The top-scoring counties were Pike, Peoria, Fulton, Schuyler, Brown, Randolph, Calhoun and Madison. All were ranked high in harvest and deer density. Pike, Peoria, Schuyler, Calhoun and Madison each had an increase in harvest over 2005, despite an overall drop statewide. Peoria, Schuyler, Fulton, Pike, Brown and Randolph were in the top counties for trophy-buck entries.

The next tier of counties is Marion, Jefferson, Williamson, Pope and Greene, and they ranked high in both kill and density. La Salle, Knox, Vermilion, Will, Macoupin and Sangamon were also in the top 25, and all have produced many entries into the BBRP. Adams and Tazewell counties enjoyed top harvests along with significant increases, and recognition as trophy-buck hotspots. Jo Daviess and Hancock counties along the Mississippi River can be considered a tie for comparable top-ranking harvests and rate of increase. Rounding out the best counties are Fayette, Wayne and Franklin, which all had top kill rankings.

RED FLAGS
It is true that each county in Illinois has its productive pockets for deer hunting, but some places are better than others. Deer for deer, there is a flip side. Be sure to steer clear of the following areas.

In Region 1, you may want to avoid hunting in Boone County, which had a meager harvest of 162 deer, a density of half a whitetail per square mile and a drop of 12 percent from 2005. De Kalb County isn’t too hot either, with 240 deer arrowed last year, a 13 percent drop from 2005, and harvest densities reveal only one-third of a deer per square mile. Henderson and Warren counties had low kills with 244 and 302, respectively, and both dropped 10 percent and 17 percent.

Region 2 being predominantly urbanized has a predictable number of places that bowhunters should avoid. Aside from the concrete jungle, places to avoid include Kankakee County, which tallied 270 deer last season and a 33 percent drop from 2005, which is less than one-third of a whitetail per square mile. Kendall County only had a harvest of 212 deer, dropped 6 percent and has a density of six-tenths of a deer per square mile.

In Region 3, Ford County had the lowest kill in Illinois with 49 deer in 2006, which is a 35 percent decrease, and only one-tenth of a deer per square mile. Douglas County dropped 15 percent with a harvest of 185 critters, and Piatt County slipped 9 percent with 295 deer. Livingston and McLean counties have some of the lowest densities in the state with three-tenths of a deer per square mile.

The lone red flag in Region 4 is Logan County with a bow kill of 290 deer and a 6 percent drop from 2005.

The area to avoid in Region 5 is Edwards County, which tallied 193 deer last year, a 14 percent drop from 2005.

NEW REGULATIONS
Bowhunting season begins on Oct. 1 and will run through Jan. 17 statewide. In counties open for firearms hunting, bow season will be closed Nov. 16-18 and Nov. 29 through Dec. 9. In counties of the northeast sector closed to firearm hunting and on some state-managed areas, archery season will remain open, but bowhunters must abide by the same hunter-orange clothing requirements imposed on gun hunters.

All resident tags are available over the counter. The 2007 Youth Deer Hunt will be Oct. 6-7 statewide. Participating youths will be allowed to arrow antlered bucks, and everyone must wear hunter orange.

As for equipment, longbows, recurve bows and compound bows must pull, at minimum, 40 pounds within a 28-inch draw. Arrows must be a minimum of 20 inches in length.

Also noteworthy is that bowhunters can take more than two antlered bucks per season in the Special Chronic Wasting Disease Season in Boone, McHenry, Winnebago, Ogle and De Kalb counties.

The crisp chill of an early October morning is just about here, and soon you will be heading out before first light to climb into your tree stand amid the aroma of leaf litter and damp earth -- an excitement only a deer hunter knows. This year is shaping up to be another great season for bowhunting in Illinois. Just make sure you are in the right place at the right time!

(Editor’s Note: For more information on regulations or places to hunt in your neck of the deer woods, go online to the DNR’s Web site at www.dnr.state.il.us, or call (217) 782-6384.)