From the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
Illinois sets new record for youth deer season harvest
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois youth deer hunters set a new record for the season, harvesting a preliminary total of 4,714 deer Oct. 11-13.
Top harvest counties include Randolph, 259; Pike, 164; Adams, 155; Jefferson, 155; and Marion, 135.
Comparatively, youth hunters took 4,097 deer during the season in 2024.
Youth hunters with an unfilled, valid youth deer permit may still hunt with the permit during the upcoming firearm deer seasons Nov. 21-23 and Dec. 4-7.
This is the first year that unfilled youth permits are valid for both segments of the firearm season.
A table of preliminary Illinois firearm deer harvest totals by county for the 2025 youth deer season and comparable totals for the 2024 and 2023 seasons is below.
