Thought I\'d share a report of my munt in IL. As some already know, I never let an arrow fly though I had quite a few chances including a few at bucks that would have been my best. With a full freezer, I was intent on holding out for a giant or eating my tag. It was a really great hunt and I left it all on the field. Here\'s a bunch of pics from the trip.
IL deer hunt (pic heavy)
- Thread starter otcWill
- Start date
Camp, Nov. 6th arrival. Not bad for a couple of elk huntn bums! Our good friend Phil treats Joe and I a whole lot better than we treat him when we get together in CO. Elk huntn involves day after day of torture while bowhuntn Whitetails is a true gentleman\'s sport 
I\'d been looking forward to this all year
I\'d been looking forward to this all yearAfter a few quick shots and some unloading of gear we were in our camo and heading for the woods. I\'d be on the back corner of this standing corn (back left corner straight over that dead tree) while Joe and Phil would be in similar settings each about 600 yards from me. It was great to be in a tree! Life is good
We were in by 2:30 and action started fast. 2 does came screaming in first thing and I thought sure there\'d be something chasing. Normally, I\'d have shot the first doe that came by but this year I held off. Sorta felt greedy killing a deer just for the sake of killing it. I\'ve never felt that way before as it surely wouldn\'t go to waste. Maybe I\'ve turned some kind of corner as a hunter? Wasn\'t sure whether I wanted to shoot or not but I am sure that I LOVE bowhuntn whities! Here\'s my view from the first sit. Does it get any better?
Magic hour. A nice lil 10 pt came in. I\'ve never killed a deer with 10 pts. As a matter a fact, I\'ve killed a bunch of critters but never killed a GOOD whitetail. They\'ve been kind of my unicorn species. Growing up in NJ, there wasn\'t much opp to hunt big deer and a 90-110\" deer was a very good one. I\'ve got a bunch of those This guy is a beaut in NJ. He got a reluctant pass
This guy is a beaut in NJ. He got a reluctant passClose to last legal light I hear a deer coming from the corn. Its a nice buck probably 130ish 10pt. He follows the script and drinks water at 18 yards. I drew, aimed...... and let down. I just couldn\'t give u the chance of having a crack at a giant on the first day though this buck would\'ve been a solid 5-10\" bigger than any NJ deer I\'ve killed. Awesome first night!
New property, Day 2. I had deer under me just before first light. One was a HUGE bodied deer that I was certain I\'d have shot if I could\'ve seen my pins. 30 minutes later I get a text from Joe. \"Just killed one buddy!\". We were on a fencerow surrounded by an absolute ocean of cut corn and beans. There are multiple lil hedgerows leading to this line of trees and deer come from anywhere though it seems like a very unlikely place for deer. Joe was about 1/2 mile from me and I\'d already seen 3 different bucks when I got his text so I decided to sit all day. Saw 9 different bucks with action all day long but nothing I wanted to shoot.
elkmtngear
New member
- Aug 9, 2017
- 1,152
\"otcWill\" said:
Lol Will...you\'re getting right to the limit there! :lol:
Yea, Jeff. No more water for me that afternoon
Here\'s a pic of Joe\'s buck, a mature 8. Phil had pics of him 3 years in a row and estimated him at 5.5. 250# dressed. Biggest bodied deer I\'ve ever seen. Joe stopped him at 25yds and made a perfect shot. He ran about 80 yards and died at full tilt, rolling end over end in the cut bean field. Absolutely beautiful double throat patch!
Here\'s a pic of Joe\'s buck, a mature 8. Phil had pics of him 3 years in a row and estimated him at 5.5. 250# dressed. Biggest bodied deer I\'ve ever seen. Joe stopped him at 25yds and made a perfect shot. He ran about 80 yards and died at full tilt, rolling end over end in the cut bean field. Absolutely beautiful double throat patch!
Next day same stands as this property seemed hot after seeing 9 different bucks and Joe killing his. Phil sat where Joe sat the day before and I stayed in my spot. Not long after first light I get a text from Phil: \"just shot a nice 9.\" SOB! Same stand and almost exactly 24hrs apart to the minute! I sat until 9 and then went to help Phil track his deer. First sign looked good
