Making Memories- A Family Pheasant Hunt at Jim Edgar Panther Creek

The first hunt I ever went on was with my dad, brother and my first black lab, Bud.  It was a pheasant hunt I will never forget, Bud flushed his first bird and I was able to shoot it.  This was a huge moment for me, not just because I harvested my first pheasant, but because I trained my dog Bud all by myself.  Granted he was no grand champion, but he was my champion.

Three generations enjoying a pheasant hunt at Jim Edgar Panther Creek

This was such a memorable hunt to my dad that he wrote a story about it and sent it to Midwest Outdoors Magazine's Hunt Contest and won.  Today you'll find the prize knife and that story safe in my closet.  During that time and to this day, I've shared great moments and stories with both my dad and brother but as you grow older, life gets in the way and the idea of hunting and fishing together takes on a new meaning.  It's not just saying, let's go hunting, there's traveling involved and family obligations that seem to hinder us making more of these memories.

Second Firearm Season see Increase in Harvest Numbers

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources released their second round of preliminary firearm deer season numbers. It seems as though the bowhunters took the rut this year since in most years it's the other way around. With the first round suffering from a day of intense rain throughout most of the state., the second season found themselves with great weather with some wind on Sunday. 

Combined the two seasons took a total of just over 80,000 deer this year and an increase of 462 over the 2016 season. As for the second firearm season it saw an increase of 3,679 deer.

As some of you may of heard, Michigan expects more cases of CWD this year and sampling this year was held throughout Illinois.   If you're interested in learning what the sample entails click here for a video.

If you are interested in the county by county ratio, they are listed below along with the DNR press release.

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Illinois Firearm Season Preliminary Harvest Totals 80,021 Deer

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Hunters harvested a preliminary total of 80,021 deer during the seven-day Illinois Firearm Deer Season that concluded on Sunday, Dec. 3. The 2017 preliminary harvest total compares to the final total of 79,559 deer harvested during the firearm season in 2016.

The preliminary harvest for the second segment of the firearm season on Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 was 28,656, compared with 24,977 during the second season in 2016. The preliminary harvest for the first segment of firearm season on Nov. 17-19 was 51,365 deer.

Deer hunting opportunities remain available in Illinois during the remainder of the 2017-18 season:

• The Illinois Muzzleloader-only Season is this weekend, Dec. 8-10.
• The Late-Winter Antlerless-Only Season and CWD Deer Season first segments (in designated counties only) will be Dec. 28-31.
• The second segments of the Late-Winter Antlerless-Only and CWD Deer Seasons (in designated counties only) will be Jan. 12-14, 2018.
• Archery Deer Season continues through Jan. 14, 2018.

Details on the Late-Winter and CWD seasons are available on the IDNR website at: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Documents/LateWinterDeerCWDHuntingPermitInformation2017-2018.pdf

A map showing the counties open to the Late-Winter and CWD seasons can be found at: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/conservation/wildlife/Documents/IllinoisLateWinterDeerSeasonsMap2017_2018.pdf

For more deer hunting information, visit: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx

A table of preliminary Firearm Deer Season harvest totals for 2017 by county, and comparable totals for 2016, is below.

County	2017 1st Season	2017 2nd Season	2017 Total	2016 Total
ADAMS	1408	771	2179	2362
ALEXANDER	291	197	488	424
BOND	441	217	658	579
BOONE	82	47	129	121
BROWN	663	355	1018	967
BUREAU	632	373	1005	1001
CALHOUN	505	308	813	793
CARROLL	425	260	685	750
CASS	429	223	652	684
CHAMPAIGN	133	66	199	227
CHRISTIAN	360	191	551	608
CLARK	775	370	1145	998
CLAY	760	352	1112	1091
CLINTON	495	199	694	627
COLES	382	210	592	550
CRAWFORD	673	343	1016	949
CUMBERLAND	478	297	775	708
DEKALB	67	40	107	139
DEWITT	180	136	316	356
DOUGLAS	96	36	132	138
EDGAR	365	197	562	566
EDWARDS	273	142	415	412
EFFINGHAM	580	292	872	807
FAYETTE	1008	536	1544	1501
FORD	64	48	112	124
FRANKLIN	854	496	1350	1297
FULTON	1270	727	1997	2013
GALLATIN	282	166	448	470
GREENE	641	418	1059	1055
GRUNDY	157	124	281	296
HAMILTON	779	396	1175	1167
HANCOCK	1082	737	1819	1639
HARDIN	646	317	963	890
HENDERSON	319	175	494	522
HENRY	356	178	534	592
IROQUOIS	297	220	517	518
JACKSON	1487	816	2303	2247
JASPER	663	321	984	973
JEFFERSON	1328	755	2083	1878
JERSEY	410	231	641	674
JODAVIESS	1155	704	1859	1859
JOHNSON	1091	496	1587	1640
KANE	19	10	29	29
KANKAKEE	118	75	193	186
KENDALL	52	30	82	98
KNOX	697	448	1145	1200
LAKE	3	0	3	4
LASALLE	431	260	691	745
LAWRENCE	394	219	613