Fellow Illinois-ians! I'm in Fairview Heights, IL (just outside of St. Louis). I have a business meeting in Naperville, IL. I hope that this meeting could be done by early afternoon (not positive tho). If it was done in time to hunt somewhere I was considering stopping by some public ground. The meeting day would be midweek so I'm not worried about hunter traffic. My question is if any of you can tell me of somewhere good to stop and hunt for that evening? Any advice would be great!

Thanks..............

Nice to hear from some neighbors! I live in Aurora. I hunt on private land so I've never hunted this public place, but I heard it's very good. It's called Des Plains Fish and Wildlife area. It's down off of I55 and Wilmington-Peotone Exit - just south of Joliet. I pass through the park quite a bit going to my parents house. I always see deer. Seen some nice bucks too. Take a look at this site to get more details - http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt...PLAIN/PARK.HTM. Their number is 815.423.5326.

I heard Shabbona Lake is a good place too.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

You can also hunt Medewin Tallgrass prairies which is a neighboring property t Des Plaines conservation. Before moving to Texas[:@] I hunted both of these places. Saw HUGE deer at both places. Last year in Medewin I saw three deer over 150", one being a 170+ typical. Lots of land out there for these deer to get old and big.

To hunt medewin you need to go to their offices on Rte 53 and pick up a parking permit and map. Check out parking area three...had good luck out there. Good luck. Naperville is about 30-40 minutes for Des Plaines Con. and Medewin. Thats where I lived before I moved to Dallas[:'(]

http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/

Hello Ben...
I went to your site and e-mailed you. Also put a follow up on the Shabbona State park news thread.
Naperville is pretty close as the crow flies to Shabbona.

ive hunted shabona. its nice, but unless they changed their rules, ya gotta be one of the 1st few inline, because it can fill up quickly. if you are going to take I-55 home, Goose lake and Heidecke are good places. they are on lorenzo road about 7 miles west of 55. you will need to stop by the park office during normal business hours to fill out and get your window card (to display in your truck while hunting). that card is good for the whole season

thanks guys! I'm going to look at all these options and decide on one. Thanks for the ideas.