We believe the length of the walk from parking matters when you hunt turkeys on public ground. Habitat determines how birds spread over a tract. Hunters' spread depends sharply on the distance they are willing to carry a decoy and a vest through the dark. Our assumption is that pressure from hunters is lower in the interiors of the largest public tracts most distant from a road. Distance needed for access, however, cannot by itself establish whether birds are there or how many hunters are present. We used maps published by the agencies to count parking for the eight tracts ranked in the paper's previous version. Verification was possible for four. Across those four, public acreage ranges from about 800 acres per mapped parking symbol for Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge to about 90 for Ten Mile Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area. Cypress Creek's hunting map has 20 symbols rather than one; Ten Mile Creek has 56.
KEY FINDINGS
- The paper's previous version took its parking tally from a layer derived from an open, crowd-mapped source. That layer held 73,859 points throughout the state, with 21,599 linked to tracts of public hunting land. Wherever a tract could be checked, the agency map shows far more parking than the layer reported. We therefore use the agencies' maps to tally parking symbols in this version.
- The old layer identified four tracts as lacking mapped parking, but we could confirm none of those results. On agency maps, Ten Mile Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area has 56 parking symbols. Within Illinois or touching its border, divisions belonging to Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge have 9. IDNR's maps omit a category for parking at Turkey Bluffs and Anderson Lake, so a parking tally is not possible for either. We have withdrawn the previous statewide total for tracts said to lack mapped parking.
- We could tally parking from agency maps for four tracts. The highest acreage of public land for each parking symbol belongs to Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge: about 16,000 acres divided by 20 symbols shown on its USFWS hunting map gives 800 acres for each symbol. Next, only slightly lower at 768, are divisions lying within Illinois or touching its border at Middle Mississippi River. Sanganois follows with 538; last is Ten Mile Creek with 89.
IThe distance function
We assume hunting pressure eases farther from the parking lot
On spring hunting season's opening morning, watching a public lot can almost let you sketch how hunting pressure changes with distance. Parking spaces fill before legal shooting light arrives. Most hunters settle along the trail's first quarter mile. Half a mile in, hunter density is down to a fraction. At a mile, hunters are scattered. Beyond a mile plus another half mile, you usually have the place to yourself, along with the terrain that discouraged everyone else from leaving the truck that far behind. This is familiar territory. Our contribution is a rough ordering of a handful of sizable public properties, based on tallies of parking shown on maps supplied by their agencies.
An accurate parking tally has to come first when using this measure. Crowd mapping may omit most parking lots. The paper's previous version used points from an open, crowd-mapped source: 73,859 across the state, of which 21,599 were linked to a tract of public hunting land. Wherever we checked, the agency map had far more parking than the layer showed. At Cypress Creek the comparison was 20 symbols versus one; at Sanganois it was 13 versus one. Ten Mile Creek showed 56 versus none. The Illinois-side divisions at Middle Mississippi River had 9 versus none. We now take the parking totals from maps published by the agencies managing the land. When a map omits parking, that tract is excluded instead of receiving a score for zero parking.
IIWhat we measured, and what we did not
A rough initial measure, with its limits explained ahead of the findings
We chose a simple measure and should explain its shortcoming first. For each property, we tallied parking symbols from its managing agency's map, then divided its acreage by that tally. Acreage for each symbol roughly represents the question hunters care about: how much land is distant from somewhere they can park? The measure cannot describe the placement of those symbols. A property whose few lots sit together at one end receives the same score as another with an equal count spaced evenly throughout. A more precise measure would calculate the portion of a property's acreage farther than a one-mile walk from parking. That requires a polygon outlining the property, parking locations tied to map coordinates, and a surface showing walking costs, accounting for travel routes, terrain, and obstacles. A tally alone cannot do that. This refinement is planned for the next round.
Two limitations apply here. We did not study lawful access. A nearby parking area can still leave you facing an awful trek across country; a property can also have no parking lot shown yet offer a lawful walk-in overlooked by most maps. We also did not measure hunting pressure specifically for turkeys. No data on spring turkey hunting effort went into this work. We analyzed the layout of access, which applies equally to any hunter walking in darkness. The purpose is to compare access depicted on maps while planning turkey hunts.
The hunting map for Cypress Creek shows 20 parking symbols rather than one. Across the four properties with countable parking, each symbol represents public acreage ranging between 89 and 800 acres.
IIIThe tracts we could count
We ranked four properties and excluded four
We cannot rank four tracts that received scores in the paper's previous version. Hunting at Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge is prohibited, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our search turned up no parking map from an agency for the portion of Shawnee Purchase Unit previously scored, which covers 7,712 acres. IDNR's maps omit a category for parking at Turkey Bluffs and Anderson Lake State Fish and Wildlife Areas. Their parking therefore cannot be tallied. Without a parking count, a tract cannot join the ranking.
Comparing public acreage per parking symbol puts Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge at the top: about 16,000 acres with 20 parking symbols on the USFWS hunt map works out to 800 acres per symbol. Next come the Middle Mississippi River refuge divisions located in Illinois or touching the state, with 6,912 acres and 9 symbols, or 768 acres per symbol. The two results are within 4 percent of each other, so treat them as a tie. Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area follows with 7,000 huntable acres and 13 symbols on the IDNR hunter map, or 538 acres per symbol. Ten Mile Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area ranks last with 4,995 huntable acres and 56 symbols, or 89 acres per symbol. All of these public tracts are well known, identified by name and shown on maps. Each has more parking than the previous ranking reported.
Swipe table to see every column
| Tract | County | Acres | Parking symbols on agency map | Acres per symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cypress Creek NWR | Pulaski | 16,000 | 20 | 800 |
| Middle Mississippi River NWR (six divisions in or touching Illinois) | Randolph, Monroe, Jackson | 6,912 | 9 | 768 |
| Sanganois SFWA | Cass | 7,000 | 13 | 538 |
| Ten Mile Creek SFWA | Hamilton | 4,995 | 56 | 89 |
| Meredosia NWR | Morgan | 3,645 | not ranked: hunting not permitted | not ranked |
| Shawnee Purchase Unit | Johnson | 7,712 | not ranked: no agency map found | not ranked |
| Turkey Bluffs SFWA | Randolph | 2,250 | not ranked: map shows no parking category | not ranked |
| Anderson Lake SFWA | Fulton | 1,900 | not ranked: map shows no parking category | not ranked |
IVThe honest limits
What this measure tells us and where it falls short
A property's interior is quieter, but that does not necessarily make it better hunting ground. Habitat quality has no correlation with distance from parking. Some especially isolated acreage may be remote because it is difficult ground holding few birds. This analysis cannot distinguish an out-of-the-way gem from an equally hidden dud. It identifies solitude, something with real dollar value for spring hunters on public land. Its reach ends there.
Acreage for each parking symbol cannot tell us how far someone must walk. The next round will address that through property boundaries and walking costs. Parking maps capture a moment in time. A symbol cannot confirm a gate's current status, and the tally cannot establish whether parking there is open this year. Despite these limits, the overall pattern remains. Across the four properties with countable parking, each mapped symbol represents 89 to 800 acres of public land. We assume that hunting pressure decreases farther from parking; we have not measured that relationship.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- For each tract, we use acreage supplied by its agency. The refuge pages and hunting brochures published by USFWS list about 16,000 acres for Cypress Creek. Adding the agency's acreage figures for the six divisions at Middle Mississippi River lying within Illinois or touching its border yields 6,912 acres. IDNR's hunting website gives acreage open to hunting as 7,000 for Sanganois and 4,995 for Ten Mile Creek. The previous version used acreage taken from the USGS Protected Areas Database along with a filter based on designation. A designation alone cannot tell you whether a particular tract permits spring turkey hunting or whether every refuge unit permits it. Hunting is prohibited at Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge; Cypress Creek also has a waterfowl reserve that is closed. Ask the agency responsible for the land to confirm.
- The parking tallies come from symbols shown on maps published by the agencies. Cypress Creek has 20 on the brochure map issued by USFWS in 2024. Middle Mississippi River has 10 refuge-wide on the hunting map issued by USFWS in 2025; 9 belong to divisions lying within Illinois or touching its border. Sanganois has 13 on IDNR's printable hunting map, although the agency's GIS layer for parking gives 12. For Ten Mile Creek, IDNR's unit maps dated 2024 show 56 altogether: 21 for Goshen Trail, 18 for Dahlgren, 9 for Belle Rive, 6 for Eads Mine, 1 for Hole in the Wall and 1 for Artemissa. The previous version relied on a layer derived from an open, crowd-mapped source: 73,859 points throughout the state, with 21,599 linked to tracts of public hunting land. For every tract where a check was possible, the agency map contradicted that layer. We have stopped using it.
- To obtain acreage for each parking symbol, divide a property's acres by the tally of symbols from its agency map. This gives a rough density measure rather than the length of a walk. Symbols vary in size and use. Some land, including closed reserves and seasonal refuges, is unavailable for turkey hunting. Refinement using property boundary polygons and walking costs remains future work; we do not claim to have done it here.
- This analysis draws no hunter-density figures from deer season. Only the layout of access determines the ranking, and that layout applies across species.
- Boundaries of public properties, places to enter, and seasonal closures shift over time. Before a hunt, check current access and turkey rules with the agency responsible for the property.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research is an independent data and analysis desk. This paper is educational and analytical: it ranks public land by measured access geometry, specifically distance from each tract to the nearest mapped parking. Distances are first-pass and centroid-based, and some tracts are reached by water rather than by road. Figures derive from public federal protected-areas data and FDR's parking analysis.
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