Fully Drawn Deer Herd Index

The Fully Drawn Deer Herd Index

One 0–100 score for every Illinois county’s whitetail hunting, built from public records and comparable across all 102 counties. Higher means a stronger herd — better age structure, more deer, more record-book history, and positive momentum. It’s the backbone of every ranking, map layer, and county report in Fully Drawn Scout.

102

counties scored

weighted components

0–100

percentile-ranked

Edgar

#1 county

What drives the index

Five components, each scored 0–100 against every other Illinois county, then blended by the weights below.

Herd quality · 30%30%

Habitat · 25%25%

Population · 18%18%

Trophy history · 15%15%

Momentum · 12%12%

Herd quality: Age structure & buck maturity in the harvest — the single heaviest input.Habitat: Cover, cropland, and forest mix that holds and grows deer.Population: Herd abundance, anchored to standardized deer-density data.Trophy history: Record-book buck production, cross-book deduplicated so each counts once.Momentum: Multi-year trend — is the county's herd rising or falling?

How it’s scored

Every component is a percentile — a county’s rank on that measure against all others, on a 0–100 scale — so no single raw number dominates and the score stays comparable statewide. The inputs are all public record: IDNR county deer-harvest reports (by season, sex, and age), IDNR deer-density data, USDA/NLCD land cover, and the major whitetail record books (cross-book deduplicated so a buck listed in more than one book is counted once). Components are combined by the fixed weights above into the final 0–100 index, and counties are ranked #1–102. The index describes the herd’s past and present — it is not a prediction of any individual hunt.

Illinois counties, ranked

Rank	County	Index	Tier	Record bucks
#1	Edgar	80.5	A - Elite	136
#2	Vermilion	79.2	A - Elite	142
#3	Logan	73.9	A - Elite	63
#4	Piatt	71.2	A - Elite	35
#5	Iroquois	70.2	A - Elite	84
#6	Menard	70.1	A - Elite	68
#7	Hancock	67.8	B - Strong	157
#8	Crawford	67.2	B - Strong	88
#9	McLean	66.9	B - Strong	113
#10	Macoupin	66.3	B - Strong	195
#11	Champaign	66.1	B - Strong	57
#12	Clark	64.6	B - Strong	237
#13	Coles	63.8	B - Strong	109
#14	Morgan	63.5	B - Strong	103
#15	Hamilton	63.1	B - Strong	71
#16	Warren	62.3	B - Strong	67
#17	Schuyler	62.1	B - Strong	239
#18	Lawrence	61.4	B - Strong	67
#19	Cass	61.3	B - Strong	135
#20	Macon	60.2	B - Strong	70
#21	De Witt	60	B - Strong	45
#22	Shelby	60	B - Strong	107
#23	Henderson	59.8	B - Strong	72
#24	Livingston	59.6	B - Strong	68
#25	Ford	59.3	B - Strong	8
#26	Pike	59.2	B - Strong	779
#27	Woodford	59	B - Strong	81
#28	Brown	58.9	B - Strong	238
#29	Sangamon	58.5	B - Strong	111
#30	Washington	58.4	B - Strong	67
#31	Fulton	58.4	B - Strong	391
#32	Richland	58.3	B - Strong	73
#33	Moultrie	58	B - Strong	29
#34	Mercer	57.6	B - Strong	91
#35	Bureau	57.2	B - Strong	110
#36	Christian	57.1	B - Strong	65
#37	Stark	57	B - Strong	28
#38	Jasper	56.9	B - Strong	106
#39	McDonough	56.9	B - Strong	144
#40	Putnam	56.9	B - Strong	35
#41	Douglas	56.7	B - Strong	24
#42	Cumberland	56.5	B - Strong	46
#43	Clay	56.1	B - Strong	47
#44	Marion	56.1	B - Strong	88
#45	Perry	55.9	B - Strong	83
#46	Wabash	55.6	B - Strong	30
#47	Knox	54.6	C - Above Average	189
#48	Montgomery	54.1	C - Above Average	96
#49	Adams	54	C - Above Average	296
#50	Marshall	53.5	C - Above Average	70
#51	Jersey	53.3	C - Above Average	111
#52	Randolph	52.7	C - Above Average	118
#53	Edwards	52.6	C - Above Average	48
#54	Scott	52.5	C - Above Average	41
#55	Wayne	52.4	C - Above Average	70
#56	Lee	51.3	C - Above Average	77
#57	Mason	51	C - Above Average	58
#58	Tazewell	50.4	C - Above Average	109
#59	Greene	50	C - Above Average	111
#60	Fayette	49.9	C - Above Average	110
#61	Gallatin	49.7	C - Above Average	52
#62	LaSalle	48.7	C - Above Average	228
#63	Kankakee	48.6	C - Above Average	75
#64	Henry	47.2	C - Above Average	69
#65	Effingham	46.8	C - Above Average	47
#66	Grundy	46.5	C - Above Average	93
#67	Jefferson	46	C - Above Average	90
#68	Will	45.7	C - Above Average	318
#69	Calhoun	44.7	C - Above Average	162
#70	Monroe	44.6	C - Above Average	42
#71	Clinton	43.6	C - Above Average	43
#72	Bond	40.8	C - Above Average	59
#73	Stephenson	40.5	C - Above Average	121
#74	Boone	40.5	C - Above Average	35
#75	Ogle	40.2	C - Above Average	144
#76	White	39.8	D - Average	87
#77	Franklin	39.6	D - Average	59
#78	Saline	39	D - Average	48
#79	DeKalb	38.7	D - Average	57
#80	Cook	38.6	D - Average	76
#81	Kane	38.4	D - Average	145
#82	Madison	38.1	D - Average	95
#83	Winnebago	37.8	D - Average	140
#84	Peoria	37.6	D - Average	247
#85	DuPage	37.2	D - Average	42
#86	St. Clair	37.2	D - Average	60
#87	Carroll	37	D - Average	119
#88	Whiteside	36.7	D - Average	45
#89	Jo Daviess	36.3	D - Average	312
#90	McHenry	33.5	D - Average	305
#91	Kendall	32.1	D - Average	33
#92	Lake	31	D - Average	271
#93	Massac	30.7	D - Average	34
#94	Williamson	30.3	D - Average	57
#95	Rock Island	29	D - Average	95
#96	Pulaski	25.2	D - Average	29
#97	Union	24.3	E - Below Average	65
#98	Jackson	23.9	E - Below Average	84
#99	Alexander	23.9	E - Below Average	32
#100	Pope	20.6	E - Below Average	96
#101	Johnson	20.2	E - Below Average	56
#102	Hardin	19	E - Below Average	25

See the index on the map

The FDR Index behind every county — live on the hunting map with parcels, public land, harvest & trophy data, and the full research analytics.

Open Fully Drawn Scout — free Research analytics (Pro)The science behind it

Frequently asked questions

What is the FDR Deer Herd Index?

A 0–100 score for every Illinois county's whitetail hunting, built entirely from public records: IDNR harvest and deer-density data, USDA/NLCD land cover, and the major whitetail record books (cross-book deduplicated). Higher means a stronger herd — better age structure, more deer, more record-book history, and positive momentum. It ranks all 102 counties on the same scale.

How is the FDR Deer Herd Index calculated?

Five components — herd quality (30%), habitat (25%), population (18%), trophy history (15%), and momentum (12%) — are each converted to a percentile against every other Illinois county, then blended by those fixed weights into a single 0–100 score. Percentile scoring keeps no single raw number from dominating, so counties stay comparable statewide.

Is the FDR Deer Herd Index a prediction of hunting success?

No. It describes the herd's public-record past and present — harvest, density, age structure, and trophy history — not a forecast for any individual hunt or property.

Which Illinois county has the highest FDR Deer Herd Index?

Edgar County ranks #1 of 102 at 80.5 of 100 (A - Elite). See the full county-by-county ranking below.