Media Contacts:
Jane McBride, Illinois State Representative, Project Coyote
P: 217-652-2731 E: jmcbride@projectcoyote.org
Nadia Steinzor, Carnivore Conservation Director, Project Coyote
P: 845-417-6505 E: nsteinzor@projectcoyote.org
Illinois Moves to Prohibit Wildlife Killing for Cash and Prizes
Passage would make state the 11th to ban the practice
SPRINGFIELD, IL February 23, 2026 – The Illinois Senate is poised to consider SB3063, a bill making it unlawful to kill furbearers for cash, prizes, or other inducements at competitions, tournaments, or derbies. These events occur throughout the state, allowing for the unlimited killing of wildlife for no purpose other than entertainment. Animals are discarded when the contests end.
Sponsored by Senator Linda Holmes (42nd District), the bill would apply to species defined by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as “furbearers”–such as coyote, red fox, badger, mink, and raccoon. It would have no impact on legal hunting and trapping or state management of these and other wildlife species.
“I’m proud to lead on the introduction and passage of this bill, which will align practices in Illinois with the sportsmanship and fair chase ethics of our state,” said Senator Holmes. “Killing contests have no place in a society that values and respects wildlife. I urge my colleagues in the Senate and the House to vote yes and make Illinois one of the leaders on this issue.”
Once SB3063 is assigned to and passes in Committee, it will move to the full Senate for a vote. In 2024, a similar bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives.
Scientists have widely condemned killing contests as running counter to wildlife management goals and damaging to ecological systems because of the key role coyotes and other wild carnivores play, in particular, natural rodent control and preventing transmission of Lyme and other diseases.
Analysis by the University of Illinois Extension concluded that because the public widely views killing contests as unethical, their continuation can reflect negatively on the hunting community.
A 2022 survey of Illinois residents showed that 73% are opposed to wildlife killing contests and a national 2024 study concluded that 82% of Americans support state bans.
Wildlife killing contests have been banned in ten states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington), and there are proposals in several others, as well as at the federal level, to do so.
“As a former newspaper outdoor editor, my perspective is that these contests are not hunting. They offend sportsmen’s ethics and are completely contrary to decades of scientific findings. These contests are a blood sport, done for the thrill of killing, and trophy hunting, where the trophy is piles of carcasses,” said Jane McBride, Esq., State Representative for Project Coyote.
“The cruelty and ecological ignorance of the hideous disruption of stable family groups represented by this high volume killing is contrary to any conservation value. The state must stop betraying the public trust in wildlife by continuing to tolerate these contests. The majority of the public finds these contests unethical, in fact, abhorrent.”
For more information on wildlife killing contests and efforts to prohibit them nationwide, read our Wildlife Killing Contest Factsheet, visit our campaign website, and watch KILLING GAMES: Wildlife in the Crosshairs.
Project Coyote is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit. Project Coyote’s mission is to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife—particularly North America’s wild carnivores—through education, science, advocacy, and coalition building. Led by scientists, educators, and wildlife advocates, Project Coyote works to change policies and perceptions to protect wild carnivores and foster ethical, ecologically sound stewardship.
###
