I hunt in West Central IL, and have seen only slight signs of pre-rut, havent seen many BIG bucks doing much yet.I didcall in one real nice old 8 point but couldn't close the deal for my fiance, i was crushed as was she, but anyways I think it is just around the corner. As for the decoy spooking them, not sure, they could have just been on pins and needles and it startled them, have had that happen before, but hopefully it means they have had their a** kicked by an even bigger buck on the farm! Good luck!!
ORIGINAL: bolton22
Tonight I was hunting a new piece of land I acquired by Bluffs, IL....I was hunting over a good trail leading out to a wheat field....I saw two bucks both looking mature(1-160'sh and the other 140'sh) cutting the corner of the field just inside the timber....I had a buck decoy(Delta Riverbottom buck) in the wheat field and gave a soft grunt to get the two bucks attention....When I did this they both stopped and looked at the decoy and RAN like scared children!! 1. why would a 160'sh buck run from a 115'sh buck decoy and soft grunt?? Shouldn't he at this time of year been outraged and come to show who the boss is??? 2. why were two mature bucks cruising together at this time a year and not chasing a doe....
Confused in IL...Doesn't seem the rut has really kicked in yet...Not a lot of chasing and seems the buck were merely coming out to the wheat field to eat.......???