By TRAVIS MORSE
MOUNT VERNON — Jefferson County hunters and trappers reported harvesting 33 bobcats during the 2025-2026 Illinois bobcat season, the most for any county in Illinois this year.
According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the 2025-2026 season concluded on Feb. 15 with a total of 627 bobcats harvested statewide by hunters and trappers. This is a slight decrease from the prior year’s total harvest of 649 but significantly higher than the 2023-2024 total of 370 and the 2022-2023 total of 367.
Out of this year’s 627 total, 405 or 62% were taken by hunting, while trapping accounted for 222 (34%) of the harvest. Also, a total of 27 bobcats (4%) this year were salvaged by permit holders from circumstances such as roadkill, states an IDNR news release.
As mentioned previously, Jefferson County hunters and trappers reported the most bobcats for any county at 33. Macoupin County was second this year with 28 bobcats reported, the release states. Further Illinois county totals have not yet been released.
“IDNR continues to monitor the status of bobcats and will evaluate the program as new data becomes available from ongoing research,” the release states.
For more information on bobcat hunting and trapping, visit huntillinois.org/bobcat.
