SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has reported that hunters in Illinois harvested 76,232 deer during the firearm deer season this year. The gun hunting season concluded on December 3, marking a decrease of 622 deer compared to the 2022 season.
Deer seasons are often divided into different segments based on the type of weapon used, such as archery, firearm, and muzzleloader seasons. In some states, there may be separate seasons for antlered and antlerless deer.
The second gun season in Illinois, which ran from November 30 to December 3, saw the harvest of 22,884 deer, which is 1,616 less compared to last year’s second gun season.
Hunting seasons are designed to balance the interests of hunters with the need for wildlife conservation and population control.
Remaining deer hunting opportunities for the 2023-2024 season in Illinois include the late-winter antler less-only and chronic wasting disease (CWD) seasons in designated counties only, occurring on Dec. 28–31 and Jan. 12–14. A map detailing the counties open for late-winter and CWD seasons can be found online. Archery deer season continues through Jan. 14.
