A file photo of a deer stand during archery season in Illinois. | Dale Bowman
Deer harvest by Illinois bowhunters remains well behind the pace of 2020, but is ahead of harvests for the same period in 2019 and 2018.
The pattern of the fall continues for Illinois bowhunters: Harvest remains well behind the pace of 2020, but ahead of harvests in 2019 and 2018. Through Sunday, Nov. 14, harvest was down 4,031 from the same time in 2020.
That certainly seems to be related to people getting back to more normal lives after pandemic abnormalities of 2020.
I will be very curious whether the drop in bow harvest will impact harvest by firearm hunters. The first firearm season is Friday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 21. I suspect the weather will have more of an impact, The forecast seems a fairly normal fall forecast for this weekend. That should help the firearm hunters, too.
Here is the word from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
ARCHERY DEER SEASON
Through Sunday, November 14, 2021, Illinois archery deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 47,711 deer, compared to 51,742 for the same period in 2020. Archery deer harvest for the same period (Oct. 1 through Nov. 14) in 2018 was 45,416 and in 2019 was 45,962.
The top five counties for Archery Deer harvest through Nov. 14, 2021 were Pike (1,635), Jefferson (1,224), Fulton (1,156), Adams (1,066), and Macoupin (920).
(A table with county harvest info is attached)
