The 2007 Illinois deer season was one to remember. Firearms and late winter season totals drove the overall harvest to near record proportions. Another productive archery season and the state's most widespread youth season to - contributed to what was one of our best seasons ever, and the 2008 season is looking even better. Illinois Game & Fish has scoured mounds of harvest data from the 2007 season to help you isolate the best areas to hunt this season. The opportunity to fill a tag is at its pinnacle, and regardless of where you live, excellent deer hunting is right around the corner.

THE BIG PICTURE
Illinois archers in 2007 enjoyed another productive season, bringing in 64,294 whitetails, roughly 32 percent of the state's total harvest, but a 1 percent decrease from 2006.

Pike County out-distanced all other areas with 3,707 deer harvested. Fulton was a distant second with an impressive 1,599; Jefferson notched 1,503; Peoria had 1,319; Adams stuck 1,315; and Marion and LaSalle tied with 1,157 to complete the top five archery harvest areas in the state.

Despite poor weather statewide during the second firearms season, Prairie State hunters were able to bring down a three-year high harvest total. The aggregate of both seasons saw 116,708 whitetails reported, approximately 58 percent of the state's harvest. This is a 2 percent increase over 2006. Again, Pike County led all counties with an amazing 3,732 whitetails shot in just seven days. Jefferson has propelled to the top of the list with 2,805 deer harvested in 2007; Adams had 2,791; Fulton notched 2,671; Jo Daviess was a nearby fifth place with 2,662; and Randolph tabbed 2,598 to complete the top five areas in the flatland for firearms harvest.

The youth season saw some historic precedents set. The 2007 season marked the first time the season was open statewide, the first season where participants could shoot a buck, and near-record high temperatures placed a tough spin on the game. Overall, Illinois youth bagged 901 deer. Pike County came out on top with 39 smiling youngsters; Jefferson had 34; Fulton had 33; Mario had 32; and Macoupin had 27 to round out the top five areas.

Prairie State muzzleloaders brought in 4,233 whitetails, 2 percent of the total harvest. This was a significant decrease of almost 30 percent from the 2006 total of 5,939. Pike County took the top spot with 199 deer. Jo Daviess came in second with 141; Fulton had 115; Hancock dropped 110; and LaSalle killed 107 to round out the top five in the state.

The late winter/CWD season in January saw 12,434 deer taken despite arctic-like temperatures statewide. This was a 22 percent increase over the previous year and rounded to an impressive 6 percent of the total harvest. Pike County notched 714 late-winter whitetails; Wayne had 372,; Adams dropped 371; Jo Daviess tabbed 355; and Randolph charted 343 to complete the five best.

Overall, Prairie State deer hunters brought in 198,670 whitetails in 2007, commensurate with the 2006 tabulation of 197,287 deer. That translates to an overall state average harvest density of 3.5 deer per square mile. About 46 percent of all resident firearms hunters filled their tags last year.