Very nice Illinois buck.
Were there any boys from Alabama in a big white Dodge duelly in camp when you were there.
I also hunt in central Ill. Mcdonough Co. south of Macomb. One of the locals there has 300 or so acres that he tries to manage. He’s a retired prof. at the college tere in Macomb. Western Illinois I think they call it. It took me several years of helping build fences and working with the people in the area to get accepted. After loosing most of my hunting grounds I purchased a small 50acre patch of timber. The neighbor let’s me put my trailer on his ground on an easement I have. He let’s me hunt on his 90 acres also, altho I won’t deer hunt on it beacause some other guy has been hunting on it and I won’t fudge in on him. I told the farmer let me know if he quits and I’ll be glad to put up some stands to show a presience. I do turkey hunt him tho.
Anyhow- this John who has the 300 acres leaves half of his ground as a refuge. Thick multi flora rose, hedge apple trees thickets. This is where most of the deer and turkeys go in the winter. They come out during the rut tho thank God. He’s always doing something there, counting butterflies or mowing weeds or something. One morning about a month ago he saw some guy coming out of his refuge carrying a stand and a bow. He jumped in his little old S10 and charged over there to confront him. Before he could get there this big Dodge pulls up and he jumps in and they speed off. He chased them trying to get the license number but they were going about 100 when they passed a couple farmers picking corn. Old John came limping along at about 70 to no avail.
After callng the game warden and cops they told him that’s what they’ve been doing in the area- spotliteing at nite to see where the booners are and then dropping off someone to hunt and then picking them up later. They have found the dead deer just with the antlers gone. Must really be proud of that accomplishment.
I know people from Il that do that also , but the worse thing is there’s a community of Amish in the neighborhood that are always on the roads in their little buggys. Some of them are 10 and 12 year old kids. That’s the bad part. That and that I’m stationary in my spot and easy pickins for the warden. I have to make sure to dot all my I’s and make sure I’ve got everthing tagged just right.
They told me to not have a spotlite in the truck either. Sometimes I use one to trail deer with. A couple bad apples can make it tough on everyone.
It looks like they could check the outfitters in the area for that truck even tho they didn’t have the license number. Or the motels in the area. There are not that many. The guys expect to shoot a Pope and Young everymorning and get dissapointed and go out after dark. In the best place there is, you still have to hunt for them. Those videos make it look easy, but they only show five minutes of a ten day hunt sometimes.
Well I"ll get down off my soap box. I’m sure it happens in Alabama with Illinois jerks too.
