Mercer County hunters harvested 834 deer during the two firearm weekends Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8. That compares to 827 a year ago. The breakdown this year –542 during the first weekend and 292 the second weekend, according to data released by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The rest of the firearm deer harvest numbers from area counties this year—459 in Henry; 449 in Henderson; 1,109 in Knox; 708 in Rock Island; and 518 in Warren.
Statewide, the preliminary harvest for the second segment of the 2024 firearm season Dec. 5-8 was 27,835 compared with 22,883 deer harvested during the second part of the 2023 season.
The preliminary harvest for the first segment of this year’s firearm season Nov. 22-24 was 54,661 deer.
The total statewide deer harvest was 82,496 this year compared to 76,494 deer during the 2023 firearm season.