Dog training will be restricted to 4 locations on Lake Shelbyville from April 1 - July 31every year.  In December of 2006 a public meeting was held at the Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center to discuss restricting all dog training during the spring nesting season.  Closure dates would coincide with the Shelbyville Fish and Wildlife Management Area March 31 - September 1 dates.  Four designated training areas were agreed upon and a compromise on the dates was reached.  The 4 training areas are scattered around the lake and total 1500 acres. 

The 4 training areas are:
1.  Cornbread Bottoms (South of Bethany) 514 acres; Open to all dog training.
2.  Pogue Timber (NE of Findlay) 204 acres; Raccoon dog training only.
3.  Houser (NE of the Findlay Bridge) 265 acres; Open to all dog training.
4.  Windsor Gun Club (NW of Windsor) 517 acres; Open to all dog training.

Click here to download maps

Cornbread Bottoms (.pdf)

Pogue/Houser (.pdf)

Windsor Gun Club (.pdf)

Water dog training will not be restricted as long as the dog is worked from the shoreline.  Any upland training for water dogs must be done in the designated areas.  Adjacent landowners are reminded that it is illegal to allow their dogs to roam unsupervised on project lands at any time of the year.

Lake Shelbyville provides important nesting habitat for many species of wildlife native to IL.  It is one of the largest contiguous blocks of habitat in Central Illinois and concern over disturbance to nesting wildlife was the driver behind the decision to restrict dog training to the timeframe outside of the nesting season.  Lake Shelbyville was the last public property in IL to adopt these training restrictions.  This first year will be a trial period for the regulation and will be reevaluated at the end of the season.  For further information on dog training at Lake Shelbyville contact the Lake Shelbyville Environmental Stewardship Department at (217) 774-3951 ext. 7049.