Join a sportsmans club, you will meets lots of hunters, make some new friends and more than likely find someone who can show you the ropes.

Good luck joining anything worth while up close to chitown. There is a waiting list at all the bigger clubs. The best option is a lease......... then its yours for however long you want .I threw that option at him awhile back and would even get him some #'s of people that lease around my farm and our lease ?

Did you put in for the draw ? where. If you draw MiD OR DESPLAINS I can help with good area.

I don't know what the problem is here. Shouldn't have lost out in drawing a firearms permit several times in a row unless you are applying in last chance. Get in on first lottery - NOW!

2nd - there is no rifle hunt in IL so you can't use gramp's rifle.

If you are applying for limited hunt areas your chances will be slim but county by county permits? Much, much more likely to get them I have never missed in years and years or applying.

Another question I have is have you taken a hunter safety course?

And with living in Southern Illinois, DO NOT TELL ANYONE THAT YOU ARE FROM CHICAGO!!!!!!!!! We hear it and see it all the time, "Yeah, we were to told in Chicago that we can come to So. Il and hunt anywhere, its all public property property"!!!!!!! That or "Yeah, EVERYONE will let ya hunt on their property, just go on out and hunt!!!!! No we don't. There is ALOT of public property, there is more PRIVATE property. A lot of people will allow you to hunt IF and WHEN you ask permission, a lot of people don't. And they are the ones who mess it up for others. And yes, I used to work up there for 5 yrs.

Yeah I've had to chase several "Chicagoans" off the properties I run down here. I guess the signs posted every 25 feet around the property stating "Private Property. No trespassing or hunting allowed without WRITTEN permission" wasn't a big enough clue. Even had one idiot (A lawyer no less) try to tell me that he wasn't trespassing since it was hunting season all land in Southern Illinois was open to hunters! After I was done laughing, and that took a while, I informed him that if he hadn't removed himself within 10 minutes that I would remove him. Standing well over six feet and being a little over 260 at the time as well as armed kinda got the point across to the moron. I can't stand city folks. Just rude as all get out and think they know everything when in fact most of them couldn't find their ass with a map.

Sucks that you had that experience, and yes, most Chicagoans are rude. But there are a lot of us that are not. They make us "nice guys" look bad.

Ya haha I am a suburbanite now but grew up in the country in Indiana. I respect landowners 100% bordering all the public I hunt now, but often had trespassers on the private land I used to own in Indiana. I would strongly attribute your problem to the fact your perpetrator was a lawyer moreso than that he was a Chicagoan. 99% of attorneys are professional liars. It's the nature of the business they chose. Based on years of my first hand experience observing their behavior and actions.