IDNR addresses southern Illinois deer damage issues
Facing escalating crop damage, the Jasper and Clark County Farm Bureaus hosted a meeting for local farmers and landowners to voice their concerns to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
During the Jan. 21 meeting in Newton, IDNR shared information and answered questions regarding local deer populations and hunting regulations.
“The deer nuisance problem is very serious in my district. It’s something that needs attention,” state Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, told FarmWeek at the start of the meeting. “We’re here today to make sure that those voices are heard and to make sure we’re doing the right thing moving forward on the deer population issue.”
There are two legal ways to remove deer in Illinois — licensed hunting and deer removal permits issued by IDNR. Deer removal permits can be granted if deer are damaging property or threatening public health and safety.
“When it comes to limited quotas (on the harvest of deer per hunter), we see those come into place in the firearm level or season,” IDNR Forest Wildlife Program Manager Dan Skinner said at the meeting. “In Illinois, our management unit for deer is set at the county level. So, we make our management decisions at the county level.”
Skinner said IDNR is reassessing how it calculates an area’s deer population to ensure an adequate number of tags are available. This includes updating and standardizing the deer-vehicle accident (DVA) reporting system used to help decide quotas during the firearm season. In recent years however, Skinner said IDNR has discovered the DVA data “might not be telling the whole story of what’s going on.”
An objective of IDNR’s research with Southern Illinois University, which will begin in July 2025, is to look for additional ways to estimate county-by-county deer population density. Skinner said this research is expected to wrap up in June 2026.
“There is no doubt we are facing devastation in our fields,” Jasper County farmer Bruce Lewis told FarmWeek. “It was very important for IDNR and our representative to be at this meeting and take our ideas to the state to help us control the population.”
IDNR encouraged farmers who are facing crop damage like Lewis to submit photos of the damage to their district biologist. After proving damage, they can receive 10 permits to remove deer from the field. Each Illinois district biologist can be found online at wildlifeillinois.org/idnr-district-wildlife-biologist/.
“Farm Bureau members throughout the state have made it clear that this is a top issue for them, and we have made it a legislative priority this spring,” said Anna McKinley, Illinois Farm Bureau assistant director of state legislation, addressing IFB’s ongoing efforts to find a solution. “We have been working with legislators and stakeholders to introduce legislation that gives landowners more tools for deer management on their own properties, while also encouraging doe harvest during regular hunting seasons.”
• This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.