|
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
you aren't speaking for all the locals, most of my hunting buddies only shoot mature deer, including myself. a good portion of the locals are trophy hunters, and the reason body size is so important is to avoid shooting a young buck with abig rack, sure fire way to manage a whitetail heard. there are a lot of deer taken by out of state hunters that are 2.5 and 3 year old deer (they think are trophies) that would've been giants in a couple yearsand is detrimental to thematurity of theherd in IL.
ORIGINAL: hcaarcher1 Hunted Illinois for the first time last weekend (Crawford County Conservation Area). No shooting for me. Seen 7 bucks but nothing I wanted to take. My friend shot a heavy rack 18" wide 12 pointer on Saturday. I was suprised talking with all the IL locals and their approach to deer hunting. They could care less about shooting a nice buck, they just wanted to shoot the first deer or two they see and tag out. They were giving me hell for not shooting any of the 30+ deer I saw. In addition, I was suprised that the larger issue for the resident hunters was not how big the horns were, but how much the deer weighed. Very different mindset.... |
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
ORIGINAL: Zim ORIGINAL: lifesadrag Unfortunately I didn't see anything I wanted to shoot. Seen a few small bucks with does. I was holding out for a good one. Zim...was that you I met in the lot of the R.B. Lodge? |
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
I just meant the all the locals I spoke with.....but I do understand your point...
|
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
You must have been up north............. might as well be a different state
|
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
HCAacher1 -
You have to be kidding me. Someone from PA. saying that the locals in IL. didn't care about shooting a Big Racked Buck. I grew up hunting in PA. Armstrong Co., and I think the only time a hunter shot a Big Racked buck was when it ran in front of them before a small racked buck did. It always soundedlike WW3 on opening morning of buck season(this was late 80's early 90's) because everyonewas shooting anything that had bone onit's head. I now live in Central Illinois wheremost people, locals, I talk to that hunt are hunting fora trophy buck.Everyone in Illinois I tell about hunting in PA. can not believethat schools and factories shut down for the 1st day of deer season. |
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
I can only speak for my observations and the people I talked to while hunting on public land. These guys were partying in the parking lot (10:00am first day) after shooting their does, button bucks and 3 and 4 pt bucks. Just suprised me thats all. I thought everyone would be after the big boys, at least for the first day. I agree with what you say about most of the PA hunters and shooting the first horn they would see, and I would have been part of that crowd at one time, but I hunt much differently now. I just had a different impression of what the hunting was like in IL and everyone would be looking for a mature buck like I was.
|
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
My 10 minute Illinois hunt. Would you believe I shot this buck 1 mile from the nearest tree. Green Score 190 2/8" gross 179 6/8" net 12 pt field dressed over 300.
 |
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
What a brute....congrats.
|
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
Wow ihunt1975, That is awesome. congrats. What county was that in? I messed up on my application and got it in late so I could only get a doe. I held off until Sat. afternoon. One of my proudest hunting moments though. I spotted 3 doe laying down in the middle of a corn field about 500 yards off the road. I played the wind and terrain just right and stalked up behind them. After about 30 minutes or so, I was able to get an 85 yard shot on one.
 |
RE: Two IL Public Land Bucks
 |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:10 AM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.