Deer harvest during Illinois’ muzzleloader season, Dec. 11-13, was up from harvest in 2019. I suspect it had to do with weather as much as anything, but I don’t discount the possibility that hunters had more time to spend in the field with the pandemic.
Deer harvest was up for the firearm seasons, too, and the harvest by bowhunters is headed toward a record, so Illinois should end with a higher overall harvest at this rate for 2020-21.
Here is the breakdown of the muzzleloader-only deer season from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
Here is an update on the preliminary harvest from the recent Illinois Muzzleloader-Only Deer Season from the IDNR Division of Wildlife Resources. IL MUZZLELOADER DEER SEASON During the 2020 Illinois Muzzleloader-Only Deer season (December 11-13), hunters harvested a preliminary total of 3,447 deer, compared to 3,076 in 2019. The preliminary harvest total consisted of 43% males and 57% females (1,469:1,978). The top five counties for muzzleloader season harvest were Pike (140), Randolph (111), Adams (107), Jefferson (99), and Hancock (94).
County by county numbers are below
County 2019 2020
ADAMS 80 107
ALEXANDER 24 27
BOND 13 19
BOONE 2 7
BROWN 39 58
BUREAU 44 49
CALHOUN 42 49
CARROLL 20 22
CASS 28 28
CHAMPAIGN 19 16
CHRISTIAN 27 32
CLARK 59 57
CLAY 29 35
CLINTON 22 28
COLES 22 20
COOK 0 0
CRAWFORD 29 24
CUMBERLAND 31 29
DEKALB 8 6
DEWITT 24 19
DOUGLAS 9 7
DUPAGE 0 0
EDGAR 28 31
EDWARDS 19 17
EFFINGHAM 28 24
FAYETTE 52 59
FORD 5 5
FRANKLIN 65 64
FULTON 69 74
GALLATIN 14 15
GREENE 52 53
GRUNDY 11 10
HAMILTON 41 47
HANCOCK 83 94
HARDIN 44 37
HENDERSON 17 14
HENRY 21 23
IROQUOIS 28 31
JACKSON 77 61
JASPER 37 49
JEFFERSON 99 99
JERSEY 21 28
JODAVIESS 37 68
JOHNSON 44 41
KANE 2 2
KANKAKEE 11 5
KENDALL 6 3
KNOX 45 43
LAKE 0 0
LASALLE 25 25
LAWRENCE 30 36
LEE 21 20
LIVINGSTON 5 15
LOGAN 20 16
MACON 31 32
MACOUPIN 53 50
MADISON 26 23
MARION 41 60
MARSHALL 19 26
MASON 15 18
MASSAC 16 16
MCDONOUGH 39 48
MCHENRY 5 17
MCLEAN 27 33
MENARD 20 25
MERCER 26 39
MONROE 20 26
MONTGOMERY 22 33
MORGAN 20 26
MOULTRIE 8 12
OGLE 18 22
PEORIA 28 39
PERRY 58 63
PIATT 9 11
PIKE 142 140
POPE 68 55
PULASKI 10 13
PUTNAM 12 18
RANDOLPH 72 111
RICHLAND 24 25
ROCK ISLAND 22 29
SALINE 38 41
SANGAMON 27 29
SCHUYLER 55 59
SCOTT 13 15
SHELBY 45 51
STARK 10 8
ST. CLAIR 17 18
STEPHENSON 12 21
TAZEWELL 19 16
UNION 51 62
VERMILION 37 36
WABASH 8 16
WARREN 13 18
WASHINGTON 32 36
WAYNE 50 75
WHITE 50 56
WHITESIDE 13 22
WILL 14 23
WILLIAMSON 60 57
WINNEBAGO 11 7
WOODFORD 22 23
Total 3076 3447
