Illinois Game & Fish Magazine Article

[Zim]

Just opened my latest issue of Illinois Game & Fish to find an article about Randy & OYOA! This surprised me as OYOA is focused on western hunting. The article was encouraging newbie midwesterners to give it a try.

I would like to see Randy do an Iowa or Illinois public land hunt. This in the cards anytime down the road, Randy?

Curious if you can solve the Illinois public land puzzle. We are swamped with nonresidents on the relatively small amount of public land we have here. Much better in Iowa due to NR restrictions.

 

[Oak]

He did an Iowa hunt a couple of years ago.

 

[putm2sleep]

There is no public land puzzle. BigFin would kill something in the land of Lincoln b/c he works hard, has a never say die attitude and does research. Just pick a spot, get out there and get after it man. Enjoy what you can, while you can! I think we are encouraged by Randy to get out and do OYOA's before there is no public land access, period.
Secondly. you are not swamped with NR's. Colorado is, and Iowa has it right limiting NR tags. imo. Residents should have priority. imo.

 

[Zim]

There is no public land puzzle. BigFin would kill something in the land of Lincoln b/c he works hard, has a never say die attitude and does research. Just pick a spot, get out there and get after it man. Enjoy what you can, while you can! I think we are encouraged by Randy to get out and do OYOA's before there is no public land access, period.
Secondly. you are not swamped with NR's. Colorado is, and Iowa has it right limiting NR tags. imo. Residents should have priority. imo.

We are not swamped with NR's in Illinois??? How many times have you hunted here?

 

[BuzzH]

Zim,

I think you're a cry-baby and sound like a spoiled brat.

You whine all the time about the unfair quotas, unfair point systems, etc. in the States you hunt as a NR.

Then you turn around and cry because "My state is swamped with NR's".

Just a bit on the side of hypocritcal. If you dont like the unfair point systems, dont apply. If you dont like being "swamped" by NR's go lobby the illinois G&F commission, lobby your legislature. Better yet, pick up shop and move to another state that does things your way. But the constant crying is annoying. Sounds like you've quite the entitlement attitude...typical of the boomers, see it all the time.

Wyoming issues about 60% of their pronghorn tags to NR's, 25% of their sheep, goat and moose permits, a pile of general elk and deer permits to NR's, a bunch of LQ elk and deer tags as well.

Montana has close to 20K NR elk and deer permits issued each year, as well as more through the draw.

Colorado has an incredible amount of NR permits sold OTC as well as through the draw.

All states take a pounding by NR's each year on public lands...but unlike you, I'm thankful for the graciousness of the state I hunt in as well as the states I hunt as a NR.

Wyomings G&F budget would be in deep trouble without NR hunters, and even though I see a lot of NR hunters each year, I dont complain about them. Rather I thank them for funding a large portion of the G&F budgets each year, supporting local economies, etc. Hell, I even point some in the right direction to be sure they're successful.

I'm tired of your whining on every board you post on.

 

[Oak]

I guess 13% non-residents doesn't seem swamped to me, but I'm used to hunting in CO, where we give non-residents 20-35% of limited tags and unlimited OTC tags.

 

[Big Fin]

Just opened my latest issue of Illinois Game & Fish to find an article about Randy & OYOA! This surprised me as OYOA is focused on western hunting. The article was encouraging newbie midwesterners to give it a try.

I would like to see Randy do an Iowa or Illinois public land hunt. This in the cards anytime down the road, Randy?

Curious if you can solve the Illinois public land puzzle. We are swamped with nonresidents on the relatively small amount of public land we have here. Much better in Iowa due to NR restrictions.

Will be in one of those two states, or WI/MN/NE next year, if things go as scheduled. Like Oak said, we did Iowa in Season One, and if not for a camera malfunction at the time of truth, a really good Iowa buck would have been a TV star.

I have been researching IL and have located some public land. I suspect it gets hammered, but it is big enough that I suspect most people stay close to the parking area. I bet if I hike to the back end (all of two miles) very few guys are hunting that, just due to the logistics of getting one out of there.

Can you quarter and pack them out in IL? You cannot in IA and that is stupid. Keeps everyone hunting close to parking areas, increasing crowding. Who is going to drag a deer two miles? Not me, but I will quarter and pack one a lot further than that.

Seems like lots of magazines are getting on the "give it a try" bandwagon. I get a ton of calls from magazine guys asking for input, etc. Some quote me and tell such in their columns. Some are just looking for information. Yet, I never see any of them come and try it. Probably takes too much time when they are expected to crank out ten columns a month in hunting season. Would be hard to justify a hunt that takes a week or more and only get one article from it.

 

[Oak]

I think CO treats non-residents pretty well.

 

[dreamhunter]

I hunted my first time in illinois oct.8-12 spent 10 days on privet land got a doe no bucks then hunted state land for 1 day and got a 7pt. Yes a lot of other hunters but i dont have to get a deer to have a good hunt. I lalso hunted 5 states and got 7pt. 8pt. 9pt. 10pt.and a doe. All huntes are state land huntes you just have to know how to hunt. best of luck to all.

 

[CILhunter]

Will be in one of those two states, or WI/MN/NE next year, if things go as scheduled. Like Oak said, we did Iowa in Season One, and if not for a camera malfunction at the time of truth, a really good Iowa buck would have been a TV star.

I have been researching IL and have located some public land. I suspect it gets hammered, but it is big enough that I suspect most people stay close to the parking area. I bet if I hike to the back end (all of two miles) very few guys are hunting that, just due to the logistics of getting one out of there.

Can you quarter and pack them out in IL? You cannot in IA and that is stupid. Keeps everyone hunting close to parking areas, increasing crowding. Who is going to drag a deer two miles? Not me, but I will quarter and pack one a lot further than that.

Seems like lots of magazines are getting on the "give it a try" bandwagon. I get a ton of calls from magazine guys asking for input, etc. Some quote me and tell such in their columns. Some are just looking for information. Yet, I never see any of them come and try it. Probably takes too much time when they are expected to crank out ten columns a month in hunting season. Would be hard to justify a hunt that takes a week or more and only get one article from it.

Fin:

You can quarter and pack out deer in IL - you just have to leave evidence of sex attached, and keep the quarters together when transporting (probably not while packing ). Good luck in Illinois, if that's where you land. Easy to get OTC deer tags here, and there are some monster bucks for the taking, if you put the work in. I hunt my own land (family farmland), but I have heard the horror stories, given the lack of public land in Illinois (ranked 48 out of 50 states). Hope you kill a big one, and I hope you are too busy packing meat out now to read this

 

[jlmatthew]

Will be in one of those two states, or WI/MN/NE next year, if things go as scheduled.

Now those are shows I'm gonna want to see! And I wish you would do a lot more in the mid-West. Got Nebraska lined up for next year myself :hump:

 

[wgiles]

I live in Illinois and I hunt whitetail deer here. I shot a doe last Saturday evening and am getting ready to hunt again tomorrow. I have the luxury of having a friend with considerable acreage who will let me hunt it. I don't have to deal with trying to hunt on public land. It was easy for me to get tags for firearm and muzzleloader season, but I suspect that it would have been hard to get a permit to hunt on one of the state owned hunting areas. The Shawnee national forest should be open for hunting. I don't hunt in any of the big deer hunting counties, like Pike county. We see plenty of deer, but not too many big bucks where I hunt. My friend shot an 11 point buck last Friday and his son shot a nine point buck a couple of weeks ago. I do know of some non resident deer hunters who pay outrageous money for hunting leases. I don't like it, but can't do anything about it.

 

[Corax]

Fin - when I lived in New Jersey I hunted in the Great Swamp national wildlife refuge. With about 6,000 acres I could get a mile or so from the road. I modified a wheelbarrow by replacing the pan with a small piece of plywood and used it to haul my deer out. I think it works better than a 2-wheeled game cart since you can avoid rocks better. I generally left the wheelbarrow in the car and hiked back after taking a deer. Just curl them up before rigor mortis sets in, and they fit on the wheelbarrow just fine.

 

[mdunc8]

Corax, it's funny that you mention that. My dad ran into an old timer a few weeks ago in Virginia pushing a wheelbarrow out of the woods. Apparently he hunts about a mile or so off the road. He loads up the wheelbarrow at the beginning of the season with all his gear, spends a day before the season transporting all his stuff back to his spot, and leaves it until the end of the season. Loads it up with his deer when he gets one and has a easy downhill trip on the way out. Fortunately Virginia came to its senses and now allows you to quarter an animal. Didn't use to be the case.

 

[Zim]

Will be in one of those two states, or WI/MN/NE next year, if things go as scheduled. Like Oak said, we did Iowa in Season One, and if not for a camera malfunction at the time of truth, a really good Iowa buck would have been a TV star.

I have been researching IL and have located some public land. I suspect it gets hammered, but it is big enough that I suspect most people stay close to the parking area. I bet if I hike to the back end (all of two miles) very few guys are hunting that, just due to the logistics of getting one out of there.

Can you quarter and pack them out in IL? You cannot in IA and that is stupid. Keeps everyone hunting close to parking areas, increasing crowding. Who is going to drag a deer two miles? Not me, but I will quarter and pack one a lot further than that.

Seems like lots of magazines are getting on the "give it a try" bandwagon. I get a ton of calls from magazine guys asking for input, etc. Some quote me and tell such in their columns. Some are just looking for information. Yet, I never see any of them come and try it. Probably takes too much time when they are expected to crank out ten columns a month in hunting season. Would be hard to justify a hunt that takes a week or more and only get one article from it.

Randy, My work with USPS includes the entire state of Illinois, Wisconsin & NE Missouri. I have taken advantage of it to scout & hunt many different public lands. NR pressure here is immense compared to Iowa or Kansas. I have been able to take some P&Y's here mostly due to new properties opening up, or packing/biking in 4 miles on weekdays and getting lucky in low competition years.

Considering your location, I'd be glad to scout some for you or something. I'm always checking out new spots during my USPS travels. Much of my scouting involves looking for signs other hunters have frequented the area.

As mentioned, IL changed the law and began allowing packing out deer 3 years ago. I did my first last year. One thing I can tell you right off the bat, if you hunt Illinois public you need to hunt it early prior to the pheasant & coon season opener first week of November. Prior to that the big bucks will be out in the tall grass where you will get great video. The deer will not be polluted by all the pressure quite yet in some areas. Once the bird guns & dogs fire up, your odds will diminsih rapidly.

 

[Zim]

BuzzH, You left quite a long rant there!

However, given all the time it took to assemble your comments, I guess you just must have forgotten to answer my one simple question regarding Illinois................How many times have you hunted here?

 

[Oak]

Zim, do you consider 13% of tags to non-residents as being "swamped" with them? Do you think that states should offer fewer than 13% to non-residents?

 

[Zim]

Oak, My comments were very specifically regarding state owned land, not all the land, not federal land, not private land. How many times have you tried to hunt state owned land here?

 

[BuzzH]

I highly doubt all 13% of nonresidents hunt public land in IL....I'd be willing to bet less than a couple percent do.

Zim...you're still a crybaby.

How do you feel about NM severly cutting NR DIY permits? Just curious.

 

[Oak]

I've never hunted Illinois. I suspect that more non-residents hunt private than hunt public, but obviously I can't say for sure. At any rate, with only 13% of the tags statewide, I find it absurd to bitch about the non-residents causing crowding issues. Hunters are hunters, whether they are from your state or another. I'm sick of the non-resident bashing, whether from a CO resident or anyone else.