Tired of paying $100 each time I want to hunt...HELP

nbd13

nbd13

New member
Hey everyone,

Well, last season I was stuck having to pay $100 minimum each time I wanted to take the dog hunting. I live in north east IL, about an hour south of Chicago.

Last year I was stuck hunting at hunting clubs, paying a min. of $100 each time I wanted to hunt. This lead to me only getting out 5 or so times.

This year I want to hit it much harder. The dog is now 2 years old and ready to go with a season under his belt.

I am willing to drive up to 2-3 hours to go hunting for the day, I would like it to be free...on public land. For any type of upland game.

Any suggestions? I am new to this hunting thing. This is my 2nd season too, so I am not sure where to even look for public land around here that holds upland birds.

I have family back in Michigan as well...we make the trip there every few months, so that's an option too.

Basically want to get out there and hunt more with the dog. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick
 
Can't help you out with places to hunt in Ill but several times a year when I want to hunt on a preserve I ask a few friends to go along. None of them have hunting dogs which gives my dogs plenty of work. When I do this we get a lot of hunting on a good number of birds and it will cost each person about $60 which isn't too bad.
 
Go west young man go west. This is a problem for those of us that do not live in the pheasant belt, and don't go to the pheasant belt. Consider this you live in Ill. costs you 100 bucks a trip to hunt upland birds. How much is it going to cost you to travel to Say SD, KA, NE, ND, CO, MT, Or MN. Seems to me 100 a pop isn't that bad. Gas, lodging, ........ Gets really expensive. I'm not picking on you. However It costs me much more than a 100.00 a trip, to hunt here in my home state of AZ. If i make a trip to any of the above named states it's a whole lot more expensive. Like i said not trying to pick on you.:)
 
From what I hear those DNR sites cost around $35 for the day. That includes two birds.

If it's too late to get a permit you can wait in line for stand-by (the day you want to hunt). Just get there very early. You may or may not get in but it's worth a try.

All and all, Illinois is absolutely terrible for public hunting opportunities. I'm working on this issue locally and meeting a fierce resistance to public hunting on gov't owned grounds. The fact is my friend Chicago has a influence throughout our state. Hunting is not their friend. Sorry and good luck;)
 
My advice is to take that $500 and take a 4-5 day trip to a state with birds. If you get 2-3 guys together in a truck to split gas and lodging, a trip like that can be reasonable.

Last December, I went with 2 other guys in a suburban to hunt Kansas. We had 5 nights in cheap motels and split gas. Ate at cafes for lunch, nicer dinners. We hunted state walk in areas and knocked on doors.

I spent $585 including license.

I would assume you could do it in south Dakota as well, as long as you stay away from the main Pheasant, Inc. areas.
 
1pheas4 said:
From what I hear those DNR sites cost around $35 for the day. That includes two birds.

If it's too late to get a permit you can wait in line for stand-by (the day you want to hunt). Just get there very early. You may or may not get in but it's worth a try.

All and all, Illinois is absolutely terrible for public hunting opportunities. I'm working on this issue locally and meeting a fierce resistance to public hunting on gov't owned grounds. The fact is my friend Chicago has a influence throughout our state. Hunting is not their friend. Sorry and good luck;)
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Thanks for the reply. If you don't mind me asking where do you hunt? You can always PM me. Unfortunately, I missed to permit deadline (Aug. 31st), so I'm out of luck there.

I have some numbers to call the different IL sites where you can hunt tomorrow, we'll see how that goes.

Thanks everyone for the help....maybe the $100 per hunt isn't looking to bad after all.

Nick
 
Hi , Jeffstally hit it on the head, a good dog comes only from lots, and frequent bird contacts. Wild birds , make a BIRD DOG. NOTHING good comes easy. Many on this board live to hunt, and suffer financially to get to do what is most importnat, and what they love the most. Cant have it all , can we!

It boils down to time vs Money! Work has to come first, but make a trip or two into the Dakotas, Nebraska or Kansas, and YOUR DOG will thank you. By the way ,when you get it figured out, friends with or without dogs will be in line to pay more than their fair share to go with you!

YOU WILL get more hunting in a week in the midwest, than a lifetime on preserves MHO!:)
 
jeffstally said:
My advice is to take that $500 and take a 4-5 day trip to a state with birds. If you get 2-3 guys together in a truck to split gas and lodging, a trip like that can be reasonable.

Last December, I went with 2 other guys in a suburban to hunt Kansas. We had 5 nights in cheap motels and split gas. Ate at cafes for lunch, nicer dinners. We hunted state walk in areas and knocked on doors.

I spent $585 including license.

I would assume you could do it in south Dakota as well, as long as you stay away from the main Pheasant, Inc. areas.
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Yes sir, this is what makes it possible for me to go to KS, NE and SD this year. Get the buddies up to it and when you can split the costs of a big trip it makes a difference. I am already broke and only go a little broker in the hunting season. You cant put a price on tornadoes of birds, well maybe like $150 a gun but...:D

Try to stay away from the pay to play, do the states research find the WIA's. The money spent on gas is worth it, if you P2P your digging into good trip money there. Where your at SD aint a bad option, its the best(from what I hear, we'll see).
 
nbd13 said:
Thanks for the reply. If you don't mind me asking where do you hunt? You can always PM me. Unfortunately, I missed to permit deadline (Aug. 31st), so I'm out of luck there. Nick
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For the most part I hunt wild birds in McHenry County. I've lived here all my life so I know a few people and that really helps. I do feel your pain though. So many of my hunting areas are now homes or bought by the conservation dept.

Look into becoming a member at a not-for-profit sportsman's club. Some raise or buy birds for hunting without additional charge to the member.
 
I was blessed to be born in the State of Wisconsin. I don't mean to offend, but free hunting for grouse/woodcock/deer is minutes away from my door. It's been that way for me most of my life. Wisconsin has a wealth of public land and much of it is good hunting ground. I feel sorry for folks living in states without similar opportunities.

As someone else posted earlier, a SD trip doesn't have to be real costly. Hunting WIA's, public access areas, roads there is plenty of opportunity for good hunting without dipping deep into the wallet. I took a 4 day hunt a few years ago where two of us hunted a different part of the state each day. We got to see a lot of the state, from Webster through Aberdeen to Kimball, shot birds and had a good time exploring.

Just thinking about this now, I remind myself it's time to order the public access hunting atlas from SDGF.
 
I moved from your area to where I am now 7 years ago. I have a put and take a mile or so down the road.

I'll give you some advise if you choose to go the put and take route. Don't be one of the guys that takes the best(easiest) hunting areas to get your birds(up to 4) as quick as you can. I always take the area that nobody else wants because I have it to myself. After 30 minutes you can go anywhere anyways. You can start hunting at 9 am and by 11 am the place is 90% empty. I'm always one of the last to check out at 4 pm. I'd rather hunt all day and come up one bird short than be gone and home in an hour. Heck, Ive been known to let birds fly w/o shooting just so I can keep walking. Or shoot roosters only to prolong the day. None of this may make sense if you've never hunted any of these state areas. If you have further questions I can probably answer them.
I also chase grouse in Vilas Co, WI as often as I can. Fortunate to have a place there.

What kind of dog do you have?
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Unfortunately, making a trip to another state, unless it's WI, OH, IN or MI isn't going to happen. I already approached that avenue with my wife and got shot down. So going to South Dakota, Kansas and so on is not going to happen. That's why I am searching for areas around me to hunt for free or at a decent price.

UplandHntr said:
I moved from your area to where I am now 7 years ago. I have a put and take a mile or so down the road.

I'll give you some advise if you choose to go the put and take route. Don't be one of the guys that takes the best(easiest) hunting areas to get your birds(up to 4) as quick as you can. I always take the area that nobody else wants because I have it to myself. After 30 minutes you can go anywhere anyways. You can start hunting at 9 am and by 11 am the place is 90% empty. I'm always one of the last to check out at 4 pm. I'd rather hunt all day and come up one bird short than be gone and home in an hour. Heck, Ive been known to let birds fly w/o shooting just so I can keep walking. Or shoot roosters only to prolong the day. None of this may make sense if you've never hunted any of these state areas. If you have further questions I can probably answer them.
I also chase grouse in Vilas Co, WI as often as I can. Fortunate to have a place there.

What kind of dog do you have?
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Thanks. I have a vizsla, he just turned 2 at the end of May. Towards the end of last season he really came into his own and "got it". That was his 1st season hunting, so I am pleased. Especially since I did all the training myself.

Where are the "put and take areas" you are talking about? You mean you simple get roosters (not sure where to get them) and put them out?

I called a few state preserves/wildlife areas today. I found one that I can hunt for free from Dec. 22nd to Jan. 8th. They do not release birds, the lady said I can hunt quail and pheasant there for free from sunrise to 4pm. So, I will hit that area up a few times.

They have "open/non permit/non lottery" hunting at 2 other state owned parks around here after all the lottery spots are done. It's first come, first serve and I've heard some people get there as early as 5 am to start hunting at 8 am. It's $25 $35 for 2 birds, which isn't too bad. Just being able to get a spot might be a problem, but is something I will try a few times I think.

Does WI have many open state/public hunting areas? I am always up for trying the grouse hunting as well. I know the UP in MI has some great grouse hunting.

Basically, I want to get out as much as I can this year hunting, an upland birds within 3-5 hours of my house in Wheaton, IL.

Thanks again for all the replies. I am hoping in the next few years to be able to get to SD just so the dog and I can say we've been there and experience it at least once.

Nick
 
1pheas4 said:
For the most part I hunt wild birds in McHenry County. I've lived here all my life so I know a few people and that really helps. I do feel your pain though. So many of my hunting areas are now homes or bought by the conservation dept.

Look into becoming a member at a not-for-profit sportsman's club. Some raise or buy birds for hunting without additional charge to the member.
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Thanks. Do you hunt any public land/state land at all? Or is it mostly private landowners that you know?

Nick
 
If you want to hunt wild birds they can be found in some of the public areas in Illinois. I will counsel you that you round trip you'll spend almost a $ 100 just on gas. On most of my trips I'll pick up a pheasant or two and a covey of quail.
Des Plaines is basically the Wild Wild West. Last season I was hunting a tree line and 3 guys jump in front of me expecting me to "push" the birds for them. I waited, they waited eventually I started back up again only to have couple birds flush at the end which they shot. Simply amazing. If you have a dog make sure you get a chest protector in orange for visibility so they dont shot the dog.
I've also had great success in hunting in and around beloit wisconsin areas on the publics. You wont see anybody and you'll pick up a bird or two. From Wheaton its about a 2:30 hr drive.
 
1pheas4 said:
lol....That's a good way of putting in UH. I drove by there once while pheasant hunters were out there. I couldn't believe how much orange I saw. I'd say one has to be on above normal "high alert" out there.
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LOL you were probably there during a field trial, we have them there every year. Lots of birds released. Coming up again soon.
 
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