More than 76,000 Deer Harvested During Firearm Season

Hunters in Illinois took a preliminary total of 76,232 deer during the seven-day 2023 Illinois firearm deer season that concluded Dec. 3.

Comparatively, hunters harvested 76,854 deer during the 2022 firearm season.

The preliminary harvest for the second segment of the 2023 firearm season Nov. 30-Dec. 3 was 22,884, compared with 24,500 deer harvested during the second part of the 2022 season.

The preliminary harvest for the first segment of this year’s firearm season Nov. 17-19 was 53,348 deer.

Here are the totals from area counties:

Effingham--946 deer were taken, 10 fewer than in 2022

Clay--1,352 deer were taken, more than the 1,229 deer taken in 2022

Cumberland--731 deer were taken, down from 817 taken in 2022

Fayette--1,682 deer were taken, slightly lower than 1,713 taken in 2022

Jasper--1,080 deer were taken, down from 1,148 taken in 2022

Shelby--1,018 deer were taken this year, down from 1,224 taken in 2022

Remaining 2023-2024 deer hunting opportunities in Illinois include:

• Late-winter antlerless-only and chronic wasting disease (CWD) season, in designated counties only, Dec. 28-31 and Jan. 12-14. A map showing the counties open to late-winter and CWD seasons can be found online Archery deer season continues through Jan. 14.