Well I'm bummed. I just found out that one of the places I've been hunting is no longer available to me...

This was the only place within range for me to go to frequently (under 1 hour away). Is there anyone on here that would be willing to help me out in any way to find some land in St. Clair County Illinois? Or even the southern end of Madison County? I just moved here to Illinois from Missouri and am not having very much luck with finding places to hunt. Has anyone stopped hunting some plot of land that they'd be willing to talk with me about?

Just thought I'd ask...

Good Luck!!

Illinois Department of Natural Resources Website

You should be able to find numerous state parks and public wildlife management areas to hunt on this site.

Good Luck!

ILNYPAKY, I know there are plenty of public hunting spots. Just none close. I'm looking for a good site that is close enough to go to in the morning before work or early afternoon when getting off work early. That makes these 2 hour drives unfeasable for me.[>:]

Just curious.....what county (or more specific if you are willing to give) were you hunting that it took you an hour to get to? It takes me close to an hour to get to Fairview from where I am.

I know of one public place that might not take you too long to get too...depending on where in Fairview Hts. you're located. Washington Co. Conservation Area.....it's about 4-5 miles south of Nasville Illinois. I'm not positive as to how much land (wooded areas) they have but I've been pheasant hunting there a few times and it seems to be about half woods and half fields so if you can find out how much total acreage they have then this info might be usefull. From the little I've been on their land I do know that some of the woods there gets kind of wooly in a few places. But then again I don't know how many people bow hunt there or anything. Just food for thought though.

Looks like there are some nice Public Hunting access in your area:

Kaskaskia River FWA is 34 miles from FairView Heights and it's 14,000 acres and it's looks like the largest public hunting area in your region.

Horseshoe Lake SP has 4195 acres divided between 2 refuges that are both bow only and they are about 19 miles from FairView Heights.

Peabody River is a 1,000 acres and it's bow only and it's 35 miles from you.

I hope this helps. I got all this info off of the DNR website. Hers is the link. Just go down and click on Public Hunting areas toward the bottom.

http://dnr.state.il.us/admin/systems/index.htm

Forget the public land. Been there, done that. You have 8 months to knock on doors and send letters to land owners asking permission. As you probably know, it's not easy, but I got lucky and have a nice place 5 minutes from me in Troy. Good luck.

"A total of four (4) bowhunters will be permitted to hunt the peninsula of Horseshoe Lake State Park, Madison County, Illinois, during each of the designated hunting weeks."

I had tried this one.

Kaskaskia is 1 hour 3 minutes (I'll probably hit this on weekends).

Peabody is essentialy the same as Kaskaskia.

Thanks for the help folks. This really will give me some good places to hit for the weekends...

Residential areas are where I would look. I get most of my access in new areas by talking to folks as I'm bellied up to a bar. I always work in the darn deer eating everything during a conversation. I've got more places to hunt in so many staes it's not funny. I even had one oportunity north of Springfield but never persued it. I would pass it on if I rememberd the contact.

Good luck!

You could look into Chouteau-Gaberet Island. It is thru the Horseshoe lake office or the Army Corp. of Engineers. It is bow only and open to the public. You need a hunting permit( it is free and not a draw area ). I took a 10 and a 12 point and a doe out of there this year.