More than 54,000 deer harvested during first weekend of Illinois firearm deer season

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Illinois hunters harvested more than 54,000 whitetail deer during the first three days of the firearms season. | Photo courtesy Illinois Department of Natural Resources

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 54,661 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois firearm deer season between Nov. 22-24. Comparatively, hunters took 53,348 and 52,354 deer during the first firearm weekends in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The Illinois seven-day firearm deer season will conclude Dec. 5-8.

Remaining 2024-2025 deer hunting opportunities in Illinois include:

  • Muzzleloader-only deer season Dec. 13-15.
  • Late-winter antlerless-only and chronic wasting disease deer seasons in select counties only, Dec. 26-29 and Jan. 17-19.

Archery deer season continues through Jan. 19. Please note that archery deer hunting is closed Dec. 5-8 in counties open for firearm deer season.

Visit the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ website for more information about deer hunting.

A table of preliminary Illinois firearm deer harvest totals of local counties for the first weekend of the 2024 season and comparable totals for 2023 and 2022 follows.

County202220232024
Adams143714231414
Brown655591629
Calhoun465476499
Hancock11289921102
McDonough495528530
Pike112911891136
Schuyler904875914

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