Tim Bunton

Is the pursuit of trophy deer in Illinois resulting in increased crop damage by a mismanaged deer herd?
That’s one theory being shared by farmers and others in the agriculture community who are pushing for better control of deer and other wildlife that are destroying corn and soybeans and the bottom line of farmers up and down the state.

More than nine months after it ended, the Illinois DNR has yet to release harvest totals from the 2023-24 archery deer season.
But the somewhat mysterious lack of numbers coming out of Springfield isn’t affecting anticipation for the Oct. 1 opener of a new season. More concerning to hunters are reports of dead deer being found in woods, fields, and ponds as late summer winds down, evidence that epizootic hemorrhagic disease outbreaks in neighboring Indiana and Michigan have also hit here.

Illinois DNR has long used deer–vehicle collision statistics as the basis for making management decisions regarding the state’s deer hunting seasons.
A new study by Purdue University in neighboring Indiana suggests recreational hunting of deer reduces those collisions, which has always been a benefit of the Illinois’ process. But Purdue’s research adds a bonus: “Targeted recreational hunting can reduce animal-vehicle collisions and generate substantial revenue for wildlife management agencies,” is how the study was titled in the scientific journal Science of The Total Environment.

These days, there’s a bit of apprehension in Tom Collings’ stride when he begins his annual inspection of hunting property along the Illinois River.
His weekly walks begin in August and continue through September, as he prepares locations to place his deer stand for the Oct. 1 archery season opener. Some years he finds dead deer.
“The year 2012 was the worst, by far, but there have been other bad years,” Collings said.