I am jealous of the guys already hunting. A little over a week to go now until the Illinois opener. Well 11 days but a little over a week sounds better...
Yep, the Illinois opener for bow is October 1st and there is not a shotgun weekend until the end of November.
Tell me about it. and, i just found out that our next class date is..... Oct 1st! this is stupid. though, i probably wont get out until the following weekend anyways, but im just hoping to get a deer down this fall. going out to tomorrow to check for signs of life and set up the blind an do some shooting. hey BUCKJEEZY, where about do you live? i live in Harvard, McHenry, northern Illinois. just curious. have a great day guys, Brian.
I live in La Grange now since I took a job downtown Chicago after college and I also go to grad school at night at U of I Chicago, but I am originally from Ottawa and I have family farms in Ottawa and Morris which is where I do my hunting. I do miss living further out and the country life, however, it is only about an hour drive back which is not bad. I plan on taking the 1st and 2nd off work to go hunting. I kind of know the general area Harvard is. That is way north by the Wisconsin border, isnt it? I believe Morris is straight south of you down Rt 47 about 80 miles. So you are not too far from where I do most my hunting.
yup. were about 7 miles from the Wisconsin border. im trying to get my wife to let us move right over the border so i can become a free'er American. I cant stand living in Illinois. its such a beautiful state, devastated by s-hitcago politics. id love to move down state, near my aunt in Harrisburg, its just beautiful down there, but its still Illinois...
Ha isnt that the truth. I live in Crook County so I really feel it. But you are right the entire state is in bad shape. I would put it 2nd worst after California. I would leave the state if it wasnt for my family being here and my hunting property... ha
Just got home from an afternoon hunt and sorry to say I came up empty again. I didnt even see any deer so I dont really know what to think about that. If the wife doesnt have a fit ill be going out on monday after work, that may be my last time out for two weeks as im going on a fishing trip next thursday. Ill be kicking my hunting into high gear around the middle of october until then ill try to get out if I can.
Good luck this weekend guys. I will be checking in every now and then from work to see how you guys fared.
Well, back from my first weekend out. Didn't kill anything, but had some great action. This morning I had 5 does trotting by within 20 yards and couldn't get a shot! Too much stuff in the way, and couldn't get em to stop, unreal. Yesterday I got busted by an enormous doe with her fawn at last light. Saw 9 does total in a day and a half, so I can't complain. This spot usually doesn't have alot of deer, so I feel real good about the upcoming season up there. Did a bit of scouting, trails are torn up throughout the place. Sure felt good being back out there!
Hey guys - I was able to get out over the weekend and do some scouting and pull my memory cards. Things are looking great this year. It seems like there are acorns everywhere this year for some reason. Illinois opener is in exactly 1 week and I can not wait! A bruiser 12 point buck showed up on the camera and I believe he is "Big 9" from last year. His 11th and 12 points are growing toward the inside which is kind of cool. Here are some pics of him at sunrise in velvet (date is wrong on the pics).
I just looked at the pictures today, so I have not tried to sleep yet. It is going to be a long week. Here are pics of Basket Case hard horned...
