Jim Edgar's Panther Creek

[singleshot78]

Just wondering if any of you have ever hunted JEPC. I'm going on my third year hunting there as an out of state hunter. Such a big place and different from what I'm accustomed to. I've shot a few does and have seen a descent buck or two but nothing consistent. We'll be there this year from Oct 26th to Nov 3rd. Just looking for a few pointers and things to look for as far as scouting is concerned. Thanks

[dan]

I hunted there once... Some nice bucks in there and its very well managed for public land.
My main piece of advice would be to stay as far away from the parking lots as possible... The rule there is ( or at least was when I hunted there ) that you have to park in a marked lot. Getting dropped off at some of the areas that are remote from the parking lots got me into some action.

[singleshot78]

Thanks Dan. It's still the same way now. You still have to park at designated parking areas. I've found several spots on the aerials on the place that I'm headed for when we get there this year.

[DEERSLAYER]

Are you talking about Illinois?

[singleshot78]

Yeah deerslayer. Right up by chandlerville.

[DEERSLAYER]

Excellent area. I was in there in the spring a few years ago shed hunting with a large group of people and two shed hunting dogs. The place had already been picked over and we didn't find much, but there was a lot of great sign and I didn't even have a chance to get into the good stuff before the guys I was with wimped out and wanted to go back. I jumped a big six and was surprised he still had his headgear. Plenty of nice bucks in there. I don't think it would be a problem to get on some real bruisers if your willing to get back in a ways. The place is awesome compared to anywhere around here. I remember telling some of the guy's that I see no reason I couldn't pull a P&Y buck out of there every year, but at $500 a pop I would have to pass. I paid more in Iowa, but I had a cabin to stay in for free so it was affordable. I would definitely like to hunt there.

[singleshot78]

Slayer where u from?? I'm from South Louisiana. We make a guys trip out of the hunt. The tags are kicking my but though. If it weren't for the tags being 421$ the trip wouldn't cost us much at all. It's a 13 hour drive but it's a fun trip. THe hard part is only having a week to hunt. It's out third year and we are learning more and more every year. It's way different from where I'm from, we don't have all these food sources and bedding areas. If you find a good oak dropping or some trumpet kreeper. It's on. I'm thinking this year is the year. I'm gonna scout harder this year and find the sign. I've found a few spots on the maps and as soon as I figure out how to shrink and post them . I've always seen deer and killed a few does for the freezer, just haven't gotten on one of those bruisers.

[RaisedByWolves]

Haven't hunted there personally but a fella I worked with from Springfield, Ill is always trying to get me to come down and hunt that area with him for a week in late oct....he has whacked a couple 150's out of there in the last few years, and saw a couple much bigger during rut. Don't know much about the property but I know he liked to hunt the riverbottoms

[singleshot78]

Thanks RBW. We're gonna keep at it. Eventually I'll figure it out. It's still a fun trip regardless of if we kill or not. Met some good people and have had a great time. Thanks again guys. I appreciate all the help.

[DEERSLAYER]

I'm NW of Grand Rapids Michigan along the lake shore. I think it's about half the distance for me. If you have windows Vista or newer just hit your start button and type "snip". Your "snippet" tool will show up when it searches and you can use that to take a screen shot of just the picture. This will drop the file size way down. They have a nice campground down there.

[dan]

Andreas Illinois property borders that property... He caled me and told me I should shoot down to his place because there was a booner coming out on the public every day in the same spot and he thought I might want to shoot it. So I did. When I got there he showed me where it was coming out and I did a little scouting and found big tracks and sign where he seen it coming from across a river from private ground. There was not much for trees where the buck was coming thru but I found a tree growing out of the river that was small but I could get a stand up about 6 feet and be against a steep mud bank and shoot the buck as he crossed the river.
The plan was to ambush him the next evening. Then we went to Andraes cottage and talked about his hunting plan. He had a bunch of trail cam pic's of a huge typical buck that he was contiplating shooting and wanted my opinion on score, I thought it would go about 180 net despite a nontypical point. That was what he wanted to hear and he said he was going to shoot it the next morning and went out and bumped the buck from its bed... The next morning when I got back from scouting the buck was in the back of his truck!
He don't mess around! He shot it when it returned to its bed... Its the bump and dump buck from my Hill country bucks DVD... So anywho, he needed me to shoot pictures and video for shows and it started getting really late and I SAID i GOTTA GO IF i WANT TO SHOOT THE ONE DOWN THE STREET... So I left to get to the Edgar allen Panthar creek area at a spot where I had to be dropped off to get to the creek crossing. I was running about an hour later than I wanted too. As I got out of the truck I glimpsed a guy slipping into the woods where I was headed. When I got down there he was in a tree 45 yards from where the booner was crossing...
He waved me to go away and I did... He had beat me there. So now that my ride was gone I JUST WENT DOWN STREAM TO THE NEXT DEER CROSSING AND REGRETABLY SET UP... When I got done hunting I saw the guy looking around with a flashlight and went over... He said he shot the biggest buck he had ever seen crossing that river. He went on to say that everybody around was talking about the booner out feeding in daylight there and he had to take a try at him... He did not recover the animal. That was my one day hunting that public property...

[shooter mcgavin]

Slayer where u from?? I'm from South Louisiana. We make a guys trip out of the hunt. The tags are kicking my but though. If it weren't for the tags being 421$ the trip wouldn't cost us much at all..

That sucks you guys get screwed on the price of deer tags like you do.
Try paying property taxes just outside of Chicago.
Glad i work 60-70 hrs. a week.

[GLOCKMASTER]

I've already dedicated myself to Ohio this year for my first out of state whitetail hunt however, Illinois may be on next years hit list as well. Especially after looking over some records and maps. This forest seems to have a lot to offer.

[RaisedByWolves]

sorry to hear that Dan-o

[singleshot78]

I can only imagine what you guys pay in property taxes up there. I'm not complaining too bad about the price of the tags. I've enjoyed it so much. Like I said I've met some good people up there and had a great time. Dan, sorry to hear the guy beat you to the punch!! I'm hoping for a good buck this year. Gonna put in my scouting time and hopefully figure out a good set up.