Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

If you are an Illinois bowhunter, by now your blood is boiling with anticipation of the upcoming season. When you combine the number of deer arrowed in 2006 with the potential to take a trophy buck this year, there has never been a better time to be an archer in our state.

With bow season just around the corner, we have crunched the numbers from the 2006 season to provide you with the outlook for this year, and it could be even better than last year. Here’s the scoop on where you bowhunt.

THE POINT SYSTEM
In consideration to four prominent descriptors of the overall archery harvest in 2006, for each county in Illinois we analyzed the number of whitetails killed, the harvest density, historic bowhunting entries into the Illinois Big-Buck Recognition Program and the percentage of increase over the previous season. We used a scoring system that weighed criteria in order of significance. Points were given to the top 25 counties statewide in each descriptor. The counties that scored in the various categories were ranked through a tabulation that used a system where overall harvest and density received the greatest consideration, while trophy-buck entries and percentage of increase over 2005 received secondary emphasis. Here is a breakdown of the numbers.

2006 Harvest
Illinois’ overall archery harvest continues to be stable. According to Department of Natural Resources’ Deer Program manager Tom Micetich, the 2005 season was a record year for bowhunters with 66,581 whitetails. Last year, the total dropped slightly to 65,170.

“We still don’t have all the data cleaned up from either season,” Micetich said just before this went to press. “But the numbers speak for themselves. Each year, the harvest is consistent throughout the state, showing good long-term improvements.”

Pike County continued to live up to its reputation as the “White-tailed Deer Capital of the World” by registering 4,248 bow-killed deer, followed by Fulton County with 1,556, Jefferson County with 1,513, Adams County with 1,481, and Peoria County rounded out the top five with 1,391 animals. Next were Calhoun with 1,276, Madison 1,194, La Salle 1,192, Marion 1,178, Macoupin 1,036, Randolph 948, Vermilion 945, Hancock 934, Brown 933 and Wayne with 915 whitetails.

Harvest Density
Harvest density is the number of whitetails arrowed divided by the square miles in a specific county. Statewide, there was an overall density of 1.16 deer killed per square mile. Most counties rounded out to this average, but some had densities considerably higher than the average.

Pike County came out on top with an overall harvest density of 5.1 deer arrowed per square mile. Calhoun County wasn’t far behind with 4.9, followed by Brown at 3.0, Jefferson at 2.6, and Schulyer, Pope, Marion and Hardin at 2.0. Jersey, Williamson, Union, Peoria and Cass counties weren’t far behind at 1.9 whitetails arrowed per square mile.

Trophy-Buck Potential
Bowhunting entries into Illinois Big-Buck Recognition Program (BBRP) paint a good picture of areas where a preponderance of our trophy racks came from.

Since the inception of the BBRP, McHenry County has the most entries with 155 bow bucks, followed by Vermilion with 146, Pike with 135, La Salle with 133, McLean with 107, Peoria with 105, Adams with 97 and Lake County with 91 archery deer.

Greatest Increases
The area with the greatest gain from 2005 to 2006 was Cook County -- yes, suburban Chicago -- with 193 deer arrowed, an 18 percent increase over 2005.

Mercer County had a bow harvest of 454 deer, up 14 percent over the previous season. Peoria County and Alexander County both increased by 12 percent. Adams, Calhoun and Edgar counties jumped 10 percent. Jo Daviess rose for the second season in a row with a 9 percent gain. Rock Island County, with a harvest of 665 deer, and Schuyler County, with 881, both were up 7 percent over 2005.