Firearm deer season opens today

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SPRINGFIELD - The 2008 Illinois Firearm Deer Season, the state's most popular hunting season, begins this week with hunters in the field today, Friday, Nov. 21, through Sunday, Nov. 23. Deer season continues with four days of hunting on Dec. 4-7. Nearly 350,000 permits have been issued to hunters for the firearm season. “As hunters take to the field this week, we hope for a successful harvest and encourage hunters to make safety a priority,” Illinois Department of Natural Resources Acting Director Sam Flood said. “Hunters need to take extra care, especially with firearm and tree-stand safety.” Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary total of 117,425 deer during the seven-day firearm deer hunting season in 2007, and 114,835 deer during the 2006 firearm season. The legal hunting hours for the firearm deer season are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Hunters successful in taking a deer during the firearm season in most counties must register - or “check in” - the deer they harvest by going online at www.dnr.state.il.us/vcheck or by phoning 1-866-IL-CHECK (1-866-452-4325). Hunters using the online or phone-in system must register their harvest by 10 p.m. on the day they take the deer. It is recommended hunters using cellular phones to register their harvest wait until they are out of the field and have a clear cell phone signal before attempting to make the harvest report phone call. Grundy, La Salle and Kane counties are among nine northern Illinois counties where IDNR is conducting chronic wasting disease (CWD) sampling. Hunters there must take deer they harvest to a deer check station by 8 p.m. on the day they take the deer. The check station in Grundy County is at Gebhard Woods State Park, 401 Ottawa St., Morris., while in LaSalle County, it is at Buffalo Rock State Park, 3 miles west of Ottawa on Dee Bennett Rd., 1300 N. 27th Rd, Ottawa. The Kane County site is Shabbona Lake State Park, 4201 Shabbona Grove Rd., Shabbona Check-in stations in other counties where CWD sampling is provided are: € Boone County - Boone County Fairgrounds, half-mile north of Rt. 76 and Business Rt. 20, Belvidere € DeKalb County - Shabbona Lake State Park, 4201 Shabbona Grove Rd., Shabbona € McHenry County - Moraine Hills State Park McHenry Dam Day Use Area, east of McHenry on River Road (2.2 miles south of Ill. Rt. 120) € Ogle County - Nov. 21-23 at Castle Rock State Park, 1365 W. Castle Rd., Oregon; Dec. 4-7 at Lowden State Park, 1411 N. River Rd., Oregon € Stephenson County - County Fairgrounds, Rt. 26 and Fairgrounds Rd., Freeport € Winnebago County - Rockford Speedway, Hwy 173 at Forest Hills Rd., Rockford Hunters who participate in the CWD sampling can check the status of their deer through the IDNR Web site at http://dnr.state.il.us. Hunters who provide samples from deer that test positive are notified by the IDNR. While not believed to be contagious to humans or livestock, chronic wasting disease is known to spread from animal to animal among deer and elk. The disease affects the brain of the infected animal, causing them to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose coordination and eventually die. Illinois expanded its CWD surveillance effort in 2002 following the discovery of the disease in neighboring Wisconsin.

Hunting quick facts: € Illinois law requires that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1980, must successfully complete a hunter safety course before a regular Illinois hunting license is issued. € The number one cause of hunting accidents in Illinois is falling from a tree stand. € Last year in Illinois, there were 29 reported hunting accidents; 12 were the result of tree stand falls. Twenty-eight hunting accidents (two fatalities) were reported in Illinois in 2006. € When using a tree stand, remember to check ladder stands before you climb to make sure they are secure, wear a safety harness when climbing a tree and when in a tree stand, and use a haul line to raise an unloaded firearm or bow into a stand. € When hunting with a firearm, sportsmen should remember three primary rules of firearm safety: Point the muzzle in a safe direction; Treat every firearm as if it were loaded; and know your target and what is beyond your target.