From the Department of Natural Resources:
Illinois sets new harvest record for youth deer hunting season
SPRINGFIELD – Young hunters in Illinois set a new youth deer season harvest record with a preliminary total of 4,852 deer taken Oct. 10-12.
The total surpasses the previous record of 4,714 deer harvested in 2025.
The top harvest counties were Randolph with 278 deer; Jefferson, 166; Pike, 150; Fayette, 145; and Marion, 125.
Youth hunters with unfilled, valid youth deer permits may use those permits during the upcoming firearm deer seasons Nov. 20-22 and Dec. 3-6.
This is the first year youth deer hunting permits were sold as a combination that includes one either-sex permit and one antlerless-only permit.
Preliminary county harvest totals for the 2026 youth deer hunting season, with comparable totals for 2025 and 2024, are listed below for McHenry County; here is the link to other counties.
| County | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
| McHenry | 5 | 4 | 5 |
