fly Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 For those of you that have been around a while you've seen my yearly Shawnee Deer Camp threads. The Shawnee is a federal forest in the southern part of IL with about 280,000 acres spread over many counties. My relatives used to own and farm some of the land but lost it during the depression. Now it's open hunting for anyone with a license and permit. Union county is where my father introduced me to deer hunting about 30 years ago and where I introduced my son about 5 years ago. The hunting was best about 10-15 years ago and the campground was always full days before the opening shotgun weekend. Recently there have been fewer and fewer hunters as the public grounds we hunt haven't produced the expectations for a Monster many desire. In the near 30 years I've been hunting the Shawnee I've only seen a few mature bucks hanging at camp that would score over 140 inches. Until this year the largest buck I've seen while hunting was a 131 inch eight point I took in 2008. Many of my friends have encouraged me to hunt other areas with better chances at a monster but I love big woods feel of the Shawnee and plan to always call it home for the shotgun opener. Take a look at this view from my tree-stand. The weather for this years deer camp was terrible with temps in the 70's on Friday, thunderstorms Friday afternoon, and north winds at 20mph bringing in below freezing temps Saturday morning. This year deer camp was my dad, my son, myself, and a friend (Joe) who is new to deer hunting. We were tent camping again this year which actually was much better using the propane fueled Mr Heater. Friday AM was a bust and we sat out the evening hunt due to the lightening storms. Saturday AM was very cold, but my son saw a fork horn from the tree-stand I had set up for him earlier in the week. The buck was a good 100 yards away in thick cover and didn't offer him a decent shot. Saturday evening was much better with cool temps and 10mph winds. I was going to place Joe in the stand but about half way up he decided he wasn't up for the hike and decided to hunt about half way up the ridge. Change of plans - I would now place my son in the stand. However, once on top he realized he had forgot his harness. While it's only 20 feet high I'm not comfortable with him in any stand without it. He therefore sat on the ground and hunted on the other side of the ridge. My plan was to move the stand closer to where he had seen the fork horn hoping that it would travel the same path in the morning. Moving the stand proved more time consuming than I thought. After making more noise than I care to admit I finally got it set up around 4:30pm just as the sun was starting to set. I figured my evening hunt was shot, but that didn't bother me, I had already taken a nice KY buck and was more concerned about getting my son and friend Joe on a deer. I'm not sure of the time but after resting/hunting for about 20 minutes in the newly placed stand it was getting dark so I started packing everything up for the trek to get my son and then Joe from their hunting locations and head back to camp. As I started to climb down I heard a rustling of leaves from the gully. I climbed back up and waited. Sure enough here comes a doe trotting along. I let her go hoping she would head my sons way - unfortunately she was headed a different direction. A few seconds later I heard more rustling. Experience told me this would likely be a buck. I waited and as it came closer I couldn't tell how big as he was in the shadows of the gully. After a few more minutes he starts walking right towards me and through the scope I could see thick wide antlers as he began to rub a sapling. I lifted the cross hairs from the antlers to his shoulder and BANG! He ran back down into the dark gully and I couldn't tell if he was down or not. The doe was still on top as if waiting. After 15 minutes it was too dark to see anything. I decided to climb down and check in the AM after my sons hunt. Camp was fun that night with stories of how big he actually was and if he would be there or not. The next morning I set my son up in the stand and after a few hours of no deer movement we decided to look for the buck. I walked down the gully and spotted him not more than 60 yards from the tree-stand. See if you can spot him. He's a main frame 10 point with a sticker off the back. He's an ugly old deer not unlike myself. He's one of the largest bucks I've seen taken out the Shawnee and certainly added some spice to this years deer camp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 Congrats Frank! He's another nice one. Built like a bull. Man, you have had a season to remember. Hopefully second season your son can get on one. Coyotes must not be too bad down that way since he looks all in one piece still. I could only hunt Friday and Saturday. Never did see a decent buck, so shot a big doe Saturday afternoon. That wind made for a tough hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 Great deer Frank. Heck of a season you are having. Congratulations. Shawnee is not far at all from. My step father who passed in 2010 grew up in cairo a little to the west of Shawnee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted November 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 I'm going to try to get him on one Tim. He had a nice buck at 25 yards back in October with the ML in KY and missed. I didn't hear any coyotes this season which is unusual. Probably the crazy weather we had. William, I've heard of Cairo but never been there. I truly have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Plenty of deer meat, two trophy bucks, a president-elect that isn't named Clinton, two great healthy kids, a wonderful girlfriend, and a satisfying job that gets the bills paid. Life is about as good as it's ever been. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 Congratulations Frank! Sounds like you bagged one of the best trophy bucks in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted November 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Thanks Al, I think the reduced numbers of hunters in the area might be a good thing as more young bucks might be making it to maturity. The genetics, and nutrition are there - they just need the chance to get past 3.5 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 BTW Frank...no problem seeing your buck in the pic in the gully by your treestand. Easy when a big one like that has his head turned to the side even though his white belly isn't exposed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger-Hunter Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 What a great post. Congratulations! Glad to see this happening in Illinois. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Congrats Frank, Great story and pics, BEST of all "Potus" comment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 congrats on a beautiful buck Fly. Some gorgeous land you hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Thanks for the positive comments my RT friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Congratulations on a beautiful old buck. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKstate Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 (edited) Great story! Hope the hunt for your son a deer ends well also! Edited December 8, 2016 by OKstate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted December 18, 2016 Report Share Posted December 18, 2016 Awesome gnarly buck, congrats Fly! Spotted him first thing in that one photo. What a great buck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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