ILLINOIS TIMBER

Brennen Nading - Illinois - November 16, 2022

By: Brennen Nading (@nadingbr)

After hunting in Illinois for over a week straight, the cat and mouse game was beginning to wear on us. We had been targeting a couple of specific bucks and we had been seeing them on occasion but they were seemingly always locked on does. We continued to hunt hard, and hunt smart and were confident that luck would swing our way eventually. On the morning of November 16th, we headed into the heart of the farm with perfect conditions to sit a stand that we had not yet been to. This stand was situated along a creek and just off of a bedding area. Cold temps and rising pressure was sure to make for an exciting hunt. Sure enough, as the sun came over the horizon we began seeing deer on the move. A short while later we had some chasing going on across the creek and eventually a doe popped out and crossed the creek to our side. She walked past the stand and you could tell by the way she kept looking back that she was expecting company. Seconds later, this buck appeared 30 yards straight in front of us and began walking straight to the doe. I grunt stopped him at 15 yards and made the shot count. We watched him run 100 yards and go down!