I am going to try to draw out on an Illinois bowhunt on some state park land I believe for next year. Has anyone ever tryied this or is there another avenue that would be better. I just don' t have the big bucks to spent a lot of money to go on a guided or semi guided hunt. Please respond if you have some ideas. I live in Oklahoma and would love to come up next year for 4 or 5 days.

Try the Shawnee National Forest. It is in the southern tip of the state. Lot' s of woods...LOTS. Almost too much to be honest. There are big deer there for sure but it won' t be easy. I have hunted there several times. Try to gain access to the Shawnee via private property if you can. Talk to some of the local farmers that are situated on the edge. They probably won' t allow you to hunt their land, but they may let you cross over into the forest. The reason I tell you this is because most of the deer in my opinion will be holding tight to the farms anyway so the forest land adjacent to the farms are a good bet. The Shawnee is big woods so make sure you have map and compass and a GPS or you could end up lost out there for a while. In a year when there is a really good acorn crop you will probably see less deer because they are spread out through the forest. Close to the farm is still the ticket in that situation in my opinion. Maybe even more so. Hope this helps. Jim

thanks for the reply everylittle bit of info helps. I just want to hunt some different woods and have a chance to harvest a really nice one

I' ve seen 150 class bucks there dude. I' m positive there is bigger. Big enough for ya? Good luck. Jim