Hunters harvest preliminary total of 86,771 deer during seven-day firearm season

SPRINGFIELD – Deer hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 86,771 deer during the seven-day Firearm Deer Season that closed on Sunday, Dec. 6. That figure compares to 76,575 deer harvested during the seven days of firearm season in 2014.

Preliminary harvest figures for the second segment of the firearm season on Dec. 3-6 totaled 28,803, compared with 24,745 during the second season in 2014.  The preliminary harvest total for the first segment of firearm season on Nov. 20-22 was 57,968 deer, compared with the 51,830 deer taken by hunters during the first season in 2014.

Deer hunting opportunities remain in Illinois this fall and early winter.

The Illinois Muzzleloader-only Season is this weekend, Dec. 11-13.The first Late-Winter Antlerless-Only and CWD Deer Seasons (in designated counties only) will be Dec. 31, 2015-Jan. 3, 2016.The second Late-Winter Antlerless-Only and CWD Deer Seasons (in designated counties only) will be Jan. 15-17, 2016.Archery Deer Season continues through Jan. 17, 2016.

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

For more deer hunting information, visit: www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deer.

A table of preliminary Firearm Deer Season harvest numbers for 2015, broken down by county and compared with 2014, is below:

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