Preparation for the Hunt

Upon arrival, EVERYONE must shoot his or her bow from an elevated position on the target range. This is only to ensure your equipment is functioning properly and to give you confidence. You will not be supervised or critiqued; it is only for your benefit. I will also need to take down your license and tag information to make sure everything is in order. Finally, we will have an orientation to discuss all the elements of your hunt.

The Hunt

You will arrive by appointment the day before your first hunt. Either myself or a guide will drive you to your different parking areas, and show you the properties and stand locations to begin the hunt. During the course of the week, you may be asked to drive yourself to these areas, and then walk to your pre-hung stand. I will personally hang numerous stands for different stages of the rut, as well as different weather conditions. We will then work together in discussing what strategy to use by what your seeing in the field. If we decide a stand needs to be moved, I will move it immediately to increase your chance of success. You will follow a trail marked by bright eyes (reflective thumb tack illuminated by your flash light) and orange tape to and from your stands. These trails will lead you to your stands by taking you in the least intrusive route (to the deer). This may make for some fairly long walks to the stand, so be prepared. If you decide to come out of the woods after a morning hunt, then you will return to your vehicle for a sack lunch and a break. Then return to the stand, or another stand that we will have previously discussed.

The Shot

After taking a shot at your game, you will wait an hour or until dark, climb down and head back to the meeting point and call myself or your guide. We will discuss how long to wait depending on shot placement and weather conditions. Myself or my guide will help track every deer to ensure we don’t get off our property or interfere with another hunter. We will also field dress, cape, quarter, and package your deer for you. I encourage every hunter to shoot a doe, this is essential to my herd management. When you shoot a doe, you can donate it to a feed the hungry program. We highly encourage all hunters to take the meat home with them, as it is amazing tablefare. Bucks can not be donated, so please come prepared to transport your meat home with you.

In Conclusion

I realize that you work hard all year and look forward to your hunt. I know that expectations of Illinois hunting are set very high by magazines, tv shows and hunting videos. This is one of the best places in the world to hunt mature whitetails, but it is not a guaranteed hunt, these are wild whitetails. Hunters must work hard, put in their time, and be selective. But if you keep a positive attitude, and hunt hard, the opportunity for that buck of a lifetime may be right in front of you. I keep the number of hunters low relative to the amount of acres I lease. By doing this you can be sure that there are mature whitetails in your area. I will reserve the right to allow serious hunters with positive attitudes the right to have the first pick of dates for the following year. These hunters will have until Jan 1st of the new year to book their next hunt. After this date hunts will be open on a first come, first serve basis. I look forward to some great hunting this year.