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Shawnee squirrel hunt 2012

69K views 1.3K replies 61 participants last post by  reb henderson  
#1 ·
HOWDY ALL!

1. this hunt is to take place Sept. 22-26, 2012.

2. all people who read this notice are invited to attend.

3. the hunt will take place on the southern tip of illinois in the shawnee national forest.

4. this is PRIMARILY a rimfire hunt. if you need to bring a shotgun to hunt with, we won't taunt you.....too much. lol.

5.the city closest to the hunt area is ANNA-JONESBORO. anybody who wants to make motel reservations should try to go there as it is the closest to the campground that is going to have motels. the town is about 10-15 miles away.

6. most of us plan to camp. the chosen campground is "pine hills campground" and is located not far from the town of WOLF LAKE. DIRECTIONS TO THE CAMPGROUND ARE TO FOLLOW. camping fees are $10.00 per night. be forewarned...there is NO ELECTRICITY, HOOK UPS OF ANY KIND OR DRINKING WATER! THERE ARE, pit toilets, fire pits, picnic tables and latern hooks. that is all! you will not get cell phone reception from the campground! thank god! you will have to drive a couple miles for that.

7. illinois sells a 5 day non resident license for $35.50. a habitat stamp is also required and will cost you and extra $5.50. these can be bought on-line and i highly suggest you do so.
if you go to ilinois dnr site you will find on-line license there. http://www.dnr.state.il.us
under the heading LICENSES/PERMITS/STAMPS, you will find the link for online license purchases.
you can put the dates of the hunt on the permit and it will become activated at that time. the limit on squirrels is 5/day 10 IN POSSESION. we aim to eat a bunch as we go along!
note! if you were born after jan 1,1980, you will need either a hunter safety certificate or an old hunting license issued from your own state.
ALL GUNS MUST BE CASED WHEN INSIDE A VEHICLE! PISTOL HOLSTERS DO NOT COUNT AS A CASE. IT MUST BE ZIPPERED, TIED OR IN A HARD CASE. you may carry a pistol while hunting.
NOBODY FROM OUT OF STATE NEEDS A F.O.I.D. CARD and can buy ammo without it. i can't...go figure.

8. a list of things that you may want to know about would contain these items..skeeters, ticks, chiggars, poison ivy(lots!), rattlers, copperheads, and cottenmouth water moccasins. (the snakes are all protected!)

9. PART of the area we will be hunting lies in a special regulations zone. all plants and animals EXCEPT THOSE LISTED in the hunting regs are protected and not legal to take. squirrels, yotes g-hogs and skunks are listed in the regs. and CAN BE TAKEN.

10. snake safety! there are 3 kinds of poisonous snakes there. i also was not kidding about them being protected. they actually close about 7 miles of road there,twice a year, so they can migrate to higher ground with out getting squished.

a. DO NOT PUT YOUR FEET WHERE YOU CAN'T SEE!
PRETTY BASIC. IN OTHER WORDS DON'T GO
WADING OFF THROUGH SOME HAY FIELD OR WEED PATCH ON YOUR WAY TO THE WOODS.

b. DO NOT STEP OVER LOGS OR LARGE ROCKS! INSTEAD STEP UP ON THEM AND LOOK ON THE OTHER SIDE AND IF YOU CAN,T SEE BACK UNDER IT,WALK AROUND.

c. BE VERY CAREFUL IN CLIMBING STEEP CREEKBANKS. SNAKES LIKE TO LAY UNDER THE WASHED OUT ROOTS OF TREES AND WHEN YOU
GRAB THE TRUNK TO PULL YOURSELF UP, YOUR
ENTIRE BODY CAN COME INTO STRIKING RANGE.

d. DO NOT CHASE CRIPPLED SQUIRRELS
THROUGH THE WOODS! MOST OF YOU HAVE REPEATERS AND RIMFIRE AMMO IS CHEAP! IN SNAKE COUNTRY, ANY SQUIRREL THAT EVEN LOOKS LIKE HE MIGHT
HAVE SOME LIFE IN HIM SHOULD BE SHOT AGAIN IMMEDIATELY!

e. IF YOU'RE IN THE WOODS BEFORE OR AFTER DARK CARRY A GOOD LIGHT. PROBABLY WON'T HELP BUT YOU'LL FEEL BETTER.

f. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN IN ROCKY CREEK BEDS OR ANY WET OR EVEN DAMP SPOTS AND ALONG ROCK WALLS THAT BORDER THE WATER.

11.hunters are required to keep game seperately identifiable. if you share a cooler with somebody , then you will need bags that can be marked with your name.

12. people who can't do without hook ups for trailers can camp at devil's backbone in GRAND TOWER. THE camp is right on the banks of the ole mississippi river and is about 10-15 miles from the PINE HILLS CAMP. grand tower can be located on rt. 3 just north of wolf lake.

13. no vehicles of any kind are allowed off the road. no 4 wheelers or dirt bikes, so leave em home!

14. there are places to fish around there and a one day license can be had for $5.50. just in case you need a break from hunting....yeah ...right!

15. women and children are welcome. BUT! there will be a designated camp at which after a certain time in the evening children and sensitive folks will be politely asked to make their disappearance! no offense meant to anybody and that's how we aim to NOT OFFEND ANYBODY.

16. the terrain in shawnee can be very tough. the hills only go to about 600 feet but can be quite steep. there are flat places to hunt but you may have to drive a couple of miles to get to them. in the hills you will find 99% grey squirrels. in the bottoms you will find some fox squirrels.

DIRECTIONS TO PINE HILLS CAMPGROUND:
FIND RT.3 THAT RUNS ON THE SOUTHWESTERN EDGE OF S. ILLINOIS. IT RUNS CLOSE TO THE MISS. RIVER. LOCATE THE SMALL TOWN OF WOLF LAKE. THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO THE CAMP GROUND IS ON THE SOUTH EDGE OF WOLF LAKE.THERE IS A LARGE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT JUNK YARD ALL ALONG THE ROAD THERE. THE ROAD IS AT THE BOUNDARY EDGE OF THE JUNKYARD. THERE IS A BROWN SIGN THAT POINTS TO TRAIL OF TEARS STATE FOREST. THE ROAD ONLY GOES EAST.
TAKE THIS ROAD FOR 1-1/2 MILES AND YOU WILL FIND A SIGN THAT POINTS TO THE PINE HILLS CAMPGROUND. THE CAMP IS ABOUT 1 MILE DOWN THE ROCK ROAD. FEES ARE $10/NIGHT.
 
#6 ·
:)Just got back from Shawnee yesterday, Dec 31, 2011. That was my fourth trip up there this fall. Usually stay about 5 days on each trip. This last one was four. I guess you could say I enjoy the camping, the company, and, oh yeah, there are just enough squirrels to keep it interesting.
One thing that might be mentioned about getting to and from Wolf Lake and the campground. You will have to make a railroad crossing. Be very careful. There is an electric signal but those trains are really rolling when they come through there and at times there are two to four trains per hour. The constant sound of their warning horn is something you will get used to.
Crow Feather
 
#14 ·
There will be snakes!

They are there, SNAKES. The herpetologist camp right next to us,and they go out and count them. Having said that I didn't see any last year, but right after I came down off the hillside a young man in our camp went back up the hill and almost stepped on one (rattler).
I guess I'm so fleet of foot that I skipped right over him and didn't disturbe his nap, or he was to slow to strike me.:eek:
 
#15 ·
In the yrs I,ve been I have seen one copperhead, one cottonmouth, one green tree snake, black snake and a couple of rattlers but then I do go looking for them. The only one who threatened me was the cottonmouth he didn,t like the red light on the camera and flash. The rattler was lyin in the road with a belly full of food and didn,t want to move.
I would say you had more chance of slipping down a hill than being bitten by a snake.
 
#29 ·
Got to hunt this weekend with a fellow Shawnee Squirrel Hunter

Ole' mm1371 came down to central Illinois to spend the weekend, had a wonderful visit with Mike, and decided to hunt some squacks while he was down. We spent 2 mornings in the woods near by and saw at least 40 squirrels, of which about a dozen or so were Fox squirrels. Mike got to take a bag of squirrels home with him and I hope he enjoys them as much as he did the "flat lands". Hunting was pretty easy, with no leaves on the trees. We just mainly picked out a good tree, sit down and waited for the squirrels to come to us, fortunately there were plenty around to shoot that were in range. I think, I may see more of mm1371 next year when the Hickory trees fill up again. To you Mike, I had a great time and you know you are always welcome down here...... just be sure to take care of the "Jackson Squirrel Rifle" for me, I don't want it all beat up when I get it:D. Doc

Scattergun Sports Small Game Forum
 
#32 ·
Ole' mm1371 came down to central Illinois to spend the weekend, had a wonderful visit with Mike, and decided to hunt some squacks while he was down. We spent 2 mornings in the woods near by and saw at least 40 squirrels, of which about a dozen or so were Fox squirrels. Mike got to take a bag of squirrels home with him and I hope he enjoys them as much as he did the "flat lands". Hunting was pretty easy, with no leaves on the trees. We just mainly picked out a good tree, sit down and waited for the squirrels to come to us, fortunately there were plenty around to shoot that were in range. I think, I may see more of mm1371 next year when the Hickory trees fill up again. To you Mike, I had a great time and you know you are always welcome down here...... just be sure to take care of the "Jackson Squirrel Rifle" for me, I don't want it all beat up when I get it:D. Doc

Scattergun Sports Small Game Forum
Doc I had a GREAT time. I got those hunting spots in my Garmin...:eek: :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
BTW - I found that 'sticky note' about returning this rifle to it's 'proper owner' upon my dismise...pretty slick Mister.
 
#37 ·
me neither!



:D. Cold and ugly here tonight. Snowin' too. This w/e kinda sucks. I'm not home yet, but I got a new rifle, a new caller, warm snow camo, and I'm not gonna have any time to go play. Gotta leave Sunday to be in Monroe, GA at 0345 on Monday. Maybe next w/e.:(