Illinois Whitetail by Dan Hudzik

Where is one of the premier hunting destinations in America? Don't guess just Illinois because of the title, the answer is any deer stand with a FOXPRO Game Call. We all know FOXPRO is the leader in predator calling and how well it works, but did you ever think how great they are to use for whitetails. Mark my words, the whitetail industry is going to find out more about the FOXPRO's and I guarantee they are going to lead to the success of more and bigger whitetails taken by hunters that thought they would have never had a chance at a trophy whitetail.

Dan Hudzik showcasing a whitetail dear called in with a FOXPRO game call

I have been hunting Illinois all my life and yes, it is true, we are a big buck paradise. After the close of deer season in 2006 I bought a FOXPRO FX3 from Bass Pro in St. Charles, Missouri. One of the things that Illinois has done right is allowed us to use electronic callers for whitetails. Since the deer season had just ended when I bought my FX3, I had to wait until October to use it for opening day. It was a long wait, but well worth it.

October 1st 2007, I talked a buddy into going bow hunting with me in a small bottom full of cut corn. Today I was out to harvest a whitetail with my FOXPRO. We set up and my buddy was only about 40 yards to the North of me but about 25 yards to the West of my location. Since it was October 1st, the plant life was still abundant and thick as could be. Hunting in the bottoms, we ended up having a swirling wind. I never use my remote when whitetail hunting, although I could if I chose to. I like to keep my FX3 in the stand with me. I know some people say well that's dumb because the deer will look right up at you, really? Well you'll never convince me of that because it works for me and I have never had one look at me yet. I don't hunt 15 feet off the ground either though. I hunt at a minimum of 20-25 feet which is where I feel comfortable. The key words there are that's where I feel comfortable. Hunt where you are comfortable. I hope that with this article, it will open your eyes and make you a better whitetail hunter.

Don't be afraid to try new things when it comes to whitetails. Whitetails are smart and it's those who don't try new things that get left behind and can't harvest whitetails on a regular basis. I have had numerous friends that doubted the FOXPRO for whitetails, but when they started seeing the results they quickly figured out there was something to hunting with a FOXPRO. They know me and know I don't hunt the best property and I don't hunt leased property and fenced whitetails. They know that I hunt where most hunters do, some private small tracts of land and even public land. Since they know this, it really made them pay attention because they figured out that if I can do it they can too, just as anyone reading this can. Needless to say most of them have their own FOXPRO's now that they have bought from the website https://ww.gofoxpro.com or from the big hunting retail stores like Bass Pro and Cabela's. Well, back to the hunt.

I didn't pick up my FX3 until that evening after we had been in our stand for a while and everything had settled down. I didn't want to just blast my caller; I wanted to use it when I felt it would be most beneficial to me and the time had come. I heard rustling in the weeds and about 75 yards beyond a hill behind me. It was time. I picked up my FX3 and hit the Fawn Bawl (call 003) on my caller. I played it for the length of the loop at low volume and then shut it off. I sat quietly and listened. Now I heard the rustling getting louder and closer to me. I glanced behind me and sure enough here came two nice Illinois Does. They were eating some acorns on top of the hill. I picked up the caller and I hit it again and I moved it from my left to my right and even rotating the active speaker behind me to make it sound like the fawn was moving. Both Does stopped eating and looked in my direction and then they went right back to eating.

I played with these Does and I watched their every move so I could read their body language to see what they were thinking. After hitting the call the 3rd time it was the final straw and both of the Does circled in on me, one from my right and one from my left. Now you can imagine sitting as close as my buddy was and hearing everything he was hearing and yet he still couldn't see a thing. My heart was pounding because I knew I was about to land my 1st FOXPRO Doe! I can only imagine the excitement that my buddy was going through hearing everything. I caught a glimpse of movement about 30 yards away to my left and low and behold there was about 160 pound Doe standing there looking out into the field trying to find the fawn she heard.

The other Doe still hasn't shown her face again. I knew it was now or never so I pulled back, took aim and released my arrow. My arrow hit its mark perfectly and I heard her run off into the weeds and crash. Not knowing where the other Doe was I hit the caller. To my right at about 40 yards here came the other Doe. She paced back and forth for a bit looking over the weeds and looking out into the field. I let her get within 25 yards of me as she circled towards the back of my stand. I had another tag in my wallet that I could use because it was an either sex tag. When she presented me with a broadside shot I had to take it. The arrow hit its mark and she ran in the same direction the other one had gone and I heard her crash. One Stand, one FOXPRO and 2 Does for opening day! Not a bad hunt.

I waited until dark because my buddy was still in his stand and I had no idea whether or not he had anything near him because I couldn't see him and I didn't want to ruin his hunt. Finally, when it was too dark to shoot, I went to get my buddy. He got out of his stand and he told me that was the best hunt he had ever been on and he didn't even shoot a deer. He said he knew when he heard the arrows hit the target that those were some dead deer. Well sure enough the fun was about to start. We tracked the first one and found her piled up about 40 yards from where I had shot her. We took her out of the woods and then went back for the second one. We tracked the second one and then we started getting sick to our stomachs because we figured what we were about to find was going to be bad.

As we went down the blood trail, which was a good one, we finally came to the end of it where unfortunately we found a bunch of extra hair and drag marks. On the other end of the drag marks were my other Doe 60 yards away from the other one and she had been torn up by the coyotes already. Unfortunately, they beat us to her but we were still able to save some of her for ourselves so we got her out of the woods and to the truck.

This hunt was the first time I had ever used the FOXPRO for deer hunting, but it surely would not be the last hunt with it. I had a score to settle with some coyotes now too. Since this hunt I have successfully called in numerous does and bucks with the bucks ranging from spikes to 170 inches. I personally have harvested 8 whitetails with my FX3 and have had a chance to harvest many more but elected not to. Yeah, those are other FOXPRO hunts right here in Illinois and some on public ground as well. Make your FOXPRO a piece of gear that is just as important as your bow, rifle and shotgun as I have and you'll harvest more whitetails too.