Deer Archery Rules Change

New rules on archery deer hunting from the DNR in Champaign and neighboring counties are being considered. More on why the rules are being proposed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in a report on their website here. From the News-Gazette's Sunday eEdition:

Deer archery season changes
A proposal to restrict archery deer hunting in Champaign County to bucks only the first two weeks of the season is still making its way through the state rulemaking process, according to Ed Cross with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. But IDNR has posted a document on its website with interesting details about why this change is being considered here and in four other counties — Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt.

Basically, these agriculturally dominated counties have little forested area — less than 5 percent — to support a large deer population to begin with, and the number of deer continue to decline, according to state officials, despite significant reductions in gun permit quotas.

The report — which can be accessed on IDNR’s website — says that Champaign’s deer population is 35 percent below goal...

Managing the deer population in other parts of the state is typically done by adjusting deer permit quotas during the firearm and muzzleloader seasons, but in Champaign County and the other four, state officials have decided the best way to get deer population numbers back up will be restrictions at the beginning of the archery season.

According to the report, “IDNR biologists have decades of harvest data and hunter success data to guide their decisions,” and this “preferred approach is simple: allow only the harvest of antlered bucks during the first 15 days of the archery season (Oct. 1-15), which will reduce doe harvest by 25-30 percent,” which should be enough of a reduction to move populations back toward goal.”

Here’s the proposed amendment: “The Illinois Restricted Archery Zone shall consist of Champaign, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties. During the period Oc. 1 – Oct. 15, only antlered deer may be harvested in the Restricted Archery Zone, regardless of permits in possession. An antlered deer is defined as a deer having at least one antler of a length of 3 or more inches.”

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