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Iowa DNR releases preliminary numbers for 2018-19 Deer Hunting Season

Category: hunting

 Feb 1st, 2019 by Keith Worrall  1371

Modified Feb 1st, 2019 at 10:39 AM

Preliminary numbers are in for the 2018-19 Deer Hunting Season for the State of Illinois.

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, 151,577 head of deer were taken in during the archery and firearm seasons, which ended on January 20th.

The year prior, Illinois hunters took in only 147,695 so the good turnout helped bag more deer says IDNR Spokesperson Ed Cross.

“In 2012 we saw a few counties that saw some pretty significant loss in deer through EHD, but if you look at the counties that had higher harvest rates this year, you can some of those counties are starting to bounce back. [We are] certainly happy with the number of deer that were harvested.”

Cross adds that weather usually plays a big factor in the increased totals.

“When you look at the first part of the archery season and certainly for the first part of the firearm season, the weather was much more favorable. It just so happened that calendar fell in line with the rut season as well. You add in all those factors in and it made for a better situation for hunters in Illinois.”

Knox, Mercer, and McDonough counties saw increases in the number of deer harvested while Fulton, Henry, Peoria, Stark, and Warren counties all saw decreases. Fulton County had the highest numbers in the entire state.