Late-winter deer harvest totals 7,749

Deer hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 7,749 deer during the first segment of the 2012-13 late-winter/CWD deer seasons on Dec. 27-30, 2012.   

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources reported that the harvest total represented an 18.3 percent increase over the same portion of the season in 2011-12, despite nine fewer counties being open to those seasons this year.  

During the 2011-12 late-winter/CWD seasons, hunters harvested 6,550 deer from open counties.

The final segment of the late-winter/CWD seasons is scheduled Jan. 18-20, 2013.  

The top five county harvest totals for the first segment of the late-winter/CWD seasons included  Pike with 411, Fulton with 389, Jo Daviess with 351, and Adams and Jefferson,  tied with 256. .