News & Promotions

  • 2013 Whitetail Hunts Available
    11/28/2012
    2013 Whitetail Hunts Available
    Posted by admin
    Now is the time to reserve your 2013 whitetail hunting dates. We have some great deer hunting dates available but they won't last long. Most of our prime dates are filling up early. We had a good 2012 whitetail season with the majority of our hunters
  • John Brewer's 173" Whitetail
    11/4/2012
    John Brewer's 173" Monster Whitetail!
    Posted by admin
    Our friend John Brewer from Florida took this incredible whitetail at 5:00pm on the last day of his deer hunt in Pike County, Illinois. John stayed optimistic throughout his entire hunt. He would always have a smile on his face and say “It was a great d
  • 2012 Deer Season…What did you learn?
    1/15/2013
    2012 Deer Season...What did you learn?
    Posted by admin
    When an individual engages in an activity for many years and achieves a certain level of experience it becomes easier to fall into complacency. Once good becomes good enough and the thirst for knowledge has been quenched growth in that activity all but ce
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Tips from our Experts

  • Want More Turkeys?
    4/5/2013
    Want More Turkeys?
    Posted by admin
    Years ago when I started guiding in West Central Illinois I decided that the status quo of the properties that I hunted was not good enough for my hunts. I wanted to not only keep more turkeys on the grounds that I guided, but I also wanted more places t
  • The Way of the Turkey Gun...
    4/2/2013
    The Way of the Turkey Gun...
    Posted by admin
    I once had a professional upland guide and very accomplished clay shooter debate with me the topic of pointing his turkey gun instead of aiming it because it was a shotgun. He claimed that the only proper way to shoot a shotgun was to "point it"...
  • Why We Hunt
    2/13/2013
    Why We Hunt
    Posted by admin
    Why We Hunt After my last blog was posted on the internet I saw some interesting commentary from the public. The comments varied from positive to negative and were mostly generated strictly from a picture and not from actual written word. This certainl
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Recent Blogs

  • Turkey Season Kicks Off
    4/10/2013
    Turkey Season Kicks Off
    Posted by admin
    Here at the lodge we try to help people of all ages get into hunting as well as gun and bow safety. Of course some of our favorite times are working with the youth. The youth turkey season was on April 6th-7th and you could say it started with a
  • Hunting in Alaska
    2/10/2013
    Hunting in Alaska
    Posted by admin
    As I am flying in the Supper Cub from Tok Alaska into the wilderness of Alaska, I looked down below me and it was if I was traveling in a time capsule. Taking me back hundreds of years before tv’s, the internet and Facebook was created. Alaska calls its
  • Shed Hunting and Scouting
    1/30/2013
    Shed Hunting and Scouting
    Posted by admin
    It's February now and most states have come to the end of deer season or are closing within the next couple of weeks. Here in Pike Co. Illinois the season came to an end in mid- January with some real nice bucks making their way to the buck pole. But the
  • 1/30/2013
    Turkey Hunters Last Chance Tags
    Posted by admin
    Turkey Hunters It’s time to start getting ready for the season. If you want to be an Illinois turkey hunter this spring now is the time to get your tags. Right now we are in the middle of the third lottery which ends February 11th. This c
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Testimonials

  • Always love coming to Heartland.  The staff makes you feel like family.......Like coming home.
    - Geoff Duncan
  • Another great trip.  Roger and I are looking to bring a couple more guys over next year.  Very relaxing trip.  Matt does a great job, treats us more like hunting buddies than clients.  Everything is greatly thought out at your place and I feel very comfortable with the hunt.  Thinking about coming back for a January hunt.  Thanks again,  Tim McGuire
    - Tim McGuire, Fairbury, IL
  • This was our 2nd year to Heartland and it was everything we had hoped for.  Thanks again to our guide Allen.  He is extremely knowledgeable and accommodating in every way.  He is the absolute best guide I have ever used and I will return next year because he is the best.  Thanks also to Matt for accommodating our reservations and coordinating our total trip.  Matt and Allen are 2nd to none!
    - Bill Morris, GA
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Premier Whitetail Outfitter In Illinois

There are many whitetail outfitters in Illinois to choose from. Making the right choice is not always an easy one. Every year there are new Pike County, Illinois outfitters popping up and old ones trying new “tricks” to get your business. There are many reasons why Harpole’s Heartland Lodge is known as the premier Illinois whitetail outfitter.

Click the sections below for more information.

View Rates

Whitetail Photos

Trail Cam Photos

Scouting Videos

Year-Round Whitetail Outfitter Staff

Heartland Lodge is a western Illinois outfitter located in Pike County, with a dedicated full-time whitetail manager, full-time assistant whitetail manager, supporting staff and guides. Our outfitter staff is working on your hunt not only while you are here, but year-round to ensure that you have the most successful hunt possible. The outfitting staff begins in winter scouting the bucks that survived the fall hunting season and currently looking for new tree locations. Late winter and early spring is spent walking the woods looking for whitetail sheds, over-seeding our clover food plots and continuous scouting. Early spring is spent planting new food plots. Summer is spent maintaining food plots, glassing & video taping deer that come into the fields, and checking trail cam photos. Late summer is spent planting our brascca food plots and new clover plots. When fall arrives, all the work has been done and all that is left is to hang the stands. In contrast, many outfitters don’t start preparing for you hunt until the week before you arrive. You won’t find a more diehard whitetail outfitter in Illinois than Heartland Lodge and our whitetail crew.

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Illinois Bow Hunting Outfitter

If you are looking for a bow hunting outfitter then Heartland Lodge is the right deer hunting outfitter for you. Archery hunting is a passion shared by our entire whitetail staff. We shoot our bows all year and look forward to spending time in the woods with the archery hunters that hunt with us each year.

Not only is Heartland Lodge a serious archery outfitter, but the entire state of Illinois is designed for bow hunting. Illinois has a short three day gun season during the rut and a later gun season after the rut. These short gun seasons give whitetails in Illinois the opportunity to mature and develop into monster bucks!

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Premier Outfitter Focused on Customer Service

Heartland Lodge has chosen to stay a “small” focused whitetail outfitter so that we can get to know and take care of each hunter that stays with us like friends and family. Your hunt is a large investment and we want to make sure that when you leave, you feel like we have given you 100%. It’s our opinion that taking a large number of hunters is counterproductive to the hunting experience. We only take as many hunters that we feel we can provide a high quality hunt and get to know on a personal basis.

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Upfront, Honest Deer Hunting Outfitter

There are no smoke-and-mirrors marketing tactics used at Harpole’s Heartland Lodge. Everything you see on our web site is 100% real and unstaged. All of our deer photos and trail cam photos are from our hunters and our properties. Be wary of whitetail outfitters in Illinois who don’t put the names of the hunters or dates and times on their trail cam photos. Most of their deer pictures are not from actual hunters and trail cam photos are from many years prior or on properties you will never be hunting.

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First Class Illinois Deer Hunting Lodge & Outfitter Accommodations

This is normally last on the list because most hunters think they could sleep in the back of their truck as long as the hunting is good. That may be true, but a good night’s sleep and a good meal are just as important to your hunt as good stand placement. If you are fatigued, it may make the difference between harvesting a buck of a lifetime and missing the chance of a lifetime. Heartland’s accommodations and meals are in a class of their own. You will look forward to the comfortable beds after a long day’s hunt and you will awake fresh and ready to go each morning.

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Repeat Hunters

Heartland has been guiding quality whitetail deer hunts for 19+ seasons. The majority of our hunters are repeat clients from previous years. Our goal is when you leave, that you tell us your hunt was everything you thought it was going to be and more. Most of our hunters reserve their spot for next year before they leave.

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Long Term Whitetail Deer Management

Long term deer management is critical to growing mature whitetail bucks. Most of our whitetail properties have been under our management for at least 10+ years, some for 20+ years.

Our guides do not hunt the properties you will be hunting. Believe it or not, many outfitters in Illinois allow their guides to hunt the same land as the hunters do. Many times you will find their guides in their trophy galleries! Avoid these outfitters at all costs!

For more information on our deer hunts go to our main Whitetail deer hunting page.

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