For Immediate Release – May 1, 2025
Senate Passes Rose-Sponsored Legislation to Control Deer Population
Agriculture, Public Safety, and Car Insurance Costs to be Positively Impacted
Springfield, Illinois — State Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) is helping lead the charge to address Illinois’ out-of-control deer population. He joined a bipartisan coalition of senators in securing passage of legislation aimed at protecting farmers and improving safety for drivers.
“I have a single farmer on the Coles-Edgar County line that lost $45,000 from crop damage alone because of deer,” said Senator Rose. “Everyone in this state buys food. At the end of the day, food costs just went up $45,000, and that’s just a single farmer – imagine the severe economic impact of deer overpopulation statewide and what it does to consumer prices.”
“But this issue is bigger than just the economic hit on our farmers and the price of goods at the grocery store. It’s about public safety. Vehicular collisions with deer are extremely dangerous and, even if you are lucky enough to escape unscathed, chances are your car won’t be as lucky,” said Senator Rose during a floor debate. “Virtually everyone I know has had a near miss with a deer at some point, and many have had an actual impact. You can’t put a price tag on human life or injury, but all of us in Illinois are paying higher health insurance, particularly car insurance, because of the out-of-control deer herd in our state,” he continued.
Senate Bill 710 loosens regulations under the Illinois Wildlife Code to make it easier for landowners and tenants to obtain deer hunting permits. The bill allows for the automatic issuance of additional antlerless-only permits for those who show effective population reduction efforts and enables owners and resident tenants of at least 40 acres of commercial farmland to receive hunting permits, both firearm and archery, for use only on that land.
“This deer population issue is so out of control — it is beyond time we do this,” Rose added. “It is beyond time we do something reasonable to control the deer population for the economic wellbeing of our farmers, for the safety of our citizens, for the health of the deer population itself, and frankly for the health of our pocketbooks.”
The measure was negotiated with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Farm Bureau. Senator Rose serves as a Chief Co-Sponsor of the initiative.
SB 710 passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
