Opening day, Illinois deer hunting: Mixed bag, weather and deer

Mike Pelc watched three bucks chasing one doe Friday morning, then he bagged one of the biggest bucks taken at Des Plaines Conservation Area.

“I had to shoo [the others] away,” he said.

An even bigger buck, a wide-rack 10-point, never came open enough for a good shot. His 10-point was on an 8-point frame (a split tine and a nubber made 10).

Many hunters noted rutting activity as Illinois’ first firearm deer season opened Friday. It runs through Sunday, Nov. 20. The second firearm season is Dec. 1-4.

The other factor opening day was the weather.

Hunting near Granville, Gary Bloom noted temperatures near 70 and emailed, “Too warm.”

That changed as storms and shifting winds came with a cold front. Some areas expected snow by Saturday.

All day the wind mattered, best described by Frank Internicola, hunting in eastern Will County.

“I don’t like Great America,” he said. “It was a wild ride. It was very wavy and windy with gusts of 22-28 mph. It made it tough, especially when I am 28 feet in the air.”

From Mason County, Tim Howe emailed about a “mixed bag.’’

“One of our crew bagged a nice 8-pointer between 1st shot and sunrise, and we heard some shooting nearby early as well,’’ he emailed. “But once the sun and wind came up, there was nothing. We missed the rain, at least. Tomorrow doesn’t look to be any better, but we’ll give it a go. If the wind slows late like they say, end of day might be productive.’’

Steven Sturtevant messaged that his son Steven T. Sturtevant harvested his third giant buck in eight years off property in Bureau County.

I checked two check-in stations. Illinois used to have check-ins in nearly every county. With the advent of electronic reporting, that changed to having check-ins only in counties with positive reports of chronic wasting disease (CWD).

I started with a couple hours in the morning at the Will County check-in at Des Plaines Game Propagation Center near Wilmington.

The deer’s sex and age (wear and stains on teeth) were checked. Pelc’s was 2 1/2 . Hunters were asked if they saw any wild turkey, bobcats or feral hogs. Hunters were given a deer pin.

Regional forester Tom Gargrave led a three-man crew. District fisheries biologist Frank Jakubicek did the initial checking in and placement of the orange leg tag. Carl Handel, district wildlife biologist from Randolph County, did “the surgery,” if hunters allowed.

With animals older than 1 1/2 years, the crew asked to take a sample for CWD testing. Those keeping trophies rarely allow sampling because the cuts high on the neck make any mount other than a European (skull and antlers) impossible.

Whoever is cutting removes the retropharyngeal lymph node from below the jaw and the obex (base of brain). Those are put in Formalin specimen containers for CWD testing. Tongue tips were cut and put in numbered plastic bags for an ongoing DNA study. All samples now go to the University of Illinois.

Hunters who allowed sampling showed on a map where their deer was killed. If a deer tests positive for CWD, the hunter is notified.

The best buck while I was at Des Plaines was a beautiful wide-rack 10-point, shot by Charles Umbaugh at Joliet Training Center.

In the afternoon, in time for passing downpours and lightning, I went to the Kankakee County check-in at Kankakee River State Park. It was manned by district wildlife biologist Bob Massey and wildlife biologist Bob Bluett, who came up from Springfield.

Massey expected 40 deer on the day. They had 14 by 4:30 p.m. He said the best bucks checked in was a 16-point on a 10-point frame and a nine-point on a 10-point frame.

“You could tell he had been battling,” Massey said of the nine-pointer.

When David Hines checked in a small buck, I read his license plate, “N RUT 1.’’ Seemed apt for opening day this year.