Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Illinois' Firearm Deer Season Shows Decrease During First Season

Each year thousands of Illinoisans head to the fields in hopes of capturing a whitetail in the cross-hairs of their shotguns.  This year, there were wide spread reports of success in the field but the first season firearm harvest numbers show otherwise.  Many factors played into the decline of 3,087 deer during first firearm season including high winds and rain on Saturday.  However, these numbers could have fooled some of the orange army.   Mark Stewart of Braidwood traveled to Southern Illinois for first firearm season.  "We heard over 230 shots by 8:30 opening day in Hardin County and the last I heard was mine at 10:00 AM"

Northern Illinois counties where chronic wasting disease (CWD) is prevalent hunters who harvest a deer are required to register them during firearm season by taking them to a check station between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Biologists will be present to take CWD samples for testing at the time of registration. Testing is voluntary, but all hunters with adult deer are encouraged to participate.   We have video from a CWD Check Station where they were taking samples provided by our pro staffer Rick.  Watch the video here.

Heather got herself a nice mature doe during firearm season.
Nice Going!
For some reason this weeks numbers do not have the breakdown of buck to doe ratio.  Below you'll see the numbers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.


Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 51,365 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois Firearm Deer Season on Nov. 17-19. Hunters took 54,452 deer during the first firearm weekend in 2016. 
Illinois’ seven-day Firearm Deer Season will conclude Nov. 30 through Dec. 3.
County
2016
2017
ADAMS
1642
1408
ALEXANDER
283
291
BOND
390
441
BOONE
87
82
BROWN
645
663
BUREAU
704
632
CALHOUN
482
505
CARROLL
529
425
CASS
475
429
CHAMPAIGN
165
133
CHRISTIAN
420
360
CLARK
715
775
CLAY
784
760
CLINTON
457
495
COLES
388
382
CRAWFORD
656
673
CUMBERLAND
494
478
DEKALB
79
67
DEWITT
192
180
DOUGLAS
105
96
EDGAR
387
365
EDWARDS
282
273
EFFINGHAM
589
580
FAYETTE
1050
1008
FORD
72
64
FRANKLIN
807
854
FULTON
1344
1270
GALLATIN
296
282
GREENE
660
641
GRUNDY
214
157
HAMILTON
786
779
HANCOCK
1079
1082
HARDIN
605
646
HENDERSON
372
319
HENRY
404
356
IROQUOIS
326
297
JACKSON
1562
1487
JASPER
675
663
JEFFERSON
1276
1328
JERSEY
444
410
JODAVIESS
1306
1155
JOHNSON
1166
1091
KANE
18
19
KANKAKEE
125
118
KENDALL
67
52
KNOX
820
697
LAKE
5
3
LASALLE
537
431
LAWRENCE
375
394
LEE
359
328
LIVINGSTON
293
246
LOGAN
256
206
MACON
170
150
MACOUPIN
967
945
MADISON
444
493
MARION
1051
1081
MARSHALL
382
424
MASON
305
231
MASSAC
367
282
MCDONOUGH
597
525
MCHENRY
168
151
MCLEAN
363
324
MENARD
238
226
MERCER
605
518
MONROE
704
661
MONTGOMERY
551
509
MORGAN
508
452
MOULTRIE
134
138
OGLE
538
443
PEORIA
639
524
PERRY
814
815
PIATT
75
69
PIKE
1346
1187
POPE
1096
1092
PULASKI
281
221
PUTNAM
213
232
RANDOLPH
1582
1603
RICHLAND
528
481
ROCKISLAND
552
455
SALINE
618
618
SANGAMON
385
391
SCHUYLER
901
871
SCOTT
264
...

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