Jappenz617
Active member
My 2019 season recap won’t be as exciting as most, but I’ve read similar stories on here! 2019 turned out to be a challenging year! Started out I had a mule deer tag for Colorado, 2nd season and planned a solo hunt. I was excited for the hunt, but the month before my father passed away from cancer. Really took the steam out of me. I went anyway, came home empty handed and I didn’t hunt nearly as hard as I should have. It was a great experience though.
Fast forward to IL gun seasons…Opening day public land of the first IL Gun season I took my 2nd oldest with me. First morning only saw a fawn cross the field in front of us. That afternoon we had some does move through the woods about 100 yards away but no shot and eventually ended our day with no deer.
Second morning we had wind/rain so we skipped going out as he wasn’t feeling up to it. Then things got interesting, in a negative way. We were hunting a limited draw public land area and on our second day, I was told my son couldn’t accompany me while hunting for liability reasons. The site was managed by IL DNR and these were unwritten rules I was told. So, we made the 2hr trek back home and I wasn’t able to return that season.
For our 2nd half of the IL gun season (4 day), I had big plans to return to the same public hunting area, by myself of course. Then work happens. The night I’m supposed to leave the aftermath of people hunting other people put work obligations ahead of hunting. Never did get to go.
On to the good…Earlier in October, my sister and brother in law who own some private land said I could hunt the late muzzleloader season on their land. They have several close friends who have hunted it for years and they weren’t going to be muzzleloader hunting. It’s about 15 acres of woods with a large field. I picked up the tag and got prepared for the hunt. I haven’t shot anything with a muzzleloader for years.
This time, my oldest son wanted to tag along. First day of the muzzleloader season I picked him up early from school and headed to the stand. It turned out to be a very eventful evening. We saw several bucks and does. Worst part was all the deer came out of neighboring property and into the field about 250-300 yards away. Never did get any closer.
My oldest had so much fun he wanted to go back in the morning. So up early and back at it. Not a single deer that morning. I spoke with my brother-in-law who is friends with neighboring property owner. I was told there are no issues with me setting up on the property line and it wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, just shoot the deer in “our” field if they come out. No problem.
That evening, both of my boys wanted to go. I figured this would be interesting and hoped for the right wind and some wind noise to mask some of the sounds they would inevitably make.
We set up tucked in the edge of the woods about 100 yards where the deer mainly came out the night before.
Sat for a long time and the deer did not move as early as they did the night before. Matter of fact, it got to be about 15 minutes before legal shooting light and we hadn’t seen a single deer come out. My oldest became very disappointed but agreed we should sit until the last of legal light.
Well it wasn’t 10 seconds after our little conversation a deer runs out into the field where I figured they would come out. Then another, and another, until 5-6 were out in the field about 80 yards away. I could see at least 2 of them were very mature looking does, so I picked the largest one and told the boys to cover their ears. Shot rang out and she took maybe 3 steps and was down. I think everyone was jumping with excitement as it was the first deer they’ve seen get harvested. This hunt ended my 2019 deer season on a very positive note. I was very thankful to have the opportunity to take them along!
My other son refused to get in the truck for the pic….Guess he’s not ready to be that close yet.
Thanks to everyone on this site for the stories you post. I don’t see any story as insignificant because it really gives people motivation to get out and create their own no matter how short their season is, or how much time they have to hunt. Good luck to all for the rest of your seasons!
Fast forward to IL gun seasons…Opening day public land of the first IL Gun season I took my 2nd oldest with me. First morning only saw a fawn cross the field in front of us. That afternoon we had some does move through the woods about 100 yards away but no shot and eventually ended our day with no deer.
Second morning we had wind/rain so we skipped going out as he wasn’t feeling up to it. Then things got interesting, in a negative way. We were hunting a limited draw public land area and on our second day, I was told my son couldn’t accompany me while hunting for liability reasons. The site was managed by IL DNR and these were unwritten rules I was told. So, we made the 2hr trek back home and I wasn’t able to return that season.
For our 2nd half of the IL gun season (4 day), I had big plans to return to the same public hunting area, by myself of course. Then work happens. The night I’m supposed to leave the aftermath of people hunting other people put work obligations ahead of hunting. Never did get to go.
On to the good…Earlier in October, my sister and brother in law who own some private land said I could hunt the late muzzleloader season on their land. They have several close friends who have hunted it for years and they weren’t going to be muzzleloader hunting. It’s about 15 acres of woods with a large field. I picked up the tag and got prepared for the hunt. I haven’t shot anything with a muzzleloader for years.
This time, my oldest son wanted to tag along. First day of the muzzleloader season I picked him up early from school and headed to the stand. It turned out to be a very eventful evening. We saw several bucks and does. Worst part was all the deer came out of neighboring property and into the field about 250-300 yards away. Never did get any closer.
My oldest had so much fun he wanted to go back in the morning. So up early and back at it. Not a single deer that morning. I spoke with my brother-in-law who is friends with neighboring property owner. I was told there are no issues with me setting up on the property line and it wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, just shoot the deer in “our” field if they come out. No problem.
That evening, both of my boys wanted to go. I figured this would be interesting and hoped for the right wind and some wind noise to mask some of the sounds they would inevitably make.
We set up tucked in the edge of the woods about 100 yards where the deer mainly came out the night before.
Sat for a long time and the deer did not move as early as they did the night before. Matter of fact, it got to be about 15 minutes before legal shooting light and we hadn’t seen a single deer come out. My oldest became very disappointed but agreed we should sit until the last of legal light.
Well it wasn’t 10 seconds after our little conversation a deer runs out into the field where I figured they would come out. Then another, and another, until 5-6 were out in the field about 80 yards away. I could see at least 2 of them were very mature looking does, so I picked the largest one and told the boys to cover their ears. Shot rang out and she took maybe 3 steps and was down. I think everyone was jumping with excitement as it was the first deer they’ve seen get harvested. This hunt ended my 2019 deer season on a very positive note. I was very thankful to have the opportunity to take them along!
My other son refused to get in the truck for the pic….Guess he’s not ready to be that close yet.
Thanks to everyone on this site for the stories you post. I don’t see any story as insignificant because it really gives people motivation to get out and create their own no matter how short their season is, or how much time they have to hunt. Good luck to all for the rest of your seasons!
