PJ,

Where are you at in central Illinois? There are still plenty of deer in southeast Illinois. Folks didn't see as many until well into November because the farmers were so late in getting their crops out. Even after that it seemed like there were days when the woods were crawling with deer and other times when it looked like they had dropped off the face of the earth.

Would be interested in hearing more about the possible cougar up there. But even if it is a cougar, I think that you would need to have a lot of them operating for a long time in the same area before you would see any noticeable decline in deer numbers.