Down&OutHunting

where you from kateraxl im from Southern Illinois. Wouldnt wannt to live anywhere else

kateraxl2381

im from clay county and that's where the deer pictures i posted came from.anyone who says southern illini bucks are small are prolly high.

uncle matt

I have hunted my whole life in Williamson and now Johnson county. My family is from Marion in Williamson.

fastetti

UncleMatt, You ever hunted Crab Orchard for deer? I went to SIU for undergrad and hunted if for rabbits and quail back in the good ol' days. Was wondering how the deer are over there now. Hunted over in Saline last year and saw some nice bucks. Stayed in Marion though, nice little town. It has changed A LOT since the last time I was there in 2000. Carbondale might as well be a whole different city too. Can't get back on the property I hunted in Saline this year (they aren't allowing any deer hunting this year) might try Shawnee if I think it may be worth it.

Katerax, its kinda of a joke on this website, if you have big deer where you hunt, you always say, "No deer here, only spikes and does" Just a way to jokingly tell people to not try it out. People say that Iowa and Pike county have no deer either so we should not ever try there. Id also watch about saying someone is High, the mods are starting to crack down on this. Just some friendly advice from a fellow S. Illinois hunter.

IL-Cornfed

That 2nd buck is outstanding! One of the states finest bowkilled typicals! Congrats to that lucky sportsman!

uncle matt

I have never personally hunted Crab Orchard just scouted there some. I've pretty much always hunted private land but every year there are always some real fine deer taken out of the Orchard. There is so property there and it is such good habitat that there will always be good deer there. Just a matter of putting yourself in the same place at the same time. I personally don't care for CO's high number of hunters. I used to work with a guy who's buddy was shot there.

Yes Marion has changed. It is kinda a fast growing town for S IL. It is nothing like it was as a kid. We still have family there.

There are a few real nice hardly used public areas down by us in Johnson county. My nephew had a monster buck come in on him at one of them but couldn't get a shot on him.

Lanse couche couche

A couple weeks ago, I was driving the back roads in Richland County and in the middle of the afternoon saw three bucks standing together at the edge of the road. They were all in the range of #1 and #3 in the pictures above.

Funky Monkey

Lived and hunted in willaimson county all my life, and as far as im concerned people who live up north or out of state can hunt where they live, so that way people who own there own ground, in this area can take there kids into the woods our go chase the buck you have watch all summer and not have to worry about people getting on your ground,, shooting toward you,,or just totally screwing up a good hunt. It happens all the time around my ground and the nearest public hunting is on the other side of the county. THERE ARE NO DEER IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, NOT WORTH THE TIME AND GAS TO DRIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funky Monkey

forgot to add this to my post we manage over 900 acers of private ground for deer and turkeys we several bucks running on our ground that would score 160 to 190 inch we lost 3 of those deer to some joker from northern Illinois who thinks he can just stop on the side of the road cross a gate (with a posted sign on it) and hunt anywhere. We now have our ground patroled by the local gamewarden, we now have it set up with written permission only or with me nearby.

uncle matt

If you think that people from "up north or out of state" are the main or only problem in the southern part of this state - you are mistaken. You usually need not look far.