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Thursday, April 25, 2024
Outdoors Sports

Despite wind and cold, harvest is up in first portion of Illinois’ firearm deer season

Illinois hunters harvested 52,354 deer during the first portion of Illinois’ firearm deer season, up from last year, despite cold and wind most of the three days.

By  Dale Bowman
   
SHARE Despite wind and cold, harvest is up in first portion of Illinois’ firearm deer season
File photo of a deer check station sign.

File photo of a deer check station sign.

Dale Bowman

Considering the wind and cold for much of the three days of the first portion of Illinois’ firearm deer season, I am surprised that the harvest was up from last year.

Here’s the word from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:

Hunters harvest more than 52,000 deer during first weekend of Illinois firearm season

SPRINGFIELD – Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 52,354 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois firearm deer season Nov. 18-20.

Comparatively, hunters took 48,964 deer during the first firearm weekend in 2021.

Illinois’ seven-day firearm deer season will conclude Dec. 1-4. Other deer hunting opportunities in the weeks ahead include:

• Muzzleloader-only deer season Dec. 9-11

• Late-winter antlerless-only and Chronic Wasting Disease deer seasons (in select counties only) Dec. 29-Jan. 1 and Jan.13-15

• Archery deer season continues through Jan. 15. (Note: archery deer hunting is closed Dec. 1-4 in counties open for firearm deer season.)

For more details about deer hunting, open counties and other information, visit https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx.

A table of preliminary Illinois firearm deer harvest totals by county for the first weekend of the 2022 season, and comparable totals for 2020 and 2021, can be found below.

County 2020 2021 2022

ADAMS 1305 1311 1437

ALEXANDER 257 264 239

BOND 427 478 537

BOONE 79 73 71

BROWN 559 572 655

BUREAU 639 612 609

CALHOUN 360 427 465

CARROLL 355 373 331

CASS 384 386 423

CHAMPAIGN 163 143 137

CHRISTIAN 422 376 403

CLARK 630 692 721

CLAY 735 765 889

CLINTON 474 493 606

COLES 451 466 487

CRAWFORD 561 635 673

CUMBERLAND 544 531 542

DEKALB 78 87 73

DEWITT 223 195 220

DOUGLAS 115 115 120

EDGAR 332 370 424

EDWARDS 227 273 317

EFFINGHAM 614 637 653

FAYETTE 986 1106 1184

FORD 80 81 86

FRANKLIN 749 848 956

FULTON 1202 1154 1249

GALLATIN 235 253 305

GREENE 638 612 634

GRUNDY 151 154 172

HAMILTON 661 729 741

HANCOCK 1056 1001 1128

HARDIN 420 515 548

HENDERSON 308 262 283

HENRY 291 268 275

IROQUOIS 322 282 257

JACKSON 1230 1290 1484

JASPER 693 715 794

JEFFERSON 1087 1228 1249

JERSEY 350 416 425

JO DAVIESS 1029 830 843

JOHNSON 858 866 874

KANE 18 27 18

KANKAKEE 124 140 114

KENDALL 57 47 43

KNOX 686 720 737

LAKE 0 5 5

LASALLE 473 409 427

LAWRENCE 334 366 399

LEE 337 316 314

LIVINGSTON 279 312 268

LOGAN 200 217 193

MACON 157 148 155

MACOUPIN 997 1003 1120

MADISON 384 460 509

MARION 917 998 1186

MARSHALL 408 393 412

MASON 256 258 249

MASSAC 220 238 268

MCDONOUGH 455 488 495

MCHENRY 172 181 129

MCLEAN 412 398 349

MENARD 213 214 215

MERCER 533 538 509

MONROE 670 710 856

MONTGOMERY 523 541 619

MORGAN 378 364 442

MOULTRIE 143146 158

OGLE 442 394 356

PEORIA 545 567 576

PERRY 719 783 969

PIATT 90 83 89

PIKE 1033 987 1129

POPE 888 934 1068

PULASKI 178 190 222

PUTNAM 209 236 228

RANDOLPH 1341 1457 1518

RICHLAND 405 475 487

ROCK ISLAND 462 404 408

SALINE 535 533 628

SANGAMON 330 354 327

SCHUYLER 763 833 904

SCOTT 176 209 190

SHELBY 825 864 883

ST. CLAIR 477 529 576

STARK 126 113 118

STEPHENSON 408 370 342

TAZEWELL 314 339 352

UNION 773 795 812

VERMILION 333 400 369

WABASH 102 118 122

WARREN 294 288 290

WASHINGTON 600 672 771

WAYNE 864 935 1015

WHITE 467 437 553

WHITESIDE 424 348 335

WILL 150 123 134

WILLIAMSON 950 1109 1287

WINNEBAGO 194 167 154

WOODFORD 373 397 434

Total 47416 48964 52354

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