Hello fellow bowhunters...... I have an opportunity to come out for a two week bowhunt in November with some friends of mine. They have a 1800 acre lease in Lee County and I am just trying find out if the hunting in this area is pretty good. Looking forward to just hunting different territory and hopefully experiencing a true hardcore rut. We have decent rut activity here in North Carolina but nothing compared to the stories Ive heard of in Illinois. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks
I'm from whiteside county (directly west) and last year it really picked up around the 8th of December in my neck of the woods. We are in a great area personally and there are plenty of deer so it gets pretty intense. If there are deer there and you are going to be out the second week of November you shouldn't be disappointed. Good luck.
It's probably very good there. I've never hunted the county, but have been through it plenty of times. It's flat farm country for sure. If managed well, and if there is timber, I've got to imagine any 1800 acre chunk there is decent.
I grew up in lee county and hunted there and kin folk still do good deer all depends on we're the ground is some sand country could be river bottoms if u had a closer point I could help some
If what I've seen from buddies' trail cams in Pike County (South of Lee) hold true for Lee County.. should be pretty dang good. I'll be out in that area end of OCT. Lot bigger than what I've been hunting in NC. You should have a great time and want to see pics after the hunt.
Last yr it seemed right b for shotgun season it was really good I hunt northern ogle now but there are good deer there in lee
Don't let story's tell you. See for yourself in person. Just like how I've read on alot of Wisconsin's big bucks. I brought a tag, and scouted and hunted and came back disappointed. All I got on trail cam is a yearling buck
Ok fellas I really appreciate the info on Lee county but I have just found out that I was told the wrong county. The county I will actually be hunting in is clay county so with that being said I apologize for the confusion and if anyone has any info on Clay county hunting it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy hunting to all!!!!
I used to hunt Effingham County directly North of Clay and there's some awesome deer hunting down that way. A friend of mine and I looked into a group lease/hunt club in Clay County some years ago. Very nice riverbottom ground and lots of big bucks. It just wasn't for us. You'll be hard pressed to find 1,800 acres of ground in IL that doesn't have at least a few good bucks running around on it. If you have the opportunity I'd go for it. Most of us only have access to a fraction of that amount of land.
Looking at Clay county from a macro view, it appears that there are some timbered areas but a lot of the county is flat farm ground. If the property has timber on it, it should be great. It not, focus on hunting the fence rows and any other cover that deer will hold in amongst the thousands of acres of crops. I work with a guy that grew up in Olney IL which looks to be just east of Clay County and he has deer hunted his whole life with good success.
Thanks for the info guys.... Imma give it a shot just to say I did I reckon should be a large time after all I will be deer hunting and that's good enough for me.
My cousin owns a huge farm outside of Salem, IL (right off the west side of Clay County) he killed a 180" buck a couple years ago and has killed many big bucks there. My dad hunts on this farm now, because he has never seen so many deer in his life. My guess is no one hunts over there. I've gotten permission to lots of land around that area. since, I'm losing my honey hole I'm going to be looking those people up for next year. My cousin doesn't want anyone else to hunt on his land so that sucks for me.
I hunt Ogle county next to Lee. Go for it, that's a great opportunity to hunt! I don't think you'll regret making the trip.
