On another forum someone had asked what effect the flooding along the Illinois River may have had so I looked into that. "look at habitat in counties where harvest went down significantly. Spring flooding affecting birth ? I know along the Illinois River for the last ten years it has seen massive flooding well into the time period they should be having fawns." I looked into that for the 2 seasons prior to the significant deer harvest drop vs. the 2 years of deer harvest drop. Here is what I found.
Illinois River is 273 miles long, running through or bordering 17 Illinois counties.
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
1. Brown * 2644 2889 (+ 245, 13%) 2074 (- 815, 28%) 2074 (- 0, 0%)
Avg deer harvest loss from 11/12 & 12/13 to 13/14 & 14/15……………… 392 (- 25%)
2. Cass * 1373 1537 (+ 164, 12%) 1192 (- 345, 21%) 1214 (+22, 2%)
avg 252 (- 17%)
3. Fulton * 5170 5717 (+ 547, 9%) 4085 (- 1632, 30%) 4166 (+ 81, 3%)
avg 1318 (- 24%)
4. Greene * 2507 2508 (+ 1, 0%) 1877 (- 631, 25%) 1773 (- 104, 5%)
avg 685 (- 27%)
5. Grundy 1039 1006 (- 33, 0%) 821 (- 185, 18%) 784 (- 37, 4%)
avg 220 (- 22%)
6. Jersey * 1683 1720 (+ 37, 3%) 1339 (- 381, 22%) 1147 (- 192, 15%)
avg 458 (- 27%)
7. LaSalle 2499 2457 (- 42, 2%) 1891 (- 566, 24%) 1747 (- 144, 8%)
avg 659 (- 27%)
8. Marshall 1276 1232 (- 42, 3%) 1019 (- 213, 15%) 1000 (- 19, 1%)
avg 244 (- 20%)
9. Morgan * 1709 1586 (- 123, 7%) 1301 (- 285, 18%) 1228 (- 73, 5%)
avg 383 (- 23%)
10. Mason * 1087 1043 (- 34, 1%) 795 (- 348, 23%) 777 (- 18, 2%)
avg 279 (- 27%)
11. Peoria * 3015 3035 (+ 20, 1%) 2140 (- 895, 30%) 2050 (- 90, 4%)
avg 930 (- 31%)
12. Pike * 7179 7241 (+ 62, 1%) 5647 (- 1594, 22%) 5168 (- 479, 8%)
avg 1803 (- 25%)
13. Putnam 908 912 (+ 4, 1%) 714 (- 198, 22%) 689 (- 25, 4%)
avg 209 (- 23%)
14. Schuyler * 3108 3215 (+ 107, 4%) 2451 (- 764, 24%) 2523 (+ 72, 3%)
avg674 (- 21%)
15. Scott * 885 922 (+37, 11%) 665 (- 257, 28%) 634 (- 31, 5%)
avg253 ( - 28%)
16. Tazewell * 1588 1626 (+ 38, 3%) 1123 (- 503, 30%) 1041 (- 82, 7%)
avg 525 (- 33%)
17. Woodford * 1681 1834 (+ 153, 10%) 1245 (- 589, 32%) 1100 (- 145, 12%)
avg 585 (- 32%)
TOTAL AVG LOSS ALL 17 COUNTIES 9869 (25.5%)
TOTAL AVG LOSS 13 COUNTIES PEORIA & BELOW (26.2%)
These measureable losses in deer harvest only account for about a third of the state's loss so I believe it is a significant factor in explaining the decline in deer harvest but there are other factors.