Illinois bowhunters are well ahead of the harvest pace at the same time in 2019; an extra weekend of hunting may have contributed.

By Dale Bowman

File photo of an Illinois deer head against the sky. Credit: Dale Bowman — File photo of an Illinois deer head against the sky.

There is a significant surge in harvest by bowhunters in Illinois, as compared to last year. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources posits part of the reason to the quirk of the calendar with an extra weekend so far as compared to last year. I don’t think that explains the whole of nearly a 5,000 deer increase in harvest.

Here is the word from the IDNR:

ILLINOIS ARCHERY DEER SEASON UPDATE Through Sunday, November 8, 2020, Illinois archery deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 39,659 deer, compared to 34,773 for the same period in 2019. Part of this increase is likely due to an extra weekend of archery deer hunting compared to last year. Harvest to date has consisted of 51% males and 49% females (20,104:19,555). Male harvest has increased in the past few weeks and rut is expected to peak this week. The top five counties for archery harvest were Pike (1,327), Fulton (978), Jefferson (932), Adams (790), and Jo Daviess (774).

County by county breakdown:

County 2019 2020

ADAMS 852 790

ALEXANDER 99 100

BOND 212 285

BOONE 79 120

BROWN 493 467

BUREAU 405 471

CALHOUN 426 530

CARROLL 399 418

CASS 360 404

CHAMPAIGN 179 206

CHRISTIAN 308 337

CLARK 423 483

CLAY 329 359

CLINTON 293 385

COLES 395 463

COOK 53 85

CRAWFORD 432 589

CUMBERLAND 273 325

DEKALB 106 118

DEWITT 267 356

DOUGLAS 96 129

DUPAGE 14 21

EDGAR 240 301

EDWARDS 118 141

EFFINGHAM 322 374

FAYETTE 543 639

FORD 26 35

FRANKLIN 576 648

FULTON 986 978

GALLATIN 126 136

GREENE 492 588

GRUNDY 187 194

HAMILTON 358 417

HANCOCK 494 605

HARDIN 183 180

HENDERSON 150 221

HENRY 294 335

IROQUOIS 214 273

JACKSON 561 652

JASPER 369 444

JEFFERSON 865 932

JERSEY 333 425

JODAVIESS 734 774

JOHNSON 319 377

KANE 145 181

KANKAKEE 156 179

KENDALL 103 130

KNOX 601 610

LAKE 150 152

LASALLE 392 492

LAWRENCE 271 289

LEE 269 309

LIVINGSTON 140 161

LOGAN 243 229

MACON 235 258

MACOUPIN 666 753

MADISON 494 665

MARION 582 620

MARSHALL 209 264

MASON 266 290

MASSAC 140 153

MCDONOUGH 355 357

MCHENRY 319 376

MCLEAN 311 351

MENARD 262 290

MERCER 315 372

MONROE 234 285

MONTGOMERY 452 523

MORGAN 387 386

MOULTRIE 206 239

OGLE 416 470

PEORIA 589 646

PERRY 468 535

PIATT 132 165

PIKE 1132 1327

POPE 385 436

PULASKI 110 135

PUTNAM 158 166

RANDOLPH 584 653

RICHLAND 225 255

ROCK ISLAND 405 393

SALINE 278 310

SANGAMON 470 552

SCHUYLER 630 618

SCOTT 153 188

SHELBY 526 576

ST CLAIR 374 486

STARK 84 81

STEPHENSON 346 355

TAZEWELL 371 464

UNION 398 444

VERMILION 468 652

WABASH 98 114

WARREN 149 184

WASHINGTON 285 349

WAYNE 481 510

WHITE 221 282

WHITESIDE 295 343

WILL 363 424

WILLIAMSON 625 739

WINNEBAGO 299 346

WOODFORD 369 437

34773 39659

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Illinois bowhunters are well ahead of the harvest pace at the same time in 2019; an extra weekend of hunting may have contributed.