Marion County hunters brought in 1,472 deer during the two shotgun deer hunting weekends this year. That’s two more than last year. 910 deer were taken during the first weekend and 562 in the second weekend.
Statewide, Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Rachel Torbert a strong second weekend resulted in a larger harvest this year.
“We ended up just a little bit ahead of where we were last year. Hunters this year had a preliminary harvest of 76,579 compared with 75,417 last year. So we’re up just about 1,000,” said Torbert.
Jefferson County had the fourth largest take in the state, with 1,885 deer taken. That’s down from last year. Fayette County had 1,610 harvested up 96 from last year. Clay County had 1,216 deer taken, up 118 from last year. Clinton County’s harvest was 686 deer, up 55 from last year. Washington County harvested 959 deer, up 50 from last year. Wayne County hunters harvested 1,441 deer, up 25 from last year. Randolph County had the largest deer harvest followed by Adams and Jackson County.
The muzzleloader-only deer season is December 11th through the 13th. Archery season continues through January 17th.
