The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) reports that hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 66,126 deer during the opening weekend of the 2009 Illinois Firearm Deer season, Nov. 20-22. The second portion of the firearm season will be Dec. 3-6.

The preliminary total for the first three days of the 2009 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 71,894 deer during the 2008 deer season. The top county harvest total last weekend was in Pike with 2,012 deer, followed by Fulton (1,725), Adams (1,614), Jefferson (1,606), and Randolph (1,576). For the entire seven-day firearm season in 2008, hunters harvested 106,018 deer. The preliminary first-season figures reported for each county include those deer taken on special hunt areas within that county as well as on private land.