Second part of firearm deer season set

Deer hunters are reminded to focus on safety as the second half of the 2018 Illinois firearm deer season takes place Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.

The first part of the 2018 season was Nov. 16-18.

Legal hunting hours for the firearm deer season are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. 

Illinois Department of Natural Resources, IDNR, safety educators remind hunters using tree stands to use a Fall Arrest System, FAS, safety harness. 

As additional precautions, hunters are advised to check the harness, straps, ladder and other equipment to make sure they are in good working order.  

Hunters also are advised to be aware of weather conditions that could make stands and steps slippery, and to have a mobile phone within reach to call for help, if needed. 

Safety educators and IDNR Conservation Police also remind everyone hunting with a firearm to: 

Treat every firearm as if it is loaded, and never assume a firearm is unloaded.

Always point a firearm in a safe direction. 

Be sure of the target, and make sure there are no other hunters, homes, buildings, vehicles or other animals beyond the target. 

Keep their finger out of the trigger guard and off the trigger until they are ready to shoot. 

Hunters who take a deer during the firearm season in most Illinois counties must register the deer they harvest online, or through the toll-free phone check-in system, IDNR noted.  

To register their harvest by phone, hunters can call 1-866-IL-CHECK (1-866-452-4325). 

A link to the online deer registration system is available at https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/Pages/HarvestReporting.aspx 

Hunters registering deer through the online or phone systems must do so by 10 p.m. on the day they take the deer.