IL Deer Hunting

MarbleEyez · Aug 10, 2016

I've been really having the itch for archery season to start and for the time being I've been getting my fix from the outdoor/sportsman channel to help me with my struggle. Was watching the last couple nights a few hunts down in Illinois and Iowa. Well after my brain started going and all the Whitetail Property commercials I hoped online and started looking at land prices down in that neck of the woods. And all I can say is HOLY CRAP!

Has anyone archery hunted down there? How big of a chunk of land does someone realistically need in order to have a good deer population with a chance at a 150"+ every year?? It take's 2 good quarters up here (ND) to have a local deer population on your land. ND requires 160ac for a landowner to purchase a landowner's tag, IL is 40ac.

160AC in Pike County IL will run you $650K. For $650k you can buy a large chunk of hunting land in ND (300-400AC).

KDM · Aug 10, 2016

Land prices are kind of off the charts right now and they have been for quite some time. However, having large tracts of land in no way guarantees someone a chance at a 150 every year. Too many factors involved to boil it down to just one thing. ND has huge tracts of land that can't produce ONE 150 class animal let alone one every year. A 20 acre tract of good cover with water, food, and security AWAY FROM A ROAD, let me say that again, AWAY FROM A ROAD, will give a guy a better than average chance at seeing a good buck. Haven't hunted down in IL, but know a few that have and just like ND, access to good ground is the hitch. If a guy is willing to put in the sweat equity, good deer can be found in just about any place the deer roam.

NodakBuckeye · Aug 10, 2016

I imagine it is a lot like Ohio, tons of small properties and any of them can cough up a 150 or much bigger, on any given day. The deer there are crafty, have nerves of steel and will stay in places you would never think they would. Land there has gone up, leases are becoming more common and great hunting places gone for good. 5 acre home lots everywhere. Plenty of big bucks

bowhunter12 · Aug 10, 2016

I own a 9 acre tract that is part of a much bigger system in ND, my 9 acres also tends to be part of the main travel corridor....I have a chance at pope and young's every year, I can't control what others do on land around me, so can't really watch a particular deer grow over time, but there is always nice bucks roaming the woods in that 125-150 class range. It isn't HOW MUCH LAND, just owning the right chunk of it is key. The first year I owned it a 128" and 140" were shot out of the same stand(me and a friend). There was a real stud that year running around (150"+) that made it through January, never did get pics of him the following year though. There is always bucks (new and old ones) that show up year after year in that 125-150" class. Now if you want a gratis tag, then you need the 150 acres or more.

Sub_Elect · Aug 10, 2016

I have hunted down there. I have a good friend with two farms. One is listed on Whitetail Properties and the other is not NOT for sale. The one listed has had multiple deer over 150" taken and one was over 180". Its an awesome place and its perfectly located. Last year when I went down there he had 4 shooters living on the place full time, all were over 150". Its like hunting on TV, absolutely ridiculous. The guy has put in so much time that he knows everything about how the deer move, where they feed, when they change food sources. Hell, even knows where they most likely went to die on a marginal hit, incredible.

This is the buck I got

and the handsome fella next to me is my good friend.

this is the link to his property
https://www.whitetailproperties.com...d-turn-key-south-central-ia-hunting-property1

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If you are serious and what to talk to him PM me and I can get you in touch with him! I see he has his place listed a couple different ways, and one of the ways is as (the way I understand it) a partner. He will manage and watch everything while you are away. You just show up and hunt. Space your tags out every three years cuz that's about how long it takes to draw as a NR.

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BTW, this wasn't the biggest one on the property last year, I had a run in with it, but I had already shot this guy.

NodakBuckeye · Aug 10, 2016

Nice buck!

Sub_Elect · Aug 10, 2016

Thanks. It was actually the one I wanted to shoot. Corey sent pics of all the shooters about a week before we headed down to the hunt. When we got there he asked us what deer we were interested in and I told him I really liked the tall brow 10. He told me to sit in the ditch stand. I shot the deer the first morning I hunted. It was fricken awesome!

dean nelson · Aug 10, 2016

Buddy owned a couple sections next to where lee and Tiffany have there place in SE IA and the hardest thing for them was getting a out of state bow tag more then once every three to four years. I know one year his dad forked out over $10,000 for one of the govenors tags just so he could hunt his own ground plus a second farm they leased near by. They eventually got sick of the game down there and sold it off and baught a nice fly in place in Jackson Hole.

Dont think ive ever had trail cams out and not had at least one deer over the 150 mark coming through. Now that sure doesn't mean you ever see them in the light of day but 150 to 160 class deer are far more common then many think they are they are just extremely good at that point at avoiding people.

MarbleEyez · Aug 10, 2016

dean nelson said:
Buddy owned a couple sections next to where lee and Tiffany have there place in SE IA and the hardest thing for them was getting a out of state bow tag more then once every three to four years. I know one year his dad forked out over $10,000 for one of the govenors tags just so he could hunt his own ground plus a second farm they leased near by. They eventually got sick of the game down there and sold it off and baught a nice fly in place in Jackson Hole.

Dont think ive ever had trail cams out and not had at least one deer over the 150 mark coming through. Now that sure doesn't mean you ever see them in the light of day but 150 to 160 class deer are far more common then many think they are they are just extremely good at that point at avoiding people.

I can't wrap my head around why someone would pay that kind of money for land in a state that didn't have non-resident landowner tags annually. If a person is going to front that kind of money for a little piece of paradise to call their own, they should have the opportunity to hunt it every year.

IL Deer Hunting

MarbleEyez

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KDM

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NodakBuckeye

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bowhunter12

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Sub_Elect

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NodakBuckeye

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Sub_Elect

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dean nelson

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MarbleEyez

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