My dad uncle and i were thinking of maybe trying hunting illinois in 2012. Can you guys give me some suggestions? Both good and bad would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

this is relevant to my interests as well... i think i'm going to try squirrel hunting in jo daviess county (northwest) this august... first time out hunting.

I can only speek from personal experience on this one.  And I haven't hunted too many places due to travel restrictions.  I have hunted Volo Bog and Chain O lakes SP.  Volo Bog is on a permit system and you have to apply sometime in July.  The "Chain" is on Monday and Tuesday only starting Nov 1st.  Monday is a lottery drawing and Tuesday is first come first serve.  They try and maintain 35 hunters all day.  So if you don't get in you can nap in line or grab a bite to eat.  Then come back and see if anyone left.  I've also hunted Castle Rock SP but for turkey only.  I know they have deer hunting on a first come first serve basis.  If you're traveling I'd say try the parks in the Southern part of the state.  Their numbers seem to be higher.  Good luck and I hope this helps.

-Jeremy  

Thanks Jeremy, the lottery and waiting for someone to leave thing wont be what im looking for. I truely appreciate the advice and will start looking at the southern part of the state

Public land hunting in Illinois can be good, especially during the middle of the week when many guys are at work.    Many state parks allow hunting.  You need to go the IDNR website to determine which sites allow hunting, decide what part of the state you'd like to hunt, and then check into the sites in that area.  Talk to the Site Supervisor or District Wildlife Biologist for any other details.  IDNR's Hunting Digest will provide a lot of information as well.

The Shawnee Nat'l Forest cover nearly 250,000 acres in southern IL.  In addition, there are numerous state areas.

I completely forgot to mention the Il DNR web site.  They have a state map with public hinting land areas.  Also I second the suggesting of contacting the site supervisor.  I contacted the Castle Rock supervisor for turkey.  He put in a field that I've always seen turkey's in.  Really cuts down on the worrying of scouting.  Especially if you're traveling.  Again, good luck.

-Jeremy  

Thanks everyone

If you are looking for something in the middle of the state, you might look into Jubilee State Park about 10 miles West of Peoria.  It has developed a good reputation.

I shot you a PM.

Southern IL is home to me, and I'm probably a little disgruntled to the way it has came around (EXPENSIVE land leases and $400 out of state permits)...however, that is progress and I'd sure rather see a traditional shooter there as some of the others.  

Look at the Union, Johnson, and Pope County areas in Shawnee Nat'l Forest.  November is going to be busy as alot of hunters come to the area to put in a week of bowhunting before the shotgun season.  October doesn't have as much pressure.  

If you'd like more details shoot me a PM.  I'm from Vienna, but have my feet in MO soil right now.  I haven't hunted there since they doubled the price of permits a few years ago, but I'm kicking around buying a doe permit this year too.

C Kerley i certainly understand thanks for the info

Hey paul.  I live in Illinois and have hunted or scouted alot of the public ground here.  I'm going to start out by saying...it is much much tougher than it used to be.  However, big bucks are still killed annually on public ground.  If I were you...I would concentrate on the shawnee nationl forest in southern Illinois.  Deer numbers are lower, but so are hunter numbers.  The public land in the central and west central parts of the state, which are the known big buck areas, get pounded extremely hard these days, and success areas rates are low.  If you are willing to walk a couple miles to get to the good spots in the shawnee, you may be rewarded.  Good luck!

I agree with jonsimoneau about central Illinois being overun. Yes we still have some big deer and tons of guys chasing them but it's not like you see on tv, it is deer hunting, not getting    :D   If you do plan on coming to hunt central IL feel free to pm me and I will answer any q's I can about the area.

I used to hunt Jubilee about 25-30 years ago, when it first was opened to hunting.  It was my go to spot and I always saw deer, including some nice ones.  I have no idea what they have done to it since that time, but I liked it then.

Look at the map,  just near Quincy is a plot of land that was owned by the Corps of Engineers that was called "Bear Creek".  It is a river bottom, surrounded by . .  well river on one side and a levee with cropland on the other. There are also public islands in the river.

It is heavily hunted during the gun hunt, but not as much during bow season. .  again, it has been a long time for me.  

One hint. .  if the ground has not been flooded too late in the year (this may be a bad one)  there was a LOT of itch weed that grew to maybe 7-8 feet tall.  I cut a trail thru the weeds to get to my tree and beyond and danged if the deer didn't start using that trail too.  Shot one off that trail.

Good luck
ChuckC

The public lands here in east central il.get hammered hard.I walk a long distance to try and get away from other hunters.The late season is pretty void of hunters.

itch weed... I had forgotten about that stuff.  Hate it.   I'm itchin and burnin thinkin about it.  

Thank you to everyone for the info. We are coming out to have a good time and enjoy somthing we all have dreamed of doing. Beleive me that anyone of our group would be ecstatic just to see a pope and young class deer let alone one of the deer the clowns on tv show. Truthfully this is more about me not becoming an old man someday and looking back saying ya know i wish i would have given that Illinois huntn a try. You only get one chance on this side of the grass. Im wanna try to fullfill some of my dreams while not taking away from the most important part of my life, my family. Thanks again.

Ramsey Lake State park has good bowhunting. It is a small but very nice state park. South central Illinois

I am going to say the same thing as Kerley and others... southernmost IL holds some big deer and Shawnee National forest as well as a number of state areas that are open to hunting.  This is not a "go shoot" area so ya have to spend a bit of time.  The absolute best time to bee here from my experience is the week with Vetrans Day in it.  The bucks are hot then.  There are areas of the Shawnee that butt up to ag fields and those, of course, will be good.  You have to remember this NF runs from the Ohio river on the East to the Mississippi on the West.

You can hunt hills or bottom ground. It is amazing what a thirty minute drive can do to change your hunting area.

There is camping available throughout the forest and there are motels scattered around.

NR tags are high, but, if a 130 is impressive to you you should have opportunity.

Here is a good one on my wall.  Yea, we get luck occasionally.


If ya want info shoot me an email....