Elite
Outfitters is proud to announce a joint venture with some good friends and
aspiring outfitters in southern Illinois for trophy whitetail deer hunting.
Elite will offer archery, shotgun and muzzleloader hunts.
Approximately 3,000 prime acres of whitetail habitat have been leased for the 2008 season. The terrain consists of soybean, corn and winter wheat fields alternating with heavily wooded draws, river bottoms and fence rows. The habitat is exceptional and the number and quality of the deer is as good as it gets anywhere.
The pre-rut period (late Oct thru early Nov) typically finds most bucks by themselves and becoming increasingly mobile. The 1 1/2 year old bucks always seem to begin moving first with older bucks' movement increasing as the week progresses. The biggest advantage of this period is you are typically hunting bucks that are more mobile than they will be once they lock up with does the following week in the rut. The bucks begin searching from bedding area to bedding area for any signs of does entering estrus. Accordingly, funnels between bedding areas are the primary locations for stands during the pre rut.
The
rut period (early Nov through mid Nov) produce the most sightings of mature bucks. The big
deer finally drop their guard and begin to act mortal. Once a mature buck
locates a doe in estrus, he will fend off any other bucks in the vicinity and
lock up on her in their bedding area. The amount of movement by the mature bucks
between bedding areas wanes and the amount of movement within bedding areas
increases. Stand locations for the rut week will focus on the edges of bedding
areas more than funnels to take advantage of the "chasing" of the does by the
bucks. The negative of this time is having to escape detection by the does and
other young "satellite" bucks that have been pushed away from the breeding
frenzy.
Both hunt periods offer pros and cons, but either time has the potential to produce a trophy whitetail. Elite will provide you with more stand locations than you can hunt. Elite uses new, quality lock on stands with climbing sticks or new, 15 and 20-foot ladder stands. In addition, there are multiple areas that are scouted and marked for use with your personal climber. Stands are placed with certain wind directions in mind, so having 50 stand locations to choose from doesn't force you into using good stands under less than perfect conditions.
In order to manage the quality of the bucks
for the future, there will be a 130-inch minimum on all hunts. Mandatory
harvest fees of $100 for any buck grossing under 130 inches and $500 for any
buck grossing under 120 inches will be implemented. Does may be harvested on
this hunt at no charge. Part of the overall management plan requires a
substantial doe harvest and Elite encourages you to take a doe during your hunt
and ventilate as many coyotes as you can.
On the archery hunts, an emphasis on scent management will center around having multiple stand locations for each hunter to select from based on wind direction, rut phase, etc. Under no circumstance will any stand be used more than 2 days in any given hunt. The big bucks will not tolerate repeated activity on a stand location. Rubber boots are required for getting in and out of the hunting areas. Only the prime pre-rut and rut weeks in late October and November will be hunted during the archery season.
The late-season muzzleloader season is during the post-rut period of mid December. Stand hunting will be utilized on the muzzleloader hunts. Stand locations are primarily located along parallel trails adjacent to feeding areas and along funnels. The stands along feeding areas are used more in the afternoons and the funnel locations are the prime locations for morning and mid day hunting.
The license application is currently on a draw with a deadline in mid-June. Draw success for archery was 100% in 2006 and 2007. The draw success for the shotgun and late-season muzzleloader hunts was also 100% during the 2007 season.
Elite
expects you to get at least one shot opportunity at a 130-class or better buck.
Much of a hunter's success or failure comes from their ability to effectively
hunt the stands selected. Elite's promise is that the homework will be done from
an outfitting end. You will be provided more than ample country to hunt and a
plethora of stand locations to choose from. If you know you can tree-stand hunt
as good as anyone, then you will be successful on this hunt. There are good
numbers of bucks in this region and some extremely good genetics. A top-end buck
will push 200 inches and 300 lbs. The outfitters Elite works with to offer these
hunts, have worked hard putting together quality places to hunt. They have both
lived here their entire lives and know not only the country, but most
importantly, how to bow hunt whitetails. They have combined to harvest 6 bucks
over 180 inches in the last 7 years! A 180-class buck was harvested by Randy
Smith of Illinois during the 2006 season.
What should your expectations be on a
typical 5-day archery or a 3-day gun hunt?
Realistically, if you truly know how to effectively hunt from a treestand, and
you will hunt all day, the following shot-opportunity percentages should be fairly accurate:
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 130+ Buck = 90%
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 140+ Buck = 70%
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 150+ Buck = 50%
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 160+ Buck = 30%
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 170+ Buck = 15%
Chance of a Shot Opportunity at a 180+ Buck = 5%
These estimates are realistic. Anyone who claims they can do better is either, hunting behind a fence, charging a lot more money, or just optimistically stretching the truth. A big whitetail is earned, even in the best whitetail country in the nation!
Comfortable accommodations will be provided in town at either a bed and breakfast or a new apartment. Elite will provide all meals.
All 2008 archery and shotgun hunts are booked. Two mz (Dec 6-8) hunts are still available. Call for info.
Now booking for 2009.
2009 Prices
5-Day Archery Whitetail Deer Hunt - $2200
8-Day Archery Whitetail Deer Hunt - $2900
3-Day Shotgun/Mz Whitetail Deer Hunt - $2500
3-Day Muzzleloader Whitetail Deer Hunt - $2000
2009 Seasons
Archery Whitetail Hunts (5 days)
Nov 2-6, 2009
Nov 8-12, 2009
Nov 14-18, 2009Archery Whitetail Hunts (8 days)
Nov 2-9, 2009
Nov 11-18, 2009Shotgun/Mz Whitetail Hunts (3 days)
Nov 20-22, 2009
Muzzleloader Whitetail Hunts (3 days)
Dec 5-7, 2009
2009 License
Archery Whitetail Deer - $400
Shotgun/Muzzleloader Whitetail Deer - $285