PEORIA, Ill — Peoria County deer hunters bagged more deer during the just concluded 2019-2020 hunting seasons.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports 1,881 deer were taken in Peoria County, over a hundred more than the year before.
In nearby Tazewell County, 1,217 deer were harvested, and in Woodford County, 1,179 were taken. The highest total was in Pike County at 4,387.
statewide, hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 153,048 deer during all 2019-20 archery and firearm seasons, which concluded Jan. 19, 2020. The total preliminary deer harvest for all seasons compares with a total harvest for all seasons of 151,709 deer in 2018-19.
During the 2019-20 deer seasons, hunters took 45 percent does and 55 percent males.
It was a good year for young deer hunters. Youth deer hunters harvested a preliminary total of 3,775 deer during the three-day Illinois Youth Deer Season Oct. 12-14, 2019, compared to 1,660 in 2018.
There were 15 northern Illinois counties open to the Special CWD Season, which is used to assist in slowing the spread of chronic wasting disease in the Illinois deer herd.
