Deer harvest by Illinois bowhunters stayed ahead of last season

Deer harvest by Illinois bowhunters stays ahead of 2018, while the firearm season opens Friday.

By Dale Bowman

File photo of a mounted deer head against the sky. Credit: Dale Bowman — File photo of a mounted deer head.

Just days away from Illinois’ firearm deer season opening on Friday, Illinois bowhunters continue to harvest deer at a rate ahead of last season.

Here is the weekly update from the Illinois DNR:

Here’s an update on the Illinois Archery Deer Season from the IDNR Division of Wildlife Resources. A reminder that the Illinois Firearm Deer Season begins this weekend – Nov. 22-24 – then concludes Dec. 5-8. ARCHERY DEER SEASON Through Sunday, November 17, 2019, Illinois archery deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 53,064 deer, compared to 47,647 for the same period in 2018. (Note: Part of this increase is because there was one more weekend of archery deer hunting prior to firearm season this year.) Harvest to date has consisted of 45% does and 55% males (23787:29277). The proportion of males in the harvest remained high this past week because of rutting activity; during the past seven days males comprised 68% of the harvest. The top five counties for archery harvest through November 17, 2019 were Pike (1,660), Fulton (1,441), Jefferson (1,319), Adams (1,205), and Macoupin (1,008). County results are included in [the table below].

County 2018 2019

Adams 1134 1205

Alexander 150 159

Bond 330 342

Boone 111 129

Brown 771 715

Bureau 556 591

Calhoun 569 650

Carroll 489 544

Cass 518 552

Champaign 269 284

Christian 421 446

Clark 697 671

Clay 441 518

Clinton 387 454

Coles 539 615

Cook 80 81

Crawford 710 697

Cumberland 396 454

DeKalb 127 144

DeWitt 394 395

Douglas 144 146

Dupage 15 24

Edgar 361 387

Edwards 169 208

Effingham 385 496

Fayette 736 868

Ford 41 43

Franklin 779 907

Fulton 1258 1441

Gallatin 187 222

Greene 647 731

Grundy 255 262

Hamilton 526 605

Hancock 711 749

Hardin 357 344

Henderson 206 244

Henry 403 435

Iroquois 292 337

Jackson 849 907

Jasper 522 580

Jefferson 1109 1319

Jersey 434 520

JoDaviess 958 997

Johnson 541 552

Kane 220 222

Kankakee 245 239

Kendall 122 153

Knox 748 857

Lake 213 204

LaSalle 605 600

Lawrence 340 429

Lee 347 378

Livingston 186 204

Logan 246 360

Macon 313 371

Macoupin 829 1008

Madison 683 744

Marion 740 905

Marshall 273 327

Mason 293 383

Massac 223 261

McDonough 476 474

McHenry 420 488

McLean 416 441

Menard 302 352

Mercer 436 471

Monroe 324 392

Montgomery 581 686

Morgan 471 564

Moultrie 266 328

Ogle 520 562

Peoria 666 803

Perry 618 731

Piatt 132 199

Pike 1669 1660

Pope 744 671

Pulaski 153 205

Putnam 194 241

Randolph 869 968

Richland 329 393

Rock Island 565 570

Saline 407 464

Sangamon 665 700

Schuyler 848 898

Scott 185 239

Shelby 671 829

St. Clair 513 570

Stark 106 124

Stephenson 402 470

Tazewell 494 545

Union 633 693

Vermilion 670 725

Wabash 137 176

Warren 230 234

Washington 415 494

Wayne 604 787

White 319 395

Whiteside 385 422

Will 563 535

Williamson 837 989

Winnebago 390 410

Woodford 422 551

Total 47647 53064

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Deer harvest by Illinois bowhunters stays ahead of last season: Firearm season opens Friday

Deer harvest by Illinois bowhunters stays ahead of 2018, while the firearm season opens Friday.