More Than 76,000 Deer Harvested During Illinois Firearm Deer Season

Dec 12, 2023 8:49 AM

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The leading county in Illinois was Randolph County with 2,174 deer harvested during firearm season. State's overall numbers slightly down from 2022.

SPRINGFIELD – Hunters in Illinois took a preliminary total of 76,232 deer during the seven-day 2023 Illinois firearm deer season that concluded Dec. 3. Comparatively, hunters harvested 76,854 deer during the 2022 firearm season.

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The preliminary harvest for the second segment of the 2023 firearm season Nov. 30-Dec. 3 was 22,884, compared with 24,500 deer harvested during the second part of the 2022 season.

The preliminary harvest for the first segment of this year’s firearm season Nov. 17-19 was 53,348 deer.

Remaining 2023-2024 deer hunting opportunities in Illinois include:

Late-winter antlerless-only and chronic wasting disease (CWD) season, in designated counties only, Dec. 28-31 and Jan. 12-14. A map showing the counties open to late-winter and CWD seasons can be found online.
Archery deer season continues through Jan. 14.

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A table of preliminary 2023 firearm deer season totals by county and comparable totals for 2022 follows.