well a couple weeks a go on November 1st I was able to make a yearly public land hunting trip with my dad, uncle, and a group of their work friends. we hunted Shawnee national forest in pope county Illinois. the very first afternoon I had a yearling doe run straight under my stand and I was able to shoot her for my first doe tag. for about the first 4-5 days the weather was extremely hot for this time of year up there and the deer just did not move like normal. I had passed a few smaller bucks just waiting on a mature Illinois bruiser. On the morning of November 6th I was hunting the outside edge of a thick bedding area that had a great trail leading to the cover. right after daylight I had 3 large does walk out and come down the trail in front of me, presenting me with a 23 yard shot for my 2nd doe tag. that afternoon I went to a new area and found a little sign. I set up on a big oak ridge with a small pine thicket behind me. on this hunt I saw 8 does and 3 bucks all just out of bow range due to them traveling in the bottom. as darkness approached I pulled my stand and relocated it to the bottom to where the deer had traveled. the next morning on November 7th, I had 2 bucks travel the same path as all the deer the previous afternoon. one of them was a large 6 point and the other was an 8 pt. I let the 6 pt pass on by and took a slight quartering towards shot on the 8 pt. this is by far my biggest archery buck to date and it was on public land which makes it that much more rewarding.
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