Bowhunting for deer is here
Interested parties will be keeping an eye on archery harvest numbers
More pickup trucks and Jeeps were parked on the sides of roads or backfield lanes than I expected on a drive Thursday through prime deer areas downstate. Granted, it was opening morning for bowhunting for deer in Illinois. And it was a crisp fall morning, though with more wind than most would prefer.
I was surprised because most bowhunters focus on the weeks around the peak of the rut, which runs from late October through mid-November. But hunters apparently were eager for the field.
Despite recent downturns in overall harvest and trophy bucks, Illinois still is perceived as the top destination for bowhunters seeking a trophy buck.
It wasn’t just the hunters who were eager. Deer processors had their doors open and were ready for business in the morning.
Deer hunting means many things— processing of meat, leasing of land, accommodations (meals, drinks, housing) in small towns, state revenue from licenses, taxidermy— to the economics of Illinois.
So the dramatic drop in overall harvest the last two seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15) affects more than hunters complaining about a lack of deer and/or a lack of quality deer.
‘‘We expect similar numbers, maybe a little bit more,’’ Tom Micetich, the manager of the deer program for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said of the anticipated overall harvest totals for all seasons.
Obviously, crop harvest (corn harvest is nearly back to average levels) and weather (this winter is expected to be more moderate than the last two) will affect total harvest.
Total deer harvest in the 2014-15 seasons was 145,720, down 1.9 percent from the harvest collapse in the 2013-14 seasons, which included a historic winter.
I am most curious to see what the harvest for archery season, which runs through Jan. 17, ends up being. Archery harvest dropped 2 percent more in 2014-15, to 56,143. Bowhunters are the most dedicated of deer hunters, so I suspect that drop last season was at least partially attributable to self-restraint by bowhunters in an effort to rebuild populations.
I am curious because I wonder whether there will be a rebound in harvest by bowhunters. There are limits to self-restraint, even among their kind.
Of more concern is the drop of several thousand in bowhunters buying permits. It was down to 156,300 in 2014-15. A rebound in that number would be significant for the future.
It begins.
WOLF NOTE: Predation on fawns and adult deer by large canines is but one thing deer hunters worry about affecting deer populations.
Early last week, while I talked with a dedicated bowhunter, he mentioned a rumor of a possible pack of wolves. So I checked with Doug Dufford, the wildlife disease/ invasives program manager for the IDNR.
He said they have not had to check any reports of packs, but he (more than most) is aware that wolf occurrences in Illinois are escalating and that it only will continue.
On a side note, he said that the DNA testing just came back for the large canine killed on Interstate 55 near Dwight in April. It was a wolf-dog hybrid, not a wolf.
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