Turkey Season Kicks Off 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... Read the full story

Hunting in Alaska 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... Read the full story

Shed Hunting and Scouting 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... Read the full story

Turkey Hunters Last Chance Tags 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... Read the full story

2012 Deer Season Summary The 2012 deer season has, so far, been a season of ups and downs. Overall, the hunting has been average. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. However, when we dissect the season week by week, we see that 2012 has been a wild rollercoaster ride... Read the full story

Opening Day of Illinois Gun Season Opening day of Illinois gun season here at Harpole’s Heartland Lodge in Pike County, our hunters arrived yesterday afternoon ready and excited for opening morning. Most of the afternoon yesterday, hunters were sighting in their guns and preparing for this... Read the full story

October Deer, Pheasant, Quail and Waterfowl Report The month of October has been an exciting yet busy one for the lodge. We have had many upland hunts this month which have been going really well and will continue at this pace for the next month. We have had many birds harvested this year as we have notic... Read the full story

2012 The Dry Run The barge ride to the island is slow and hot. Moving at five miles per hour doesn't generate much wind flow and I am beginning to feel like I'm riding a frying pan across the Mississippi River. Today we are hauling the pump and tractor, the 4-wheeler, a f... Read the full story

Getting Stand Locations Finished Getting stand locations finished.. As the Illinois whitetail deer hunting season is getting close and some states season open in a couple of days, it is time to make sure your stands are in and ready. By in and ready I don’t mean “yeah they are still in... Read the full story

Bringing Home the Gold Ok…. So maybe you aren’t an Olympic athlete, but you have to admit that seeing the U.S. Olympic team win medal after medal gets you pretty jacked up about athletics and the spirit of competition. As you sit in front of your TV set with your adrenaline pu... Read the full story

Creek Bottom Bucks We have all heard of river and creak bottom bucks. We’ve heard the “big” bucks like to hang out in these drainages. Or we often talk about deer crossing creeks in certain spots and setting up our ambush spot somewhere on either side of the creek. But what... Read the full story

Scouting Illinois Whitetail in the Heat of the Summer No rain and in the 90’s along with triple digits on the thermometer through the end of May, June and July makes it’s tough to get out there and scout whitetails. The best way I have found to scout deer during hot summer months, is from the inside a truc... Read the full story

Scouting Whitetails From a Bike The first thing you think of when scouting whitetails is not using a bike. I am not talking about a motorcycle but a bike that has peddles. Those who know me know that I like racing in triathlons and part of my training is riding the rolling hills of Pike... Read the full story

The 28 Gauge: Serious Gun or Toy? Let me say at the outset that for the most part I am no devotee of the 28 gauge. Most 28 gauge guns are far too light for serious shooting. The Benelli Legacy, for example, weighs a puny 4.9 pounds, and most other 28’s weigh about 5 ½ pounds. When you s... Read the full story

SHOTGUNS: MAKE MINE HEAVY Several years ago a U.S. maker of very fine bolt-action and single-shot rifles decided it wanted to get into the shotgun manufacturing business. The founder and president of the company was a devotee of light side-by-side game guns, with straight English... Read the full story

Brooke Miller Wins The National Championship!! We took the whole family to the indoor national championships sponsored by the NFAA on March 31st & April 1st. This tournament brings in the best shooters throughout the entire United States and beyond. Brooke shot in the female CUB freestyle divisio... Read the full story

Venezuela Hunter Shoots His First Turkey As the Illinois turkey season comes to a close, I start looking back on the memories made this season with the hunters at Heartland Lodge. An extremely warm and early spring was the last thing we wanted to see while gearing up for what we hope would be a... Read the full story

Turkey Season Ends with Good Signs for the Deer Season With one of the toughest turkey seasons coming to end its makes a guide smile knowing how many tags got filled throughout the spring turkey hunting season. With mid-march hitting temperature in the mid to high 80’s for almost two weeks everything was jump... Read the full story

My Nephew’s First SpringTurkey Hunt I have four nephews, but one in particular has become obsessed with hunting. Aubrey who will be ten this year went on his first spring turkey hunt with me. He didn’t have his own turkey tag, but I had a landowner turkey permit and could hunt all of the... Read the full story

Youth Turkey Hunts for Spring Gobblers Two brothers harvest their first turkey on their youth turkey hunt at Heartland Lodge. Charlie (Age 13) and Tommy (Age 11) Filip both harvested their first turkeys on the same day! Illinois has a youth turkey season before the regular season starts, but t... Read the full story