Public land in Illinois??
 

Is there any???

ha..are there any small bucks in IL? I am from VT and sick of seeing baby bucks...wanna try out of state? Could I harvest one on public land in IL??

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

You can but you have to apply now for gun season. For bow you can buy tags over the counter later on.

For gun seasons, go the the Illinois DNR website. You have to apply for a specific county, or hunting area. Then wait. If you draw a tag theywill mail it to you.

Good luck. This is the worst state when it comes to gun hunting for deer. Bowhunting, thats another story, buy all the tags you want and take all the does you want.

Good Hunting,
Bowflex

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

If you're thinking of hunting for bucks, non residents can't apply for shotgun tags till August and the NR Archery tags are by lottery in June. The only thing a NR archery hunter can buy over the counter are doe tags. Much of the public land that is available to a few non residents is by drawing and many of them are over for the year. It varies from place to place. There's some public ground near our lease and the drawing deadline for non residents was April 1

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

So basically what you guys are telling me is that there is very little public land open to bow/gun hunting in IL? And if any NR wants to shoot a buck in IL they need o apply for a permit...am I getting all of this correct?

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

To hunt public land that is correct. You have to apply and draw a permit for a specific WMA or county. If you do not get one of these permits, the only way to hunt is either know someone with private land, lease or go with an outfitter.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

You do not have to draw for a specific wma in illinois for resident or non resident.There are thousands upon thousands of acres in southern illinois to hunt.All you have to do is get drawn which is pretty much a give in since everyone who applied last year got a permit.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

True in thesouthernparts of the state, but up here it gets crowded early and often.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

Born & raised in North West Ill & now live in N.E. Iowa one hour from Ws..
Ill.-South-Shawnee National Forest. Crap Orchard.

Go to Ill. DNR web site & look at public areas for the section of the state you want to hunt.
Bowhunt is your best bet-lots less pressure for sure.
Don't let the word public scare you. If you don't get an Ill. permit go to Ws. Plenty of excellent Deer Bowhunting there-been traveling to Ws. many years & always public ground. Lots of National forests.
I usually Bowhunt the upper 1/3 of the state.
I have never gun hunted for any biggame animal & this is the start of my 51st year Bowhunting. Good Luck.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

Yes. You can kill a good buck on public land in IL, and agree w/ the others... your chances and the amount of land available is good down south... I live within an hour of 40,000 acres all public, and half of that is 4 on a side restriction.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

Worst state for gun hunting deer?!

Adios! There's good roads that lead in all directions out of the state.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

There are some real good spots on public ground in south central Il . If you hunt smart and hard, all day sits, a 130-160 is a reasonable expectation. There are some special draw areas but most is show up and hunt. I hunt a lot of public area and have seen a number of really good bucks and even a couple that would have gone over 200! I usually see about twice as many bucks as does in some of the areas that I hunt.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

YOU CAN KILL TROPHY BUCKS ON PUBLIC LAND HERE. I HAVE 6 125" OR BETTER IN 4 YEARS. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IS OKAY. ROUGH TERRAIN, ROUGH HUNTING PRESSURE. YOU'LL SEE WAY MORE BABY BUCKS THAN BIG ONES THERE. I'D SAY STAY NORTH OF RTE 13 AND YOU'LL BE FINE IF YOU KNOW HOW TO HUNT.

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

i live in northern illinois their is a good public land area in ogle county alot of big deer, and if you need help finding a place here to try out. my family are farmers in the area, since 1846 and we have many farms in winnebago jodaviess and stephenson county illinois i hunt at. i may be able to help you for free of course, but they only allow me too bow hunt, due to all the livestock they have, the land they have instephenson is along pecatonica river in ridott illinois many big deer there. and no pressure, they have about 200 acres on the farm half woods have field.
so get in touch with me, William Daughenbaugh Pecatonica Illinois

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

The southern 7 counties of Illinois has abundant amount of public hunting grounds,,,,,some of the best public hunting areas are in Johnson, Pope, and Union counties,,,even though I have my own ground I still do alot of hunting on public ground,,,,but be sure to bring a GPS there are some areas you can get turned around in really easy,,,,,,,,some of the best waterfowl hunting is on public ground,,,,,but as far as Crab Orchard refuge in Marion IL goes, I wouldn't waste my time I live with in 10 miles of there,, and there are alot of people I talk to that hunt for 4 or 5 days and never see anything,,,,,there has been occasions where I have traded hunts so they would get a kill or atleast see something, that doesn't happin very much though........

RE: Public land in Illinois??
 

As Daughenbaugh said Ogle county has some great public land. I've been hunting out there for 3yrs and have seen some nice bucks, unfortunately only taken a 7pt and a button buck.
If you interested in going pm me for info.