Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area
Come visit Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area in Buda, IL
Approaching 900 acres in size, Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area is comprised of a restored strip mine which has attracted a vibrant community of plants and animals to its forests, lakes, and grasslands. Over a dozen lakes ranging in size from 0.5-15.5 acres dot the landscape. Dragonfly enthusiasts should check the sedges, rushes, cattails, and other emergent aquatic vegetation along the lakes’ shorelines where dragonflies perch during the warm months. This habitat is also excellent for finding water-associated birds such as bitterns, rails, Red-winged Blackbirds, and the like. Hill prairie grasses and wildflowers along the old mining slag heaps furnish habitat for an assortment of birds such as Eastern Meadowlark and several sparrow species. The roadways in Mautino double as hiking trails for touring the mix of bottomland forest (cottonwood, silver maple, hackberry, black cherry) interlaced with hill prairies.
Mautino SFWA is mostly unreclaimed strip mine ground containing several lakes of various sized. The site contains 911 total acres, 891 acres of which are available for archery deer and turkey hunting and 40 acres are available for dove hunting.