160" Eight Point Public Whitetail

Good buck man!

awesome buck, congrats.

very nice!! I didn't think "The Peoples Republic of Illinois" had any public hunting ground. . . .lol.

Big Fin said:

Cool to see that kind of hunting on public land in a place not known for such. Congrats on a great deer.

Click to expand...

Yes our public in Illinois is grossly overhunted and typically not worth the effort. Tons of OTC guys from the southeast.............LA, AL, MS, GA, FL, TN plus MI. Everywhere. However, I have an advantage of having a job that includes road trips over the entire states of IL & WI. So I take advantage by scouting a lot in many different public properties statewide. It is a moving target, but sometimes I stumble on a good looking spot I feel I can work with, often just for a couple years till someone wanders back into it. Such was the case this year...........if I could get there FIRST and get lucky. That is what happened.

Guys, you need to get out there and give the early season a try if possible. These big mature bucks can be ambushed on their summer feeding patterns. It's not easy, but definitely possible with some thought. You only get one chance though. Once he smells boot tracks, forget it till the rut. Best chance is to be in a tree all day the first cold front after the opener. Then hunt a different area the second day. Don't bother twice in same spot. If you see one other hunter in one particular area, forget that too. If it's polluted, forget it. Stay home and save your energy if it is hot out. Let the die hards beat themselves up while you wait for that cold front, even if it only drops 10 degrees. Hit is hard when the cool/cold moves in.

That is a GREAT 4-pointer, congrats!

nice buck, worth all the work

Well done man! Gorgeous animal!