Illinois Deer Harvest Surpasses 80,000

Illinois hunters killed 80,896 deer during the seven-day firearm season that concluded on Sunday, a 1 percent increase over the total killed a year ago.

The relatively flat number comes after hunters started off the 2018 season quickly. Hunters harvested 58,836 deer from Nov. 16-18, the first weekend of firearm season. That was a 14 percent increase over last year's opening weekend.

But during the second weekend, Nov. 29-Dec. 2, hunters got 22,060 deer, a 23 percent decrease compared to last year's closing weekend.


Remaining deer season hunting opportunities in Illinois in the weeks ahead include:

Muzzleloader-only deer season, Dec. 7-9.
Late-winter antlerless-only deer season and CWD deer season (in designated counties only), Dec. 27-30 and Jan. 18-20.
Archery deer season continues through Jan. 20.