‘Tis the season (for deer hunting) :: Beacon News

BY BOB MACIUKIS Columnist

We often tout the world-class sauger fishery on the nearby Illinois River or the wonderful smallmouth bass fishing on the Fox River.

Nearby lakes like Shabbona, the Fox Chain O’Lakes or Heicecke now offer as good a chance to tie into a muskie as most lakes in the fabled northwoods.

The water throughout the Fox River is black with ducks and geese and last week’s snowfall pushed more waterfowl to the valley from the holding marshes in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

There is wonderful canoeing, hiking, biking and cross-country skiing within minutes of most folks living in the Fox Valley.

Yet, when we rank northern Illinois among the top tier of places across the nation that offer superb outdoors recreation, there is one thing that makes the Prairie State the king of the mountain. White tailed deer.

“We offer some of the best deer hunting opportunity in the world here in Illinois,” DNR acting Director Sam Flood said last week when releasing preliminary data from the first half of our split shotgun season.

Bow hunters will admit that the best hunting doesn’t begin until the leaves drop and things are firmed up with a good, hard freeze. Something about the coming winter gets the bucks to move. Perhaps they realize that survival creeps to the top of the list, passing the rut somewhere along the way. Click link below for full Story!

‘Tis the season (for deer hunting) :: Beacon News :: Sports.