RE: Illinois bow opener?
ChiTownBuck-I was hunting a small patch of timber behind a sub-division on wed. morning. A few friends of mine and I have been hunting there for a couple of years now. Normally I hunt out of a climber, but that morning I decided to sit in one of our fixed position stands. The stand is located in a funnel that the deer use to slip from the patch of woods we hunt into an open field or to another piece of timber. Around 7:50 a.m. I noticed a doe and fawn out in the field, they were being followed by a small buck. I watched them for 10-15 min. hoping they would come in where they usually do, but instead they cut in about 60 yds. behind me. I thought that they would just continue in the direction they were heading which would have taken them away from me. Instead the doe decided to walk down the hill angling in my direction. I prepared for to take the shot when she passed through an opening that I had already ranged at 32 yds. I whistled to get her to stop and she gave me a perfect, slightly quartering away shot. I made the shot I wanted to on her and she piled up about 40 yds. from where I hit her. After my friend and I butchered her we decided to hunt that afternoon behind my house. I decided to hunt a small thicket on the edge of a bean field on the edge of a large creek. I got to my tree around 4:00 p.m. and I was set up to hunt by 4:20. I was only hunting about 12 ft. off the ground because it is so thick. At 6:00 I heard something coming my direction, by the time I could see that it was a deer he was less than 35 yds. from me coming right to my tree. I carefully lifted my bow and waited for a shot. He turned broadside at about 5 yds. and I drew when he stepped behind a large tree. When he stepped out he continued to walk right in front of me. When he started to quarter away, I made a VERY soft noise to get him to stop, he did and looked right at me. I had been tracking him with my bow so my pin was on him as he came to a halt allowing me to shoot as soon as he stopped. The arrow hit at the top of his shoulder that was facing me and exited his armpit on the opposite side. He ran in a big half circle about 60 yds. and piled up in a big deadfall. I have been bowhunting for 12 yrs. now and that is the first time I have taken two deer on opening day. The meat was a welcome sight for my empty freezer. I don' t have a scanner, nor did I take any pictures, sorry.