Lovin' Every Minute of My Recent Hunting Season! I just wanted to take a minute to share with all of you how I have loved every minute of my recent hunting seasons. 2011 – 2012 has given me some of the best hunting experiences that I have ever had. Certainly, it has been another excellent whitetail seas... Read the full story

Let the Turkey Games Begin! Grab your shotguns, mouth calls, slates, and boxes, turkey seasons all over the country are getting underway! Some of you are already in full swing turkey mode, some are just getting started, and others, like the crew at Heartland, are working hard to pr... Read the full story

In-Between Hunting Seasons and Nothing to Do It’s not deer season, and in most states there is at least another month before turkey season starts. The weather is crappy and there’s nothing to do except flip through channels watching hunting shows you have already seen. Does this sound like the attit... Read the full story

Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show The annual Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show, held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is the largest exposition of its kind. The Heartland Lodge crew had the pleasure of having a booth at the show all of last week. It was a long nine days with some busy times a... Read the full story

Brooke Miller Takes Second at the World Archery Festival in Las Vegas!! Brooke Miller of North East Missouri took second place in the WORLD ARCHERY FESTIVAL in Las Vegas on February 9th through 12th. This is one of the most prestige archery tournaments in the world. Heartland Lodge is very proud of Brooke’s accomplishment! C... Read the full story

SCI International Convention We recently returned from the SCI show in Las Vegas. The Safari Club International Convention has been held in Reno, Nevada since we started attending the trade show but this year it was moved to Las Vegas. The SCI convention brings visitors and vendors i... Read the full story

What’s Happening at Heartland in February February is set to be a busy month for the Heartland crew. We’ll start the month off at SCI in Las Vegas. For those of you in the western part of the country, we’d love to see you there! We will be heading to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the Eastern Sp... Read the full story

Going Out with a Bang: Late Season Doe Hunting The 2011-2012 season is in the books. We had a great season here at Heartland Lodge, filled with memories that will last a lifetime. Late season doe reduction is always the final leg of our deer season. It’s a great time to enjoy the hunt without all t... Read the full story

Filling the Void from Whitetail Deer Hunting to Spring Turkey Hunting Whitetail deer seasons around the country are reaching their ends, and hunters everywhere are gearing up for spring turkey. Application deadlines are closing in quickly, but the turkey season is still a few months away. You’ve applied for your tag, booked... Read the full story

2012 Spring Turkey Last Chance With deer season coming to an end and turkey season applications going into random daily drawing its time to make a decision. If you are a beginner turkey hunter wanting to gain some knowledge on chasing these birds or an expert wanting to put another mon... Read the full story

2012 Deer Season availability As the 2011 deer season is coming to an end in Illinois and in your state possible as well, the last thing you are probably thinking while you’re sitting in your chair on Sunday afternoon watching football, is booking a hunt for 2012. Well now is really t... Read the full story

Another Outstanding Year As the calendar roles around to another year and with the hunting season only having a few short days left we need to take the time to reflect on the year we had. Whether you hunted with us here at Heartland Lodge or on your own property it’s time to take... Read the full story

Shed Hunters As the deer season is coming to an end we are starting to notice more and more big bucks missing sides. If you are one of those enthusiast that walks miles and miles through the woods looking for a deer horn don’t worry you will fit right in here. Heartla... Read the full story

16yr old Matthew McPhillip's Memories of Hunting Whitetails in Illinois My family and I have been coming to Heartland Lodge for 4 years now and are planning to return for a fifth. When we first started coming I was only 12 years old and wasn’t even old enough to hunt. However I came with my parents hoping to see some of the m... Read the full story

Ron Way's Monster Boone and Crockett Whitetail This would be my 3rd trip to Heartland Lodge and I've anticipated coming for the whole year as I have seen in the two previous times a B & C buck each year. Never close enough for a shot but just seeing one was enough to get me to come back. The first n... Read the full story

Rich Peace and His Illinois October Whitetail This year my dad and I decided to come to Pike County and try our luck at an Illinois whitetail. We booked a hunt the last week of October with The Heartland Lodge and we couldn't wait to get here. As we arrived, so did the unseasonable warm weather.... Read the full story

Allen's October Blog-Hunting Early Season Whitetails The deer hunting season is well underway here at Heartland Lodge. Despite heat and high winds, shooter deer opportunities have been numerous. The less than ideal weather conditions have reminded us to pay close attention to the little things that are fu... Read the full story

Memories Memories, Opening day has finally come and hunters have made their way into camp. It’s always an exciting time of year for both hunters and guides. It didn’t take long for everyone to be smiling and telling stories about previous seasons... Read the full story

Clothing and Gun Selection for the Beginner Well here it is the start of the official fall season. Our thoughts are turning to getting out in the field and enjoying the beautiful weather and the chance to harvest a monster buck or to get involved with some water fowl or upland bird hunting. In m... Read the full story

What's Your Stand On Stands? WHAT’S YOUR STAND ON STANDS Hanging stands, climbing stands, ladder stands, homemade stands, shooting towers, ground blinds, or just an old bucket against a mighty oak? With so many options, what’s a hunter to do? This is the time of year we need to f... Read the full story