Firearm deer hunting season opening in Illinois

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - The firearm deer hunting season has arrived in Illinois.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports (http://bit.ly/2fADmOl ) the first part of firearm season runs from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon.

Tom Micetich is deer project manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He says hunters should expect the same level of success as previous years, even though it's been a warmer-than-usual fall.

Micetich says whitetail deer-mating season has begun so the animals are on the move. He says the kill during this past weekend for bow hunters was "outstanding."

This year's archery deer harvest hasn't kept up with last year's harvest, however.

Illinois bow hunters had taken about 57,000 deer at this point in the 2015 archery season. As of Tuesday, the 2016 total was about 41,400 - a 27 percent drop.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com