A Few From Southern Illinois
 

Here are some Illinois whitetails all takin south of I-70 over the past couple of years.

The first is my biggest to date, score 155. Bow Kill.2007
The second is one of my buddies dad's, score 184. Bow Kill.2002
The third is my dads from last year, score 135. Bow Kill.2008
The fourth is one that I rattled in for my friend, never got him scored. Bow Kill.2008
The fifth one was my first deer ever, never scored. Shotgun Kill. 1998

what are the deer trophies from in the 2nd pic? Big buck contests?

yeah..i believe he takes him to the deer and turkey classic each year and win a few awards with him year in year out.

great looking deer

Man, seeing these bucks just makes me mad I can't hunt the land I was on last year in Southern Illinois! There are some great deer down there. People think Pike is great, I like to think that Southern Illinois is a hidden gem that hasn't got the publicity and hopefully people won't catch on to it!! :)

i couldnt agree more..there are giants killed year in year out down here, its just a matter of time IMO..i wouldnt pick to pick anywhere else in this country to hunt deer

There are no decent deer in southern Illinois. Heck they are mostly far and few between.

I wouldn't encourage anyone to hunt there - it would just be a big waste.

its not pike county, but sayin there are no decent deer in southern illinois is a joke. where are you from matt? and what county did you hunt while you were here?

Katerax,

I completly agree with Uncle Matt, there are no big deer in southern Illinois. I meant a big deer for southern Illinois is a 6 pt that scores 100. I would tell everyone who wanted to go to Southern Illinois to just head to Pike or Iowa. No deer left in Southern Illinois. Wink, Wink :)

near what town did you kill them

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

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.:D

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

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.

you are right local people do like to go as they please, but the people around our area respect our ground because of our managment ways. It helps them out. The main problem we have been having is with people from out of state or from up north, this has been going on for the last 6 years, 2 of these guys have lost there hunting rights for the next 5 years, they where both from up around joliet area, the one from out of state is not allowed to hunt in the state of Ill, he is the one who killed 3 deer off the ground, I didnt catch him but the owner of the proporty next to us did. DNR took all 3 of those deer.

yeah...he is a brute..he also killed another ill try to get a picture of next time im out there. he scored 176..one of those families that kills big deer year in year out

Hey kateraxl are you from Flora or what town in Clay County. I went to Lake Land for 2 years and have a few friends from down around that area. My g/fs uncles farm around that area to in edgewood. Im a little further south than clay county though.

yessir..born and raised..im goin to school now at EIU..so im gunna be huntin some coles county bucks this year..how much farther south r u

those are some nice deer there good work man

Pinckneyville...its probably a little over an hour. I live an hour from Salem.

im in so il too little town called aviston bout 5 miles west of breese or 15 minutes west of Carlyle in clinton county when people think of deer in so il they think about the kind here in clinton co. not enough woods best huntin is on public land around carlyle lake

First off, Welcome Funky Money to the site. You should have fun on here!

I hear you guys about the Poaching. The land that I hunted on last year is a very large piece as well. There is a guy who patrols in everyday as well as the DNR and they have to stay on there toes to watch out for the poachers. We ALWAYS have to have our permission slip on us even know we know the guy who patrols it and the DNR. Nothing worse than trespassers and poachers.

I agree with Uncle Matt with there are a lot of the trespasser are local. They know the land and where the land owner will be therefor can hunt it, or should I say trespass and poach on it. Last years land they found many treestand deep in the backwoods where they thought people would try to hunt from the neighboring towns and people could get in and out without being seen. The funny thing is a few stands were in groups of two like they were filming a hunting show. Also, I didn't see them but opening day right near dusk, the DNR spooted 2 guys coming off the land in all black with rifles. As soon as he spotted them they were running. There was no truck parked anywhere near by so they knew they were local. Im not saying there aren't any upstaters that go down there and trespass, but for someone from Chicago to drive 6 hrs to hunt without having a place is insane. People who do that need to be shot on sight! Funky Monkey, no matter what that does suck about those deer being poached. I would have been pissed as sh*t! All Northerns are not like that m(especially me). Id rather have a hunt ruined on public land everyday Im in the woods than trespass on someones land to hunt.

Uncle Matt, It was good to see that Marion was growing. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and I'll tell you what, that New ball park is nice. Good to see it hasn't struggled like it seems Carrier Mills and Harrisburg did.

CO seemed like it got a decent amount of pressure, but when I was rabbit and quail hunting a 1/2 mile of so off the road, we sure did run into some nice bucks! I could have spot and stalked some monsters there if I could have used my .270. I ran into a bow hunter in his stand here and there. I'd always back out slowly and if I saw them later on at dusk, if they were polite to me, I'd give them the inside scoop on where I have jumped some big bucks. One guy was super nice, told him of a spot off 13 near Caterville where I had been seeing a heavy 10 a couple times, sure enough I saw him the next year and he nailed that SOB with his bow!

I'll have to look into Johnson County. They just released the last permit results and my buddy and I were thinking that we'd just apply for Johnson, Saline or Williamson and do our research and find some public land. If we don't make it down there we are only out $30 so its not a huge deal. I would never ask for any specific locations but if you think one part of Johnson Co. (North, east, etc) is better for public I wouldn't mind the help. PM if you want.

Good luck to all this season, I hope to see some great pics!

Sorry Funky Monkey, Didn't read the last page of posts. Good to see you caught those poachers, sounds like they were a big menace. As least you got them though, a lot of people never get the satisfaction! Two were from Joliet though, that explains a lot!

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think i should have thought about my wording before i wrote,,,,but loosing those deer still burns me alive.....I dont have a problem with people up north i have freinds that live in arcola ill, they are good people hard working and very good to my family, people from out of state i dont have a problem with either. There are several people in arkansas that me and my wife are close to, they let us hunt on them down there when we go and vice versa, if i have offended anybody or just plain pissed people off i am truely sorry, its just aggravating when you put all those hours in working on places for you and family and freinds to hunt, to get ruined by people with no respect (even locals) is enough to drive a person insain,,,,,,fuel, seed and man power is not cheep anymore,,,,,,,,,,so again i am truely sorry