Anyone hunt the Illinois Pheasant Opener?

T

tanner10

New member
Well...I was all excited to hunt the Illinois Pheasant opener yesterday. Hunted a farm in Ford County and did not see a single pheasant. Thought birds in that area were making a bit of a comeback.

Anyone else want to share their experience?
 
Hunted today.Got one point shot that bird.Had one more that flushed way ahead. Saw no hens. We were hunting Vermilion county. It's all about the right habitat and we just don't have it anymore.
 
Mark Hinkle said:
Hunted today.Got one point shot that bird.Had one more that flushed way ahead. Saw no hens. We were hunting Vermilion county. It's all about the right habitat and we just don't have it anymore.
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thats what i am hearing . guys down here been hunting your state for 25 years and this year started going to SD
 
Hunted again on Sunday in Will County and saw a few birds...approx. 7. Of course the two roosters flushed to far ahead to get a shot at...But hey, at least I saw a few. lol
 
I too am headed out to SD on Saturday for a few days. I will post an update once I return with a few pictures.
 
not the thrill I had hoped for

Pheasant hunting is my all consuming passion. I live for the hunt and take vacation days in November and December just so I can hunt pheasants. I've tried to find wild birds here in central Illinois, but we are void of any as far as I know and so I just hunt at the Illinois DNR Put-n-take near Manito - Sand Ridge State Forest.

There were four of us and within the first ten yards of our field we flushed a wild covey of quail (about 10 birds) and my buddy Darrin dropped one. After traipsing through the grass and coming up empty we hit the forest edge and Barney (my field bred English Cocker) put up a hen and I dropped her in a shower of leaves. Barney got birdy again and took off through the woods. I never got close enough for a shot, but eventually Barney came back with a hen in his mouth - I guess she couldn't get up on her second flush attempt and Barney trapped her. Two birds with one shot - I gave this bird to my son Jeff so I wouldn't be done already. A little while later we found somebodies cripple - a hen with a broken leg and a broken wing. I gave that bird to my buddy Cory. After that bird Barney scented, chased, flushed a nice rooster and Darrin brought it down with a head shot. One bird a piece with very little shooting. It was getting warm so we headed back to do our traditional pheasant salad sandwiches and BBQ chips tailgate lunch. On the way back to the truck I took a side trip to where we left the quail hoping they had time to covey back up. I found them under a blown down oak tree and they quickly put trees between me and them and I never got off a shot. There was a loner that got up and went straight away., but he form fitted himself to the hole in my shot pattern and got away clean. After lunch we tried another field but came up empty. Ended up with a bird a piece to open the season. I'm going back to Sand Ridge on Friday and Saturday.
 
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it was my buddy's recipe, but I know it was just shredded/chunked/chopped pheasant with hard-boiled eggs, mayonaise, season salt, pepper, pickle relish and a little bit of seasoning like onion powder and garlic powder. It was really good and it's a traditional tail-gate lunch for the last four openers.
 
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Two of us went on Saturday for the opener. We didn't see anything. It came as a shock to me because I always see birds in the area. I know they are around there, they were just in another spot. I hope to give it another try tomorrow. :)
 
This is sad news that the bird hunting is so slow in Illinois. I hunted many years in central illinois and always got action. Hunting the put and take areas if OK sometimes, but walking a wild farm ditch is what it is all about.

jimmy
 
jimmylowery said:
This is sad news that the bird hunting is so slow in Illinois. I hunted many years in central illinois and always got action. Hunting the put and take areas if OK sometimes, but walking a wild farm ditch is what it is all about.

jimmy
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I hear you Jimmy. To be honest I'm getting tired of these bird #'s staying near were they've been since 1996. Illinois pheasant harvest #'s peaked in 1995 and just plunged in 1996 and just haven't made a come back ever since. There's still birds in pockets but those pockets are too far and few between.

Let's hope this season picks up a bit as the season moves forward:).

-1pheas4
 
Wild Birds

I was unable to hunt the opener, but did manage to hit a few of my Central Illinois hot spots with four buds on Sunday. First ditch, zip; one yote. Second spot we put up 14 birds, third spot another 30, fourth spot 13 and probably a dozen in the last spot. Most birds all flushed well out of range, even with the dogs close. Run, run, run. We did manage to get 5. I was happily supprised! Most birds were large hens probably from the previous year. Good to see. Unfortunately, this isn't the case for most. Just glad to have property to hunt the wiley wild birds. Pen raised just don't compare! :cheers:
 
Fixer, thanks for the update! Very good to hear about some birds out there. ;) I hope to get out and chase some pheasants next week. Been Duck and Deer hunting this past week. Deer are moving now and there's plenty of Ducks/geese. --1pheas4
 
My cousin and I got out to chase pheasants today. Hit a section in McHenry County. Flushed one hen and three roosters. The roosters were two or three old birds. Didn't see any first year birds. Not a good sign for the hatch.

I'm hitting another area next week. I'll post how the bird #'s look. --1pheas4
 
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