Hunters throughout Illinois took more than 1,100 deer during the 2020 Firearm Deer Season than the previous year according to preliminary totals released by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 76,579 animals were killed during the 7 day total; that’s 1,162 more than 2019 when hunters harvested 75,417. Nearly 30,000 deer were taken during the second segment of the season which ended Sunday, December 6th. That compares with just over 25,000 during the second season in 2019. The first segment, November 20 – 22 totaled 47,147 deer killed.
There are still opportunities for hunters including Muzzleloader – Only Deer Season December 11th – 13th, Late Winter Antlerless Only Deer Season and CWD Deer Season (in designated counties only) runs December 31st – January 3rd and January 15th – 17th, and Archery Deer Season, which continues through January 17th.
Locally, hunters took more deer in 2020 than 2019 in only 6 counties. Those include Edwards (383 vs 365), Gallatin (423 vs. 399), Hamilton (1,065 vs 1,043), Wabash (164 vs 147), Wayne (1,441 vs 1,416), and White (806 vs 757). Hardin and Pope Counties suffered the biggest year over year drop in the number of deer harvested. Hardin fell by 173 deer from 858 to 685 and Pope County went down from 160 from 1,431 to 1,271. Franklin County also fell, 1,376 deer were harvested in 2019; this year only 1,268 were taken. Jefferson County dropped by only 4 deer and Saline County dropped by 13 from 880 to 867.
A map showing the counties open to the Late-Winter and CWD seasons can be found at: https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/programs/CWD/Documents/Late_Winter_CWD_Map.pdf
For more deer hunting information, visit: https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Pages/DeerHunting.aspx
A table of preliminary Firearm Deer Season harvest totals for 2020 by county, and comparable totals for 2019, is below.
County 2020 1st Season 2020 2nd Season 2020 Total 2019 Total
ADAMS 1301 925 2226 2178
ALEXANDER 257 166 423 453
BOND 426 240 666 710
BOONE 79 58 137 109
BROWN 557 389 946 970
BUREAU 635 366 1001 967
CALHOUN 360 417 777 849
CARROLL 351 207 558 641
CASS 384 268 652 599
CHAMPAIGN 162 68 230 208
CHRISTIAN 419 189 608 564
CLARK 622 446 1068 1042
County 2020 1st Season 2020 2nd Season 2020 Total 2019 Total
CLAY 728 488 1216 1098
CLINTON 474 212 686 631
COLES 443 229 672 621
CRAWFORD 554 376 930 885
CUMBERLAND 542 314 856 772
DEKALB 77 36 113 108
DEWITT 220 145 365 355
DOUGLAS 115 48 163 137
EDGAR 329 212 541 530
EDWARDS 227 156 383 365
EFFINGHAM 611 334 945 888
FAYETTE 980 630 1610 1514
FORD 79 44 123 106
FRANKLIN 743 525 1268 1376
FULTON 1193 720 1913 1904
GALLATIN 232 191 423 399
GREENE 632 434 1066 1043
GRUNDY 148 104 252 266
HAMILTON 657 408 1065 1043
HANCOCK 1052 726 1778 1655
HARDIN 419 266 685 858
HENDERSON 307 146 453 406
HENRY 290 159 449 407
IROQUOIS 321 171 492 493
JACKSON 1227 855 2082 2109
JASPER 691 386 1077 1031
JEFFERSON 1080 805 1885 1889
JERSEY 350 283 633 626
JODAVIESS 1027 517 1544 1455
JOHNSON 857 461 1318 1384
KANE 17 15 32 24
KANKAKEE 123 70 193 197
KENDALL 57 21 78 65
KNOX 682 454 1136 1086
LAKE 0 1 1 5
LASALLE 465 232 697 703
LAWRENCE 334 228 562 577
LEE 334 198 532 449
LIVINGSTON 279 107 386 363
LOGAN 198 137 335 359
MACON 158 111 269 221
County 2020 1st Season 2020 2nd Season 2020 Total 2019 Total
MACOUPIN 987 548 1535 1557
MADISON 379 237 616 633
MARION 910 562 1472 1470
MARSHALL 407 186 593 572
MASON 256 130 386 357
MASSAC 219 172 391 435
MCDONOUGH 452 313 765 713
MCHENRY 170 122 292 241
MCLEAN 409 220 629 524
MENARD 211 170 381 361
MERCER 532 301 833 789
MONROE 667 310 977 949
MONTGOMERY 520 292 812 799
MORGAN 375 252 627 632
MOULTRIE 142 86 228 238
OGLE 437 241 678 634
PEORIA 539 327 866 853
PERRY 716 539 1255 1319
PIATT 89 44 133 116
PIKE 1029 842 1871 1929
POPE 884 387 1271 1431
PULASKI 177 107 284 279
PUTNAM 207 113 320 337
RANDOLPH 1340 905 2245 2260
RICHLAND 397 273 670 685
ROCK ISLAND 461 232 693 601
SALINE 534 333 867 880
SANGAMON 326 229 555 524
SCHUYLER 757 525 1282 1316
SCOTT 176 135 311 319
SHELBY 824 417 1241 1116
STARK 125 57 182 149
ST. CLAIR 474 243 717 639
STEPHENSON 405 210 615 548
TAZEWELL 314 181 495 494
UNION 772 464 1236 1293
VERMILION 329 224 553 510
WABASH 101 63 164 147
WARREN 292 179 471 465
WASHINGTON 599 360 959 909
WAYNE 861 580 1441 1416
County 2020 1st Season 2020 2nd Season 2020 Total 2019 Total
WHITE 465 341 806 757
WHITESIDE 420 186 606 560
WILL 148 102 250 238
WILLIAMSON 943 695 1638 1860
WINNEBAGO 193 89 282 265
WOODFORD 372 214 586 605
Total 47147 29432 76579 75417
