Hey everyone. I am a die hard bow hunter and am somewhat disgusted this gun season in Illinois. I hunt approximately 300 acres that is surround by large strip mine ground and wooded/farm ground. 2 deer have been killed off the 300 acres I hunt, 1 buck, 1 doe. My neighboring hunters to the south have killed 9 deer this season, 1 of which i know is a buck. Who knows how many they have killed this 2nd shotgun season. My other neighbors to the north have killed 1 buck and 1 doe that I am aware of. Now just today the neighbors to the west just killed 3 does on a deer drive. This seems like a lot of deer for 1 area. That's not to mention the 6 other gun hunters to the further south. And who knows how many get crippled and die during gun season on deer drives. How many is enough? What does everyone here think? How many is to many?
I kill till the season is over ... there is always plenty left to kill drivers and smash cars too! ...
Depends how many deer are in the area. If you believe there's an endless supply of deer, you may end up like a lot of guys here in WI. "What the hell happened to all the deer? Damn DNR!!!" I just tell them....."Look in the mirror."
I get 3 buck and 3 doe tags, I hunt until my freezer cannot hold anymore and that's it, looks like that will be 3 deer this year. I don't think there's really a set limit other than your motivation and the tags you recieve. I think if someone has the tags go for it.
Like Dan said it depends on the deer to acre ratio. My cousin and his family killed 11 deer off his 300 acres so far this year, and they have plenty more. I know with his neighbors they are in the 50 deer range. There's a lot of deer around on their farms though, so...
I should say it this way ... I kill what I want until the season is over ... most guys don't even kill one ... we have plenty of deer in NY ... it never ceases to amaze me how it doesn't feel like we even dent the population (even tho we do) I will say I have never hunted lands where you see dozens of deer on a sit ... so maybe there arent many ... I dunno ... I am filling my freezer tho .. Deer road kills have been bad every year I can remember .... and we don't have that many hunters .. at least in the area I hunt .... of course the land IMMEDIATELY surrounding the land we hunt has guys that push deer all around .... also, it seems the more doe that are killed, the more deer there are ... thats kinda weird ...
I've bow killed 7 so far this year. The regular season ends Jan 7th but you can kill does until Mar 31st. In the counties I hunt you can kill as many does per day per season that you feel like dragging and cleaning. With your regular tags you get 3 either sex and 3 antlerless. Then you can buy unlimited doe tags. You get 6 tags for $18.00 and you can buy as many as you want. I'll keep kill'n em till March 31st, but I bowhunt only. I give quite a few to Hunters for the Hungry every year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As others have said, depends how many deer are around. If it's a heavily populated area and hunting any more wouldn't really affect it negatively or could even help, why not. If you're not seeing much activity yourself/hearing of, seeing tracks, fresh droppings, etc.. then might want to give them a break. Possibly go to another spot (if have). Or just let the does be to get more fawns next year. Lots of decisions, and hard for us to determine the outcome for you without really being in your position since it can vary. Why am I Canada.. better start packing.
Kill what you can use... hunt for a big one after that. If you have to kill something after that get a 22.250 and go to work on the coyotes. As far as what people are doing on other properties... you can't control that.
