There are weeks where everything in the woods seems to come to life. This happens twice a year, once with the first warm day of spring and the other the peak of the rut. Everything seemed to come together the week of Nov 15, 2009.

Steve Lewellen and his son Rusty have hunted whitetails in Illinois before but never seen the magical days of the November rut. The bucks were on their feet and moving throughout the entire day, and they had set a goal of only shooting a buck if it was over 150. That goal was tested over and over again as numerous deer over the 140 mark came by their stand.

At last light on the second night of the hunt Rusty shot a 14 point. The buck scored just over 153″. This was further proof that both Rusty and Steve had made the right decision to hold out for a big buck.

Steve proceeded to hunt daylight to dark, passing on 15 different deer over 140 but not quite 150. Steve also saw 2 bucks well over 150 but just not within bow range. It never did come together for Steve but he had intense action the entire time he was in the stand for 4 straight days.

Although he didn\’t get his buck, Steve\’s comment to sum up his hunt was “action packed”. That is exactly what Illinois is in the November rut, action packed and something whitetail hunters should experience at least once.

Check out this incredible Southern Illinois Whitetail hunt if you would like more information.

See the original article at GotHunts.com

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