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 Illinois Department of Natural Resources said.
The total surpasses the previous record of 4,714 deer harvested in 2025. In 2024, youth hunters took 4,097 deer.
The top harvest counties were Randolph with 278 deer, Jefferson with 166, Pike with 150, Fayette with 145 and Marion with 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, according to the department.
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.
Local county totals
Preliminary 2026 totals for area counties, with comparisons to recent years, include:
- Henry: 22 in 2026, 30 in 2025, 30 in 2024
- Bureau: 18 in 2026, 31 in 2025, 22 in 2024
- Knox: 37 in 2026, 31 in 2025, 35 in 2024
- Fulton: 95 in 2026, 69 in 2025, 77 in 2024
- Mercer: 24 in 2026, 20 in 2025, 18 in 2024
- Rock Island: 18 in 2026, 26 in 2025, 16 in 2024
- Stark: 2 in 2026, 5 in 2025, 11 in 2024
- Whiteside: 33 in 2026, 40 in 2025, 41 in 2024
- Warren: 8 in 2026, 14 in 2025, 8 in 2024
More information is available at dnr.illinois.gov.
Source: the original release