Illinois hunters managed to decrease the deer population this season.
In all, hunters managed to harvest 170,758 deer during the 2024-2025 archery and firearms season in Illinois, according to IDNR.
That's around 10,000 more deer than last year.
This past season, hunters took home 46% females and 53% males, according to the IDNR.
Here are the totals from specific seasons, according to IDNR:
"Archery Deer Hunters took a preliminary total of 73,598 deer during the season that began Oct. 1 and concluded Jan 19. The total archery harvest during the 2023-2024 season was 71,226 deer.
Youth deer hunters harvested a prelimary total of 4,057 deer during the three-day Illinois youth deer season Oct. 12-14, compared to 4,576 in 2023."
Firearm season hunters took a preliminary total of 82,496 deer during the firearm season Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8. This compares to a harvest of 76,494 deer taken during the 2024 firearm season.
Muzzleloader hunters arvested a preliminary total of 2,832 deer during the muzzleloader-only season Dec. 13-15, compared with a harvest of 3,378 deer during the 2024 muzzleloader season.
Late-winter seasons: The 2024-2024 late-winter anterless-only and special chronic wasting disease (CWD) deer seasons concluded Jan. 19 with a combined preliminary harvest total for both seasons of 7,775 deer. Season dates for the seven-day late winter and CWD seasons were Dec. 26-29 and Jan. 17-19. During the same seasons in 2023-2024, a total of 4,639 deer were taken."
Final harvest totals by season and county can be found in the annual deer harvest report, which will be posted later this year, said IDNR.