Illinois

Check out the latest info for Illinois. Image by Critterbiz

Season Dates (2024):

Archery season spans Oct. 1 to Nov. 21, Nov. 25-Dec. 4, and Dec. 9-Jan. 19 in most of the state. Firearms season is Nov. 22, 23, 24 and Dec. 5-8. Muzzleloader season is December 13-15. Youth firearm season is generally in early October. Other season dates apply. Check the Illinois DNR website to CONFIRM SEASON DATES.

Grade: B

If our grades were based solely on the record books, Illinois would get top honors. The top hunter-taken non-typical and the third biggest typical bucks were both killed here. But other factors influence our grades, and on those Illinois doesn’t do so hot. Tags are expensive, and finding a place to hunt is difficult. Some believe the state’s glory days are behind it due to hunting pressure, but trends in the record books suggest otherwise. Some of the biggest whitetails have been killed in the past decade.

“General statewide population trends are stable,” said Peter Schlichting, deer project manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “We manage deer at the county scale, and we are working to reduce the population in some areas and increase it in others.”

Interestingly, the DNR also makes it clear it doesn't manage for older bucks.

“The Illinois DNR does not manage for trophy deer,” Schlichting said. “We leave that scale of management to individual landowners. With proper habitat management, all areas in Illinois have the potential to grow trophy-class deer.”

Overall, there is a lot of good deer hunting in Illinois. You might have to pay a little more for it. Plus, if you can find access to private land, chances are good it’ll be a honey hole. The Illinois DNR does a phenomenal job managing its herd. HARVEST REPORTS paint this picture and can even help plan a good hunt.

Antler Nation Knowledge:

More than 95% of Illinois is privately owned. Only about 900,000 acres are public, and fewer than 10,000 deer are taken on those acres each season. However, the DNR is good at MANAGING WHAT IT DOES HAVE. It even produces PUBLIC HUNTING AREA REPORTS every year. These are excellent tools for planning a potential hunt.

Despite not having a lot of public land, Illinois’ HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC PROPERTIES fall under a wide variety of categories. Don’t overlook U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, wildlife management areas, fish and wildlife areas, national forests, natural areas, natural preserves, reserves, state habitat areas, state recreation areas, state parks, state forests and walk-in properties.

“I can recommend several state sites that I see as up-and-coming or a good bet for hunters,” Schlichting said. “Dixon Springs State Park roughly doubled their huntable acreage last fall, providing more opportunities for our southern Illinois hunters. In northern Illinois, we were happy to open up Redwing Slough Lake to youth hunters last year. Our central hunters can take advantage of a multitude of public land along the Illinois River, including Anderson Lake, Banner Marsh, Sand Ridge State Forest and Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area.”

Although the entire state contributes heavily to the record books, central and northern counties are a little more consistent at doing so. Some of the top producers of Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young bucks include Adams, Brown, Cass, Clark, Calhoun, Edgar, Fulton, Jo Daviess, Kane, Knox, La Salle, Macoupin, Marshall, Ogle, Peoria, Pike, Schuyler, Lake, McDonough, McHenry, Will, and Winnebago. Other counties are hot on their heels, though, especially some that border them.