HI guys! I'm new to the site and new to bowhunting. I live in lake county, IL and I am currently hunting some public land witch sucks cause they only allow bow hunting two days a week. I love spending time in the woods with the anticipation of seeing the big buck. The question i have is what is the best way to find other places to hunt. I would like to stay close cause of my work schedule. But I know land is kinda limited here in lake county. If anyone could help me out with this that would be great! If anyone knows of areas in lake or mchenry county those are close enough to me for my situation. Thanks!
Yea i have thought about that and i have checked the websites that i could find and nothing is available or any where near what i could afford. Any tips or leads other than the big websites?
I live in mchenry county and i travel to Wilmington or Morris or Ottawa I didn't even know there was land to hunt in lake county where is it?
I hunt in Mchenry county on private property and I always drive through lake county. I see tons of deer out there on the ag fields. Try your chance at kindly walking up to a farmer/ land owner and ask to hunt. Maybe around the holidays drop off some sort of present if they allow you to hunt and just show your gratitude. Personally, I'd love to hunt in Lake county because of all the deer i see out there. Give that a try.
Thanks for the info I'll have to see what I can do. The area I hunt is actually on the border of Lake/ Mchenry county. It's Chain-o-lakes state park. Come to think of it i think the part that we are allowed to hunt is in mchenry county.
I've never hunted the chain o lakes however I often see dead hit by cars and last week I saw a great 140 inch or so buck that was hit by a truck. I've never gone to hunt there. Whats your opinion on the park?
I have only been out there twice so far due to the bow hunting on only Monday and Tuesday and my work schedule but its not bad. I was there on Tuesday this week and when i went to check out of the park the ranger asked me if I had any luck and I told him I hadn't seen anything. As I was walking out he told me that he saw a bunch of deer all in one area witch just happened to be the opposite end of the park from me. I'll be going out Monday again and see if I can at least see a deer this time. Oh also as of right now this area is earn a buck. The ranger said that looks like it is going away next year. I would love to be able to find some other land to hunt just for the fact that I'm off every other day and I simply don't have a place to hunt other than Mondays and Tuesdays.
Are there any farms around that you could ask to hunt there land? Or maybe someone with a just a wood patch?
There are quite a few farms but most of them are not occupied by the owners so I'm not sure how to go about getting permission to hunt land when I cant find the owner.
Go door to door and ask. Get a plot map and find out who owns the land you are interested in. I believe you can find the same info on line here: www.lakecountyil.gov a DNR officer told me you could find the owners on that site but I just used it for finding the property lines. Here are some directions to help. I have not used it in a while so it may not be exact. for lot dimension oldapps.lakecountyil.gov/mapsinqpin.asp for ariel view there are a lot of step. first go lakecountyil.gov (this is the home page) on the hand side column hit view-interactive map then hit enter after each of these steps, marge interactive enviromental searach pin# press search legend flood of record legend update map 2008 ariel photograph (click on/off button) go to borrom and press update map
So they dont live on the land but work it in spring? Is that what you mean? If so, it doesn't matter if they live on it or not, they should know their tracts of land and if they allow you to hunt it, do so. Just remember to share the harvest if they want some just to show some gratitude.
Also I believe on the east side of the fox river off of Rt 173 is open to deer hunting until the end of the IL bow season. I think the name is called Oak point. They also have a archery range on the west side of the fox river which will open back up this coming May.
I just found the hunting facts sheet: http://dnr.state.il.us/LANDS/landmgt/hunter_fact_sheet/R2hfs/col.htm
Here is a hunters fact sheet for you: http://dnr.state.il.us/LANDS/landmgt/hunter_fact_sheet/R2hfs/col.htm
Thanks for the info Tony, That is where Im currently at and I was kinda in search for alternatives. Im hopping to get out for one last day tomorrow before season end.
Good Luck!!! Sorry for the double post. When you shoot one and if you need some help getting that deer out give me a text or ring. I'm only about 10 minutes away and would be glad to help. I will PM you my #.
