of waterfowl use and activity to the quality of water and aquatic vegetation found there (Ball, 1993). FIGURE 7. THE ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY IS THE HEART OF THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY.Page of 848For over a hundred years most of the desirable shooting areas in the valley have been controlled by private duck clubs. Before WWII, sportsmen who could not afford to belong to the private clubs were having trouble finding good places to hunt. Most of the valley’s wetlands which were not owned or leased by the clubs were located along the Illinois River. At one time the mallards had concentrated along the river and it provided excellent hunting. However, changes in feeding habits caused the ducks to scatter all over the valley.Corn is the principal crop in Illinois and corn fields comprise approximately 28 percent of the land (A Comparative Study, 1963). The widespread use of mechanical corn pickers in the late 1930s and early 1940s resulted in a large amount of com being left in the fields. Much of this remaining corn would have been harvested by the old hand-picking method.The cornfields of Illinois soon acted like a magnet for ducks, much like the rice fields of California (Osborne, 1945). This situation did not prove to be of great concern to Illinois farmers, as the ducks descended on their fields after the harvest. In order to be closer to this new found food source, the mallards abandoned the Illinois river in favor of local lakes and streams.In an effort to provide quality duck hunting opportunities for all sportsmen, the IDOC opened a public shooting area in the Illinois River Valley. A 2,217 acre tract of land in Fulton County, approximately 30 miles southwest of Peoria, was purchased in 1943 from the estate of U. G. Orendorff for $83,137. The area was named Rice Lake, as wild rice had been plentiful there at one time.Mr. Orendorff had founded the plow works in nearby Canton which evolved into International Harvester (see Figure 8). For many years Rice Lake had served as his private duck club (Ball, 1993). The IDOC intended to operate the area as a combination refuge and public hunting area. Like the Honey Lake Waterfowl Management Area in California, Rice Lake was purchased and developed under the Pittman-Robertson Program (Rice Lake Refuge, 1944). FIGURE 8. RICE LAKE WAS ORIGINALLY A PRIVATE DUCK CLUB BELONGING TO U. G. ORENDORFF, THE FOUNDER OF INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER.Page of 948The northern half of the area comprised the public shooting grounds. Rice Lake adjoined the large Duck Island Gun Club and drew birds from their lake as well as from its own refuge (Woods, 1960). As opposed to Honey Lake, where natural vegetation provided adequate cover, hunting at Rice Lake was done exclusively from permanent blinds (until recent years). The blinds were constructed by the IDOC and could accommodate a total of 40 hunters per day.During the 1940s hunters needed to obtain a permit but no fee was charged. Prospective hunters wrote to the IDOC, requesting to shoot at Rice Lake on a desired date. Hunters could also request that one or two partners shoot from their blind. Permits were issued on a first-come, first-served basis. After the hunters received a permit in the mail, they were assured of a place to hunt on the specified date (New Migratory Waterfowl, 1944). Early in the morning of each hunt day, the blinds were assigned by lottery. Numbers were drawn and each corresponded to a particular blind. This method was adopted to allow everyone an equal chance at the blinds in better locations (Thatcher, 1945).From its inception, the public shooting area at Rice Lake was very popular. According to IDOC Director Livingston E. Osborne: “More than 1,500 applications have been received by the Department from Illinois duck hunters for permits to hunt on the state’s new public shooting grounds at Rice Lake…. Applications have come in so rapidly that all of October from the start of the duck season on the 14th is filled completely as well as every day in November. The youngest applicant to date is a 12 year old boy from central Illinois. Many ladies have applied for hunting privileges. On the opening day a father, son and grandson will hunt. The grandfather is 77 years old” (New Migratory Waterfowl, 1944). Hunters were allowed to shoot at Rice Lake once every ten days in order to prevent locals from monopolizing the area (Thatcher, 1945).To meet the growing demand for public shooting grounds, the IDOC opened two new waterfowl management areas in 1945. They were known as the Sparland and Woodford County Public Shooting Areas (see Figure 9). Including Rice Lake, a total of 5,400 acres were available for public hunting at this time (Thatcher, 1945). FIGURE 9. THE WOODFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SHOOTING AREA.Next >