robbob12

Was out at our ground on the bluffs. Plenty of active rubs and scrapes all around. In fact a ten point buck actually walked so close to my son sitting on the ground rabbit hunting it steped on his boot. Last year we took 4 nice bucks and a doe in 2 days. I expect this year we will do at least that good. The guy next to me who farms 1000+ acres said alot of small ones out there since it was a mild winter.

Looking for my friend from New Jersey. You coming out this year to hunt. Invitation is still open to meet at Buck' s Barn for a brew after shooting hours. Hope your family is well and all is fine out East. See you soon and good luck. I know you have seen some of the monsters this part of the country can produce.

JZarr

Whereabouts in Carrol County are you at? I' m hunting JoDaviess County, but from one of my stands I can actually see over a few hills and into Carrol County. I' m actually just North of Mt. Carrol if you' re anywhere near there. A few years back I used to have a place to stay in Savannah and my family and I would go to Buck' s Barn for dinner. Of course that was way before I was legal drinking age. That' s not the case anymore. [8D]

It' s funny how you mention all the small bucks this year b/c I' ve noticed them too. I' ve seen countless numbers of spikes, forks, small 6' s and small 8' s already. The big boys are definitely starting to move though!

robbob12

I live in the Lake Geneva area and will actually be in Island Lake on Thursday on a business call.

Our property is on the bluffs off of Ashby Road. It is 4 miles north east of Bucks Barn. Stop in after hunting it is a nice crowd of deer hunters and good old boys.

I noticed a few for sale signs coming down from Stockton. Do you know what that proerty sells for in south east Jo Davies? I would like to buy another 80+ acres if it was priced reasonably.

ROBBOB

JZarr

Property is going for roughly $2400 - $2600 an acre in SE JoDaviess, at least from what I' ve seen lately. I' d like to buy a piece myself but being 23 and having to pay off debt accumulated during college doesn' t exactly lend itself to that right now. Someday though - someday.

And I don' t know if I can stop into Buck' s this weekend, but next weekend for sure. It' ll be the last one before shotgun season and the first one I don' t have to work on Saturday, so I plan on getting out for a Friday evening hunt and staying till Sunday night.

Just out of curiosity - what sort of business are you in? Island Lake isn' t exactly the biggest town in the area.

25lieb

I bow hunt stephenson county down by loran, so i can see carroll and jodaviess, and i know a bunch of farmers around there unless you know them (and sometimes that doesnt matter) you wont be able to hunt on their land unless you pay a nice fee. and as for buying land, well, yeah its not cheap. Hopefully, within, oh, before i die, i can get some money and buy some land.

Hunting wise, Ive only gone a few times, since im in college, but i havent seen a lot of deer, last friday evening i didnt see any deer until i was about ready to leave and it got dark before i could get close enough.

JZarr

25lieb - if you' re around Loran one of these weekends you should stop in at Baker' s Place. That' s where I can usually be found after I' m done hunting for the evening. Nothing like kicking back for some food and a couple beers while watching the locals get drunk and try to breed with each other.

PS - We' ve been seeing a ton of deer on our land just East of Loran. I think I' ve counted over 12 different bucks this year, 3 of which were P&Y class deer.

25lieb

Yeah, Bake' s is a good place to go. I' ll definately be there once or twice during shotgun season. Too bad I' m not 21 or I' d be joining the locals, actually one of the locals youre talkin about is probably my uncle, he lives pretty much right next to baker' s. I hunt north of Lena almost to wisconsin during shotgun, except sunday i go to loran again.

Yeah, I' ve heard a lot of people say they have been seeing some good ones around. I don' t think I' ll be hunting again until shotgun though, which sucks i really want to go at least one more weekend. oh well.

JZarr

That sucks you can' t hunt more often. It was the same way for me when I was in school. I was only 2 hours away though, so I could still make the drive back on the weekends.

I don' t have a JoDaviess shotgun tag this year, but I' ll be out for the oil wrestling during the 2nd season.

Who' s your uncle? I probably know him, or at least know who he is. The guy I hunt with pretty much lives at Baker' s and knows EVERYONE in Loran.

Broadhead88

The guy from Jersey wont be coming out to Carroll County this year as my buddy got married last year and his new wife has a few hunting relatives that need to be taken care of. I was allowed ot bowhunt this year but never put in for the tags. As for last year, I had to cancel as my son was born the same week.

The boys took a 13pt last year that scored 149. My 12 pt the year before scored 156 1/2 so we know that the gene pool is healthy.

Looks like another good year for you ILL guys so good luck. I' m just starting to hunt Jersey with the bow now and am looking forward to hitting NY for the first time in many years. See ya.

Bob

robbob12

Jzar, Iam a financial planner and really work with small business owners setting up retirement programs. Also work with attorneys on estate planning issues. Living right on the border my clients are both in Il andWI.

I probably have access to a dozen farms in WI and a handful of properties in IL. Even though I live in WI I Deer hunt Il. Big deer and plenty of them. Last year in Carrol County I saw 39 deer within 150 yards of my stand. My son fisrt year 2002 season I had to run into town for more ammo. He thought it was a vidio game but he did shot 2 does. I worked on him to hold out for a nice buck this year

NJ Bob glad to hear your doing fine. Little one I am sure is growing. Are you going to take him out in one of those napsaks? Just kidding. Let me know how your buddies did in Lanark.

My brother is out in Carrol this weekend to put up his stand. I will post his sitings when he is back. It just blows my mind when I read some of these posts and a Guy out 3 days sees one doe. I am just thankful I own a piece of Carrol County.