Any IL Hunters been to Starved Rock?
 

I'm a new hunter. This deer season will be my first time. Already in the lottery for first part of the season at Starved Rock. Been reading like crazy (no one to teach me), watching video, etc... Learned quite a bit. But, I'm wondering if anyone has ever hunted Starved Rock? Any pointers? Still hunting or tree stand?
I'm not out for a buck yet. Starved Rick is Earn a buck. I'm looking to hunt for meat and, as I understand, doe meat is better anyway. Maybe after I get some notches in my belt, I'll try for a buck.
Anyway, if anyone can give me advice to help make my first hunt a successful one, it would be greatly appreciated.

Have not hunted that park but have hunted several others in the area. First I would go down there and get a map of the open areas to hunt. Then get on google maps and look over the area and look for some natural pinch points or funnels that the deer may follow. Try to getaway he parking area as fare s you can. These deer will get smart real fast with all the people in the woods after the first few weeks. My opinion your best shot will be out of a stand. Get a climber ,they are fast and light. Go down and walk the woods that you want to hunt look for those spots you found on the map .Look for trails, beds ,old rubs and scrapes these will tell you that the deer were using these areas during the season. Try to find a place that's easy to access in the dark.Try and t up off the trails about 15yds r more.If you can find where seveal trails cross even better. Creek crossings can be great but the wind in the bottoms can be hard to predict. will see what I can find out about that park ???

Also go down there now before the leaves are on the trees and you can find the sign better. Also if you can find trails that go to food .corn,beans ect.

Thank you Muzzy

I've never hunted it but have heard a little bit about it. Gun season permits are sometimes a little tough to pull but so many people forget about the drawing so at least your in the hunt. Did you put any sites in as your second choice.

I have done a decent amount of public land hunting and enjoy trying to help people get a deer, especially newbies. Getting far away from the road is usually a great bet, but there are often times to hunt near the road. I'll try and take a look at the Starved Rock map here in the next week and see how it looks. Ive been there in the past but don't remember to much, I was pretty young when I was there. There are deer there and some big bucks, you just have to outsmart the bucks and the other hunters, which is possible. I'm amazed on how many big bucks I see while pheasant hunting these State parks, they grow big because they thick different than the 1.5 year and 2.5 year old bucks that get shot every year. Mature does are the same way. Let me know if you want some help looking for spots and I'll google earth the area and cross check it with topi maps to see if I can see any spots that look good.

I have hunted Starved Rock a fair amount over the past few years. As you probably know, a Starved Rock permit is also good for Matthiesen, Sandy Ford, and Mitchell's Grove. Starved Rock and Matthiesen are a little different than most public land sites, as they are spread out along the Illinois and Vermillion Rivers, respectively. They are both relatively long and narrow, with lots of parking lots, so there's not a lot of areas where you can go to get away from the parking lots. But, the park regulates the number of hunters allowed out in each lot (about 3-5 for most lots), so while you will see other hunters, it won't be terribly crowded. This complicates things a bit though, as if you show up late (i.e., right before 5 a.m.), the lot you want may be full -- so it behooves you to have a few options just in case (and also to get there early -- first time I was there, I went in blind, picked lot 26 based on internet scouting, and, as it turns out, there is a huge ravine right behind 26). Several areas contain what they call "canyons," which are basically steep ravines, which can limit access a bit. This is especially true of the eastern side (from the lodge) of Starved Rock, but also elsewhere. (Every now and then, someone falls into a canyon, so don't go wandering around before sun-up in an area where you have not scouted).
Starved Rock is not the hardest tag to draw in the area (I've pulled it as a second choice before). And, after the first couple days, you can usually walk on (though it may limit your choice of parking lots), so you should be able to get back on second season if you care to. You definitely need to do some scouting and get familiar with a few areas.
Sandy Ford and Mitchell's Grove are a little awkward -- about 200 acres each. SF has rough terrain, though if you get past it, might be interesting (you can also hunt squirrels there in August & September, so makes for a fun scouting trip. MG is a long walk though a narrow access corridor.
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM.

Oh yeah, as for tree stands, you can't set them up in advance or leave them overnight, so a climber works best. I hunt off the ground there. If by still hunting, you mean moving around, it might be tough due to the limited area and rough terrain and other hunters. I usually just take a stand on the ground.

This post has been very helpful to me already, as I am also deer hunting for the first time in the fall and was planning on starved rock as well.

You might want to check out the parks around Oregon, Castle Rock or Lowden Miller. Always a ton of deer in that area. We drive through Oregon on the way to our property.

I was going to try and get out ther tomorrow with my son to start scouting. But, the rains and flooding have pushed that back... I plan on talking with the park workers for some advice and see if they may have a topographical map of the area.

Fastetti, I would love some more advice on location.

Glad to hear its regulated enough to keep the pressure down a little. I was concerned I might go out and find it crawling with hunters.

Let me ask... I am still debating using my smoothbore with rifled slugs and open sights. Or would I be better off buying the rifled barrel and scope, using sabots in this area?

Bugproof, I've been out of town all weekend hanging stands where I hunt so I haven't had much time to really look over the map yet.

A little known secret is that googlemaps has a topo map that you can use when you are looking at the areas you pull up. I'm going to have to go back and figure out how I did it before but its a great function because you can adjust how transparent it is so you can see the lines and the aerial maps.

I USED A SMOOTH BORE FOR YEARS AND IS PRETTY GOOD OUT TO 100 YDS. if your in the timber your shots will be mainly under 50 yrd. Practice with it and if you feel you can make that shot go with it. If you have cash to burn then go get a slug gun, like the savage 220f.Crazzzzy accurate out past 200yrds. time in the woods will be your best teacher. And don't always think that the deer are in the deep woods ,I hunted a big public ground that had tons of open prairie grass and that's where I know of some huge bucks were killed. Try Madewin or desplains I have killed deer at both.

Depending on what kind of shot gun you have, there may be some after-market barrels available. A friend of mine bought a Mossberg produced barrel for his 870 very reasonable and it works fine. Depending on the gun, a cantilevered barrel (integral scope mount) may be available and is a superior set up.
IMHO, if your going to be hunting in Illinois the rest of your life and can afford it, might as well buy the rifled barrel/gun. Smooth bore will work fine; rifled is superior (but also more expensive to shoot).

Yeah sabot slugs for my rifled mossberg are about $3 a shot for 2 3/4". My wallet is hurting after sighting it in.

But when you drill a nice buck through the vitals instead of a gut shot, its all worth it. At least thats what I tell myself. An extra $15 on the range or an extra 4 hours in the woods blood trailing. :)

Thanks guys. I've got a scope on the way that I'm going to mount. I have a mossberg 535. I've got the turkey/waterfowl combo. I'm going to give rifled slugs a try. Might still get the rifled barrel with integral scope base, if finances allow.

Anyway, hoping to get out to starved rock this weekend. With the grounds being so saturated, might see some good tracks. Still waiting for lottery results, I think they come soon.

I'm thinking, for my first hunt, I'll try a ground blind. I've been looking at google maps, but, since I've never been there before, not sure what I'm looking at...

I'm going to try to talk with park workers to see what direction they point me in, then ill start planning. Plenty of time, so I'm sure ill have a ton of questions.

You guys have been great. Wish I could get out there with one of you to get some hands on mentoring.

It would be good to get out there in the next few weeks. With all the rain, any tracks there will be fresh and you should still be able to see some rubs from last year. You really have to think like a deer (ya, it sounds stupid) but if you think of how you would escape from danger and where you would run you usually can figure out a few spots. With the vast expanse of terrain features, I would concentrate anywhere from the top 1/3 of ridges to the top. It will help keep you scent from swirling in those canyons. I'm not sure if your physically fit but if you can get a ways back and have can drag out a deer if you shoot one way back there it can really help your odds. If you go back 3/4 mile of so make sure to pick up one of those kids two person sleds. If you shoot a deer, its a lot easier to drag one out on those. I've never been there but if there are any smaller thickets of cedars or such, really keep an eye on those. Everyone tries to hunt the big expansive areas of heavy cover so deer usually figure those spots out pretty quick and focus on the small thick areas to bed. I can't tell you how many big bucks I've kicked up rabbit and pheasant hunting in areas that could barely hold a rabbit. Think where people really wouldn't want to go and wouldn't think there would be deer and that is going to be the spot. If you have any question or take any pictures, feel free to post them and I'm sure people will help the best they can.

I wish I had more time and I would go walk with you, but with my sons Hockey and trying to get all my stuff done at our farm time is real tight .Also keep your eyes open for morels if you go out this weekend and some sheds that haven't been found .Don't know the regs but the turkey hunters my have the woods till 1pm ???Better check before you go... good luck and let us know what you find !

I took the day off today and went on my first scout. A lot of the park is still closed because of the floods. I first went to the visitor center.. Got a hunters information packet and went on my way. First, I went to a parking area east on the 71. Found some fresh track.. But didn't like the location. Then, I went to the nature preserve... They are renovating a grove/farming field... Found track where they were coming out to feed and started my stalk...
I followed a set of prints into the woods.. It looked like 3 deer were moving on the trail... Then it branched off. Two went left, one went right... I followed the lone set.. I was quiet, then moved a branch to get und and a deer jumped up and took off!! It was 10 feet away, I jumped it out of bed. All I saw was the blur of tan and white, so couldn't tell what it was. I'd like to think it was a buck, probably a young one, the bed area wasn't that big.

Anyway.. I hiked out a little and sat by a tree. I could hear it circling trying to get downwind of me, so I went ahead and left.

On the way out, I found a pile of bones, took the skull home to my son.

Fun day and very encouraging seeing i got that close on my first ever stalk. I think I found the lot I want to hunt

Great to hear! I think finding that dead deer (Doe I assume) is a good sign for you. If she was a wounded deer, that is an area the deer like to go and hide. How far off the road were you? Far enough where the other hunters won't be all over you? If you jumped a single deer running alone right now, I think its pretty good odds that its a buck. Give it a few weeks here and you'll start to get an idea of his antlers. It won't be a great idea but at least an idea.

If you want to PM me the GPS coordinates (you can get them off google earth) I'll check it out for you. Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal your spot but I'll give you my opinion. I actually was looking at the map and found a spot that may be very overlooked but will hold some deer. Let me know!

Great to hear you found a good spot! Finding that Dead deer (Doe?) is probably a good sign that you found a good spot where the deer run to hide. If you want to PM me the coordinates of the general spot I'll let you know my opinion. Don't worry, I private land hunt in Central Illinois so Im not trying to steal your spot. I also have been looking at the map and found a spot that you might want to check out (even though you might think I'm a little crazy for suggesting it :) ) Let me know and I'll be happy to help. Also, looks like they killed 76 deer there with firearms in 2010 so you know there are deer there!

Keep scouting as much as you can. Everywhere you go down there you will find deer and sign so keep looking until you find that spot that stands out from all the rest. The more time you spend in the woods the better you will start to understand where the deer are traveling and why. Spring and summer patterns are different from fall. Bucks that you watch all summer can move a mile or two away for fall pattern so don't base everything on deer you see in the spring /summer. The doe tend to have a home range and don't move like bucks . If there are corn/beans in the area that your hunting and can watch those fields from a distance, then in late summer go watch those fields at dawn and dusk with a spotting scope and see where the deer are entering and leaving the fields. This will help finding a stand site close to the trails they have been using.

If you are scouting in Starved Rock over the summer, be aware of the rules. I was down that way last week-end and was talking to a local who said she got a ticket for being off the trails. As I recall, I've seen signs saying stay on trails (I think they've had people fall into some of the ravines in the past). Not sure if it applies to the whole park and/or Matthiesen, or maybe just closer to the lodge.