Archery Hunting

[Zip]

Well, I just bought my first deer archery licence for Illinois. I am a non-resident and am planning on hunting public property. Probably in the southern part of the state since I will be coming from Alabama. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am not young anymore so I know the value of knowledge when taking on a new mission. I would love to find some private property to hunt but am sure everyone wants to do the same. I am a good sportsman that respects everyones rights and property. Does anyone have any advice that would be helpful? Thanks Much and God Bless!!

[backwoodsman]

Shawnee, Shawnee um Shawnee. Theres some decent state ground around also. Check the DNR site for locations and regulations etc. You may look around and ask around etc and find private property to hunt for free but I'd be doubtful of much success doing that. Hunt the food sources from October 1st till late October for a buck. Does are everywhere and follow the food too. Climbing treestand's are the way to go on public ground here. Some state ground has disabled areas if your disabled. Crossbows are legal for some hunters too. How far north you coming up? We hunt mainly Pike and Morgan counties now with a few doe hunts on public ground. Good Luck

[Zip]

Hello backwoodsman and Thank You for your help. I am not planning on going any farther north than Mt. Vernon. I am thinking about checking out Rend Lake or Pyramaid S.P. I will be hunting from climbing stands. Will the deer be on the white oaks in October or in the fields? I am coming up in a couple weeks to look around. Mostly to find some places and find my way around. I considered going on up towards Pike or Adams county but it's another 4 hr drive so I think I will try the southern part of the state this year. Again I appreciate any help offered!! Thanks

[backwoodsman]

DNR just opened up some more public ground. I dont know where any of it is as I just had time to glance at the booklet as I ran out the door today. Theres 6 at least that are in the Hunting and Trapping guide. Its on a PDF format on the DNR site. If you havent been there to check out the regs and the guide I'd highly suggest it. GPS's are worth their weight in gold on our public ground and aint a bad idea on private ground either. Our oaks here didnt set alot of acorns and white's only produce every two years here and we only have a good crop every four from my experience. First week or two of October that far south I'd look for GOOD white or red oaks(whites sweeter), wild persimmon trees, beans, wheat, oats , any melon patchs or corn in that order. Not trying to tell you what to do but thats our game plan up here. If you find some really isolated spots some throw and go/grow foodplot seed might work good. Monday thru Friday you'll see fewer hunters too. Closer to November more pressure also as alot wait till then to hit their "hotspot". Some of our public ground up here you never see any other deer hunters until about October 25th or so. This year it will be the weekend before Halloween(around 23rd) that all heck breaks loose regarding rut hunters and hopefully we have our does by then and can concentrate on bucks on private ground. Not trying to be nosey here either but what kind of buck are you looking for? Even on heavily hunted public ground we do have some monsters and you may want to study what mature bucks look like. We routinely let 150-160 class deer walk so if your lookin for a whopper you may have to let alot of 120-150 walk? On one public ground 30 miles west of us last year all of us in our doe hunting group/camp let a 146 8pt walk off and on for two weeks. I know what he scored because my 10 yr old nephew took him the last day of our hunt from my ground blind. Just because its Illinois doesnt mean theres a booner behind every tree but it hurts to shoot a 2 1/2 yr old 140 class 10pt and have a 180+ wander over the hill and watch you gut it... Trust me... Good luck, be safe, have fun and wear a harness.

[Zip]

Hey, I really do appreciate all the info your giving me. It is a real help. I have been on the DNR site and and checked out the regs, also I have one of your new Hunting and Trapping Reg books but I didn't pick up on new ground open to the public. I will look at it again. I plan on hunting thru the week more than the weekend so I should see fewer hunters, although I do want to hunt the rut also. My desire is to take a 150 class or better, my fear is that I don't see deer that size very often in Alabama and I may miss judge him. I only have one buck tag so I don't want to use it on a small deer. I do plan on being selective and yes I always wear a harness. I have hunted all my life just not outside Alabama. You mentioned a "doe hunting group". Do you hunt does only at times? Will I be best served to hunt the edges or deeper in woods? Do you use calls often or rattling during the pre rut? I just feel it is going to be hard to find the right places since I know nothing about them. That's why they call it hunting I guess! Anyway, I sure do appreciate all of your help.

[backwoodsman]

Your welcome. Look at the antler spread. If its not out past the ears 2" minimum on each side he probably isnt a 150+. Look in my Photobucket account and theres some 140's-180's+(and a few small ones too) so you kinda get an idea what the spread will need to be. Grey muzzle, sagging body and full chest are pretty good indicaters its at least mature or close to it. Antlers may not be there though? In '03 I killed a "cull" 3 1/2 yr old 5 pt(unbroken). Some of the public ground has a 4 pts or better on one side rule. They were gonna institute some areas as a doe first then your "buck" tag was authorized but I dont think they got it instituted yet? Early in the bow season we hunt does on public ground or our properties where were not too selective on bucks or the mature bucks just arent there due to local pressure. The bucks can be hard to figure out too during the first few weeks of October so we hunt does mainly then. For a mature buck on public ground and espescialy during the first 2 or 3 weeks of October you want to be where noone else is. If your seeing does first two weeks odds are you wont see a mature buck. Field edges during that time are where doe groups and 1 1/2yr old bucks hang out. Thats where we hunt our does mainly right at the edge of fields. Little scouting and you can pin down the does there fairly quickly until a Danial Boone wanna be sneaks thru a couple of times. If you can figure out a doe group's home range and beat the camo convention then you have a really good chance of bagging a bruiser as the pre rut warms up. I know a guy that does that every year and he makes sure hes there with the does when the bucks start chasing. He does really good every year. I grunt and bleat with my own voice but I do like the fawn distress calls for luring does into range during the pre rut. Alot of times they'll drag a buck along with them. Rattling works but every year it loses a little more effectiveness. Ive killed some dandy's that were running away escaping a rattler. Biggest scoring buck may not be the dominant buck and had his rear kicked a few times. Lure works good for us but dont leave it out in the timber unless its in a scrape. All the old standbys and doe in heat etc have some draw. One of my favorites is "One Night Stand". It's made by a trapping supply company. Kaatz brothers makes it in Northern Illinois. Hoosier trapper supply out of Indiana makes some good stuff too that not every Tom ---- n Harry has managed to educate every deer for miles around with. I'll try to post a picture of a few deer from Photobucket with a score as they arent labeled there but no promises as Im new to this posting thingy. Good Luck

[backwoodsman]

[img]http://i972.ph[IMG]http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae204/backwoodsman68/1-29-2006-43.jpg[/img]otobucket.com/albums/a[IMG]http://i972.photobucket.[IMG]http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae204/backwoodsman68/1-29[IMG]http://i972.photobucket.comcom/albums/ae204/backwoodsman68 Hope I did this right? How about you guessing what they score and we'll see if your in the ballpark and wont have trouble with them? Wel lthat didnt work?.... DOC???

[backwoodsman]

[IMG]http://i972.photobucket I give up... this is a 165 class though so thats just a little over your minimum but what your goal is.

[Zip]

Hello backwoodsman, Agaian, thanks for the help. I did look at your pics on photobucket. I saw one really nice 10 point you have on the wall and several other nice smaller deer. Don't you just love the trail cams! Yes, I do understand the ways to determine if a buck is a mature buck. I am really looking forward to jacking up a tree up there just to see what I can see. I did see that Rend Lake has the QDMA in place and you can't take anything with less that 4 points on one side. I like that but they also require you to take a doe before you can take a buck. That I don't care so much for. It would be hard to sit and watch a bruiser walk away because I have't filled my doe tag yet. I'm sure I will have lots of fun. I totally enjoy the wildlife and can have a great hunt without killing anything. I would really like to hunt where firearms are prohibited. It's one big learning curve for me but if I get there enough I will figure it out. It really does help having info from people that live there though. All help is wanted and appreciated!!!!!!

[backwoodsman]

If your talking about the real clean 10 point it netted 174, grossed 181 and some change. Wherever you hunt look for spots overlooked my the others stomping around. Harder it is to get to the better it'll be. Hunt smart and hard and make sure you have fun and you'll do good. Good Luck, post some pictures of your monster.

[Zip]

Hello backwoodsman. Yep, I could tell the 10 pointer would be around the 175 mark. I will be sure to post any pics if I am lucky enough to score. Thanks for everything you have shared with me! later

[backwoodsman]

Your welcome, good luck