Nothing quite like a couple decent weather weekends over the peak of the rut to balance out the deer harvest in Illinois, well, make that about anywhere.
Not sure bowhunters want to hear this, but it bodes well for gun hunters, too, with Illinois’ first firearm season opening Friday.
(The photo above is from firearm season two years ago, best of several bucks resting just out of my range.)
Plenty of signs in the harvest report of the rut impact.
Here is the archery update from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
ARCHERY DEER Through Sunday, November 13, 2016, Illinois archery deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 39,370 deer, compared to 38,076 for the same period in 2015. Harvest to date has consisted of 44% does and 56% males (17386: 21984). During the past week, harvest consisted of 69% males with strong rutting activity ongoing. Top five counties were Pike (1562), Fulton (1116), Adams (936), Jefferson (894), and JoDaviess (807). 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 breakdown:
County | 2015 | 2016 |
Adams | 866 | 936 |
Alexander | 113 | 107 |
Bond | 253 | 260 |
Boone | 96 | 88 |
Brown | 538 | 645 |
Bureau | 460 | 479 |
Calhoun | 503 | 454 |
Carroll | 425 | 445 |
Cass | 400 | 422 |
Champaign | 201 | 223 |
Christian | 301 | 334 |
Clark | 447 | 534 |
Clay | 316 | 389 |
Clinton | 226 | 235 |
Coles | 368 | 387 |
Cook | 67 | 54 |
Crawford | 514 | 587 |
Cumberland | 251 | 287 |
DeKalb | 108 | 131 |
DeWitt | 339 | 316 |
Douglas | 121 | 102 |
Dupage | 16 | 13 |
Edgar | 269 | 277 |
Edwards | 130 | 138 |
Effingham | 269 | 325 |
Fayette | 447 | 512 |
Ford | 33 | 36 |
Franklin | 641 | 637 |
Fulton | 1126 | 1116 |
Gallatin | 199 | 156 |
Greene | 452 | 496 |
Grundy | 235 | 214 |
Hamilton | 376 | 426 |
Hancock | 491 | 554 |
Hardin | 257 | 280 |
Henderson | 189 | 185 |
Henry | 336 | 324 |
Iroquois | 250 | 244 |
Jackson | 687 | 679 |
Jasper | 319 | 369 |
Jefferson | 848 | 894 |
Jersey | 377 | 350 |
JoDaviess | 850 | 807 |
Johnson | 416 | 451 |
Kane | 173 | 148 |
Kankakee | 166 | 200 |
Kendall | 134 | 118 |
Knox | 680 | 659 |
Lake | 230 | 134 |
LaSalle | 509 | 541 |
Lawrence | 281 | 332 |
Lee | 318 | 311 |
Livingston | 179 | 152 |
Logan | 200 | 197 |
Macon | 304 | 290 |
Macoupin | 673 | 681 |
Madison | 570 | 539 |
Marion | 630 | 648 |
Marshall | 235 | 265 |
Mason | 219 | 230 |
Massac | 178 | 189 |
McDonough | 328 | 390 |
McHenry | 397 | 359 |
McLean | 317 | 347 |
Menard | 246 | 249 |
Mercer | 408 | 340 |
Monroe | 222 | 255 |
Montgomery | 428 | 457 |
Morgan | 362 | 382 |
Moultrie | 205 | 199 |
Ogle | 532 | 541 |
Peoria | 571 | 614 |
Perry | 498 | 544 |
Piatt | 94 | 95 |
Pike | 1518 | 1562 |
Pope | 492 | 586 |
Pulaski | 130 | 143 |
Putnam | 190 | 188 |
Randolph | 674 | 694 |
Richland | 221 | 270 |
Rock Island | 511 | 505 |
Saline | 324 | 288 |
Sangamon | 451 | 479 |
Schuyler | 634 | 673 |
Scott | 140 | 149 |
Shelby | 459 | 510 |
St. Clair | 409 | 381 |
Stark | 83 | 92 |
Stephenson | 367 | 386 |
Tazewell | 362 | 343 |
Union | 496 | 500 |
Vermilion | 576 | 568 |
Wabash | 126 | 138 |
Warren | 212 | 190 |
Washington | 333 | 343 |
Wayne | 521 | 558 |
White | 317 | 325 |
Whiteside | 341 | 364 |
Will | 444 | 464 |
Williamson | 651 | 653 |
Winnebago | 346 | 352 |
Woodford | 335 | 362 |
Grand Total | 38076 | 39370 |