Another great year in Illinois for the duo Pat and Nicole hunting with Tom @ Spoon River! People always ask Pat and Nicole what their favorite state is to hunt big whitetails...well the answer is a resounding ILLINOIS! After this past weeks hunt, I think you will agree, Illinois grows em' big!  As most of you know Pat shot the largest typical ever shot on video back in 2005 in Illinois now this year well...let's just say Nicole gets it done BIG!After scouting a couple different properties, they hung their Big Game treestands and hoped for the best!  November is a magical time to be in the woods in Illinois anyway but this year was extra special because they were hunting property that doesn't get any better for big bucks!Day 2 of the bow hunt Pat had a monster buck locked down with a doe at 72 yards on a ridge next to his treestand, he just wouldn't close the distance...they knew he was in the area now so their plan was to concentrate on that ridge until they could get it done! The next morning, he had this great buck come in underneath his treestand and ending up arrowing him at 15 yards with his Mathews!Hunting with Pat and Nicole for Bow Season was Zac Guy from Legacy Quest Outdoors www.legacyquestoutdoors.com.  Zac hauled up a bunch of new material for Pat and Nicole's new building and he stayed for a few days to hunt! He couldn't ever seem to connect on a big boy but another friend Pete Stanton put his Mathews to good use!Knowing the big buck was still in the area, Pat and Nicole continued hunting there for the next few days and Nicole passed on a couple different nice bucks with her bow.  Friday morning, opening day of 1st gun season in IL, guess who decided to show up on the same ridge he'd been on a few mornings earlier?!  Yep, the big boy...Pat and Nicole watched him come into 20 yards and she smoked him with her Thompson Center Muzzleloader, pink at that! A huge thanks to Tom and his son Mark! Mark actually had this big boy at 15 yards just a couple weeks before that right after he arrowed another big buck so he had to sit and watch him pass by...Mark I think Nicole owes you big time!The sheds off this big boy!!The best part of it Nicole's dad Jim also shot a stud of a buck down in Southern Illinois that same morning so Nicole, her dad and mom all got to share that special memory together!Cara Peebles from OTIS Technology also joined gun camp with Pat and Nicole.  After Nicole tagged out the first morning Pat filmed Cara and they had some close calls just couldn't get it done...the 2nd whitetail hunt Cara's ever been on, needless to say I think we got her hooked!A big thanks to Heritage Grand Inn for the hunting hospitality!Nicole's buck is her biggest buck to date making it both Pat and Nicole's biggest bucks they've ever killed both being shot in Illinois only a 1/2 hour apart! Pretty awesome!  The Driven Team is knocking them down this year with great video! Next year's shows will be rockin'!Happy Hunting to everyone! Stay Safe!Driven Team