Illinois hunters reported a preliminary harvest of 54,661 deer during the first weekend of the firearm deer season, held Nov. 22–24. This marks an increase from the 53,348 deer harvested during the same period in 2023 and 52,354 in 2022.
The state's seven-day firearm deer season will conclude Dec. 5–8. Additional hunting opportunities for the 2024–2025 season include the muzzleloader-only season from Dec. 13–15 and the late-winter antlerless-only and chronic wasting disease (CWD) deer seasons in select counties, running Dec. 26–29 and Jan. 17–19.
Archery deer hunting remains open through Jan. 19, except in counties participating in the firearm season from Dec. 5–8.
Here are the deer harvest reports in the Regional Radio listening area:
Christian County: 2022- 403, 2023- 417, 2024- 412
Effingham: 2022- 653, 2023-696, 2024-763
Fayette: 2022-1184, 2023- 1166, 2024- 1298
Macon: 2022-155,2023-153,2024-156
Montgomery: 2022-619, 2023-592, 2024-707
Shelby: 2022-883,2023-895, 2024- 921
For further details and a county-by-county breakdown of harvest numbers, visit the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website.
