anyone else from Illinois?

Hockeybob said:
MR Hyde,

The permits for pheasant hunting are available now on the IL DNR website. They allow a certain quota of hunters each day. Always get my birds at the Chain. Only advice is some areas are very wet, marshy. You need to get there early the day of your permit to secure a "good" area.

Bob
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Thanks for the info Bob one more question

Is it first come first serve or do they pick the area for you ??

I hunt Johnson Sauk in Kewanee Il. and they change their format from a lottery balls, too picking the area for you, it sucks but the DNR guy is pretty fair sometimes,

MJ
 
Mr. Hyde,

Its first come first served for area choice. Gates open at 8:00am. Cars start lining up around 7:00am. The stand by line is to the right so stay in the left lane with permits. When you get up to the main office you walk up and select an area. There are plenty of good areas. I like the grass fields so my dog can work. There is woods as well. Plenty of Roosters, 60% vs 40% hens. If you decide to go, I can tell you the the areas I like to go.
 
Hockeybob said:
Mr. Hyde,

Its first come first served for area choice. Gates open at 8:00am. Cars start lining up around 7:00am. The stand by line is to the right so stay in the left lane with permits. When you get up to the main office you walk up and select an area. There are plenty of good areas. I like the grass fields so my dog can work. There is woods as well. Plenty of Roosters, 60% vs 40% hens. If you decide to go, I can tell you the the areas I like to go.
Click to expand...

Sound good thanks Bob
 
Are the controlled Pheasant hunts in Illinois like the put and take hunts in Indiana? Released birds?
 
That is correct. Birds are released 2 birds per hunter. You can also buy a 3 or 4 bird permit. Almost always get your birds.
 
Do they have a draw for wild birds hunts? In Indiana(northern Indiana), they have a special draw hunt. I've put my name in for 10 yrs. and have never been selected yet.
 
hey i from just south of bloomington, will be hunting some DNR ground for the first time. Will be hunting moraine view, wondering if anyone had hunted there before and had any pointers: when to show up, where to go, do you get to pick your hunting area, if so what areas to pick.

Thanks
 
How far south of Bloomington? I am south of Bloom as well, and have hunted the Morainview ground a few times, early morning is the best time to get there as check in is before 7 I believe. If you did not buy a permit you used to be able to just show up on the standby hunting list. It's broken down into different fields so some fields are alot better than others, I always limit out. I like to look and listen just abit before actually letting the dogs out, to see where adjoining hunters are. What kinda dogs you have?
Hope that helps some.

LVRGSP
 
I am located in Heyworth

I have a one year old German Shorthair. Thanks that helps a bunch.

Do you know if you can check in all day or do you have to be checked in by a certain time. ALso if you have to check in in the morning can you check in and leave and then come back in the afternoon to hunt, just wondering in case i have some schedule conflicts.

Also one of the days i got a permit for is actually the wed before pheasant season opens. Is this a mistake, or do they allow hunting before the opening of the season.

Thanks
 
i Live in sterling. A decend amount of bird hunting up here. Not as much as would like, never seen a wild bobwhite since that big snow storm a long time ago. I unt on private property, never went on DNR land except for dove up in Morrison Rockwood
 
I'm back - lost the site and found it again

Hello from Chillicothe, IL. It's nice to see so many folks from Illinois stopping by to tell their stories.

I hunt at Sand Ridge State Forest near Manito/Forest City. It is a DNR put-n-take. The cost this year went up from $15 to $25, but the quality of hunt is still great and worth every penny. The reservation system has changed on-line to a reservation instead of paying for the permits up front on-line. I have several dates reserved and all I have to do is show up at 8am on the day I've reserved with my $25 cash. I reserve pretty close to EVERY Saturday. Using vacation days I also go on a few week days. One plus so far with the new reservation system is folks reserve a spot and then they don't show up leaving many stand-by slots open. So far every one that has showed up to hunt has got to.

I have an interest in a few of us going over to Iowa for a hunt the second weekend of December, but all of the reports I've read have been horrendous. We were looking at the north central area - anybody have a few hot spots to share or should we just stay here in Illinois and save our money?
 
I'm from and live in IL (now chicago burbs)... I hunt mostly IL put and takes and public ground... and am happy so far with my success there...

I have a 2 yr old GSP that I trained to behave. Great nose. Excellent hunting drive. Behaves well. but will only stand on a dead bird when shot. Retrieves toys, balls etc well but not dead birds.. Just finds them and stands on them.. Still working on it..

Hope to make a trip to SD or Nebraska soon..

Bri
 
where in the burbs are you?
Im in Spring Grove about a mile from COL State Park. Makes it very convenient.
I hunt with 2 Goldens.
Welcome aboard!
 
Hello I am from Sutter, Illinois north of Quincy, IL about 30 minutes!

I hunt and raise German Shorthairs. We hunt alot of wild quail and get a few wild pheasants in certain areas where we know to hunt them at or I just go to a preserve and pay to hunt some! We got several preserves around the area to choose from so up can mix it up! So far this year we found one wild rooster while out hunting for both quail and pheasants I wish we could get more pheasants around here or coming back I know our quail numbers are growing forsure! I live close to southeast Iowa there are a few birds over there but you got to go north and west more to find good hunting!
 
Hunting at Sand Ridge SF

UplandBri said:
Hey Marty, I'll be hunting Sand Ridge for the first time in a couple of weeks. Any tips?
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If you have a good dog then that is half the battle. For the first hour at Sand Ridge all of the areas are pretty much the same. If you can get some idea where they let the birds out in that particular area they will be near there. After the first barage the birds could be just about anywhere and then it becomes a true hunt. My personal preference, I like the main corridor - areas 1, 2, 7 and 8 - to start. After that I'll go just about anywhere to hunt me up a bird. I've gone home empty handed or with half a limit. They may be pen raised, but they still like to keep trees and cover between them and you. Plus I'm not the greatest shot either.:)
 
martydavis said:
If you have a good dog then that is half the battle. For the first hour at Sand Ridge all of the areas are pretty much the same. If you can get some idea where they let the birds out in that particular area they will be near there. After the first barage the birds could be just about anywhere and then it becomes a true hunt. My personal preference, I like the main corridor - areas 1, 2, 7 and 8 - to start. After that I'll go just about anywhere to hunt me up a bird. I've gone home empty handed or with half a limit. They may be pen raised, but they still like to keep trees and cover between them and you. Plus I'm not the greatest shot either.:)
Click to expand...

This is very similar to the Chain o Lakes where I normally hunt
 
Sand Ridge almost got the better of us...

Hunted Sand Ridge for the first time. This was a tough hunt on the dog. Lots of thorns and brambles. My shorthair has a very hard nose but her nose and undercarriage were red by 2:30 when our party of three shooters and my GSP checked in 3 hens and 2 roosters. We missed one (very blessed) hen.. Looked for it for 45 minutes and couldn't find that darn thing. We were dissapointed because it looked very fat.. Birds were in the trees and running... running.. running..

Teach a kid to hunt.

Bri
 
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