Deer hunting in Illinois:
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, ammunition is restricted to .30-caliber or larger centerfire cartridges that are less than 1 2/5 inches in length or straight-wall cartridges of at least .30 caliber. Acceptable cartridges “must be available as a factory load, with the published ballistic tables of the manufacturer showing a capability of at least 500 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.”
The list of approved cartridges includes .45-70 Government and .450 Bushmaster. The .300 Blackout and .44 WCF are also on that list, along with a half-dozen other bottleneck rounds, but most of the approved rifle rounds are straight-wall cartridges.
The new Illinois law allows for .30 caliber or greater centerfire cartridges for deer hunting, BUT ONLY bottle-neck cartridges less than 1-2/5 inches, or straight-walled cartridges. But these cartridges are only allowed in single-shot firearms.
Before, we were pretty much restricted to shotguns and slugs, and black powder rifles.