Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Illinois deer herd?

I've been hunting deer in IL for 20 years now, and some of the guys in our camp have been hunting them for over 30. We saw the fewest deer numbers that we can ever remember. I hunted all three first season days (all day), and I saw 5 deer total! 5 deer. We sat in our stands morning and evening, and we'd do some walking with "blockers" as well during the mid day. 5 deer. One guy in our group saw only 2 deer in three days. We have access to several acres and we've hunted these same areas for 20 plus years. Were used to seeing 10-15 deer a day, and a couple of guys or more typically score with a nice buck in the 150's or higher. What is going on? Anybody else seeing this? I'm concerned. I know disease has probably killed some, but there have never been any confirmed cwd cases in our county or nearby counties either. I feel like we're going to have a rough deer season for years to come. I sure hope I'm wrong.

Think a lot of states going to far making money on doe tags right now. Herds are going to take some time to recover.

Just got back from Pike County. Our group saw plenty of deer, just way too many spikes, does, fawns and 2.5 yr old bucks. Between 3 hunters on 270 acres we saw one buck that was older. I think EHD got a bunch of the mature bucks this summer. We talked to several other hunters who had the same experience. I heard from one local that a farmer in the area buried 70 deer on just one farm.....the stink was so bad that he had to.

I just read that the IL deer harvest for first season was up from last year. I have a hard time believing that, but I'm not a conspiracy theorist, so I guess maybe. I don't know what to think. I just know that where we hunt was scary desolate.

What County were you in?

Lotta farmers putting marginal ag land into production due to high grain prices...
Those does gotta go...

the two of us spent a day and a half tagging our 2 does on ground where, 20 years ago, I could count on bagging a pair of rooster pheasant in an hour, or so, on about any given day...
In that day and a half i heard 1 rooster call...

As the cover shrinks, so must the herd/flock/opportunities...

I saw a fair number of deer crossing Illinois on the 8th, driving across on I-64. Just about the regular number of deer, not too few, not huge numbers either. Just about like normal.....

I hunted over in Missouri, and the county I was in was had some of the highest numbers of reported EHD kills. Guess what? I saw more deer than usual this year, not as many does, but more bucks than I normally see.

Maybe this just wasn't your year, sometimes it happens....

I really, really hope your right. For whatever reason, the deer just were not there in our hunting area this year. Hopefully we bounce back quickly.

Just finished reading an article where harvest numbers are down by over 50%.

Also have had the same experience in which over 50 hunters in 3 southern counties hunted all 3 days. NO BIG BUCKS KILLED and only 3 kills out of 50+ hunters. Not knocking anyones deer but they were not even close to 130 inch deer.

Everyone is stumped and not sure what is going on.
All the while hoping the Nov29th-Dec3rd hunt will be worth the trip.(I'm not sure I will even go back)

I could not even find any good sign, few tracks no rubs,no scrapes.
However I found tons of coyote tracks and could hear them at night. Obviously the coyotes have been eating well and find it a good place to gather.

I went expecting to at least see some decent deer and had higher expectations for Illinois, at this point public land in Alabama is a better choice.

Hope it improves in Illinois, but it sure looked to me like it was a decade away from being what it once was.Since coming home I have heard a few dozen more stories just like this. NO DEER sightings in 3 days.

I have been told the southern part of the state was hit much harder with EHD. A local told me that Calhoun County and South was hit worst. I spoke with some hunters that were in extreme North Pike County and they did well. One of them killed a 14pt that's gotta go 160+. Of course, I was hunting extreme South Pike County about 5 miles from the Calhoun County line. As I said, plenty of deer (including bucks). Just nothing mature.....just about all 2.5 yrs and younger.