If from the beginning to this day I only went by what my buddies shot I would be laying down dinks.
I wanted bigger bucks... So, I worked hard and located them.... Watched and studied them.... Then started shooting them.
I have said it a hundred times... I live 15 minutes from the PA border.... If I can find them here..... They can be found there.
This is a very true statement.
I understand that in Illinois you probably have a better shot than in PA.
But I agree 100% with Scott, Gary, and a few others.. that when you start hunting for older deer.. thats when you start seeing them.
I've hunted in the past on properties I didn't think a good buck ever ran... only to find as I got older.. that they in fact did use it. Now I know what to look for.. and how to look at it... and always expect to be hunting an older buck.. on any property.. despite usually never seeing it. It's like a mind trick really. The mind see's what it wants to see.
Sorta.