"Late season hunting, what a blast, I've never seen so many bucks in one area! Could have "pinched" every day!"

Illinois Whitetail Hunt

The time had come for us to bow hunt an Illinois buck and we invited Gander Mountain's "We Live Outdoors" camera crew to join us. We had heard good reports about the outfitter that we were going to hunt with and had seen some pictures of the area, the lodge, and some nice whitetails that had been taken in previous years. It would be an excellent area for us to try and fill a late season deer tag. The weather was much warmer than we had anticipated, but that would soon change and turn our hunt into a real challenge.

Our destination was the Strut and Rut Hunting Lodge in Arenzville, Illinois (about one hour west of Springfield, IL). We met up with Dana Mclain, one of the owners, and also with Scott and Luke from the "We Live Outdoors" TV show. After discussing some of scenarios that Scott and Luke would like to see for filming and deciding what type of stand setup Luke would need to film from, Dana headed out to show us the area we would be hunting. One stand was in a great place for the deer to come through so we decided that it would be a good spot to film from.

The next morning we all got up early and everyone went out to sit their stand. There were other hunters staying at Strut and Rut besides Ray who had come from various states who would be trying to harvest a whitetail. Ray and Luke got settled in their stands and wondered how the weather would affect the hunt. Normally an Illinois winter is not very cold and snowy nor is ice a problem, but it was cooling down fast and some of the locals thought that the cold weather would make the deer hold tight to their bedding areas. After an uneventful morning of not seeing much, everyone returned to the lodge. We all shared our stories of what happened and also voiced our concerns about the weather and why the deer were not moving. Dana also thought that the weather might be a problem.

Our next game plan was to set up some drives. Most people think that they can only make drives when they're gun hunting, however, drives can also be made when you're bow hunting. It's just a little more challenging. In almost every case, you are not shooting a moving target. This is because the deer will usually run a short distance and then stop to look back at the drivers. Dana knew that setting up to make drives might be a good way to get the deer moving so he talked to Chad and B, the two guides, and also to other Strut and Rut guides about helping with the drives. Dana, Chad, and B all discussed the terrain that they had available to hunt and chose some of the best areas to try and push the deer out.

The drivers all went to their assigned starting area making sure that Ray had plenty of time to get set up before they started moving. Throughout the day a few drives were made, but Ray didn't see any big bucks come his way. He saw some smaller bucks and some doe, but nothing more. Chad had seen a nice buck when he was making his drive, but couldn't get it to go toward Ray and Luke. Later that afternoon Ray and Luke went back into their stand and hunted until dark hoping to see a monster buck; but it wasn't meant to be.

The next morning started out the same, but the temperature was much colder. To no one's surprise, the deer were not moving, so the Strut and Rut crew came to help make some drives again. Ray and Luke decided to set up in a tree stand this time to enable them to see movement from a better vantage point. When this first drive started, we could hear animals moving in the woods and knew that this would send something Ray's way. When we arrived at their stand we asked Ray and Luke about what they had seen. They were both excited about the footage that Luke was able to get. He had filmed a nice buck, and although not a monster buck, it was with about 20 or more doe that came running out of the woods like rats. Dana told Ray that he would like him to shoot a doe because he wanted to harvest some management deer in his area and there were obviously quite a few doe around.

After this, we decided to return to the area where Chad had spotted the bigger buck during his previous day's drive. So we all set up again, and this time Chad had a buck turn and run past him instead of heading towards Ray. Ray said this looked like a good area and he wanted to set up there again the next day. While Ray was sitting an evening stand, some doe walked in and because Dana wanted some doe harvested, Ray picked out a good-sized one and filled his doe tag. When Ray and Luke returned to camp Dana was glad to see that Ray was able to harvest a doe.

When we awoke the next morning it was not only cold, but it was also raining, sleeting, and snowing. It was some of the worst Illinois weather that anyone had seen! Due to the inclement weather we didn't take a morning stand but instead chose to set up for an evening stand where we had been yesterday. The rain was freezing on contact on everything it touched, which made for hazardous walking. However, Dana, Chad, and B were still willing to do whatever it would take to get the deer moving. They picked an area that was easier to access and then we all went out to do make more drives. With the weather being so miserable, the deer were not moving much at all. The tree branches were snapping and exploding all around us from the weight of the ice, which made it almost impossible to sit a stand because you couldn't hear anything moving anyway.

It was decided not to continue this type of setup because the ice had made it very dangerous to climb up into the stands so instead we searched for deer and then planned some afternoon drives hoping the temperature would warm enough to melt some of the ice. Luke enjoyed getting footage for the TV show this morning because the trees glistened like glass and shined bright in the sunlight.

We continued to make some short drives with Ray and Luke staying on the ground and they did have one big buck come right past them but it was running and Ray didn't want to take the shot and wound the deer. The ice had created such a beautiful panorama that Scott and Luke were excited about getting some outdoor shots of Ray and they also wanted to spend part of the day getting additional footage for "We Live Outdoors". That evening Ray and Luke took a stand, but again no luck. No "Mr. Big".

After hunting with Ray for a few more days Scott and Luke had to travel to their next assignment so they headed back to Minnesota. Ray wanted to continue hunting and the guys from Strut and Rut were still there to help. After many unsuccessful drives, we were still unable to get any big bucks to move in Ray's direction. However, on one particular drive we saw 13 bucks, two of which we thought would make 160 class or larger, but the brush was too thick to get a shot off. Ray's comment to Strut and Rut was, "What a blast, I've never seen so many bucks in one area! Could have "pinched" every day!"

During our hunt we saw many bucks and countless doe, but could not get any big buck into shooting range. Everyone is excited to return to Strut and Rut though, because we know that the bucks will be even bigger next year.

We want to say "thank you" to all the people from Strut and Rut Hunting Lodge for all their help and for the great food and lodging. We plan on returning next year and will hopefully get "Mr. Big"!

For more information on Strut and Rut Hunting Lodge Inc. visit our Preferred Outfitter Page