Deer Hunting | Illinois Learn to Hunt | Illinois Natural History Survey

IL Deer Hunting 102 Fall 2026 (New & Improved!)

This is the follow up course with more information on how and where to hunt deer. Still suitable for beginners but more in-depth than 101.

This webinar goes perfectly with our deer hunting 101 course, which is more about understanding regulations, finding a spot to go and an introduction to everything else.

The 102 course expands on the hunting methods, scouting, after the shot and processing, understanding where to set up and why, and what weather factors to consider. Another great webinar for beginners!

IL Deer Hunting 101 Fall 2026 (New & Improved!)

Intro to deer hunting in Illinois – webinar. If you are looking to get out for the first time this year – this is the webinar for you.

Illinois is a deer state and if you are interested in getting into hunting, chances are, deer have led you here. In this free webinar we will dive into how, where, when and even why hunt deer. The regulations can seem daunting, finding a spot to go – impossible not to mention knowing things like where to set up or how to process the large animal once you get one.

We will try to cover all that and more as it relates to deer hunting in Illinois in this introductory level webinar.

Be sure to check out our deer hunting 102 webinar for more information.

Illinois Firearms Deer Tag Lotto — How to Apply and Research Spots

In this free webinar, we will talk through how to apply for Illinois firearms deer tags and how to research areas to hunt.

We will walk through the application process for Illinois firearms and muzzleloader deer season lotteries together and show you the tools and resources that are out there to help you pick the best public land location for you.

Watch Illinois Firearms Deer Tag Lotto — How to Apply and Research Spots now!

IDNR Releases Summary of 2024-25 Deer Seasons (Harvest Report)

IDNR’s Summary of 2024 to 2025 Illinois Deer Seasons (Harvest Report) has been released.

Shed Hunting Overview and Strategies

There is just something special about antlers. Perhaps, it’s the rapid growth and deciduous nature of antlers that make them so appealing. Every single antler is different; its shape, size, and character all show the unique story of each buck. Being in the heart of winter, many of us are eagerly waiting for warmer weather, longer days, and springtime activities. However, there is a late-winter activity that can help with the urge to spend time outdoors, shed hunting.

I love hiking around in search of antlers whether big or small. It is like a separate chess match you can have with a buck, post-season. You walk and visualize where you think the antler is going to be but most of the time you must keep moving and keep searching. When you finally do find that first one of the season, it is a totally different experience compared to any other kind of hunting. It’s like succeeding in the ultimate game of hide and seek.

Antlers, found in members of the deer family, are an extension of the animal’s skull and shed and regrow annually. In contrast, horns are a two-part structure with an exterior sheath grown by specialized follicles, similar to human fingernails. Horns do not shed annually (exception pronghorn antelope) and continue to grow throughout an animal’s life.

Deer begin to shed their antlers in late winter through early spring. New antlers, covered in velvet, start growing immediately. Velvet is highly vascularized skin and supplies the growing bone with oxygen and nutrients. By late summer, bucks began to shed their velvet resulting in a hardened antler. During late winter, calcium starts forming around the pedicle (the area where the antlers grow from) which, in return, make the old antlers fall off. This can occur anywhere from late December throughout the month of March in Illinois.

Finding Antlers

Step 1: Locate your target areas.

Shed hunting is adherently different than your regular hunting outings. When hunting, we try and anticipate where the deer will be, but shed hunting, we try to figure out where deer have been. Having a fundamental understanding of deer behavior this time of year will allow you to target high-priority areas. If you haven’t already, read our blog post titled: Post-season Deer Scouting Techniques, here. This article discusses bedding locations used by bucks during the late-season and throughout winter. Buck bedding areas are a prominent location to look for sheds.

Step 2: Find places where you know bucks travel.

Here are some places you will want to look that tend to be high traffic areas throughout the year:

Bedding areas
Food sources
Travel routes
Creek crossings
Fence gaps
Field corners
Waterways
Cedar thickets
CRP patches
Edge habitat
South facing slopes

Step 3: Put your walking boots on.

If you are new to shed hunting, and especially new to the property you are going to be shed hunting, then you will most likely be covering substantial ground. The more you walk, the more ground you will cover. In return, this will lead to more sheds in your pile.

Shed Hunting Tips

Tip 1: Bring your binoculars.

The main reason I use binoculars is because there are A LOT of things in the woods that look like sheds, that unfortunately end up being sticks or weeds. Binoculars will help determine this from a distance, as it is easy to get side-tracked walking for sheds, but you want to keep your course on areas that you think will produce antlers instead of going on a chase for antlers that don’t exist.

Tip 2: Focus on overcast days or position yourself with the sun at your back.

This really helps the antlers color pop out. This also helps to not get blinded by the sun, so sunglasses would help as well. Walking on cloudy days also helps you notice the bright white antler without shadows causing obstructions. Some people have trouble noticing sheds even at their feet. I always say, “It just takes one to get you started”. I feel as if it helps your brain visualize what you are looking for. Shed antlers stick out better in weeds and taller/thicker habitat once you have found the first one. When you are walking, you want to keep looking ahead of you scanning left to right, but you also want to pay attention right at your feet.

Tip 3: Use a GPS tracker or mobile app to track your progress.

This will help you eliminate areas you already walked and will let you visualize areas you still need to check out. Don’t be afraid to re-walk an area in the future as there may be a shed laying there that you missed or an antler dropping after your first walk through.

Tip 4: Use shed hunting as a time to scout good hunting areas.

Sometimes, you can find a single shed and it will lead you on a wild goose chase to find the other side to complete the set. This can lead you into areas you have never scouted before. Make sure to mark trails, stand locations, and good hunting spots on the maps as you go. Shed hunting is fun to do for everyone and takes only a few steps to get the hang of it. Happy hunting!

To conclude, having fun is your number one goal. Bring your family, friends, and try to find some shed antlers. Keep on walking, have your binoculars on you, and keep your eyes open and you will come across a few!

If you’re interested in learning more about shed hunting, the Illinois Learn to Hunt program has an upcoming FREE webinar: Shed Hunting Overview and Strategies. During this webinar, we will do a deep dive into high probability areas, buck bedding areas, and much more. This webinar is scheduled for February 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Advanced registration is required. To register, visit: www.learntohuntil.com.

Post-season Deer Scouting Strategies

As the Illinois 2020-2021 deer season comes to an end, it’s never too early to begin preparations and planning for next fall. While the most valuable information a hunter can rely on is their observations collected during the season, post-season scouting can provide useful information for the next season. It’s important to highlight that observations made during post-season scouting efforts may not directly translate to activity during early season and rut, but it can provide you an excellent starting point for your pre-season scouting efforts during the summer. Additionally, post-season scouting can be a great time to look for shed antlers or even small game hunt simultaneously.

Post-Season Deer Scouting: Changes in Deer Behavior

When trying to understand movement patterns during the post-season, it’s important to have a fundamental understanding of the physiological and behavioral changes occurring during this time. Deer will have reduced metabolism, thicker coats, and increased energy consumption to stay warm. In general, this means that deer will be focused heavily on building fat reserves for the impending winter. Deer have been pressured, particularly on public hunting sites, and may have shifted their movements to more secluded areas with heavy cover. Finding these areas could prove fruitful.

Post-season Deer Scouting: Finding Beds

Arguably, the most important information any deer hunter can discover while scouting is where deer are actively bedding. During the season, I often spend time looking at satellite imagery and topographic maps to identify potential bedding areas. Mid-season, I avoid further investigating these potential bedding areas to reduce the chances of jumping deer and disturbing prominent bedding areas. While it’s not impossible to observe a bedding area without alerting deer during the season, post-season can be a terrific time to confirm bedding in potential sites. This next section will detail several prominent bedding situations and how to identify them utilizing satellite and topographic imagery.

Bedding Strategy: South-facing Slope Bedding

Bedding on south-facing slopes is a common occurrence, particularly during colder weather. South-facing slopes receive more solar radiation for longer periods of the day; thus, they are generally warmer. These areas are extremely productive during cold temperatures.

Bedding Strategy: Leeward Bedding

Bedding on the downwind side of a slope is a fairly common bedding strategy throughout the year. These areas provide deer a unique advantage to scent-check both sides of the slope, resulting in a very secure bedding location. The wind pulls scent from the prominent wind direction to the deer, while thermals, which are rising columns of warm air, pulls scent up the slope from the down-wind side. These winds meet, typically 1/3 of the way up the slope, in an area that many hunters refer to as a “wind tunnel”. This wind tunnel allows deer to have security from any imminent dangers on either side of the slope as they can continually scent check both directions.

Bedding Strategy: Ridge Point Bedding

While much of Illinois is relatively flat, even subtle changes in topographic features can impact where deer bed. One of the more prominent bedding strategies, that is frequently used throughout the year, is the concept of bedding on ridge points. These areas provide ample security and exit routes for deer. Deer will usually utilize these ridge points under very specific wind directions, with a prominent wind coming down the ridge. When using these areas, deer will be facing into the lowland with the prominent wind direction coming from behind them. This allows deer to watch out for danger in front of them, while scent-checking to ensure there is nothing approaching from the rear. Additionally, as we discussed in earlier examples, thermals also carry scent up the ridge from the lowland in front.

Bedding Strategy: Oxbow Bedding

An oxbow is a bend in a river or creek that forms a “bowl-shaped” loop. Typically, there will be a small area of land connecting the oxbow to the mainland. These areas are very secure since there’s only one prominent direction predators can use to reach bedded deer. There are several factors that may reduce a deer’s likeliness to bed in an oxbow. Specifically, the amount of human traffic on the body of water (e.g., kayaking, fishing, canoeing) may reduce the likelihood of an oxbow being used as bedding. Since these areas only have one access point for potential dangers, often times the prominent wind direction must be from the mainland. When a deer beds in these areas, they will be facing the river/creek to lookout for danger. When a deer leaves an oxbow from bedding, commonly, they will walk directly into the wind to continue to scent-check as they transition out of the bedding area.

While identifying bedding areas take diligent notes including GPS coordinates, photographs, and other information that you may find useful as you prepare to hunt these areas next season. The next step after confirming bedding activity is to look for entry and exit routes to and from the bedding area by identifying prominent trails that deer use. When finding trails, it may advantageous to simply follow the trail and see where it goes. Often times, you’ll find confluences where two or more trails come together. These are the areas to highlight and remember for the upcoming season.