First Weekend Preliminary Firearm Deer Season Harvest In Illinois Totals 66,126

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) reports that hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 66,126 deer during the opening weekend of the 2009 Illinois Firearm Deer season, Nov. 20-22. The second portion of the firearm season will be Dec. 3-6.

The preliminary total for the first three days of the 2009 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 71,894 deer during the 2008 deer season. The top county harvest total last weekend was in Pike with 2,012 deer, followed by Fulton (1,725), Adams (1,614), Jefferson (1,606), and Randolph (1,576). For the entire seven-day firearm season in 2008, hunters harvested 106,018 deer. 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.

“Standing corn was a significant factor affecting hunter success for the first weekend of firearm deer hunting this year,” said IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager Paul Shelton. “The wet weather this fall has delayed corn harvest in many locations, and that makes it tougher for hunters to find deer. Only 60% of corn had been harvested statewide during the gun season, while the 5-year average is 98% harvested at that time. The good news is that there is still a lot of deer hunting left, so loads of opportunities remain for Illinois hunters.”

The IDNR has issued more than 360,000 firearm deer hunting permits for the 2009 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 the IDNR registers the deer and conducts sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Sixty percent of the deer taken during the first weekend of firearm hunting were bucks, compared with 59 percent bucks taken during the first weekend of the firearm season in 2008.

The Illinois firearm deer season concludes Dec. 3-6. The muzzleloader-only deer season is Dec. 11-13. The expanded, split Late-Winter Antlerless-only Firearm and the Special CWD deer seasons (both in select counties only) are Dec. 31-Jan. 3, 2010 and Jan. 15-17, 2010. The state’s 2009-2010 Archery Deer Season continues through Jan. 17 (except closed in firearm counties during the second firearm season Dec. 3-6).

The table below provides preliminary county harvest totals for the first segment of the firearm season and comparable figures for the first season in 2008.

Preliminary First-Season Illinois Firearm Deer Harvest
(Nov. 20-22, 2009 compared with Nov. 21-23, 2008)

County 2009 2008
Adams 1614 1900
Alexander 328 335
Bond 566 632
Boone 102 90
Brown 938 996
Bureau 820 1030
Calhoun 858 889
Carroll 698 740
Cass 494 510
Champaign 171 195
Christian 400 466
Clark 908 896
Clay 942 998
Clinton 581 635
Coles 502 550
Crawford 798 831
Cumberland 617 654
DeKalb 126 136
DeWitt 250 303
Douglas 130 156
Edgar 528 555
Edwards 366 354
Effingham 765 795
Fayette 1336 1480
Ford 74 115
Franklin 779 827
Fulton 1725 1878
Gallatin 421 402
Greene 873 989
Grundy 274 269
Hamilton 872 901
Hancock 1215 1553
Hardin 747 780
Henderson 390 432
Henry 479 561
Iroquois 387 548
Jackson 1416 1612
Jasper 837 915
Jefferson 1606 1650
Jersey 585 670
JoDaviess 1493 1518
Johnson 1304 1385
Kane 38 43
Kankakee 121 157
Kendall 59 53
Knox 866 1048
Lake 9 19
LaSalle 756 957
Lawrence 457 420
Lee 436 446
Livingston 316 392
Logan 235 298
Macon 203 217
Macoupin 1200 1228
Madison 638 648
Marion 1374 1404
Marshall 548 607
Mason 443 484
Massac 425 369
McDonough 707 759
McHenry 215 216
McLean 450 490
Menard 310 288
Mercer 551 632
Monroe 792 863
Montgomery 841 861
Morgan 732 674
Moultrie 206 224
Ogle 645 730
Peoria 1012 1133
Perry 899 964
Piatt 115 134
Pike 2012 2194
Pope 1275 1301
Pulaski 471 533
Putnam 365 361
Randolph 1576 1770
Richland 614 635
Rock Island 578 610
Saline 644 726
Sangamon 541 598
Schuyler 1114 1166
Scott 368 374
Shelby 996 1025
St. Clair 656 724
Stark 186 216
Stephenson 547 643
Tazewell 505 527
Union 1168 1323
Vermilion 472 648
Wabash 211 218
Warren 388 481
Washington 839 864
Wayne 1247 1316
White 692 699
Whiteside 501 542
Will 214 267
Williamson 1101 1176
Winnebago 269 315
Woodford 662 753
Total 66126 71894