The warm weather last weekend apparently didn't help the deer hunters. 

The harvest statewide and across South Central Illinois were down.  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports 66,126 deer harvested during the opening weekend of the shotgun deer hunting season statewide.  That compares to 71,894 last year.  Jefferson County had the fourth highest number of deer taken in the state, with 1,606.  That was down 44 from last year.  In Marion County, 1,374 deer were harvested, a drop of 30 from last year.  In Clay County the harvest dropped 56 to 942.  In Clinton County 581 deer were taken, a drop of 56.  Fayette County hunters bagged 1,336 deer, a drop of 144.  Washington County hunters brought in 839 deer, down 25.  Wayne County had 1,247 deer taken, a drop of 69.  IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager Paul Shelton says standing corn was a significant factor affecting hunter success.  He says the good news is there is still a lot of deer hunting left, so lots of opportunities remain for Illinois hunters. 

The second portion of the firearm deer hunting season is December third through the sixth.  The state issued more than 360-thousand firearm deer hunting permits for the 2009 season.