Some indiciation of a small push of waterfowl with the weather over the Halloween weekend. But that weather likely also impacted deer harvest by bowhunters in Illinois, which saw its first drop of the year from last year.
Probably of most important is the dramatic shift in the percentage of bucks being taken, a sign of rutting activity is underway.
First waterfowl reports from public sites in northeast Illinois.
At Heidecke Lake, nine boats reported 17 ducks on Saturday, then 11 boats had five geese and 19 ducks on Sunday.
Braidwood Lake had a fair weekend with 51 hunters taking 54 ducks and one goose; while the Mazonia lakes drew 63 hunters who only bagged 18 ducks.
William W. Powers State Recreation Area (Wolf Lake, above) on Chicago’s Southeast Side had a slow weekend with 42 hunters taking two geese, three mallards and six other ducks.
Here is the word on bowhunting for deer from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
ARCHERY DEER Through Monday, November 2, 2015, Illinois archery deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 22,632 deer, compared to 23,035 for the same period in 2014. Harvest to date has consisted of 61% does and 39% males (13804; 8828), while 31% percent of the harvest has been antlered bucks (6,959). However during the past week, harvest sex ratios were 44% females:56% males, while antlered bucks comprised 48% of the harvest. Top five counties are currently Pike (771), Fulton (662), Jefferson (552), JoDaviess (486), and Adams (430). A table of county results is attached. Up-to-date archery harvest figures (for either deer or turkey) by county/state sites can be tracked on the web at http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/IDNRHarvestQuery.aspx Paul Shelton, Manager Forest Wildlife Program
Here is the county-by-county:
County20142015Adams478430Alexander6051Bond153157Boone7360Brown254303Bureau285277Calhoun214254Carroll265252Cass198214Champaign151136Christian205203Clark279246Clay211188Clinton164133Coles234246Cook3846Crawford273293Cumberland118149DeKalb7676DeWitt226245Douglas6770Dupage911Edgar148158Edwards6984Effingham161167Fayette251264Ford2121Franklin394369Fulton677662Gallatin9391Greene222248Grundy160161Hamilton207219Hancock229274Hardin130124Henderson96103Henry217213Iroquois161157Jackson382396Jasper193179Jefferson552552Jersey185220JoDaviess533486Johnson266270Kane117114Kankakee148105Kendall8283Knox436409Lake150124LaSalle343325Lawrence158159Lee240208Livingston130118Logan100130Macon216204Macoupin346377Madison405350Marion400399Marshall152145Mason133137Massac9476McDonough200182McHenry246245McLean251220Menard138148Mercer196225Monroe162132Montgomery263280Morgan198206Moultrie139143Ogle342340Peoria435358Perry281304Piatt8661Pike819771Pope260233Pulaski7974Putnam121128Randolph400407Richland114120Rock Island339319Saline180179Sangamon277269Schuyler302317Scott8376Shelby268288St. Clair236267Stark5350Stephenson250225Tazewell252238Union333303Vermilion363375Wabash9878Warren112122Washington177188Wayne315316White192165Whiteside249208Will299292Williamson448428Winnebago218212Woodford233219Total2303522632
