southernbuck01

Anybody ever deer hunted Crab Orchard NWR or Giant City State Park? I see that they look to be right next to each other. Anyone have any information they are willing to share on these places?

Re: Illinois Public Land Hunting Thanks for all the replies and information. We are looking forward to coming up that way. Hopefully I will have the chance to stick a nanny as big as the one my dad killed up there with the smokepole a few years ago. She was a trophy. One of the biggest bodied deer I have ever seen. She field-dressed 140. We are still eating sausage from her .

Re: Illinois Public Land Hunting Mud, Thanks for sharing. We are definately looking to camp at one of these places, and good fishing would just be a bonus. I might have to bring the fishing pole and rip some lips. It is good to hear that they possibly have a lot of deer at that place. Small deer for up there are giants here in Louisiana, so killing a bona fide monster is not what I'm after, although I will try my best to let the air out of one if given the opportunity.

Re: Illinois Public Land Hunting Toddy, I guess that would be South Central?? It is Marion, Fayette, and Wayne Counties. And thanks for the welcome. I have been reading the forums for a long time.

Re: Illinois Public Land Hunting I think I have gotten everything I can off of the DNR website.....well, all I can find.....from maps to harvest information on each area. They really have a lot of useful information on their site. I went to Pike county 2 years ago with my dad for the late muzzleloader season, and I had mixed feelings about it, . As far as deer go, they are there without a doubt. We did go with an outfitter and did the semi-guided hunt, and I guess we were expecting a little too much. I think there was a lot more pressure than the outfitter led us to believe. The weather wasn't the greatest either as it was at or near 0 for a couple of mornings. All in all, it was a good experience and having a good hunt is about much more than killing something. As far as the rut goes, would we be seeing some signs of it around Nov 5-10, assuming the weather cooperates?

Anyone have any info, good or bad, on Stephen A. Forbes SRA, Ramsey Lake SRA and Sam Dale Lake SRA? A buddy and I have been talking about making an archery hunt up there around the first part of November. We don't want to pay for any outfitters as we feel pretty confident we can find the deer if they are there, which I would imagine they are. Anybody have any info they would be willing to share about any of these places? Not looking for any of your spots, just wondering if these are as good of places as we think they could be. We decided on this area as they seem to be relatively close, and if the activity was slow on one, we could move over to another. Any information would be appreciated.