ilhnter Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 I live in southeast missouri and i have hunted in southern illinois my whole life. The union county public hunting area is a good place to hunt, but you can only hunt there until october 31. There is also a lot of access to Shawnee National Forest down in Union and Alexander counties. You can also hunt on the Firing Line which is across from the Union County Refuge and i have killed a few deer out of there and also seen some really nice bucks in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Illinois public land Welcome to the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatherBowHunt Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Re: Illinois public land shawnee national forest is a good place to hunt whitetails...also if you are ever interested in turkey hunting it is a good place to go.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chicks_hunt_to Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Re: Illinois public land i agree with ratherbowhunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoyt19 Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Re: Illinois public land Jo Daviess county IL where I live has 6-8 public spots most 200-500 acres with a lot of good bucks- plus we are IL top turkey county Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodge4x4 Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Re: Illinois public land honestly, i think more over by the brown, pike areas wuld be good...near to quincy....theres a cuple nice lodges there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyman Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 Re: Illinois public land If you are interested in the Shawnee i would suggest Johnson or Jackson counties. They don't get near the pressure of Union County, but both still contain tremendous Bucks. The Saline County Conservation Area also contains some nice Bucks. If you don't mind coming farther North in Illinois, i would suggest you look at some of the State Parks. Three that all have public hunting and hold big bucks are Siloam Springs, Pere Marquette and Sangchris Lake State Parks. Siloam and Sangchris are both Trophy Management areas, and while they both get their share of pressure, they both have the potential of producing very big Bucks. If you go through the week pressure isn't bad at all. My biggest buck ever was killed at Pere Marquette. Carlyle Lake also has some nice bucks. I have kicked up a few bruisers while Pheasant hunting there. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Illinois public land I would also check out the Crab Orchard NWR in Williamson Co. I drove through there when I lived in Carbondale and saw lots of deer and numerous nice bucks. Shawnee NF has a lot of nice deer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2500HD Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Illinois public land Nope...no large deer in Jackson Co SNF or Crab Orchard NWR...might need to look else where. Wink...Wink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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