Illinois deer hunting: Late-season info

Illinois Late-Winter and Special CWD Deer Hunting Seasons Counties Announced for 2016-17 SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois’ Late-Winter Antlerless-only Deer Hunting Season will be open in 24 counties, while the state’s Special CWD Deer Hunting Season will be open in 14 counties for 2016-17, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced today. The Late-Winter season provides additional hunting opportunities in counties with surplus deer, while the Special CWD season allows hunters to help combat the spread of chronic wasting disease in Illinois’ white-tailed deer herd. Season dates for the split 7-day Late-Winter and Special CWD hunts will be Dec. 29, 2016-Jan. 1, 2017 and Jan. 13-15, 2017. Counties open previously during the Late-Winter season that will be closed for late-winter hunting in 2016-17 are Edwards, Marshall, Pike and Saline. Perry County, which was not open to Late-Winter hunting last season, will be open for the Late-Winter hunt in 2016-17. There is no change in the list of counties open for the Special CWD season in 2016-17. IDNR biologists recommended the changes for the 2016-17 seasons following analyses of deer data including hunting harvest, deer-vehicle accidents, deer disease reports, and other factors. Hunters in Illinois harvested 4,537 deer in 27 open counties during the Late-Winter season and 1,825 deer during the Special CWD season in 14 open counties in 2015-16. Hunters harvested 155,229 deer during all firearm and archery seasons in Illinois last year. Open counties for the 2016-17 Late-Winter Antlerless-only Deer Season and Special CWD Deer Season are listed below. Late-Winter Season Open Counties: Brown Carroll Clark Clay Crawford Edgar Fulton Hamilton Henderson Knox Lee Madison Marion McDonough McLean Mercer Monroe Perry Putnam Rock Island Schuyler Shelby Vermilion White CWD Season Open Counties: Boone DeKalb Grundy Jo Daviess Kane Kankakee Kendall LaSalle Livingston McHenry Ogle Stephenson Will Winnebago A map showing open counties for the 2016-17 Late-Winter and Special CWD seasons is available at this link: http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/news/Documents/2016-17LateWinterCWDmap.pdf