Illinois Muzzy Tags

Has anyone from Illinois received their muzzleloader season tags yet? I'm starting to worry because my regular deer season tags came in but not muzzleloader tags. I figured there is a chance of me not getting that tag because I didn't apply until later.

My ML tags arrived 2 days before my firearm tags. You can go to the DNR website and check to see if you got any or not. I believe you can get replacement tags if yours got lost in the mail. Good luck.

Darn. I got in on the 2nd lottery. It said my application is pending so at this point I'm not sure I'll get it. If I don't get the Muzzy season tag I'll buy an extra late-winter season tag. So I'm going to have 2 bow tags, 2 firearm season tags, possibly the muzzy tag or the late winter tag. So I guess so that I can keep hunting for the entire bow season and gun season I'll have to hold out for a trophy buck. Which without us driving deer anymore have become few and far between.

I definitely recommend holding back your firearm buck tag for a trophy. They are out there. Shoot a doe right off the bat and put the meat in the freezer, then hunt for your buck. If you don't get a big buck, the tag can be used for a doe during the late winter antlerless season.

hold out for a trophy buck. Which without us driving deer anymore have become few and far between.

Click to expand...

If you slow down and hunt right you just might be surprised. The big bucks are smart. That's how they stay alive long enough to be big bucks. I hate it when people do deer drives around where I like to hunt. It just throws the deer off their natural pattern, educates them, and makes 'em harder to hunt. Just my opinion.

For us the big bucks only come out during the day for a deer drive. When we used to have a trail camera you'd get pics of big bucks but it was never in daylight. In one of our draws it gets really, really thick down in there. There are even some places you can't even walk through and that's where they bed.

I don't particuarly care for "pushes" either, I'd rather sit quietly in an area by myself, thats what I prefer. But sometimes when guys hunt a week or two with nothing to show for it, they will push some areas and see where the deer are.

Best advice I can give you Luie, if you ever find yourself in another deer drive, ask to watch the "back door", stand right center of where the drivers step into the woods. Get under some cover and watch as much area as possible where the drivers went in. Never mind any shots you hear, stay put and wait. Theres always deer that sneak around the drivers, usually without them knowing it and trot right back out to where the drivers started. I can almost garrentee you this happens more than not and the deer doing the sneaking will most assuradly be a buck.

And yes I have shot a couple of bucks doing this. It's just not my prefered way of hunting. :v

Swampy gives good advice. Those big bucks and even the smart does will either sneak back around the pushers or hunker down and let them walk right past. It's amazing how a full grown deer can turn invisible right under your feet.

In one of our draws it gets really, really thick down in there. There are even some places you can't even walk through and that's where they bed.

Click to expand...

That sounds like the perfect area to be watching, especially during the rut! There has got to be at least one funnel leading into that draw. You need to find a spot where you can sit quietly and watch where the deer come in and out of that draw. Don't go down in the draw!!!
I like to plan my hunt where I arrive at my chosen posting site right at first legal light. Sneak in slow even if you are running a little "late". Deer don't use clocks. There just might be some there when you arrive. Then sit quietly and watch as the deer come to the bedding area.

There should be activity for the first hour or two of light, then it usually tapers off until late morning when the other guys start moving around, going to another stand, heading to the truck for lunch, etc. You have a real good chance of shooting a deer between 9:30-11:30 if you just stay put and eat a lunch that you packed in.

Then relax and read a book or something until around 2:00 when the other hunters start going back to their stands and moving the deer around again. Most hunters don't even realize they are bumping deer.

There will be another burst of activity the last couple hours of daylight.

...unless they do a drive and screw up the deers patterns and make 'em get all spooky.

I just looked at the DNR site and they said the 2nd lottery for muzzy season is August 16th. And it said there are 114 either sex tags left and 219 antlerless tags left for Hancock County. And many more for Adams county which is where my cousin owns a place at which is my second county choice.

You'll probably get one. Next year send in for the 1st lottery. They let you apply for both ML and firearm during the 1st lottery now.

Your chances of getting a tag are pretty good. We don't have that many muzzleloader people running around here from those I have seen trying to sight in at the club. I got mine in the last draw last year.

This year, I got them early.

The Doc is out now. :thumbsup:

Saw some driver's last year trying to get something south of where I was. They were driving in the wooded areas along creeks. Thing was, the deer were running through the fields over the hills from where they were. I don't think that group did very well. (I saw the deer as I was headed to my spot)

The Doc is out now. :v

With deer drives it works best in smaller draws with a creek running through it. They aren't a guarentee of deer getting to the blockers though because deer will go through the sides but can also try to escape through the creek or continue down the draw. Also some people try to be really loud when acting as a driver but really traveling quietly is good because you jump them when they're close so they panic and continue down the draw. My family hunted by using deer drives for over 20 years but recently we don't hunt that way anymore because my cousin has exchanged some of his properties and they aren't good properties for driving. I'm pretty excited about this Pike County farm he bought for hunting because he also bought a camper so I might be able to bowhunt there but no gun because my tags are Hancock County.

I keep checking up on the application inquiry system on the DNR website but it keeps saying pending even though they said the drawing was Monday.

It's government. They're slow... :idunno:

Jethro224 said:

It's government. They're slow... :idunno:

Click to expand...

"We're from the government,and we're here to help" :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

Vern

it took like 3 weeks last year to post them. I have never not recieved a muzzleloading tag. You can apply for them in spring along with your firearm season tags I do them on the computer and grit my teeth for the $4.20 I give for their "convience fee" when it is less work for them to have the computer do the work. Anyway they will be over the counter in october.