Went to Illinois with my brother and a friend he works with........(his usual group could not go this year so he asked my brother if we were interested.) Never been there so what the hell..........this farmer has 200 acres and they pay him $2,000 to hunt for a week (just permission, no meals, no lodging, no stands........just land.) Scheuler county (near golden triangle). Whole thing probably cost me $1,500 with license. #1 We went in expecting a lot to be honest...........holy F'n crap it was crazier then we expected. ANYONE on the east coast who has never been out there owes it to themselves to do it. It is literally a different world. #2 I now COMPLETELY understand how some guys in some places are able to pass up large excellent deer because of the realistic shot at a monster exists. I passed up 4 chances to kill bucks ranging from 130"-140"..........and those were all in the last 3 days. Why?? Because on my second hunt I was at full draw on a 160ish perfectly semetrical heavy massed, tall tined 12. He honestly was a damn near perfect buck. Saw him a total of 3 times in our 5 1/2 days (once far once close again). I have spent more then a few sleepless minutes on my pillow wondering if my arrow would have found it's mark through that brush but God help me had I wounded him I would have never forgiven myself. #3 Illinois deer and midwest deer in general I'm guessing live the way deer are supposed to live......(including not looking up every other second) my brother and I kept telling each other "The best way to describe it is REAL". Bucks chasing does, bucks HEAVY on communication......saw more bucks making ground scrapes then I have in my whole life........bucks were friggin grunting machines..........AGRESSIVE as hell to, man would I have loved to have a decoy for that cut bean field. Some of the bucks we saw were down right mean, and we were in BEFORE the rut. #4 Next time I go back will be a week later (would like to be getting there right about now). The action was really just heating up when we left. The stories we shared with the locals about the rut out there were amazing. #5 The people of that area of Illinois are poor..........I honestly didn't know this. That area is really one big **** hole (where we were at least). Pretty depressing place actually........even the Walmart in Canton was small. #6 10 inches of recent rain had most of the corn still standing.............boy would I like to see the woods when it all comes down and the deer are forced into the timber. #7 Don't................I repeat, DON'T tell people in the sticks of Illinois you are from NY unless you specify Western NY. Apparently NY means NY City to people of Illinois and that don't go over well in those parts. An old guy in his 60's was talking to us nice as could be in a Hardee's and when he heard "NY" he turned away and mumbled something about "F'n city hunters" to his buddy and just walked away from us. LOL #8 The last text message you want to get while in a stand in Illinois first week of November is "Hon, something is wrong with Brinkley...........I'm taking him to the emergency vet" Had to cut my hunt short a day and a half.........my dog needed surgery yesterday to remove 15 bladder stones (he almost died from an obstruction). To rub a little more salt in the wound the vet bill was twice the cost of my Illinois trip. Happily he is doing well. #9 The local guys told us NOTHING has even come close to improving the deer hunting where they live then shooting the coyotes..........they have dogs that chase them out in the fields come spring and they just slaughter them with the guns. (Never heard of this and don't even know the legality of it but they do it and they swear it's the key). #10 Every single perception I had of hunting big buck states in the midwest was just chiseled in stone. We saw more big bucks in 5 days then a lifetime of hunting NY. Not really sure why our ability to get on big mature bucks suddenly skyrocketed but it certainly did. Seriously................east coast guys. Go hunt there..........you'll be amazed at what is considered normal deer hunting for some. I really have almost no desire to even sit in a stand in NY anymore. Taking a break one warm mid day a guy and his son stopped on a tractor and asked if we were "Killing any good bucks in there??".........I knew right away I was in a different world when I told them about the 160 I was close to and they didn't even bat an eye........in fact proceeded to tell me about half a dozen they have missed bigger then that. The kid was 22 years old and has a 174", a 168", a 162", and a 155". I asked him if he knew how lucky he was to be able to grow up hunting such an awsome place and he smiled from ear to ear saying "Yup, we got some big deer out here for sure but I would LOVE to kill myself a REALLY big deer".........I guess his uncle killed a a 190 something 2 years ago. Perspective I guess. Short video of a buck I passed twice............he is a little heavier then he looks and actually has really cool browtines. The more I look at him the more I think I should have shot him. The one I was on made this buck look like a spiker. You'll see the doe he was tending run through the screen just before it cuts out.........the machines bringing down the corn spooked her and helped me because he didn't seem to care and once she was back in the woods he came right over to my grunt calls..........tore up the ground on a scrape 10 yards to my left and then gradually made his way back over to look for the doe. VERY cool evening on the cut beans. I wish I would have gotten more video but I was really thinking I was gonna shoot him so I was more focused on my bow then the camera. http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/atlasman/?action=view¤t=M2U00012.flv
Link doesn't work... *edit* It works now that you fixed it. Great to hear you had a good trip and will have some awesome memories to look back on!
Illinois definitely gets in your blood. I've been on 3 hunts exactly as you describe, pay for access. Deer just act like a deer should there. They have a well defined rut which is key IMO.
Atlas - glad to hear you had a good trip and got to experience what "real" deer hunting is all about. Although Mike and I are both from IL we unfortunately live in the suburbs and hunt heavily pressured deer that are influenced by a variety of factors that prevent them from acting "natural". A lot of guys think we're nuts for spending the coin we do and traveling as much as we do to hunt in rural areas, but now you know why. Sorry you didn't come home with a buck in the truck, but I'm glad you had a good trip and that your dog is doing well. We're leaving for a 5 day trip down South tonight, so I'm glad to hear things are really starting to pick up. Can't wait to get back in a tree!!
Damn, I live in IL and I'd like to go to this place you call Illinois. Sounds nothing like the Illinois I hunt :D . Glad you had a good hunt, sounds like a good time was had by all. BTW, the NYC thing works the same way against us FIB's. Tell anyone (not from IL) that you live in IL, they think you are from Chicago.
We had a GREAT time. If I lived in Illinois I wouldn't want to live where we were that is for sure.............but hunt there????...........god, it was awesome. Nothing short of amazing, and we missed the rut. I would pay twice as much as I did and still consider it a bargain for what I got to see and experience in the woods. Now that I have been there I can honestly say people are nuts if they DON'T spend the coin to do it. Oh my............it was teetering on the brink of being GAME ON!!!..........last night my brother had 3 big bucks roll by from 2-5pm ALL chasing does and crashing and thrashing up a storm. It was tough to leave that is for sure. You are gonna have a blast!!! Good Luck.
Exactly. When we head down to our lease we're never from Chicago. We're always from closer to Rockford. They hate people from Chicago as much as out-of-staters.
Good to hear you experienced a great hunt Atlas! Its funny you had so much action. We were north of you in Knox county for 9 days and didn't see squat. We came home Wednesday and are heading back Monday. I expect the rut to really be gearing up next week leading up to the full moon. I also agree, its worth every penny to hunt there.
Atlas- GREAT read. I raelly enjoyed this post !! Glad you enjoyed yourself. I plan to move to the mid-west when I complete my clinical rotations....cant wait to get out to Gods Country !!
Thats an awesome buck you passed up Atlas! I woulda shot him in a second, not sure i've ever saw one that big even spotlighting
Sounds like you had a great hunt here in west-central IL! It sounds like you've found a great farm to hunt to! Thats some awesome hunting for multiple guys on just one farm in just one week..... wow! That certainly doesn't discribe the "average" area but but you've sampled how awesome some farms can be!
If you find the right piece of ground.. Illinois can be a fantastic place to hunt. IF you find the right farm. I've hunted this state for near 15 years.. I've never even been close to taking any one of 3 different 130-140" whitetail in the same week. So I must admit.. I'm a bit suspicious of this number. Could it be you Yorkers were seeing those really nice 2 yr olds who score 120" range. Since your not used to seeing them... I imagine they look quite BIG rolling in on you as quick as they do. And they do roll in quick this time of the year. Cause in that part of the state they grow like wildfire.. but 130-140".... ehhhh... not so sure about. I mean you'll see them.. but getting a shot and seeing are 2 completely different things. Sorry you didn't get a buck Atlas. Keep coming back to that farm.. it sounds like a keeper. Schulyer has some nice deer taken out of it every year. It's crazy in that part of the state.. drive an hour east and you won't see a deer.
Very cool Atlas, a hunt like that can either rejuvenate the batteries or spoil you completely! Either way it sounds like a great time!
Me too..........had I not been looking through my peep at the hog I saw early on. I'm having trouble deciding if he made my hunt..........or ruined it LOL Go west young man.
In all fairness.........my brothers buddy is sort of a drunk (and an idiot). He barely even hunted the mornings (too hung over) and the evenings he was out for a couple hours. It was basically a 2 man show.
"The machine bringing down the corn..."? LOL! F'in city hunters. It's called a combine. Just joshin' with ya... glad you had a great trip. Trust me, it ain't all like that; faaar from it. Sounds like you were in a REALLY good area. I about choked when I read how much you paid for a week... started to tell you that there's tens of thousands of acres in Illinois you can hunt for FREE -- but like I said, it's nothing like that.
