New frustrated hunter in IL
 

Hey guys and gals,

Let me first start out by introducing myself. My name is Joe and i'm 27. This year is (hopefully) going to be my first year going out deer hunting. I have family out in the quad cities area (Atkinson) and i'm hoping to find some hunting spots out that way

I'm seeming to have a lot of problems finding a place to hunt. I had a place lined up that i was going to next weekend to hunt but I found out monday they they dont allow shotgun. It's family land that i thought they owned but turned out to be that they rent from someone and they only allow archery. I spent a ton of money getting ready for this hunt and i'm trying to find a place to go. I have 2 full season tags for Henry county but being that i don't come from a hunting family everything is new to me.

Just wondering how/where you guys find spots to go to. I feel like i'm making this out to be more difficult than it needs to be lol. Public land kinda scares me only for the fact that since i'm new i'm intimidated and dont want to be "that guy". I'm not new to guns but i've never hunted anything.

Thanks in advance for the info.

Buy a crossbow, sight it in, go shoot a deer.

lol isn't crossbow only like a 1 day hunt? and buying another gun/bow is out of the question lol. Already got everything set up for shotgun haha

I'm also in the QC area and I have had problems finding land. I have a few farms I have access to but you may want to check out state parks like rockwood in Morrison or other areas. Best advice I can give you. Public land is the easiest to find you just may have to share once in a while.

Thanks for your reply. I have access to 3 farms w/ tree stands but they are all the same owner and only allow archery. Maybe next year i'll have to buy a bow lol. I might have to resort to using public land. Just gotta find some in Henry county. I was planning on heading up there this past monday to set up a blind but thats when i found out it's archery only. I leave saturday for work and come back thursday. I dont really have many days to scope out a spot anymore lol.

You have now found the reality of finding private property to hunt without selling your firstborn child throughout much of the country. Is there any chance you can explain your predicament to the property owner such that he might let you use your shotgun this one season since it is for a very limited time period? Short of that I guess you need to find some public land that you'll end up sharing with others like millions of other folks have to do if they want to hunt. Good luck!

Woah flags, that's kinda rushing it. Buy a BOW sight it in, and go shoot a deer. Archery season is always longer, and you should find some public hunting ground if it comes to that.

Unless you are card carrying handicap or 62 years or older you can't crossbow until after the 2nd firearm season. So just running out and getting a crossbow probably doesn't solve the problem.

Here's a link for you of all the state access lands in NW Illinois region 1. I don't know why but in the descriptions for each of them some tell you the county and most don't. STOOOPID.

If you can't find somethin in Henry county just remember there are still many firearm permits available over the counter. Just be sure if a state area you intend to hunt requires only a county permit or a site specific permit. Here is IDNR link that shows the reported harvests from years past to give you an idea of the hunting in specific areas.

http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/...stReports.aspx

No reason all should be lost.

Yeah i thought i was gonna be lucky and have access to proven spots where no one goes but i guess that went down the drain lol.


I was looking at this list but like you said it's dumb that they dont show which county it is in lol. My only issue is i'm so pressed for time that i dont know if i'm going to be able to get out this year. I was relying on this spot so i didn't look else where and like i said i'm traveling til thursday and i was going to go striahgt out to my familys farm and hunt the weekend. I leave sunday again for work so i only really had friday and saturday.

I'll keep u guys updated if i find anything lol. Thanks for all the help.

When I'm hunting a new to me area, I always stop in the Mom and Pop gun stores and chat awhile. Same thing I do when fishing a new to me area, I check out the small tackle shops.

One way these guys stay in business is to be helpful. All it usually costs me is the price of a couple of boxes of ammo or some fishing stuff.

If the tips pan out I make it a point of buying from them on a regular basis.

I ended up going to another family farm. Sat in a blind friday and only saw turkey. Tried to go out saturday but it was crazy blizzard. Gonna try to go out next weekend for second season but i think i gotta work now.

Thanks everyone for the help.

I am from the atkinson area and the only public spot that is open to gun hunting is at morrison rockwood state park in whiteside county. There is pretty good bow hunting, if you decide to get a bow, at big bend state park which is near prophetstown and johnsons sauk trail which is between annawan and kewanee. I have hunted these places with success!

sweet, thanks for the info

You can try to draw a shotgun tag for some good public land areas... which limit the number of hunters especially during shotgun season... but those are tougher to draw.

In the future you may try to team up with some guys and lease some land.

Don't be intimidated to hunt public land even if you never have. Don't forget your blaze orange.

archery isn't a bad idea for the future...

Move ahead 1 year and I ended up buying a bow like most people recommended. Still trying to find someone to take me out and show me the ropes lol

I really want to try pubic land but I am intimidated. I wouldn't even know where to start.

No need to be intimidated. PM me and depending where you would like to hunt, I can probably get you pointed in a good direction.

pm sent matt

Call or go to your dnr and talk to a biologist they should be able to help you with finding some places.

I'm talking more I've never placed a stand or set one up. Stuff like that that I wouldn't know unless I've actually done it before lol.

I PM'd you.

bump it up

went out for the first time by myself for archery season. Made a bunch of rookie mistakes that hopefully i wont do again lol. The biggest thing i learned from that day is Ladder stands are not ment to be portable haha. Kicked my ass trying to carry that to the tree.

lol fyi i don't care how much experience you have you will continue to screw up although it will get better the stupid in us never goes away it's something i can't explain you tend to fall apart at times and others rock solid got it together !! lol

Borrow one from your family

Haha deff going to look into buying a climber or find public land that allows ladder stands to stay set up. Didn't realize how long it would take to walk out to the spot and get all set up. Also I'll try not to forget to tie my hoist rope to the stand before I put it in place lol. Came to find out that my harness tree strap wasn't long enough to go around the tree after I got up the tree haha. It was a rough mOrning