I am going hunting in illinois this year and I was wondering if anyone could tell me where a good peace of public land to hunt on how it is and how much pressure there is on the deer.
I am in central Illinois and there are some public lands but I say if you can get some where that has been known for nice deer you are good. I have seen good bucks on all the public land I have hunted so I am sure that you just have to plan it right and be in the right place and right time.
Sangchris Lake or Jim Edgar (Site M), both produce monsters. I've hunted both and have seen and killed some good ones. Sangchris you will want a boat.
If you go to the Southern part of the state then check out Dolan Lake SP and Ten Mile Creek WA. I know Ten Mile has one area that is managed for trophies. These 2 areas probably get less pressure than some of the more well known spots, at least during Archery season. Dan
This will be hard for us to tell you there is monster bucks in certain parts of the country because they move and there isnt much to do about that on these public hunting properties....randolf county isnt bad btw =[]
I live really close to Jim Edgar and I've seen a lot of nice deer that have come out of there. However, if you were to come and hunt here during the archery season I would suggest coming early in the season because around late October and throughout November the amount of people hunting out there is ridiculous.
Isn't that Truth!! It's like that all over IL any more unless you have private ground in which you have control. I have permission to hunt 120 acres, and share that with 7 other hunters. It gets fun sometimes, especially on the weekends. We have I believe at last count 10 outfitters in this county, and they have leased up a huge % of the ground. The deer population and Buck quality here compared to 20-30 years ago is Awesome but it does have it's downsides. Dan
