Illinois Hunting Journal 2012

[Deerhunter04]

Thanks guys and from what I hear where I shot that deer a guy was hunting the same spot in the morning and stuck a bigger 8. Same spot same day 2 nice bucks I love that spot. Its also the same spot I shot my 16 point that scored 166 and my 9 pointer that scored 135. The funny thing is it has nothing there. for some reason the bucks are just drawn there.

[bobow]

Great deer 04!

[4khorn]

Congrats on a great buck 04! I hope that spot continues to produce for you year after year!

I sat this evening and didn't see anything while on stand, but bumped a deer on the way to the stand.

[stu27]

Sat this evening.....saw a single doe late but nothing else. Hoping things pick up here soon!!

[4khorn]

Saturday morning proved to be one of those mornings that you wish you would have just stayed in your warm bed...

Got rained on, screwed by the other guys hunting the property, and didn't see any deer.

Saturday evening I was planning on sitting around the house but a buddy from work called and asked if I wanted to hunt some public ground with him. Neither of us had ever hunted the place before, so we were going in blind. I found a few trails heading out of the woods into a clear cut so I decided to just sit there. I sat on the ground in some brush hoping a deer would come out in the clear cut, but it didn't happen. I didn't see any deer. My buddy didn't see anything either but said he heard a buck grunt.

The reports from my area are still pretty slow. Guys that are used to seeing 10 deer a trip are down to seeing just a couple. The rut doesn't seem to be on just yet. Have you guys been seeing any rut evidence?

[Deerhunter04]

4khorn they are still doing all the pre rut thing here but while looking for the 11 pointer I shot yesterday walked into a bedding area that reeked of doe estrous and that property we followed the buck onto is no hunting area. Ill throw up the pic of the 11 pointer in a sec. shot him out of the same stand I got the 8 out of on the public land. no Im bucked out ;(

[bobow]

I was out Friday morning and just before legal light I saw a lighter colored blob about 40 yards out. He slowly worked his way to the side of me and it was the largest bodied deer I had ever seen but that doesn't mean much. He got behind a tree I had ranged that was 16 yards.

It was dark enough that I could not see the rack other than a couple of brief instances where I had a glimpse with a lighter background. It didn't seem to be wide but it looked abnormally tall but again I couldn't see it very well.

About 0720 a 6-8 pointer came through to the west but didn't stick around. I went back out in the PM and saw another buck passing thru.

Saturday AM didn't see anything after a few hours & after 0800 the farmer started digging up the field 50 yards to the east and with a slight NE breeze all I got was a lung full of diesel fumes so I came in.

This morning I got busted going in at 0500 and then nothing until the farmer bordering the north field came in to dig that field up.

I haven't seen any does since the first weekend in October.

Oh well. I won't be able to get out again until the weekend. Tuesday is election judge duty - Yee-haw

Maybe I had better get serious about talking to the wife

[bobow]

I forgot to mention that I did see three new scrapes since last weekend.

I also talked to the guy that hunts right to the north of me. He had a doe come running at 40 yards from his stand and stopped to look back. She was heading south. He heard a grunt and a 10 pt was coming his way following her but stopped in the plowed field and eventually turned around and headed back north.

All the bucks I have seen so far have just been cruising.

[4khorn]

Alright 04...I'm gonna need you to email me the coordinates for that stand! Nice job dude!

Bobow, good to hear you saw some decent action this weekend! Its only a matter of time before you get a shot at one.

I didn't hunt tonight but I drove out to glass the fields around my spot. There were 5 deer in a field to the West and 2 deer in a field to the East. There was also an unfamiliar truck parked where I normally park when I hunt. The last thing I need is yet another person hunting out there. Starting my mini vacation after a quick morning at work tomorrow. Hoping to have positive reports over the next 5 days!

[Deerhunter04]

Good luck 4khorn I wanna see pics