illinois public

[cohunt]

Anyone hunted in west central illinois on public where is the best parks??

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[rizzo999]

If you have a boat, the public lands along the Mississippi are very good. I have a relative that lives in Macomb, IL who has a house full of mounts that mostly came from these isolated islands in the river. Siloam Springs would be my next choice (and it will be later this year). Sanqrious (sp?) is also a good one that really receives pretty low bow pressure. Panther Creek was always the choice for hunters in the 90's and early 2000's. The deer herd on this park is hopefully on the rebound after 2 years of EHD (2012-2013) effected the park pretty heavily, cause according to the DNR website this park's archery harvest dropped by about 50% from 2013 to 2014.

[burtle]

What towns are you near ?

[justdirtyfun]

I have some experience up that way. Send a Pm with some details. I have lots of coworkers from Calhoun. A lot of private has been leased there but good amount of public too.

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[jonsimoneau]

You'll have better luck in the southern part of the state. The west and central parts of the state have been printed about in magazines for a long time now and the limited amount of public land is overrun with hunters. 250,000 acres in the Shawnee National Forest.

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[rizzo999]

You'll have better luck in the southern part of the state. The west and central parts of the state have been printed about in magazines for a long time now and the limited amount of public land is overrun with hunters. 250,000 acres in the Shawnee National Forest.

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^This is correct. I used to hunt much of the public properties in the west-central part of the state. The publicity has caused a major influx of both resident and non-resident hunters on these properties. Some of them restrict the non-residents via a lottery system. Shawnee has big bucks and a LOT less hunters. 2013 I went for an entire week and NEVER saw another hunter. Saw a few other vehicles at different areas to park, but not like some of the areas you are looking at. On one large property in west-central IL it was difficult to find a tree that did NOT have climber marks on it. That is way too much pressure for me. Good luck wherever you decide to hunt.

[Missionshooter]

Shawnee is sooo much bigger than west central PL parks . Lots of hills but you can get away from other hunters.

[justdirtyfun]

Cohunt if you spend some time here you will learn how to choose where to hunt. A lot of places have overlooked, swampy, hard to get to areas and we choose to hunt there. Big buck hide outs.

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[cohunt]

Near quincy is my area ..

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[bowkill00]

Agreeded. Over hunted but still some big deer on these properties. Just hunt were others dont. My best spots don't have a tree in sight.

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[cohunt]

Have you hunted these areas in the past ?

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[hoyt]

I live in Southern part of Shawnee and some areas around here are not anything like they were about 6yrs ago. I very seldom even see a deer from my automobile in the crops anymore. Used to be dangerous just to drive to town..especially after dark.

Very area specific as far as deer populations go.

[PK_]

I live in Southern part of Shawnee and some areas around here are not anything like they were about 6yrs ago. I very seldom even see a deer from my automobile in the crops anymore. Used to be dangerous just to drive to town..especially after dark.

Very area specific as far as deer populations go.

Do you have an opinion on what has contributed to the decline?

Seems like everywhere, almost every state is singing the same song. It sucks.

[hoyt]

I live in Southern part of Shawnee and some areas around here are not anything like they were about 6yrs ago. I very seldom even see a deer from my automobile in the crops anymore. Used to be dangerous just to drive to town..especially after dark.

Very area specific as far as deer populations go.

Do you have an opinion on what has contributed to the decline?

Seems like everywhere, almost every state is singing the same song. It sucks.

I think this particular area was shot out..or over hunted. It happens with liberal bag limits and especially now days it doesn't take long with internet to spread the word. Add good campsites and lots of public land, a small dose of EHD one summer along with plenty of yotes, over population of non huntable bobcats and poaching.

[E72]

I live in Southern part of Shawnee and some areas around here are not anything like they were about 6yrs ago. I very seldom even see a deer from my automobile in the crops anymore. Used to be dangerous just to drive to town..especially after dark.

Very area specific as far as deer populations go.

Do you have an opinion on what has contributed to the decline?

Seems like everywhere, almost every state is singing the same song. It sucks.

I think this particular area was shot out..or over hunted. It happens with liberal bag limits and especially now days it doesn't take long with internet to spread the word. Add good campsites and lots of public land, a small dose of EHD one summer along with plenty of yotes, over population of non huntable bobcats and poaching.

Sounds like Ohio public land ! Definitely not what it was. Same story , different state.