Illinois hunters took nearly 59,000 deer during the first weekend of this fall’s firearm deer season. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says that harvest represented a 14 percent increase over the first weekend of the season last year. That weekend’s harvest totaled 51,450. The state’s seven-day firearm deer season concludes Nov. 29 through Dec. 2. The Illinois DNR notes that there are other deer-hunting opportunities coming up. Muzzleloader-only deer season is Dec. 7 to 9. Late-winter antlerless-only deer season and CWD deer season in counties where chronic wasting disease has been found in deer runs Dec. 27-30 and Jan. 18-20, 2019. Archery deer season continues through Jan. 20, 2019. But archery season shuts down Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 in counties where there is firearm hunting.
