Northern WI Buck Only

[Steve Bartylla]

Is IL lottery for buck or doe tags or both?

In theory, both, but they have extras to sell over the counter every year. A lot of hunters don't even use the lottery and just wait for over the counter sales...Years ago, you hit redial for an average of 2-5 hrs to get through in a race to get a buck tag...almost always gone in less than 24 hrs

 

[wiscwhip]

That's better than the 24 seconds it will take for the 50 Juneau Co public land doe tags to sell out. lol

 

[bueller]

There are two lotteries. The first one is open to residents only. On the "application" you submit you indicate your #1 and #2 choice for an area which is either a county or a special hunt area (state park). You also "apply" for either an either sex permit or a combo either sex and one antlerless permit. The second lottery is open to residents and non-residents.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

That's better than the 24 seconds it will take for the 50 Juneau Co public land doe tags to sell out. lol

That was back when I had a real job...Not sure my boss would have agreed, as they paid me to hit redial once a year for those 2-5 hrs :oops:

 

[bueller]

In theory, both, but they have extras to sell over the counter every year. A lot of hunters don't even use the lottery and just wait for over the counter sales...Years ago, you hit redial for an average of 2-5 hrs to get through in a race to get a buck tag...almost always gone in less than 24 hrs

Not true for the special hunt areas. First season is sold out for nearly all , if not all of the areas, during the first lottery.

 

[bueller]

You will not get in a state park hunt in Northern Illinois without using the lottery system. Unless you go on the day of the hunt and hope for a "standby" permit.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Bueller,

You are describing their gun tag lottery system. On that one, you typically still have 2-4 days after the extras go on sale over the counter (as per what several sporting goods managers have told me). So, you can still hit it if you miss the lottery deadline..They even have a 3rd lottery before that called The Random Daily Drawing. Just be careful that you don't apply for both the 2nd and the Random, as they'll sell you both and at best, assuming you put down two different counties, you're paying the extra $300 something just to be able to hunt two different counties, but still only kill 1 buck.

for bow lics, I know many who have shown up mid Nov and are still able to buy over the counter (only 1 lottery drawing for bow). They do occasionally, eventually sell out, but I've never seen it before sometime in Nov.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Not true for the special hunt areas. First season is sold out for nearly all , if not all of the areas, during the first lottery.

Yeah, I'm talking exclusively general hunting, not special hunt areas. The special hunts are a completely different animal

 

[Steve Bartylla]

sorry....somehow missed that you'd included "spec hunt areas" in all that, as well. Amazing how "good" my mind/eyes can be at completely missing things sometimes

 

[bueller]

Yeah, I'm talking exclusively general hunting, not special hunt areas. The special hunts are a completely different animal

Sure are. It's a crapshoot trying to get a first season permit even when you are in the first lottery. 90 mintues from Chicago with under 100 permits issued. First season coincides with opening weekend in WI so I don't even apply for a 1st season. But I've had good luck drawing a 2nd season permit in the first lottery as most special hunt area applicants in the first lottery are applying for two different 1st season special hunt areas ;).

 

[kabic]

I think your looking at the 13% number from a different standpoint, the past number of antlerless kill off of public land is skewed and is part of the problem with the current population declines on public properties. First of all, in most areas with little public land(i.e. portions of Nofo's area and most other parts of the Farmland Zones) 13% could be right on the money...

I was not trying to make any kind of statement that 13% was too high or too low. I was purely interested in what the historic percentage of anterless deer killed on public land was state wide. Was it 50%, 60% etc. The data should be there.

 

[wiscwhip]

It seems to me that it would be a very short history, as I only remember listing the public vs private info for a few years at best. A data set that small would definitely be suspect as far as accuracy, which is maybe why they choose not to include that info.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Sure are. It's a crapshoot trying to get a first season permit even when you are in the first lottery. 90 mintues from Chicago with under 100 permits issued. First season coincides with opening weekend in WI so I don't even apply for a 1st season. But I've had good luck drawing a 2nd season permit in the first lottery as most special hunt area applicants in the first lottery are applying for two different 1st season special hunt areas ;).

I have no clue what it's like hunting 2nd season in IL on hard hunted ground. I suspect it's a tougher hunt than first season on hard hunted ground. I've bow hunted several public and special hunt areas in IL, but ALL my shot gun hunting in IL has been on tightly managed properties. So, I logic tells me it's different on the public grounds.

That said, I LOVE 2nd season in IL. Frankly, on the managed grounds, given a choice between the 2, I'd take 2nd season, as it's the best of both worlds. The truly mature bucks are still looking for does during midday, but they are also now on more regular feeding patterns during the afternoons, and they're REALLY hungry. The combo allows one to experience rut like hunting during the morning and midday (typically don't see as many bucks cruising, but the ones I do tend to be the big boys), with feeding pattern hunting in the late afternoon.

As I said, though, that's tightly managed grounds, where I control the hunting pressure...so, there essentially is no hunting pressure, which makes a huge difference. Make that a special hunt area and the rules change, but I bet it is still better than most applying for 1st season would believe????

 

[wiscwhip]

Wow! That is more information than I expected from my initial question on the IL tag lottery, but great info nonetheless. I have an uncle that lives south of Elkhorn, WI that might I have to talk to about someday wanting to check out some of these IL areas for a non-res hunt. Thanks, guys. Mr. Bartylla, any comments on the OP and the new WI regs or no?

 

[bueller]

Steve, 2nd season in IL in a heavliy hunted state park has been MUCH more productive for me than hunting public land in Wisconsin anytime after opening day. The 10 days in between the 1st and 2nd season seem to "reset" the deer. Also the IL state parks limit the number of hunters and spread them out over of number of different access areas so hunting pressure is bad, but not unbearable. Unlike in WI where 20 guys lineup for a drive through public property at daybreak. Drives are prohibited on IL state park properties. Your thread about hunting pressured bucks is spot on for this situation :).

 

[Steve Bartylla]

Wow! That is more information than I expected from my initial question on the IL tag lottery, but great info nonetheless. I have an uncle that lives south of Elkhorn, WI that might I have to talk to about someday wanting to check out some of these IL areas for a non-res hunt. Thanks, guys. Mr. Bartylla, any comments on the OP and the new WI regs or no?

Whip, you should seriously consider it. Going from public land hunting in WI to IL is like a dream. Sure, they have a little pressure on their grounds, and to them it's high, but it's nothing at all like in WI.

As far as WI going to all buck units in areas of low deer numbers? Honestly, it's why I believe WI's DNR is one of if not the best in the nation. Sure, we all like to complain about them, I know I do, and we'll never agree with everything they do, but they at least try to address issues. We may not agree with how they do it, but I do believe they legitimately try. What more can one realistically ask for?

P.S. each time I've hunted public IL ground (Hint: check the core of engineers ground along the Mississippi and IL rivers), I set 140 as my minimum and EXPECTED to fill that tag. I never had a problem exceeding those goals. In fairness, I always have more time than most to pull it off, and that does make a difference.