Firearm deer season preliminary totals

Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 52,354 deer during the first weekend of the Illinois firearm deer season Nov. 18-20. Comparatively, hunters took 48,964 deer during the first firearm weekend in 2021.

Illinois’ seven-day firearm deer season will conclude Dec. 1-4. Other deer hunting opportunities in the weeks ahead include:

• Muzzleloader-only deer season Dec. 9-11

• Late-winter antlerless-only and Chronic Wasting Disease deer seasons (in select counties only) Dec. 29-Jan. 1 and Jan.13-15

• Archery deer season continues through Jan. 15. (Note: archery deer hunting is closed Dec. 1-4 in counties open for firearm deer season.)

Firearm deer harvest totals for the three counties of Macoupin, Madison and Montgomery for the first weekend of the 2022 season are below. Comparable totals for 2020 and 2021 are also included. The 2022 totals are last.

Macoupin - 997 1003 1120

Madison - 384 460 509

Montgomery - 523 541 619

State Total - 47416 48964 52354.