SPRINGFIELD – While firearm deer hunters in Illinois took more than 80,000 deer during the state’s busiest hunting season, Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Conservation Police report just four hunting-related accidents were reported, three of them involving injuries resulting from tree stand falls. 
At the same time, Conservation Police officers were busy enforcing wildlife laws and hunting regulations in and around the 2017 Firearm Deer Season, issuing more than 1,800 citations and written warnings for hunting-related violations statewide from November 13 through December 4.
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“Our Conservation Police officers want hunters to be safe, and we remind them to make sure their elevated tree stands are secure and in good working order, and that they always use a Fall Arrest System harness to be as safe as possible when hunting,” said Rafael Gutierrez, chief of the IDNR Conservation Police. “We also want poachers and other violators to know that our CPOs are in the field with them, and violators will face charges if they are hunting illegally.”
As part of the three-week hunting enforcement effort, Conservation Police officers issued 831 citations and 971 written warnings. CPOs seized 16 firearms from violators, along with more than 430 pounds of deer meat, eight deer antlers/skulls, five deer heads, one truck, one utility vehicle, as well as archery equipment, tree stands, trail cameras, bait samples, permits, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia.
The 2017 Illinois Firearm Deer Season was conducted on Nov. 17-19 and Nov. 30-Dec. 3. Other Illinois hunting seasons remain open, including waterfowl and upland game seasons, and archery deer and additional firearm deer seasons, and details on all hunting seasons can be found the IDNR website at www.dnr.illinois.gov.
