Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

As hard as it is to believe, I've never seen any mountians( at 37) and I have a chance to go to IL. with my friend and boss to hunt family land. He is not a hunter but is wanting to learn so he'll be no help in explainning the differences. Here in Alabama we've tought our deer verry well how to look up to add to the challange. Most of my hunting is close quarter, clear-cut grown over, and Bayu swamp. Get me geared up!!! One thing I I do most is hunt from a climber.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

well i have helped my dad scout some spots in illinois, and driven through just about the whole state to visit family, hunting, fishing, or baseball. it is mostly flat, a few rolling hills here and there. lots and lots of agriculturalfields. some giants there.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

I'll get the details soon but type camo and most needed gear is a big guess. I use mostly Mossey Oak Breakup, 30-06 150gr sighted in at 2" high- 100yrds. I'm comfortable up to 350yrds but I live in a climber.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

well in illinois its narrowed down to muzzleloader, bow, or shotgun. no high powered rifles

but really any camo will work ok. just be sure to be fairly high up in a tree

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Illinois can get cold, being a Southerner you may not have a clue. Find out when you will be hunting, if it is in December in Northern IL you need to be prepared for some pretty brutal conditons. It could be a balmy 50 or -5. Minus 5 and sitting in a tree stand is difficult for natives. If you have not experienced cold I suspect you will want to stay on the ground. If you will be hunting in Southern Illinois it will be quite a bit warmer but it will still be much much colder than you are used to in Alabama.

I like insulated work bib overalls with the full length leg zippers. The zippers can be opened so you cool off when you walk, it is bad news if you start sweating in cold weather. Get them big enough to fit over your pants and a couple of pairs of long underwear.

Get good boots with plenty of insulation, again big enough for a couple pairs of socks underneath.

I like wearing a lot of layers on my upper body. I wear a turtleneck, wool shirt, hooded sweat shirt, and field jacket with lining. The field jacket and sweatshirt get zipped open when I am walking to keep from sweating.

I wear an insulated hat with ear flaps and a scarf too, along with the hood on the sweatshirt, and you will need good gloves.

I sat out at minus four in Iowa for three hours without moving and I needed every bit of that clothing to be able to stay in the field. I still was cold the whole time except while walking.

Most of the time it will not be nearly so cold, but if it is.........

I think Illinois has a blaze orange requirement during the gun seasons, camo is not too relevant.

For a gun you will need a muzzle loader or a slug gun. You may already have an 870 and can get a barrel with rifle sights fairly reasonably. Ask what ranges you will be shooting at and then decide smooth, rifled, or muzzel loader, and scope or iron sights.

If you hunt from the ground you will want a stool to sit on. You cannot sit on ice or snow.

As I said, ask the land owners a lot of questions.

Bob

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Illinois... Mountains... HA!!!!

IL highest point: Illinois
Charles Mound - 1,235 feet

AL Highest Point:Alabama
Cheaha Mountain - 2,407 feet

You win!!!

All was well covered above... be prepared for all weather... down here in S. IL on Friday the high is gonna be 10 w/ below 0 wind chills, but it was 50 earlier this week.

No camo style Flo Orange, must be solid orange head, chest and back.

This weekend is the last of the season, antlerless only.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

DUMB_BASS- I kind of choked over "mountains" too but ya gotta be charitable. If they drive up your way, I figure they could be going through the Smokies and that those are the mountains he was talking about. If they do drive and Shawnee28 has not been out of his area, I think it will be a great trip. When you fly you do not get a feel for the country or how big it really is.

If the trip comes off I would like to hear about it and the impressions of a visitor to corn country.

I forgot to say the most important thing- We who have lived and hunted in cold weather have figured out when to give it up with respect to the cold. I know the difference between being uncomfortable cold and damaging cold. I have not been so cold that I was in great pain for a long long time. The problem for a visitor is that sometimes you do not know that you let yourself get too cold until you feel it when you warm up.

As I said, it probably will not be sub zero (but it could) but will be average and be about 20 or so in the mornings and 10 is common. This is the hunting temperature I like best if not too windy. Shawnee28 may never have been out in anything like that though and I suspect may want heavier clothes than we natives would wear. I would read up on hunting in the cold and then there may be no problems because of preparedness.

Mud and rain are the things most likely to keep me from hunting or bring me in early. The cold just may cause me to still hunt more. The physical activity helps keep you warm. No matter how cold it is though, the hike in or out can cause you to get too warm and sweat. The clothes need to be vented while you are hiking.

Bob

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Good info Robert. Another thing that I just realized is that he says he likes to hunt from a climber. If he's going to experience cold like he hasn't experienced before he better be very careful with a climber. Getting up the tree will be relatively easy because he'll still be warm. Getting down is where he'll need to be extremely careful.

Once he's been sitting out in the cold for a few hours he'll definitely start to cool down without really being aware of just how cold he really is. Once he starts moving around trying to descend the tree it's gonna hit him like a ton of bricks and make his hands and fingers feel as if they're not there. Not a good combination when you're 25 feet up a tree. Just something to think about. Simp

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Depends quite a bit on which part of the state since parts of the state are almost as far north asWisconsin or Michiganwhile others are further south than parts of kentucky and Virginia. Big difference in terms of weather and overall conditions between hunting a creek bottom in southern Illinois and wide open fields in the northern part.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Sorry if I came across as smug.. it was unintentional, I was just amused that the word Mountains and Illinois were in the same sentence. LOL

This comin from a guy who grew up in PA mtns then moved to Montana Mtns, and Now live in the land where our highest point is called a "Mound"

Also have driven from IL to the Fla panhandle... no big hills between here and there[:o] TN has some elevation change I suppose. I agree that driving around the country is fun though... been in 46 of the 50 drivin most of that...

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Even if the hunt is in the Illinois banana belt, it will still be much colder than in Bama.

Northern Illinois is just like Iowa so my posts were about what I would worry about if I invited a Southerner to hunt with me.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

In reply to dumb bass,i live in so. illinois and you have obviosly not been to the shawnee national forest i would not call them mtns. but there are definetly some great big bluffs and hills,especially to someone from alabama.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Cold can be a relative term though. The coldest I have ever been while hunting was in a duck blind in Louisiana with the temperature in the 30s,high humidity, and a strong wind coming across the wetlands. I'll takea 10 degree dry coldup north over that anytime.And you don't have to worry about cottonmouths,hornets, and mosquitos in mid-November up here.[:-]

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

The coldest I have ever been was 10 degrees, pheasant hunting, on a windy day. It all has to do with the wind, humidity, how you are dressed, and temperature. I have had no trouble staying warm on zero degree days too. I got incredibly cold once as a teenager at 60 degrees, I was fishing and got wet from the dew before sunrise. We had to get on our bikes and head back home and that never happened any other time we were out. So I agree with you, Lanse_couche_couche.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Of course the coldest I have ever been while not hunting was walking down Iowa Avenue to school in Iowa City on amorning when it was something like 20 below zero. That was thetime back in 1991 or 1992when it never got above zero for a whole week. I was so cold that I had to duck into a bar for a shot of schnaps to help me make it the next two blocks to campus.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

and if you come to Illinois you still wont see any

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Depends on your point of view. When the family from south Louisiana go to Illinois to visit my parents some of themrefer to the Shawnee forest hills as mountains.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

If you want to see mountains, go to one of the 3 states I lived and hunted in, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho, I have been standing on mountains early in the morning and the cloud cover was right below you, you could almost swear you could walk off the mountain onto this enormous white pillow. It is truely amazing how big the mountains are over there. I grew up on the west coast, so that was what i was use to, and then I moved to New york about 6 years ago and went where is the national forest with all the mountains. I miss it alot, some of the best hunting around.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Hey, lets all be fair here, after all I know nothing about Alabama. I have only been there once and only because I got turned around in Columbus, GA. I very well may have said that there were mountains in Northern Alabama but a quick look at my atlas says I would have been wrong.

The coldest temperatures I have ever experienced is -28 and that three different times. Those were probably later in January or early Febuary and that is not normal, every 20 years or so. I cannot remember the coldest I have ever been too well because I was a kid but I think it was probably above freezing and I was wet playing in the snow. At those super cold temperatures you should probably breath through a mask, while moving anyway, to keep from getting freezing air in your lungs.

I've never seen it so cold where I could not sit for a couple hours but I live here. I would go hunting even if it was -28 but I would not try to sit at that temperature. I would do drives or still hunt so that I was moving. It never gets nearly that cold in early December in Iowa so it is just a mental exercise anyway.

I think a few tips are in order-

1) Use anti persperant on your feet. Your feet seem to sweat even when they are cold and keeping them dry helps with the cold.

2) You can fidget a lot without spooking the deer. Wiggle your toes, tighten then relax your hands, chest legs and arms, this improves circulation to your hands and feet and generates some body heat.

3) If your hands and feet feel cold you are OK; if they feel numb then you are too cold and need to get warmed up.(now, not later)

4) If you skin shiver you are OK; if you body shudder shiver you need to get warmed up.(now, not later) Warming up from being too cold is quite painful even if you did not do any damage so don't let it happen.


It is funny which threads I find enjoyable, this is one of them. Are there any more tips for someone new to cold temperatures????

Bob

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

im surprised no one else has said anything about this besides me
30-06 in illinois.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Thanks everybody.. Oct. 18th - the 24th in East Johnson Co., south of Crab Orchard Lake (Way South Illinois). We will be driving strait up and he said it will take about 8 hours, he has done it now for 18 monts. Now our bow season dow here is not huntable unless a freek cool front comes thru (scratch the 30-06 by the way) and it comes in Oct 15. What is gona be the differences? By the way, I use insulated bibs with full leg zippers( a little big for layers) so i can loose or gain layers in the stand. Thats not needed to often down here.

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

my dad used to goose hunt all the time down by crab orchard when they actually held geese.
theres a ton of big bucks down there
good luck getting the tag and on your hunt!!

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Thanks. Not to rub it in but I'm off from this comming Friday until Sunday week. 9 days on 400 acres by myself durring the highest part of our rutt..(the wife can only hunt the weekends this time). I hope to post a photo by the 31st..

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Speaking of cold...in East Central IL this weekend (the last firearm season for antlerless) it's supposed to be an overnight low of 5 degrees and the windchill is supposed to feel like -10 or -15.

It's gettin chilly!

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Dang Oct??? Don't worry about being cold. Bring t shirts and a light jacket (maybe)... also get yourself a Thremacel... keeps the skeeters off.:D

RE: Southern Boy Stepin' Out and Up
 

Uh,,, I live in S. IL too... I've been there plenty, along w/ a lot of other places that have BIG mountains... Even you say you won't call them mountains. I've also hunted E Alabama, and walked up some hills there. AL isn't as flat as most of IL, there is more terrain there than IL for sure.

Just because you might huff and puff on the way up a hill doesn't make it a mountain.