By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

Deer harvest totals

Illinois hunters harvested a preliminary total of 51,409 deer during the first weekend of the state’s firearm deer season Nov. 21-23, down from 54,661 deer harvested during the first firearm weekend in 2024.

Illinois’ seven-day firearm deer season is scheduled to conclude Dec. 4-7.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is reminding hunters that the use of drones for hunting or recovery of wildlife is unlawful in Illinois.

IHSA voting begins

Members of the Illinois High School Association can begin voting Monday on 12 proposals from the IHSA’s Legislative Commission to amend the IHSA constitution and bylaws.

Proposals include expanding the IHSA Board of Directors to include four additional superintendents or heads of school, moving the start of IHSA football games up one week and adding 16 teams per classification to the football playoffs.

Ballots will be available to each school’s representative in the IHSA’s online Schools Center from Dec. 1 until midnight Dec. 15.

Unhealthy states

Illinois is one of the unhealthiest states in the union, according to data analysis by NiceRx.

The report utilized obesity metrics from Gallup and also considered rates of alcohol consumption, physical activity levels and searches for weight loss medications.

Illinois ranked as the fifth unhealthiest state, trailing Louisiana, Alabama, Nevada and Missouri. Iowa was the sixth unhealthiest and Indiana was ninth.

The survey named Idaho the healthiest state in the U.S.