Hunters in Knox County had a very good first three days of the firearm deer hunting season.
According to preliminary numbers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, hunters in Knox County bagged 738 head of deer during the first weekend of the firearm season.
That’s up from the previous two years. Last year, hunters in the county nabbed 682 deer and, in 2019, hunters harvested 704 deer.
In total, hunters across the state took over 3,000 more deer this year than last, harvesting a preliminary total of 50,300. Last year, hunters harvested 47,147 deer.
Warren County hunters saw a very slight increase from last year in their harvest numbers with 295. Last year, Warren County hunters had 292, which was down from 303 in 2019.
Fulton County, which typically produces some of the best hunting numbers in the state, was down from the last two years with 1,176. Last year, their first-weekend harvest was 1,193 and in 2019 it was 1,243.
Increases were also seen in Mercer (548), McDonough (497), and Peoria (585) counties. And, decreases were seen in Henry (280) and Stark (117) counties.
The last four days of the firearm season start Thursday and run through Sunday, December 2-5.