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