They are not behind every tree
I have to take a second to vent, so please hang with me. I had an out-of-state hunter (NJ) come and hunt here in Illinois with me. He bow hunted the 18th-20th and then gun hunted the 21st & 22nd.
Of course he could not make the drive here to Illinois to scout any property (hunting private land), so I had provided him with some maps (aerial & topo) and also provided him with my thoughts on each piece, as to where would be good stand locations. We discussed several pieces and together decided on a small tract of land with good timber off the property, a 2 acre thicket and a thick creek bed on the property, all surrounded by cut corn. In the off-season I had found two very nice sheds on this piece, one was half of a 10 that taped out at almost 75" and the other was half of a very thick 6 that taped out just over 60". I really liked this piece of property a lot and really wanted to hunt it, but never got the chance, since I almost always hunt with my two boys and this piece is not big enough for three hunters.
My NJ hunter called me on Tuesday the 18th, all pissed off. He had sat in the stand all day for two days and had seen two does and one spike. He was talking to me like I had purposely set him up in an area where he would not kill deer. Mind you, I am not outfitting this guy, he is a member of a hunt club I belong to, I was doing nothing more than trying to help him out since he could not walk the ground himself. We had pretty much the same conversation on the phone again on the 19th. The night of the 20th, I arrived at the apartment I had rented for us all to stay in and this guy was fit to be tied. Four all day sits, he had seen 11 bucks, nothing over a 2.5yo and some does, less than 30 deer all together. I simply explained to him that this was hunting, that there have been days when I did not even see a deer on stand, more less killed a tank. I mean this guy was expecting to come to Illinois, sit in the stand for a week and kill a 150"+ animal.
I have to ask the question. Is this really what people think the hunting is like in Illinois? We don't have 150" deer behind every tree and we sure the hell don't have them tied up just waiting to be shot. I don’t care where you hunt, you HAVE to hunt to kill a 3.5yo or 4.5yo old deer. Sure, there are managed farms that have more 3.5yo deer that other farms, but you still have to hunt. Sure, there are those people that go sit just a hand full of days and kill a tank, but they are the exception, not the rule.
I would like to know what the expectations would be from other east coast hunters if they came to Illinois. This guy truly thought that in 6 days of hunting a150"+ buck would be a sure thing.
Sorry for the long post and vent, but it just amazed me.