First Weekend Deer Totals

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) today reported that hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 72,111 deer during the opening weekend of the 2012 Illinois Firearm Deer Season, Nov. 16-18.  The second portion of the firearm season will be Nov. 29-Dec. 2.

The preliminary harvest total of 72,111 for the first three days of the 2012 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 66,501 deer during the 2011 deer season.  The top county harvest total last weekend was in Pike with 2,108 deer, followed by Fulton (2,048), Adams (1,938), Jo Daviess (1,877) and Randolph (1,665).  For the entire seven-day firearm season in 2011, hunters harvested 98,820 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.

“Hunters enjoyed near perfect conditions during our first firearm weekend,” said Paul Shelton, IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager.  “Temperatures were cool, winds were calm, crops were out of the fields, and rutting activity was ongoing.  We hope hunters enjoyed their time in the field.”

Approximately 60 percent of the deer taken during the first weekend of firearm hunting were bucks, compared with 61 percent bucks taken during the first weekend of the firearm season in 2011.

The IDNR has issued more than 334,000 firearm deer hunting permits so far for the 2012 season.  For information on remaining permits, check the IDNR website at this link: www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deer.

Remaining firearm deer hunting opportunities in Illinois include the second segment of the firearm season on Nov. 29-Dec. 2, the three-day Muzzleloader-only Deer Season on Dec. 7-9, and the seven-day split Late-Winter Firearm Antlerless-only Deer Season and Special CWD Deer Season on Dec. 27-30, 2012 and Jan. 18-20, 2013.  Hunters are reminded that 10 fewer counties will be open for the Late-Winter season in 2012-13 http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Documents/LateWinterDeerSeasonMap.pdf.

For more information on Illinois deer hunting regulations, check the IDNR web site at this link: www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deer

The table below provides preliminary county harvest totals for the first segment of the 2012 firearm season and comparable figures for the first season in 2011.

                      County  2011  2012
                      Adams   1784  1938
                      Alexander     326   304
                      Bond    551   545
                      Boone   95    96
                      Brown   846   992
                      Bureau  905   1014
                      Calhoun 713   668
                      Carroll 708   835
                      Cass    445   580
                      Champaign     195   239
                      Christian     510   472
                      Clark   871   951
                      Clay    938   909
                      Clinton 583   580
                      Coles   530   502
                      Crawford      749   831
                      Cumberland    663   701
                      DeKalb  131   143
                      DeWitt  288   299
                      Douglas 176   145
                      Edgar   513   605
                      Edwards 248   314
                      Effingham     745   728
                      Fayette 1322  1284
                      Ford    85    96
                      Franklin      852   907
                      Fulton  1775  2048
                      Gallatin      365   331
                      Greene  917   991
                      Grundy  298   322
                      Hamilton      748   841
                      Hancock 1412  1515
                      Hardin  780   790
                      Henderson     423   485
                      Henry   532   592
                      Iroquois      481   549
                      Jackson 1476  1621
                      Jasper  819   852
                      Jefferson     1496  1540
                      Jersey  554   677
                      Jo Daviess    1664  1877
                      Johnson 1267  1309
                      Kane    28    36
                      Kankakee      147   170
                      Kendall 55    56
                      Knox    1022  1146
                      Lake    6     9
                      LaSalle 812   887
                      Lawrence      351   432
                      Lee     509   565
                      Livingston    394   468
                      Logan   305   358
                      Macon   227   229
                      Macoupin      1184  1366
                      Madison 606   686
                      Marion  1218  1319
                      Marshall      561   597
                      Mason   443   438
                      Massac  390   463
                      McDonough     698   736
                      McHenry 214   287
                      McLean  483   602
                      Menard  272   345
                      Mercer  671   755
                      Monroe  661   794
                      Montgomery    834   773
                      Morgan  650   658
                      Moultrie      227   226
                      Ogle    740   796
                      Peoria  1051  1093
                      Perry   822   956
                      Piatt   125   135
                      Pike    1917  2108
                      Pope    1360  1212
                      Pulaski 433   439
                      Putnam  324   389
                      Randolph      1406  1665
                      Richland      524   532
                      Rock Island   638   690
                      Saline  688   690
                      Sangamon      524   644
                      Schuyler      1120  1225
                      Scott   357   352
                      Shelby  1002  940
                      St. Clair     651   691
                      Stark   206   247
                      Stephenson    687   797
                      Tazewell      488   619
                      Union   1163  1319
                      Vermilion     628   627
                      Wabash  171   216
                      Warren  435   559
                      Washington    754   803
                      Wayne   1238  1188
                      White   606   602
                      Whiteside     512   648
                      Will    225   260
                      Williamson    1103  1145
                      Winnebago     306   379
                      Woodford      550   726
                      Total   66501 72111