Rifles are becoming entrenched enough in Illinois deer hunting to spawn stories.
Let’s start with Tim and Melissa Johandes on opening day of the first part of firearm deer season. The Tinley Park couple were hunting on their farm in Iroquois County.
‘‘Here’s a buck harvested on opening day by my wife with a perfect 45-yard heart shot,’’ Tim emailed.
Then came the part where maybe you have to be married or in a longtime relationship to appreciate it fully.
‘‘The neighbors and I manage our properties for QDM, but my wife has an itchy trigger finger, and I would love to have audio of us arguing when the buck was coming in,’’ Tim emailed.
‘‘Missy: ‘He’s a nice buck. I’m shooting him.’
‘‘Me: ‘No, he’s not big enough.’
‘‘I literally passed a 140-inch 10-point the next morning, and she wasn’t too happy.’’
QDM stands for quality deer management, which aims at producing higher-quality deer.
‘‘She doesn’t get out a lot, and it was her first deer in five years from passing on smaller bucks the years prior,’’ Tim said. ‘‘But the .350 Legend is a great little gun for women and children, especially, with hardly any recoil. The gun we used was a CVA Scout with a Leupold VX-freedom scope.’’
Illinois is nearing the end of its second year in which certain single-shot, center-fire rifles are legal for deer hunting.
The rules are intricate enough that I suggest reading the FAQ page at dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/law-change-that-affects-hunting-season.html.
The bottom line is that the lesser recoil of the rifles vs. slug shotguns matters. And there are accuracy and distance factors, too, which Ron Kopec showed with daughter Veronica.
Veronica Kopec shows her first Johnson County buck, taken with a .350 Legend rifle.
She bagged her first deer, an eight-point buck in Johnson County, with a 150-yard heart shot from a .350 Legend while hunting with her dad and brother Matt.
‘‘No kick compared to a 20-gauge [shotgun] and a 150-yard heart shot,’’ Ron emailed. ‘‘A family that hunts together stays together. Take your kids hunting.’’
Then there is Mick Mullady, the son and grandson of Illinois Outdoor Hall of Famers Matt and Ed, respectively. Mick messaged after opening day: ‘‘I was able to double up last night! Got both with .450 Bushmaster.’’
That’s another of the popular rifles legal for deer hunting in Illinois.
Wild things
The last week or so had a massive push of sandhill cranes around the Chicago area. My niece wondered what that sound (krooing) was when we stepped outside on Thanksgiving.
Illinois hunting
The second part of firearm deer season is Thursday through Sunday.
Stray cast
Somebody should steal my tagline — ‘‘It was time’’ — to lead a Bears story.