Special chronic wasting disease deer season contributes to state’s increased harvest

Hunters in Illinois’ northern counties had a late-winter season that contributed to the state’s overall deer harvest that was an increase over the previous year, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources reported.

Sixteen northern Illinois counties – including Lee, Ogle and Carroll – were open to the special chronic wasting disease season. There also was a seven-day late winter season in 24 mostly central and western counties.

Combined, the late-winter harvest take was 5,404 deer, which was an increase over the 4,504 from 2021-22.

Overall, Illinois hunters had a harvest of 158,010 deer from all archery and firearms seasons. That is an increase over last year’s 146,438.

During the 2022-23 deer seasons, hunters took 45.04% females.

Here’s the seasonal breakdown:

Archery, from Oct. 1 to Jan. 15, had a harvest of 69,557. The previous season was 66,630.

Youth hunters, from Oct. 8 to 10, had a harvest of 3,339. The previous season was 1,847.

Traditional firearms, from Nov. 18 to 20 and Dec. 1 to 4, had a harvest of 76,854. The previous season was 70,456.

Muzzleloader hunting, from Dec. 9 to 11, had a harvest of 2,856. The previous season was 3,046.