RE: questions for Illinois folks...
Hunting season is over in Indiana? We still have about a month left....still some muzzleloader and late archery..which includes crossbows. Don't be a weekend warrior and hunt during the "firearms" season...get out there late December/early January when the deer are easy to pattern...when it's COLD out...and when you can ice fish late morning/early afternoon.
About small deer??? Eh...depends on where you hunt, I guess. Anything south of Ft. Wayne it seems the deer get smaller...but up around the Michigan boarder...200+ class deer are taken every year.