Deer population down in Williamson County!

[Buck Fever]

Well at least it's 2 less than it was before muzzleloader season opened here in Illinois. The reason is HB #127 2, Deer 0.

Last year I used an off the shelf Savage MLII because my Henry Ball hadn't been built yet. I shot the first 2 deer I ever killed with a muzzleloader last year. This year I was able to use good ole #127 and it performed well. I shot a doe in the morning of the opening day, and an 8 point buck later that afternoon. If it weren't for all the information gathered from this forum I wouldn't have been as confident going into the field. The loads I worked up before the season were from the advice of all of you on the board. The accuracy and range capability of this gun is phenomenal!

Interesting that here in Illinois what used to be pistol season in the counties that are overpopulated with does, is now open to shotgun and muzzleloaders as well. I will get to go back in January and try my luck again.

Thanks again to all of you that contribute to this board. It sure has made me more successful in the field.

 

[Nic_58]

The loads I worked up before the season were from the advice of all of you on the board. The accuracy and range capability of this gun is phenomenal!

Congratulations on the deer, Buck Fever! Just what loads did you use to take those 2 deer? Reading this forum DOES make the learning curve much shorter when it comes to getting great accuracy from the 10ML-II!

 

[doggzoe]

Good job on population control. I believe that is the reason the pistol season became the late firearm season here in Illinios. Population control. Noticed a definite brows line at my cousins farm this fall,almost looks like a park no under brush. Not enough takers on the pistol only season and or success. Deer are going to eat themselves out of house and home. Home being where they live if the farmer gets mad about crop damage and just shoots them to be rid of in their eyes a pest. So back to the old saying shoot a doe so the herd wont grow. IMO.

____________
Don

 

[doggzoe]

P.S. this is an excellent forum for information and story sharing.

__________
Don

 

[Buck Fever]

The farmer who is gracious enough to let me hunt on his land is very concerned about the number of deer, and specifically does, tearing up his crops. I used to be just a trophy hunter and always waited for the biggest buck, but I now realize it is in everyone's best interest to knock down the does. This doe was the first I have killed and I am old!
I have donated the extra deer to Sportsmen Against Hunger that is an Illinois program to feed the needy. I now can kill more deer than I need, and in good conscience keep the population under control. I suspect that soon Illinois may adopt the program of kill a doe before you can get a buck tag. Too many hunters are like I used to be, and somehow must be encouraged to get the buck to doe ratio under control.

 

[RAF]

Good for you Buck Fever :yeah: .

 

[Ron S]

Buck Fever,I think you are right! Have you noticed that the (LATE) season is now called late gun season? Instead of pistol season? We have seen alot of deer here in Illinois this year. Some areas are getting over grazed. Plus Illinois is having issues with timber cutting. Every year there is less habitat for the deer and,other game. Here in Lawrence Co. you can go anywhere 1/2 mile from town and have deer all around you. My wife has killed more deer 1/2 mile from the house,than any where else,and we live in town. Ron

 

[Admin]

Buck Fever,I think you are right! Have you noticed that the (LATE) season is now called late gun season? Instead of pistol season?

It's an effort to reduce the herd in over populated counties. I hunted it for the first time last year when they opened it to muzzleloaders and slugguns. They'd do better by lengthening the seasons though.

 

[Ron S]

Patrick,your RIGHT! This (current) DASH FOR THE CASH season 3-days then 4-days really dosen't do anything to help herd management! Ron

 

[Admin]

Just as an add on, last year during the late season I saw a few hundred deer in one field. Not a rack to be seen either. They were trying to find food in a field covered in snow. :shock: A few years ago I saw roughly a hundred deer feeding in a freshly planted field. They were going through and digging up the seed that had just been planted. I saw one field several years ago that was worthless for harvesting. It was a small 30 acre feild that sits between a levee and a creek.

IMO the Illinois DNR is not doing it's job controlling the deer. With CWD in the north I figure in as little as 10 years the whole of Illinois will be a CWD zone. I'm surprised with the DNR's ineffective policies that it's not here already.