I' m thinking about hunting archery in Illinois this year. Anyone know good, safe, not crowded public land? I' m in the St. Louis area.

I' ll be keeping an eye on your post. I' m retiring from the AF in December and
will be in that area. Good luck on finding some land to hunt.

Im also trying to find a place to hunt in Ill this fall maybe even lease if I have to, Its a really good whitetail state. Im about 100 miles south of you so Ill be watching too. You have some real good spots right there close to you in MO also.

I went to the IDNR website to look for some places. THere are quite a few just across the river in Calhoun and Madison counties. Horseshoe Lake state park in Granite City has 2195 huntable acres. Calhoun Point in Grafton has 2000. If you want to see what other places there are, go to http://dnr.state.il.us and look for public hunting. Or you can go to the hunter fact sheet and go to your region and you can click on each individual park. It will tell you alot about its location and setting. I' m attending SIU at Edwardsville so I won' t be far from you. Maybe we go together sometime or something at one of the parks down there. Hope all this helps.

I never thought of horseshoe. I' ll have to check that and find out from one of their local rangers how busy it gets during hunting season, and if it get' s dangerous. I' ve met a few people who bare the slogan, " It' s not a hunting trip without the beer!" and I would not like to actually run into one on a hunt [:' (]

But I' ll check those out, thanks! Now my next task is to find a place to go practice my archery. I' ll have to find a cop to find out if it' s ok to do in this large (currently unused) soccer field accross the street from me... My backyard isn' t big enough.

I wouln' t see why the soccer field would be a problem. I know there are a few archery shops around there that you could go shoot at. I' ve heard of a big one in Belleville, and I think there may be one around Maryville or Glen Carbon.

Crab Orchard Wildlife refuge in Williamson county has good public land..

Horseshoe Lake accepts applications from March 1st thru March 31st.(It is a lottery.)They only allow 4 bowhunters per week from October 1st thru November 25.(8 weeks total) That is only 32 hunters.Hope this helps a little.

You could try Pere Marquette State Park (It is by Grafton,Illinois).It has two hunting areas.One is open to all,and the other is a lottery.I am sure it is to late to apply for the lottery.A friend of mine lives by there,and about 2 weeks ago he hit and killed a 14 point buck.He is not a hunter,but he said the deer was huge.

I have an excellent place to bowhunt in southern Illinois in the Shawnee National Forest.If anyone is interested give me a call!
260-344-3592
thanks!
chad