I find it depressing that you should have to apply for permits to begin with, the game belongs to everyone in your state, you shouldn't have to apply for permission to hunt a given area other than from the property owners. The trophy mentality is killing your future hunting, hope y'all can afford it.

Kevin,

The permit system in Illinois has been around, to my knowledge, since they restocked deer and startting allowing folks to hunt them back in the 1950s or 1960s. And you would think that the DNR would make some effort to develop more public access hunting ground, but it aint gonna happen unless people organize and push for it. Beyond that, if you want guaranteed access to hunting ground in the future, you better beg, borrow, or steal the money to buy your own ground. It is still affordable in some places if you keep your eyes open.

That is probably true, but if you find something priced reasonably and it is actually good deer hunting ground,you better act fast. I recently saw 20 acres in my home County of Macoupin advertised as "good deer hunting" and priced at $140,000! Sad thing is, the owner will almost surely get it! The reputation Illinois has gained over the years is without question, the worst thing to ever happen to deer hunting in thisState. The price people will pay to buy ground, lease ground, use an outfitter, or do it yourself in hopes of killing a "trophy buck" in Illinois boggles my mind. Surely some kill the "buck of a lifetime", but i would guessmost go home with nothing at all, or a little 120" or 130" deer and figure it was worth it.

You just gotta shop around and be ready. I am in the process of buying some decent hunting ground in Wayne County for 1650 an acre.

Looks like you found yourself a tremendous investment.

I think that the real estate bust is even starting to effect hunting ground prices. There is a 20 acre piece in Richland County (including some cropland) that has been on the market for about 2400 an acre for a year with no takers. They are probably gonna have to go down to about 2K to get any real offers. Dunno if things are gonna change in the really hot deer counties, but i think that the next year or so is gonna be the best opportunity for people to buy ground in the lesser known areas.