Hunters Prepare For Second Firearm Deer Season in Illinois December 4-7

Hunters in Illinois Harvest 71,894 Deer During First Weekend of Firearm Deer Season

SPRINGFIELD , IL – Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 71,894 deer during the opening weekend of the 2008 Illinois Firearm Deer season, Nov. 21-23, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Acting Director Sam Flood announced today.  The second portion of the firearm season will be Dec. 4-7.  

The preliminary total for the first three days of the 2008 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 85,490 deer during the 2007 deer season.  The top county harvest total was in Pike with 2,194 deer, followed by Adams (1,900), Fulton (1,878), Randolph (1,770), and Jefferson (1,650).  The preliminary first-season figures reported for each county include those deer taken on special hunt areas within that county as well as on private land.

“Deer hunters in Illinois once again provided a good deer harvest for the first weekend of the firearm season,” said Flood.  “We offer some of the best deer hunting opportunity in the world here in Illinois , and the firearm deer season continues to be our most popular hunting season.” 

Illinois has issued approximately 350,000 firearm deer hunting permits for the 2008 season.  Most hunters register their deer harvest online through the IDNR web site or by phoning 1-866-ILCHECK (1-866-452-4325) by 10 p.m. on the day of harvest.  Hunters in Boone, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties take their deer to county check stations where IDNR conducts sampling for chronic wasting disease.

“The weather was unseasonably cold to start the season on Friday, but it appears many hunters were in the field enjoying some success on that day and throughout the first weekend of the firearm deer season,” said IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager Paul Shelton.  “Most corn had been harvested, although 10 to 12 percent remained in the fields in the northern part of the state.  

“The good news for managers and for deer hunters with permits remaining for the second season is that most of the decline in harvest was a drop in buck harvest,” Shelton added.  “This means that our doe harvest was fairly comparable to last year and that there are plenty of both bucks and does still out there for second season hunters.” 

Approximately 59 percent of the deer taken this past weekend were bucks, compared with 62 percent bucks taken during the first weekend of the firearm season in 2007.   

The Illinois firearm deer season concludes Dec. 4-7.  The muzzleloader-only deer season is Dec. 12-14.  The Late-Winter Antlerless-only firearm deer season and the Special CWD deer season are Jan. 16-18, 2009.  The state’s 2008-09 archery deer season continues through Jan. 15 (except closed in firearm counties during the second firearm season Dec. 4-7).   

The table below provides preliminary county harvest totals for the first segment of the firearm season and comparable figures for the first season in 2007.

County	2007	2008
Adams	2140	1900
Alexander	339	335
Bond	877	632
Boone	133	90
Brown	1135	996
Bureau	1205	1030
Calhoun	1036	889
Carroll	921	740
Cass	665	510
Champaign	272	195
Christian	574	466
Clark	1122	896
Clay	1177	998
Clinton	808	635
Coles	621	550
Crawford	950	831
Cumberland	693	654
DeKalb	213	136
DeWitt	320	303
Douglas	212	156
Edgar	608	555
Edwards	434	354
Effingham	923	795
Fayette	1684	1480
Ford	123	115
Franklin	979	827
Fulton	2003	1878
Gallatin	451	402
Greene	1209	989
Grundy	354	269
Hamilton	1036	901
Hancock	1698	1553
Hardin	907	780
Henderson	586	432
Henry	742	561
Iroquois	548	548
Jackson	1824	1612
Jasper	1049	915
Jefferson	1997	1650
Jersey	790	670
JoDaviess	2055	1518
Johnson	1435	1385
Kane	48	43
Kankakee	191	157
Kendall	67	53
Knox	1244	1048
Lake	25	19
LaSalle	1127	957
Lawrence	497	420
Lee	577	446
Livingston	498	392
Logan	401	298
Macon	252	217
Macoupin	1677	1228
Madison	995	648
Marion	1677	1404
Marshall	696	607
Mason	489	484
Massac	471	369
McDonough	902	759
McHenry	360	216
McLean	541	490
Menard	392	288
Mercer	828	632
Monroe	910	863
Montgomery	1149	861
Morgan	899	674
Moultrie	251	224
Ogle	1035	730
Peoria	1317	1133
Perry	1161	964
Piatt	184	134
Pike	2610	2194
Pope	1473	1301
Pulaski	547	533
Putnam	454	361
Randolph	1890	1770
Richland	745	635
Rock Island	806	610
Saline	734	726
Sangamon	743	598
Schuyler	1346	1166
Scott	508	374
Shelby	1193	1025
St. Clair	868	724
Stark	258	216
Stephenson	837	643
Tazewell	625	527
Union	1551	1323
Vermilion	719	648
Wabash	252	218
Warren	554	481
Washington	1083	864
Wayne	1446	1316
White	808	699
Whiteside	806	542
Will	287	267
Williamson	1391	1176
Winnebago	410	315
Woodford	837	753
Total	85490	71894

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