The areas along the Mississippi River to the south in Carroll County provide an additional 12,472 acres that are open to public hunting. Down in Knox County, three public-hunting areas provide some 4,447 acres in which to hunt. These areas are close together in the northeastern part of the county and relate to the Spoon River and Snake Den Hollow areas.

ZONE 2
Zone 2 covers the north-central section of Illinois from the Wisconsin border south to Tazewell County. The total deer harvest came to 22,668 in 2008 compared with 23,684 in 2007.

The top three counties in last yearís harvest figures were Peoria, LaSalle and Bureau. Peoria County led the field with a 3,352 animal total. This included 1,804 does and 1,548 bucks.

Peoria County contains a large metropolitan area and extensive farmland that is privately owned. Only the 5,900 acres of Jubilee College State Park and Banner Marsh are open to the public.

LaSalle County also contains significant developed land. Still, some 2,825 deer were harvested primarily on public land. There are 4,502 acres in three public areas located north off Interstate 80 and another 2,442 acres in two parcels south of the Interstate.

During the 2008 season, 1,500 does and 1,388 bucks were killed in LaSalle County. The southern part of the county contains more open land and agricultural fields than that closer to Chicago. It is still possible to find landowners willing to lease or allow free hunting rights in that area.

Bureau County came in third in harvest figures for Zone 2 with 2,784 total deer. With four parcels of public land, there is a total of 3,368 acres available for hunting. The land is primarily in agricultural use and privately owned.

Again the doe/buck ratio remains close. Bureau County hunters took 1,459 does and 1,325 bucks last year.

ZONE 3
As might be expected, since Zone 3 has the largest deer population it also had the lowest number of deer taken. Zone 3 includes the counties of the northeast part of the state, including Chicago. Several of the counties have only archery permits issued. The total harvest, both archery and firearms, for the zone is 8,037 deer compared with 8,528 in 2007.

Deer hunters in Will County took some 1,358 deer last year. There were 626 does and 732 bucks harvested. There is not a lot of agricultural land in this county, as most of the land has been developed. Hunters are dependent upon the 6,400 acres of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie south of Joliet. The nearby Des Plaines Conservation area has an additional 3,500 acres. The only other public hunting is the archery-only 80 acres at the Des Plaines propagation area.

Iroquois County, on the Illinois/Indiana border, has four public land areas. Only the Iroquois County Conservation Area allows deer hunting on its 2,185 acres. Hunting pressure is heavy in this area because of the lack of any other public land deer hunting nearby. The county as a whole reports 658 does and 679 bucks were killed last year.

In third place in Zone 3 is McHenry County, northwest of Chicago. McHenry is a fast-developing county of bedroom communities. An area of rolling hills with oak forests rapidly being cut down for housing, the county has only the 1,400-acre Moraine Hills State Park for the deer-hunting public. Still, they managed to harvest 1,072 deer. The does numbered 526 and the bucks 546.