Pike County, Illinois Deer Hunting Heaven
There are a lot of great places that I would love to deer hunt. I have seen them in the Team Realtree videos or some of the great hunting shows on television. Whether it be the Milk River in Montana, or the brush country of south Texas, or Ohio, or Iowa. There are so many great places to go deer hunting, but there’s one place that I would like to go more than any other in the United states, and it’s Pike County, Illinois. It seems like heaven right here on earth to me. With the big bucks that you consistently see taken from there, it just seems like the place I would love to be able to hunt the most. Year after year, you hear about trophy bucks being harvested there.
Pike County, Illinois is located in West Central Illinois, and is the largest county in the state. It consist of over a half a million acres, and is 849 square miles. It is bordered by the Illinois River on the east, and the Mississippi River on the west.
Over half of the county is pasture and cropland which are planted in wheat, corn, soybeans , and alfalfa. Which are not very big compared to some of the other mid-west states crop fields. And a lot of them are separated by creek bottoms, and brushy timber lots and overgrown fields, it’s prime big buck habitat. Plenty of food and water, and plenty of cover. A lot of the land is Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
With a buck to doe ratio of about 4 to 1 it is a great place to see a lot of mature bucks rutting and chasing does during the rut. It is not uncommon to see three or four bucks chasing one doe. It makes for some great trophy hunting.Rattling, grunting, and using scents, and decoys are very effective ways of taking big mature trophy whitetails in Pike County, Illinois. There is a lot of heavy rutting that takes place during the rut there. So you can use these different tools to your advantage to score on a big boy, if you use them at the right time.
Some people say that the increased hunting pressure has taken a toll on the number of big bucks being taken there, but it is not true, the number of big bucks being harvested there has increased, and is very impressive. Every year there are a number of very large bucks harvested there.
If you still have your doubts how good the hunting is there check this great article here on Outdoor Life’s Big Buck Zone blog.
Although I have never been deer hunting in Illinois you can bet that it is on my wish list of places that I hope to visit and hunt someday. Hopefully, in the very near future. I am looking at going on a bow hunt there soon.
You can go to this link here to find out more information on hunting in Illinois.
Wow! Sign me up to hunt anywhere there is a 4 to 1 buck to doe ratio. No wonder I keep hearing and seeing great bucks taken from this area of the country. I knew it was good…didn’t know it was that good!
Yes Kris, Illinois is an awesome state for big bucks. Pike County is up there with the best of them as far as mature trophy bucks. Sign me up too.
Sounds awesome. I for hunting anywhere there is a buck to doe ratio like that. Where is the sign up page at?
By the way. Thanks for visiting my site and I’m going to add ya to my blogroll!
Thanks Arthur! I’ll do the same!
[…] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThere are so many great places to go deer hunting, but there’s one place that I would like to go more than any other in the United states, and it’s Pike County, Illinois. It seems like heaven right here on earth to me. … […]
I love the Milk River in Montana - would be my dream to hunt there! I’ve been in that country quite a bit, but never with a deer tag in my pocket. Pike County always looks good on the Realtree videos - Long ways from home, for me, though!