Have not had luck door-knocking, so I must hunt public land, and was wondering if anybody else hunted any of the public land up in Northern Illinois? I hunt down in Lee co. at Green River (1-1/2 hr drive) and in Dekalb Co. (45 min) at Kishwaukee forest preserve. Shot 2 doe and a
buck in the 4 yrs of public hunting in Illinois, all at Green River during the shotgun season. I do bow hunt, but haven't had the same luck. I live in Winneabago county and was wondering if anybody has hunted any of the other sites up in this area (within 1 hror so of Rockford) and with any luck? Whats the pressure like? I've rifle hunted all my life in Wisconsin, but thats justa couple weekends a year for me.I like hunting and would like to check out a few moreareas.Anysites you prefer? THANKS!!

If your looking for more public or state land in and around your area , get your self a Atlas & Gazetteer for your state.
It' a large paper back book pubished by DeLorme ( the map people ) , it has detailed maps of every county for the entire state.
This map book also has a list of parks , forest / wilderness areas , campgrounds and just about everything else.
I use one for my sate and in my opinion it a very resourceful tool for every hunter.

Good idea, Also add a plat book. These can be bought at the county court houses in a county you would like to hunt. Shows owners names.

Yea you can also buy those plat books at your local bank.

I'm not sure if all state DNR's are similiar to Kentucky, but you might want to get on their website, they might post maps of all public land available.
http://kygeonet.ky.gov/kypublands/viewer.htm

There is no public land in my unit.