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IDNR deer harvest reports, spring turkey summaries and the CWD annual report

Illinois Hunting Records and Harvest Data

The sources read for this guide name no Illinois record-book program, so this page sticks to what IDNR prints: statewide deer harvest from 2005 to 2025, deer by county for all 102 counties from 2016, spring turkey by year and county, and chronic wasting disease results for the 28 confirmed counties. The 2025-26 seasons produced 174,006 deer, with Jefferson County leading at 5,120.

Hunting gear
Not foundRecords program
174,006Deer, 2025-26
18,502Spring turkey, 2026
3,412CWD positives

Photo: USFWS/Southeast (CC BY 2.0)

Illinois Records and what exists instead, line by line

Anyone looking for an official Illinois book of record deer or turkey will not find one in the sources behind this guide, and nothing here claims one exists or does not. What IDNR does publish is counts: how many deer, turkeys and CWD samples came out of each county each year.

  • Records programNot collected (no record-book program in the sources fetched).
  • What this page usesHarvest counts from IDNR deer harvest reports, spring turkey summaries and the fiscal year 2026 CWD report, each labelled with its report year.
  • Public land harvestHunt Illinois publishes 2025-26 hunter trips and harvest for many public hunting areas; those figures sit on each place page, not here.
  • Not collectedBobcat harvest by county (huntillinois.org/harvest-data, 2016-17 to 2025-26), public hunting area harvest (SWA/CA site tables in the turkey and deer reports), deer harvest 2002-2015 county tables, per-year CWD positives by county (Table 1 columns do not parse reliably from the PDF text), deer permit-quota history.

Sources: Hunt Illinois harvest data; IDNR deer harvest report; IDNR spring turkey summary; CWD annual report, fiscal year 2026. Checked: every cited page read again on November 13, 2026.

Illinois deer harvest by year, 2005 to 2025

The harvest fell from 201,209 in 2005 to 144,303 in 2016, then climbed to 174,006 in 2025. Archery went from 53,468 in 2016 to 73,785, and the late-winter and CWD seasons from 4,696 to 11,464, while firearm deer stayed between 70,411 and 83,074.

Illinois deer harvest by report, 2005 to 2025075,000150,000225,000300,0002005: 201,209 deer201,20920052006: 196,241 deer196,24120062007: 199,611 deer199,61120072008: 188,901 deer188,90120082009: 189,634 deer189,63420092010: 182,270 deer182,27020102011: 181,451 deer181,45120112012: 180,811 deer180,81120122013: 148,614 deer148,61420132014: 145,720 deer145,72020142015: 155,229 deer155,22920152016: 144,303 deer144,30320162017: 147,695 deer147,69520172018: 151,709 deer151,70920182019: 153,174 deer153,17420192020: 162,752 deer162,75220202021: 146,438 deer146,43820212022: 157,854 deer157,85420222023: 160,313 deer160,31320232024: 171,322 deer171,32220242025: 174,006 deer174,0062025
Season yearArcheryFirearmMuzzleloaderYouthLate-winter and CWDAll seasons
202573,78581,3162,6994,74211,464174,006
202473,60583,0742,8384,0977,708171,322
202371,22676,4943,3784,5764,639160,313
202268,62577,2662,8623,3415,760157,854
202166,63070,4113,0461,8474,504146,438
202075,10677,1603,4512,3224,713162,752
201967,74675,4143,0763,7743,164153,174
201861,09680,9573,9001,6604,096151,709
201757,92980,1173,7652,3783,506147,695
201653,46879,5593,3083,2724,696144,303

A season year is the year the archery season opened, so 2025 is the 2025-26 report. Headlines for 2005 to 2015 come from the earlier reports; county tables start in 2016. Sources: IDNR deer harvest report. Checked: every cited page read again on November 13, 2026.

County by county: the 2025-26 Illinois deer harvest

Jefferson County led with 5,120 deer, ahead of Pike County (4,724) and Fulton County (4,267). The last column compares each county with the 2016-17 report.

County2025-26 totalAntleredAntlerlessArcheryFirearm2016-17 totalChange
Jefferson5,1202,5222,5982,0752,1833,286+1,834
Pike4,7242,3662,3582,3371,6204,484+240
Fulton4,2672,2292,0381,7391,9324,020+247
Adams4,2492,0652,1841,3722,0933,758+491
Randolph4,1482,0312,1171,1582,1863,513+635
Fayette4,0252,0311,9941,4012,0432,261+1,764
Marion3,8851,9531,9321,3941,8002,576+1,309
Macoupin3,5331,7471,7861,3441,7462,374+1,159
Williamson3,4001,7671,6331,3591,6922,773+627
Jackson3,3401,8621,4781,1792,0113,410-70
Wayne3,2881,7421,5461,3751,7612,525+763
Hancock3,1851,5791,6061,0531,7092,486+699
Perry2,9931,4561,5371,0141,4162,364+629
Schuyler2,7841,3911,3931,0521,3162,486+298
Shelby2,7691,4331,3361,1321,2651,899+870
Clay2,7521,3661,3867791,4941,757+995
Jo Daviess2,6961,4451,2518771,3433,493-797
Hamilton2,6711,3811,2901,0261,2392,018+653
Franklin2,6381,3191,3191,1321,2292,375+263
Jasper2,4781,1821,2969231,2101,533+945
Washington2,4391,2651,1748141,2351,489+950
Crawford2,4261,1881,2381,0121,1111,879+547
Knox2,3271,2601,0679751,0582,309+18
Montgomery2,2281,2161,0121,0241,0771,417+811
Clark2,1861,1959919741,1032,005+181
Brown2,1831,0671,1168078802,136+47
Effingham2,1801,1111,0696831,0941,294+886
Greene2,1771,1121,0651,0151,0171,797+380
Peoria2,1411,1579841,0119071,851+290
Union2,1091,2049057801,2112,447-338
Pope2,0701,2817898311,1602,341-271
Madison2,0511,1668851,1157641,456+595
Johnson2,0001,1308708041,1132,356-356
Monroe1,9951,0849115301,2111,420+575
Vermilion1,9381,0928461,1397391,495+443
St. Clair1,9281,1777519129131,237+691
Bureau1,8481,0657837268721,729+119
Saline1,8149368786349001,439+375
White1,7909987927769231,587+203
Clinton1,748970778782875963+785
Sangamon1,7439587851,0666051,333+410
Woodford1,7228548687918351,125+597
Mercer1,7169367806468731,491+225
Calhoun1,6968698277987981,527+169
Coles1,6718458268236681,113+558
Ogle1,6209226986916661,794-174
Rock Island1,6189067127307281,603+15
McDonough1,6078257826487361,516+91
LaSalle1,5619206417126471,640-79
Tazewell1,5489136359145661,036+512
Cumberland1,5438317126188271,127+416
Jersey1,5338356986957351,185+348
Whiteside1,4968396577157191,107+389
Bond1,490813677602830949+541
Morgan1,4838466377506721,336+147
Cass1,4757866897496641,262+213
Richland1,4157816345567951,171+244
Lawrence1,4047906146746751,108+296
Lee1,4047706345826211,044+360
McLean1,3967666307016361,090+306
Iroquois1,323780543594668913+410
Carroll1,2826915915495601,446-164
Edgar1,2487045445686251,069+179
Christian1,2446436015716211,102+142
Henry1,2337464876035761,060+173
Marshall1,167645522394616940+227
McHenry1,139743396774263908+231
Stephenson1,1336814524805041,508-375
Mason1,071620451626407785+286
Henderson1,063564499440471884+179
Will1,0636214427172411,058+5
DeWitt1,001535466561404816+185
Winnebago997618379557283934+63
Warren954527427338516850+104
Hardin9024854173884791,349-447
Moultrie900469431574281486+414
Menard891459432479377731+160
Logan855491364431382648+207
Edwards854510344355458656+198
Grundy796450346379310681+115
Livingston775459316295386657+118
Putnam763400363330330652+111
Kankakee746426320392262546+200
Gallatin734455279281425765-31
Massac734429305362342960-226
Scott707383324339330614+93
Macon699430269409246704-5
Champaign678442236410241554+124
Wabash624377247350248455+169
Alexander602375227221352628-26
Pulaski588330258269281670-82
Douglas467278189242198284+183
Piatt450257193285146253+197
Kane42826016836638300+128
Boone413255158213134279+134
DeKalb413260153223137353+60
Stark395236159159226317+78
Lake3322111213145277+55
Kendall2731848917970297-24
Ford2271527564130176+51
Cook149102471490108+41
DuPage2923629035-6

Antlered and antlerless are the male and female columns of the report. Counts include deer taken on state sites, and counties with no firearm season show only archery, late-winter and Special CWD deer.

IDNR prints county tables from the 2016-17 report on; earlier county tables were not collected. Sources: IDNR deer harvest report; IDNR deer harvest report. Checked: every cited page read again on November 13, 2026.

Illinois spring turkey harvest, 2015 to 2026

IDNR printed 18,502 turkeys in the 2026 regular segments and 20,821 with the youth season, the most in the twelve years shown; the low was 12,309.

Illinois spring turkey harvest, regular segments, 2015 to 202607,50015,00022,50030,0002015: 14,102 turkeys14,10220152016: 14,436 turkeys14,43620162017: 14,181 turkeys14,18120172018: 12,351 turkeys12,35120182019: 13,799 turkeys13,79920192020: 14,098 turkeys14,09820202021: 12,309 turkeys12,30920212022: 12,437 turkeys12,43720222023: 14,826 turkeys14,82620232024: 15,198 turkeys15,19820242025: 16,090 turkeys16,09020252026: 18,502 turkeys18,5022026

Twelve counties with the most spring turkeys in 2026

CountyRegular segmentsYouth seasonLandowner permitsSuccess rate
Jo Daviess558345329.5%
Jefferson477749039.6%
Pope389383320.7%
Pike371598926.0%
Marion361689635.1%
Williamson354485537.1%
Wayne323518938.9%
Randolph301557426.2%
Adams288636122.1%
Jackson286475523.3%
Hamilton285355846.6%
Johnson264344727.6%

County rows use the report tables; older reports print some neighbouring counties as one row, so a few counties are absent in some years and county sums can fall short of the printed state total. Sources: IDNR spring turkey summary. Checked: every cited page read again on November 13, 2026.

CWD results in 28 Illinois counties

The fiscal year 2026 report counts 5,331 adult samples with 553 positives. Run the counts against the zones page before planning a hunt: a Special CWD season and a check-station rule depend on the county.

CountyPositives to dateSamples, fiscal 2026Positives, fiscal 2026Deer taken, 2025-26
Jo Daviess4709171072,696
McHenry387444681,139
LaSalle316374561,561
Winnebago31616613997
Grundy31220149796
Boone2829727413
Stephenson275238351,133
Ogle259437621,620
Carroll162412411,282
DeKalb12812511413
Kane12216416428
Kendall1037412273
Will7517971,063
Livingston7328617775
Lee47299221,404
Kankakee311471746
Cook12200149
DuPage1213029
Lake10321332
Ford5971227
Bureau428331,848
Putnam4271763
Marshall21101,167
Adams118504,249
Effingham14812,180
Peoria14202,141
Scott1101707
Stark131395

Positives are the county totals from November 2003 to June 2026, 3,412 in all. The last column is every deer reported in the county during 2025-26, not only tested deer.

Sources: CWD annual report, fiscal year 2026; IDNR page. Checked: every cited page read again on November 13, 2026.

What the Illinois figures leave out

No county bobcat harvest

Hunt Illinois harvest data

Bobcat harvest by county is on the Hunt Illinois harvest data page but was not collected for this guide.

County tables before 2016

Deer reports from 2005 to 2015 give a statewide headline here; the county tables of those years were not collected.

CWD positives by year

CWD annual report, fiscal year 2026

The CWD report prints positives by county as a running total, and a per-year split by county could not be read from the PDF text.

2026-27 results not out

IDNR publishes each season's harvest the following spring, so deer taken this autumn do not appear until the 2026-27 report.

Close by on the site: Illinois harvest figures

Illinois records and harvest questions

Which Illinois county produced the most deer in 2025-26?

Jefferson County, with 5,120 deer in the 2025-26 county table.

How many turkeys were taken in the 2026 Illinois spring season?

18,502 in the regular segments and 20,821 with the youth season, as printed in the 2026 IDNR summary.

How many Illinois deer have tested positive for CWD?

CWD confirmed in 28 Illinois counties; 3,412 positives November 2003-June 2026 (annual report Table 1).

Can I see harvest numbers county by county?

Yes for deer from 2016 on, for spring turkey from 2015 on, and for CWD in the 28 confirmed counties; county pages carry the same tables.

Are bobcat or furbearer harvest numbers on this page?

No. Bobcat harvest by county is on the Hunt Illinois harvest data page but was not collected here.

When does IDNR publish the next deer harvest report?

The 2025-26 report was posted in spring 2026, so the 2026-27 report would follow the end of the 2026-27 seasons.

Does a state record book exist for deer or turkey?

Not collected (no record-book program in the sources fetched). Nothing on this page claims one exists or does not.

What was the 2025-26 deer harvest?

174,006: 73,785 by archery, 81,316 in the firearm seasons, 11,464 in the late-winter and CWD seasons, 4,742 in the youth season and 2,699 with muzzleloaders.

The source text

A county deer permit works only inside the county printed on it, so confirm the county, the permit type and the weapon before you buy at the counter.

Other photos on this page: Courtney Celley (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region) (Public Domain Mark 1.0); YellowstoneNPS (Public domain); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); cuatrok77 (CC BY-SA 2.0); ImagePerson (CC BY 4.0).