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Thursday, April 25, 2024
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Firearm deer harvest down, despite better second season in Illinois

Firearm deer harvest in Illinois dropped from 2018, despite a better second season.

By  Dale Bowman
   
SHARE Firearm deer harvest down, despite better second season in Illinois
Resized/Sun-Times

File photo from first season of signs for the McHenry County deer check station.

Dale Bowman

A strong second season for Illinois firearm hunters was not enough to lift the overall harvest, which was 75,349. Last year in the two firearm seasons, overall harvest was 80,957.

Illinois Firearm Deer Season Preliminary Harvest Totals 75,349 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A preliminary total of 75,349 deer were taken by hunters during the seven-day Illinois Firearm Deer Season that concluded Sunday, Dec. 8. The 2019 preliminary harvest total compares to the final total of 80,957 deer harvested during the firearm season in 2018. The preliminary harvest for the second segment of the firearm season, held Dec. 5-8, was 25,176, compared with 22,060 during the second season in 2018. The preliminary harvest for the first segment of firearm season, held Nov. 22-24, was 50,173 deer. Remaining 2019-20 deer season hunting opportunities in Illinois in the weeks ahead include: • The Muzzleloader-Only Deer Season this weekend (Dec. 13-15); • The Late-Winter Antlerless-Only Deer Season and CWD Deer Season (in designated counties only) will be on two upcoming weekends - Dec. 26-29, 2019 and Jan. 17-19, 2020; • The Archery Deer Season continues through Jan. 19, 2020. Details on the Late-Winter and CWD seasons are available on the IDNR website at https://bit.ly/38r7LYc. A map showing the counties open to the Late-Winter and CWD seasons can be found at https://bit.ly/2rrT46N. For more deer hunting information, visit https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx A table of preliminary Firearm Deer Season harvest totals for 2019 by county, and comparable totals for 2018, is below.

County 2019 1st Season 2019 2nd Season 2019 Total 2018 Total
ADAMS 1437 737 2174 2339
ALEXANDER 311 132 443 505
BOND 500 208 708 733
BOONE 71 75 146 140
BROWN 604 366 970 1070
BUREAU 622 340 962 1082
CALHOUN 494 354 848 853
CARROLL 432 208 640 684
CASS 380 217 597 693
CHAMPAIGN 133 73 206 209
CHRISTIAN 372 191 563 610
CLARK 694 342 1036 1187
CLAY 774 321 1095 1219
CLINTON 453 177 630 745
COLES 417 203 620 658
CRAWFORD 562 323 885 1106
CUMBERLAND 511 259 770 778
DEKALB 80 34 114 120
DEWITT 206 127 333 376
DOUGLAS 88 48 136 153
EDGAR 346 184 530 565
EDWARDS 219 146 365 425
EFFINGHAM 597 291 888 988
FAYETTE 1004 509 1513 1587
FORD 73 33 106 110
FRANKLIN 853 492 1345 1409
FULTON 1243 656 1899 1900
GALLATIN 249 150 399 421
GREENE 632 410 1042 1029
GRUNDY 194 93 287 270
HAMILTON 717 324 1041 1149
HANCOCK 1032 622 1654 1716
HARDIN 602 255 857 887
HENDERSON 264 142 406 445
HENRY 254 153 407 484
IROQUOIS 339 154 493 466
JACKSON 1422 677 2099 2440
JASPER 667 361 1028 1015
JEFFERSON 1251 637 1888 1906
JERSEY 401 226 627 671
JODAVIESS 1005 459 1464 1690
JOHNSON 1026 356 1382 1562
KANE 18 2 20 30
KANKAKEE 132 84 216 199
KENDALL 53 29 82 87
KNOX 704 380 1084 1119
LAKE 5 0 5 1
LASALLE 469 214 683 749
LAWRENCE 348 228 576 644
LEE 311 137 448 519
LIVINGSTON 275 105 380 387
LOGAN 251 108 359 385
MACON 149 72 221 238
MACOUPIN 1025 532 1557 1703
MADISON 442 190 632 779
MARION 995 472 1467 1627
MARSHALL 402 169 571 603
MASON 235 120 355 434
MASSAC 261 173 434 456
MCDONOUGH 461 252 713 844
MCHENRY 170 73 243 275
MCLEAN 347 175 522 543
MENARD 236 123 359 371
MERCER 521 267 788 852
MONROE 699 249 948 1019
MONTGOMERY 540 259 799 800
MORGAN 401 231 632 747
MOULTRIE 156 80 236 227
OGLE 436 176 612 737
PEORIA 571 277 848 860
PERRY 882 436 1318 1351
PIATT 83 33 116 119
PIKE 1174 751 1925 2056
POPE 1064 366 1430 1440
PULASKI 209 70 279 281
PUTNAM 250 87 337 343
RANDOLPH 1553 700 2253 2275
RICHLAND 431 254 685 694
ROCK ISLAND 415 187 602 791
SALINE 602 276 878 945
SANGAMON 329 195 524 560
SCHUYLER 800 510 1310 1506
SCOTT 197 120 317 329
SHELBY 757 358 1115 1131
STARK 94 53 147 176
ST. CLAIR 478 157 635 718
STEPHENSON 365 232 597 602
TAZEWELL 339 155 494 483
UNION 913 359 1272 1406
VERMILION 323 186 509 488
WABASH 105 42 147 199
WARREN 303 161 464 478
WASHINGTON 640 268 908 1019
WAYNE 943 472 1415 1485
WHITE 456 300 756 775
WHITESIDE 373 186 559 635
WILL 160 87 247 276
WILLIAMSON 1220 637 1857 1854
WINNEBAGO 173 91 264 370
WOODFORD 398 205 603 542
Total 50173 25176 75349 80957

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