Deer hunters head back out to the Illinois Valley fields

Will harvest numbers be as bountiful the second weekend of firearm deer season as they were during the first?

The four-day, second season got going Thursday and wraps up at a half-hour after sunset on Sunday. If you shoot down a deer in La Salle County, remember you’re supposed to check it in at Buffalo Rock State Park. La Salle County is one of a dozen counties still being checked for chronic wasting disease.

During the opening weekend, hunters in Bureau County shot down 714 deer. In La Salle County, 547 deer were shot down while hunters in Putnam County gunned down 252.

Over 57,000 deer were gunned down statewide, about 6,000 more than opening weekend last year.