Sam16

I dont know how much acreage you have to hunt in East Central IL, but I hunt West Central IL and would not have let that buck walk by, 3.5 or not. First of all, I consider a 3.5 yo 10 pt a darn good deer. I understand if you've got studs runnin around, but dont hang your head. Most people would kill for an opportunity like that. Great buck and a great weekend with the 2 does.

Weekend update... Had great movement over the weekend, saw a couple shooters roaming. Passed on several small bucks. Stayed and hunted Monday and Tuesday and things really slowed down for me. Havent seen much chasing yet, just bucks on their feet. Hopefully next weekend they are chasing hard!

I would probably leave it alone for a bit. The buck may lay low for awhile. But then again, he could come back tomorrow. Never know with those critters.

Backwoods07 and I have been hunting together for 4 years now or so... Finally took the plunge and decided to butcher ourselves.

Shot a doe on October 3rd at 8:30 AM on our brand new 40 acre farm in Fulton County, IL. Smacked her at 25 yards, quartering away. She went about 80 yards, then took a right turn directly into a pond, and died in the middle. Made the retrieve a little tougher, but its a good story. The rage did the trick for sure! The guy in the picture with me is backwoods07 by the way, for all you regular Realtree'ers out there. He helped me with the tracking, rowed me out to my doe on the pond, and helped butcher our first deer. Awesome weekend!

I live in the suburbs of Chicago and hunt in Galena, IL. In researching areas, i've learned that the Peoria area is extremely good for big deer if you can find a place to hunt. I hate to say, as a citizen of the suburban part of Chicago, that people are a bit different up here... I wish people were like the rural people i've met in Illinois

I am really looking into start butchering my own deer. I feel like I am young enough in 21 years old where I can save myself a boatload of money over the course of my lifetime (hopefully). Especially since I rarely pass up big does. Do any of you guys have a link or advice that will help me and my buddy get started into butchering? What tools are necessities, and what tools are helpful if we have the money? Thanks in advance!

Way to go Al! Congrats, that is one ooooold doe.

Congrats Tony, a very nice doe and looks like a good shot!

Sweet bandana...

That is a huge 8 pointer! Congrats on a great buck. I'd guess 140"ish if I had to guess

We have another picture of him walknig away right after this... and I can tell you he's just about to his ears however the quality is poor. As for the brows, they look about 5-6 inches when i zoom in on the pic. Does this help?

Hey everybody, Well i finally admit it, I need to buy a rangefinder. Does anyone have a working rangefinder that they'd be willing to sell? I'd rather not spend 150 dollars that they are asking for at Cabelas and such. Let me know if anyone has any deals for me. Thanks!

In my situation, I usually only hunt ladder stands that are 12-17 feet up. I feel like the people who get away with not wearing one are sometimes 25-30 feet up. I cant get away with that at 15 feet. Just my two cents. I feel naked without it

Yes it will work, especially on does and young bucks. The mature bucks may be a bit more cautious and have their own safe routes through an area. We do this very often through our switchgrass fields to funnel the deer movement past our stands.