I started out going to Illinois in 1992. I had some private land that I hunted but I also hunted public land. I found a small state park in southern Illinois about 6 hours from Oxford. We'd go up for a week mid November. That park ended up being what we called "The Calhoun County" hunting club. There were always lots of "11" tags in camp because I made the mistake of taking some of the wrong people with me over the years.

I think it has calmed down since then. The park is Red Hills State Park and is 15 minutes East of Olney Illinois. They even have a little cabin in the camp that you can rent for cheap.

If you decide to hunt that park I can tell you what tree to climb to kill a deer.

Good luck.