2007 Season Results / 2008 Season Forecast

The 2007 hunting season left us short of our overall management goal.
The rut started much later than anticipated, causing a decrease in the number of bucks taken compared to previous years.
A highly publicized prediction by the "experts", that indicated we would see heavy rutting activity by Halloween simply was not right!
Unfortunately many of our bowhunters booked early hunts due to this report, and we did not have enough hunters in camp when the rut finally started!

We did set new size records for both bowhunting and gun hunting (the two bucks on our home page), with two magnificent bucks that were taken only days apart. And, we gained ground with an aggressive antlerless deer management plan, thanks to many of our hunters who helped us kill twice as many does as in years past.
On the other hand, we had a real crew of trophy hunters in for the gun seasons, and they passed quite a few deer that would have made any bowhunter happy!

The bottom line:
We have a lot of bucks on our properties which will grow a year older, and provide us with even more trophy opportunity for next season.

January 08 ~ We have experienced another comparitively mild Winter so far, and the deer seem to be in great shape going into Spring.
Bucks are beginning to cast their antlers, and we will be out looking for those sheds very shortly!

February 08 ~ Late January and early February brought in some real Winter snow storms!
With little decent weather between them, we have not been able to do much shed hunting yet.
But, we have already found a few good ones, when we were able to get out and look!
So far, our group has found a 65 inch five point side with a split brow tine, a 68 inch six point side with a ten and half inch G-3, and both sides of a ten point rack that scores 160 without adding spread!

All of them in a group, with a matchbook for scale!

Inside look at the set!

Outside... Note the mass, which is typical on our older age class bucks!
And, remember this was last year!
We still see bucks carrying, so it may be a while yet before we find many more...

March 08 ~ March brought more cold weather, snow, and lots of rain!
The nasty weather kept most folks inside, and I am sure the squirrels feasted on a lot of sheds that fell in the woods.
When you get to the "Shed", we will show you what they can do to a cast antler in just a few days!

We will keep looking, but with green up just around the corner, the odds of finding sheds go way down fast.
Don may see some when he turns the fields over with the tractor, so maybe we can post some more finds later.

We have been busy planning the kick off of the latest improvement at TQS, the new lodge and dining room.
If we can stay on schedule, this third bunkhouse will be ready to go by Fall!
It will be located between the headquarters building, and the skinning shed.
We are finalizing the floor plan now, and hope to begin construction by mid May!
I will post pics of that project later on!

But, for now... How about a couple of a young buck that we passed last year during the 1st Shotgun season?
I was videoing repeat client Ted Crumb when this fella cruised by...
We both decided that he needed one more year to become a real trophy!
What do you think?

April 08 ~ Once the wamer weather came, and the rain continued, Spring green up hit hard. That effectively ended much hope of finding sheds in the woods. But, Morels began popping, and while we were out looking, we did find a few more small ones. Here's a couple of pics of the first Morels, and some sheds from those first few mushroom hunts.

Day One

Day Two

But, Spring is not all fun, and we had work to do.

Don hit the fields with the tractors. And, I spent a few days taking down the last of the stands we had out.
Thanks to Pistol Young, and Leigh Dillard, who came along, for all of their help!

The "new" Suzuki mini truck handled the job well!
Here's a couple of pics of it nice and clean, and then loaded down with 22 sets of 25 foot stick ladders.

We tried one of these last year and decided to go ahead and buy one.
It is invaluable when we need to get a deer out, as it does not leave much of a track in wet fields.
When you kill your buck, you get to ride in it!

In the last two weeks, we have been able to get some boots of the ground, and look closer at more of the new properties.
Is it really six more months till November?

And, last. but not least:
I just found this pic we took during last season of Ryan Jacques goofing with some huge sheds, and a pile of deer in the mini truck we had at camp then.

May 08 ~ With June finally here, we have reached the midway point till hunting season opens again, and the IDNR will begin taking applications for non-resident archery tags.
You don't have to rush to call them though, you have the whole month to get your name on the list.
JUST DON'T FORGET TO DO IT!

We recently added another terrific deer hunting property, and have been trying hard to get all of the farm fields planted.
The regular rains have thrown everyone behind, which may mean a later harvest than usual.
But, the additional moisture can also mean we see exceptional antler growth this year.
The bucks are beginning to show their potential now, and we will be monitoring them closely over the next three months.
I will definitely be on the lookout for some of the brutes that we knew about last year, that somehow managed to survive the hunting season.
Its always fun to see them in velvet, and watch as they grow their new racks!

If you are still thinking about a hunt, its not too late to decide to hunt with us either.
We still have a few openings for bowhunts in the first three weeks of November, and openings in the second shotgun season, and the muzzleloader season.

June 08 ~ I am posting the June report a few days early, because we have had so many calls concerning the flooding in western Illinois.
The excessive rain amounts did not cause major extended flooding in our area, and should not affect the quality of our deer hunting.
It has delayed planting, but we were able to get finished a few days ago, and with a few days of dry weather, the crops could catch back up soon.

At this time of the year, we get busy doing annual maintenance, and making improvements.

Here's the latest! She's three feet wide, two feet deep, and made out of 1/2" thick steel!

I want to give a big shout out to Dusty and Pistol for tooling this up for us! Thanks Fellas!

Its gonna look great covered with steaks, sausage, hamburgers, chicken, etc. !

Over the past few weeks, Don has been spotting bucks all over the place, as he makes his morning rounds. I will be trying to catch some of them on video shortly.
In the meantime, I am posting some from last year...
The quality of the footage isn't the best, but I think you will forgive the videographer, when you see these bucks.
Click here for "Bucks in the Road"
Click here for "A Near Miss"
Click here for "OMG!"

That ought to get the juices flowing!

July 08 ~ I have decided to update this BLOG on a more frequent basis, as we get closer to the season, because the activity level around TQS picks up fast from here to November!

First off - There are quite a few non-resident archery tags leftover after the intial sales period, and the remaining ones should go on sale again shortly.
So, if you are still looking for a bowhunt with the Quail Shed its time to get in touch. Cause when these are gone, its over till 09!

Second.... We now have the results from the resident gun tag draw.
If you have booked a gun hunt with us for the 08 season, you should be hearing from us shortly about which counties you need to pick as your first and second choices.
The deadline is August 12th, and we want to make sure everyone gets their application in on time!

The 4th of July holiday weekend came and passed almost in blur, because we were busy looking at hundreds of acres of new properties that we just enrolled in our hunting program.
I did manage to fire up the new grill, and have to report that it works great. However, I did not get pictures....

But, I did get pictures of some mounts from one of our new landowners, of deer that have been killed on several of the new tracts of land we acquired.

These pics indicate the quality of bucks in the area. And as you can tell, they have been killing great deer for quite a while there! Here's one from way back when the first deer season opened.

Here are a few more...

And, these from recent years.

We also have negotiated a great deal with some folks who are building the neatest Cedar log cabins I have seen in a long time, and will be using them for some of our housing.

You can also book a weekend get away with your significant other there, outside of hunting season, if you need to make up for a little too much time in the woods this Fall!
Maybe even before then, as a pre-emptive strike!
They offer a secluded retreat for some together time, and the Cedar smells great!

Contact us for info, if you want to take advantage of this offer...

We will also begin offering Turkey hunts this coming Spring, because we have now got enough land, and Turkeys, to put together a great hunt!

Mid July 08 ~ I just realized that I had left off information about our lodging in my last report.
We had thought we would be constructing a new building, but were blessed with the sudden availablity of more country homes, which suits our purpose, and fits our timeline, far better!
We have added two additional bunkhouses, and are working on acquiring a third one at this time.
All of these will be ready to go when our hunters begin arriving.

We have also been very busy remodeling Quail Shed headquarters.
New walls have been added, doors and cabinets removed, and the sign-in area now sports a fresh coat of paint!
The mounts and memorabilia have been taken down, cleaned, and rehung, and the deer and birds are now more separated.
Our returning hunters will notice that the area is much more open, but we have retained the "old" hunting lodge look!

We have been spotting some great looking bucks, with their velvet racks, as we cruise our hunting area.
The soybeans are getting just right for the deer to start hammering away at them in the evenings, but the corn also provides great cover for them to hide in.
And, quite often we only get a glimpse of a trophy buck, before he ducks out of sight.
But, I will soon have the trail cameras in place, and just maybe we can get some pics to post.

The IDNR has not yet announced how many Either-Sex archery permits are leftover after the initial drawing, but hunters who did not make the first drawing will have a second chance to get a tag beginning August 12th.
So, if you have been sitting on the fence about hunting with us this year, it can still happen!

August 08 ~ Over the past two weeks the bucks have really put on some antler. Don, and a guest from PA, spotted several really good bucks one afternoon last week, out in the soybeans.
Its about to the end of the growing season, and antlers will be hardening over the next two weeks, in preparation for velvet shedding.
Personally, I can't wait to see those fresh white antlers shining in the sunlight!

We sent out notification to our gun hunters a few days ago, telling them which counties, and permits to apply for.
If you didn't get that email, please feel free to call for that information.

The hot weather, and less frequent rain showers, has really got the crops turned around.
The corn and soybeans have shot up, in response to better weather, as we turn the corner toward harvest time.

Work on the newest bunkhouse is almost complete now.
And, we are almost ready to move in!
By the end of this month, we will have a lot of stands set, and the trail cameras out.
And, we will be looking for that first cool morning.
I am so ready for that!

Mid August 08 ~ This is the beginning of one of my favorite times of the year, when we begin to fine tune everything.
We will begin setting stands in just a few more days, cleaning the clutter out of the skinning shed, placing the targets back out on the range, and preparing for the arrival of our first group of hunters in camp!
Although we are weeks away from the first hunt, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes before it starts!

One "chore" that really makes it feel like we are almost ready, is placing trail cameras, and attempting to capture images of the bucks we have been watching all Summer.
Guide, and all-around handy man, Derek Warfel, just brought in the first results of one of those efforts.
These bucks are in great shape, and carrying fantastic racks.
This group lives near our bunkhouses. And, if things go anything like previous years will probably make a few of our hunters gasp, as they cross the open fields between them.
Last year, we had a hunter sitting in his truck at mid-day talking to his wife on his cellphone, when a mature buck trotted by seeking does.
Ben ran inside to tell everyone, and the group that was just sitting around suddenly decided it was a good idea to get back out to the stands!
Can you imagine that?

So, here's the first pics that Derek pulled of his camera:
I had to work with some of them to try to get the pics bright enough to see the deer.
Look close, they are there!

Here's a little better look...

This one likes to have his picture taken.... Two views, a week apart!

And finally, the Brow Tine buck!
Pretty impressive as a four year old, wouldn't you say?

If you are one of the hunters who have booked a hunt with us for this Fall, I have a few suggestions...
Go pick some four leaf clovers, buy a rabbit's foot, and carry a horseshoe around for the next few weeks.
You might even want to try practicing a few shots with your fingers crossed.
If even a smidgen of that works, you might get a chance at one of these bucks!