Historic hunting season keeps deer in check, makes travel safer
Three cheers for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for a historic firearm deer season, which concluded earlier this month. This deer hunting season marked the 50th anniversary of the modern Illinois deer hunt, which began in 1957, after the state had been closed to deer hunting since 1901, due to a declining deer population.
The deer herd made a comeback starting in the 1930s and kept growing, so much so, that state officials felt confident the resumption of hunting season would not disrupt the population.
From that first modern hunt 50 years ago, when 1,735 deer were harvested in 33 counties, the annual deer hunt has become an autumn tradition across the state.
Today's hunters are doing more than providing themselves with tasty venison. They're performing a public service.
The burgeoning deer population, pegged several years ago at about 700,000, has created problems for humans. Deer-vehicle crashes number about 24,000 annually in Illinois. Also, when there are too many deer, they eat farmers' crops and homeowners' shrubbery, causing more problems for people.
Thankfully, the people at the Department of Natural Resources have reacted to this problem in a positive manner.
This year, the state issued more than 378,000 firearm deer hunting permits - nearly 13 percent more than last year and 100,000 more than were issued just five years ago.
A law also took effect this year that added an extra half hour of hunting to the end of each day of the hunting season.
With more hunters in the field and more time to hunt, the results were predictable.
This year's deer harvest hit a record 116,708, up 1.3 percent from last year and 14 percent higher than the harvest five years ago, which totaled 102,336.
Locally, three counties saw higher deer harvests compared to last year, while two counties experienced a decline. Hunters in Carroll County bagged 1,178 deer, or 1.8 percent more. Ogle's harvest was 1,390, or 4.4 percent higher, while Bureau's was 1,637, or 23.1 percent more.
Whiteside's deer harvest of 1,036 represented a 2.1 percent decline, while Lee's 755 deer harvested was 16.5 percent lower than last year.
While we congratulate the state for being more proactive in managing the size of the deer herd, we are concerned about a new law passed this year at the behest of Chicago-area lawmakers. It allows municipalities to take control of their deer populations and utilize other management techniques, such as sterilization of does, rather than allow hunters to keep the local deer herd in check.
Some hunters and outdoor groups are concerned the law gives anti-hunting groups a foot in the door to further restrict hunting and trapping.
It appears to us that hunting is the most cost-effective means of controlling the deer herd, while at the same time, providing outdoor recreation and meat for thousands of Illinois families.
Municipalities should resist the temptation to tamper with a 50-year tradition.
