Deer hunters in Illinois are hoping for better luck this weekend. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says the first weekend of deer hunting season saw fewer hunters bag a deer. DNR says hunters shot just over 50 thousand-deer during the weekend before Thanksgiving. That’s down from about 58 thousand last year. Western Illinois had several counties in the top five for deer hunters, but southern Illinois’ Randolph County saw the most deer taken at just over 15 hundred.