Hello I'm new on here, was interested if anyone could tell me anything about the deer hunting in williamson co. near crab orchard? I am from GA and have an opportunity to hunt there come deer season on private ground. Any info would be helpfull! Thanks in advance.
Jeff

If you go to the refuge headquarters south of herrin on 148 they have a map of all the public hunting ground, and its A LOT!

Thats where i do all my hunting too is on the public land,sometimes it can get crowded but that just gives ya a excuse to go check out the other areas.

Good luck

This is private ground north of the public ground, is it hard for non residents to draw a gun tag because of all the public ground in the co? What about the quality of the bucks?

I wont name names but there is a member here who lives in that area and had some nice trail cam buck pictures last year.

I haven't seen him around in a while though.

I've seen some really nice bucks, just never when i'm actually huntin lol But they are out there.

Thanks guys, any other info would be great.

Jeff74-

Honestly you stand a chance of killing a whopper anywhere in the state of IL. The way IL manages the herd it allows alot of bucks to reach maturity...plus you have good genetics and lots of food. There are definately big bucks in that area. Don't make the mistake that alot of the out-of-state hunters make in thinking that just because you are hunting in IL you are gonna kill a big buck. You are still gonna have to do your homework unless you have hired a guide.

My advice to you would be to obtain a good aerial photograph and topographic map of the property you will be hunting and spend ALOT of time studying it. Use the aerial and topo to look for terrain funnels, ridges, ridge saddles, drainages, thickets, ag fields, CRP, etc. Just from the map and aerial reconnaissance you should be able to tell where the deer most likely bed, feed and how they travel in between. If possible, I would make a scouting trip well before your hunt to confirm what you have found on the aerial and topo. Also, take this time to hang your stands...remember, for the most part, the prevailing wind direction in southern IL is from the south/southwest unless a cold front is blowing through...in which case the wind will likely be north/northwest. Keep this in mind when hanging your stands. If you wait and scout/hang stands a couple days before your hunt then you will likely booger any mature bucks off the property...unless you are hunting during the rut when bucks are more nomadic.

Microsoft Terraserver and Topozone.com are good places to look at maps. Or, go to the www.usgs.com map store and purchase the topo and aerials. 1:24,000 scale topo sheets are $6.00 a sheet and black and white aerial photos are usually under $20.00 a sheet. If you need any help ordering the topo and aerial shoot me a PM.

Finally, call a local archery shop/sporting good store and talk to the employees there. The local boys will likely be more able to relate the big buck potential in Williamson county. Try Dunn's Sporting Goods (618-997-3626) in Marion, IL or Strictly Outdoors (618-253-5300) in Harrisburg, IL. Finally, look around on the Illinois DNR website at harvest reports...find the local biologist who oversees that area and give him a call.

Good Luck,

Joe H.

Yeah, I live off the refuge and have some dandy's on trail cam from that area and tend to hunt the refuge about 1/3 of the time during bow season. There are quite a few hunters that come in and hunt during gun season but bow season its pretty easy to get an area all to yourself. I might be interested in looking at the property you have north of the refuge. I only bow hunt, since I have a deer camp during gun season in Pope county. I might be able to get some cams on the property if I am not killed by work and email the pics to ya. Just thought I could swap out my time for some hunting rights even though I hunt on about 1000 acres of private already always looking for something new. :) I guided my cousin from MO for the last two years on the Shawnee in Pope County (government property) and he has taken a 110" 8 the forst year and a whopper 196 5/8" 18 pointer the second year. So you never know what you will get on the public land. Just takes time and knowledge of the deer in the area. I had been bow hunting that monster for two years, but did not hesitate to put my cousin in the stand I had seen him at recently so he could get a shot at him. Cool how things worked out since he started me into deer hunting when I was 18.

I am rambling on now you get the point. The North area of the refuge above Rt13 is all bow only so it holds some big ones plus the area is well covered in old strip pit areas that hold great deer. I have a buddy that owns West of Cambria, IL and he and his buddies always kill a 140" or better every year with their bows.

Hope this helps... Jeff

P.S. My Avatar was taken about 300 yards from the Refuge border. :P And its sheds only scored 176"...

Zingnut-

Just wondering, in general, what tactics you use down in Shawnee to kill those nice bucks. What kind of areas do you look for to hunt? Thickets, ridgelines, saddles, swamps? Just curious.

Thanks,

Joe H.

Joe...

I found a great ridge finger on some software called TopoFusion (http://www.topofusion.com/) (free trial)... Marked a bunch of location and tranferred it to my GPS then went onsite to the multiple locations and noticed a bedding area on one ridge towards the top and a big thicket near the bottom and few random trails that went between the two. Found a good tree with cover between the two locations and marked it with my GPS. Found some scrapes around that area and set cams out. During Archery season checked the cams and had enough evidence to hunt the area since the deer were plenty and of good quality. Setup in the tree and had many encounters but the encounters became hot and heavy during the pre-rut, rut phase. The wind was normally cross cutting the trails so I was good there. Things fell into place and the stand has produced every year. I have no markers going into the area and follow no trails in. This helps to not have shadow hunters in the area. I can say there is pressure in the area during gun season but seems to work in my benefit. I am deeper in then the others.

Hope this helps... If you hunt Public land a GPS and that software is amazing.

~Jeff

jeff74- hey i live south west of Crab, if this is the area you are going to hunt tell me. i know almost everyone in the area, and alot of deer get killed in this area. are you going to shotgun hunt or bow? their are alot of deer in this area, some big bucks also.

Jeff-

Thanks for the information. I am going to have to check out that Topofusion software. I was just curious to see how you connected on those good bucks as I also hunt the southern portion of Pope near the town of Rosebud...usually during shotgun season...sometimes bow. We have a camp of about 8 hunters during shotgun.

Seems all of the good bucks that I have seen down there hang close to those thickets. The biggest buck out of our camp grossed over 150. Someone gets a respectable buck every year it seems. The area we hunt is over run with illegal 4 wheelers though. Some people cut new trails back into the "hard to reach" areas. So, it is tough to get away from other hunters by walking in. Aggrevates me but no one polices them down there. Stinks for guys like me that actually follow the laws. I have a GPS unit and use it frequently down there. I, like you, don't mark any trails down there...don't need to with the GPS.

So you didn't have any trail cam theft problems down there?

Thanks for the information and software tip...good luck this year.

Joe H.

Hey Bowtechman... Jeff 74 is mistaken and the property in question is north of Crab Orchard the town not the refuge. Near Corinth... I was of no help I have one farm north of Crab Orchard the town I have permission to hunt but still have never been out there.

Joe... I have pics of people looking at the cam but never stolen one. I use a python lock and lock it to a tree that is almost to big to cut down. So far they have just knocked them around but never got them off the tree. I only use my poor quality units. My best units stay on private land.

2 of the biggest deer I have seen, have been in town Marion. Both were seen after coming home from being called in between 2 & 4 AM. It's amazing that they could hang right in town.

Cap

there is a good size one that hangs around krogers in Marion and a few that hang out in the parking lot of the old Wal-Mart, they are some big boys and they seem to know you cant mess with them in town cause they are not to afraid of people.

My Grandfather used to have a house over on Virginia St. and Parish, right by Ashley Park. We used to bunk in the garage and after a day of hunting we would see some real monsters in the park and out south of Boyton street.

Maybe they were coming by to see their brothers hanging in Gramps old carport. Miss those days. Miss my Pop, Gramps, the whole dang thing. Nowadays, I'm the Pop.