After Your Harvest
Congratulations, you’ve successfully harvested your first deer! Now what?
Tagging a Deer
Before you begin field dressing, transporting, and even taking your photos, you need to tag your deer. Your tag should already be signed and on you. Antlerless deer should have their tag attached to a leg, while antlered deer require both tags to be attached, one to the head and one to the leg, if they are to be separated. Tags must remain on the deer during field dressing, photos, and transportation until the deer is at the hunter’s home.
See the graphic below, taken from the 2024–2025 Illinois Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest, for more information about the tagging process, including what details you must include, how to attach the tag to the deer, and what to do if you are in a CWD-positive county:
How to Field Dress (Gut) a Deer
After you’ve tagged your deer, it’s time to get your hands dirty and learn how to field dress your deer. Field dressing is the process of removing the internal organs from harvested game. This prevents bacterial contamination of the meat, ensures rapid heat loss, and also reduces the overall weight of the animal, making it easier to retrieve.
Reporting Your Harvest
You must report your deer harvest by 10 p.m. on the day of the hunt (or immediately the next day if unable to be removed before 10 p.m.) if you are successful on a general hunt. You may either do so online or via phone. Refer to the back of the permit for details about the information and measurements that must be included.
For deer harvested during the first or second Deer Firearm Season in CWD-positive counties, the deer must be tagged and taken to a firearm check station in the impacted country between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day it was killed, or when the station opens at 8 a.m. the following day/when the deer is retrieved if it could not be located to meet the 8 p.m. closing time the night before. IDNR staff will attach an orange tag to your deer, which counts as harvest confirmation. Do not report your deer harvest via phone or online in this situation.