![](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/389/2017/01/22065918/DeerFBIDNR1.jpg)
By Dave Dahl
BLOOMINGTON – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says the second firearm deer-hunting weekend saw 25,000 deer harvested, 3,000 more than the same period last year.
“Weather was relatively good in the state” for the second weekend, Dec. 5-8, says DNR spokesman Tim Schweizer. “While the harvest figure, compared to last year for that same segment of the season, was up a little bit, overall the harvest was down a bit from 2018, when hunters took nearly 81,000 deer over the seven-day season.”
The 2019 total is 75,349.
The firearm season is a three-day weekend prior to Thanksgiving and a four-day weekend after Thanksgiving.
Muzzleloader season is Friday through Sunday, and archery season continues through Jan. 19.