The 2020 Firearm Deer Hunting season wrapped up on Sunday and hunters had a more successful year than they did in 2019.
Preliminary numbers released by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources indicates that 76,579 deer were taken by hunters during the seven-day hunting seasons that fell on the weekends before and after Thanksgiving Day: November 20-22, and December 3-6.
The first weekend saw 47,147 deer harvested by hunters around the state. The final four-day weekend saw 29,432 deer taken in.
Hunters in Knox County bagged 1,136 deer during the firearm season. That is an increase of 50 from last year.
Increases were also seen in all neighboring counties.
One of the most productive counties in the state was Fulton County, hunters there harvested 1,913 deer during the seven-day firearm season. Only Randolph and Adams counties hunters harvested more deer.
Remaining 2020-21 deer season hunting opportunities in Illinois in the weeks ahead include:
- Muzzleloader-Only Deer Season, Dec. 11-13;
- Late-Winter Antlerless-Only Deer Season and CWD Deer Season (in designated counties only), Dec. 31, 2020 – Jan. 3, 2021 and Jan. 15-17, 2021; and
- Archery Deer Season, which continues through Jan. 17, 2021.
