Buck442

Well I think it is official. Dad told me this weekend that we will not be alllowed to hunt on our 400 acre lease in Pope County IL this year. My Dad and I have hunted this property for over 10 years and it is a sad day. The owner passed away this year thus the situation.

My Dad and I would be interested in leasing some property in Pope County or Johnson County IL if anybody has or knows of any up for lease or just the ability to hunt it.

We would prefer Pope co. Dad only shotgun hunts and lives in pope co. I on the other hand live in Johnson and spend 99% of my time Bowhunting. My dad introduced me to hunting 20 years ago and I truly enjoy the few days each year we get to hang out. Here is dad with my largest deer ever taken this year.

Thanks for the Help!

Don K

Im sure you already know it but theres lots of public land there in Pope and Johnson counties. I have hunted this area and have had a great time with very little pressure and chances at some nice bucks.

If you cant get a lease hunt the Shawnee..........


Don

Cougar Mag

Sorry about you and your dad losing the lease. I've lost hunting ground in the past although I have never leased, and I refuse to lease. I'll probably lose more due to my stubborness. Thats why a hunter needs to always be listening and looking. I'd say you are lucky in the fact that Shawnee has lots of public land to hunt.

Buckslayer1

I'am glad there's no leasing around me. I hunt on 12 farms by just asking.

drstalker

Have you tried Ferne Cliffe or Crab Orchard?

drstalker

Buck youre a lucky man living down there in Johnson county.My bro lives in Goreville,and is a prison guard.There is alot excelent public ground down by you.Also another is Rend Lake.Talk about numbers of deer,it's amazing.Biguns too.gps&fords can clue ya in on this area.Good luck .Bill D>

G5

thats a bad deal, i lost 350 acres of ground in johnson county to the same circumstances.i have recently moved out of illinois but when i lived there i did alot hunting in fern cliff state park. i would recomend going to the office at fern cliff state park and asking for a map of their land, they own another plot of land not connected to the park that is public hunting. its not well known and big enough to get back were your average hunter isnot going to go. they also have a drawing each morning, they let 20 hunters in a day, ihave never seen 20 hunters show upfor the drawing

i would also try to stay away from crab orchard, especially during gun season. that place turns into a 3 day war, i only hunted it once vowed to never go back after a slug hit the tree i was sitting next to.

good luck, i wouldntthink you should have to much trouble finding a place to hunt

Buck442

There are sevaral thousand acres of Shawnee here in the area that is great hunting during the majority of Bow season, however gun season turns into a total different story. Most of the properties we have hunted in the past border the shawnee and every where you go you see orange and becomes very dangerous. I was sitting several hundread yards from a guy who was on the fence line of our property and Shawnee ( all legit) and I was in the middle of a woodlot in the center of the farm. 3 shots ring out and then a strange buzzing noise bbbbzzzzzz, it was his slug flying thru the air about 10 yards from my stand and then thwack into a tree beside me. Conclusion, Ol,boy was shooting at deer on the wrong side of the fence. I love to hunt, but not so much to hunt with yahoos like this.

We hunted approx 5-6 different locations during Bow season on the shawnee and not one single time did we ever hunt without having someone else come thru the area. Frustrating to say the leaset but that is the name of the game anymore and we just accept it. I think I will keep a log next year of how many out of staters we see. I know for a fact the 1st day of Bow season 05 there was 4 trucks with 3 different states parked in the lot where we hunt and the other had Il tags but they were from Chicago.

drstalker

Sometimes it's kinda funny when a Chicago city slicker comes down to the shawnee to hunt,he'll have his brand new 18" bowie knife,brand new mossy oak camo,never sighted in slug gun bought from one of our local gun shops, and hunts for ten minutes and turns aound and goes back to the hotel room.I shouldn't paint with such a broad brush but it does happen and I can just imagine the bullets wizzin over your head hunting public land[:@].