David Ward's Combo Archery/Gun Hunt Our good friend David Ward harvested this heavy mass split brow 11pt. David had an incredible week of hunting. He first started out hunting the archery week before the shotgun season. David saw shooters almost every day and came very close to arrowing a b... Read the full story

Tony Childers 135" 9pt Tony took this very wide 135" 9pt on the second day of his hunt. Tony passed up two shooters on the first day. Tony was impressed with the wide rack this buck had. Congratulations Tony!!... Read the full story

Vincent McPhillips Makes an Incredible Memory with his Family Vincent McPhillip decided we wanted to start a tradition four years ago, hunting the opening weekend of Illinois gun season at Harpole’s Heartland Lodge, with his son Matthew. Each year one or the other would harvest a buck, but this year they both had hu... Read the full story

John Mongello Jr is 100% on Bucks at Heartland John Mongello is two for two on hunts at Heartland Lodge. John took a monster 160" whitetail on his first hunt at Heartland and this year he shot this 130"! Congratulations John!!... Read the full story

McPillips Family Deer Hunting Tradition Continues The McPhillip family started a tradition four years ago, whitetail hunting at Heartland Lodge the opening weekend of Illinois gun season as a family. Dad (Vincent) hunts with Matthew while Mom (Joanne) enjoys the lodge and surrounding towns and area. Mat... Read the full story

Two Chances at a 192" Boone and Crockett Whitetail!! Our good friend Ron Way from Arizona harvested this buck of a life time on the last morning of his hunt. This main frame 10 with a small kicker off the left sides scores 192"!! Ron and his guide Matt "Yankee" Brunet stayed focused on this brusier knowing... Read the full story

Brad Doughty's Incredible Whitetail Hunt! Brad Doughty took this very mature buck (7yrs old) on the last morning of his whitetail archery hunt. Brad had been seeing shooters every day in the tree stand but just could not connect on one. He sat in the stand all day, ever day maximizing his opportu... Read the full story

Dennis Desilva 131" "Extra Tine" Buck Dennis Desilva took this unusual buck. Notice the extra beam coming out of its forhead. Dennis called this nice... Read the full story

John Morris' 140" 10pt Our new friend John Morris shot this nice 140" 10pt on the first morning of his hunt. John captured the whitetail hunt on film. He is filming for his tv show Backroad Outdoors! John and his father Bill had a incredible week full of memories that will last... Read the full story

140" November 9pt Whitetail Our good friend Bart Leswick takes another nice buck at Heartland. Bart has hunted whitetails at Heartland the past four years in a row. He has killed two nice bucks and has missed two. Bart enjoys hunting whitetail here in Illinois during the first week... Read the full story

145" November Whitetail Bobby took this nice 9pt on the last day of his hunt. Congratulations Bobby!... Read the full story

146" October 10pt Bruiser Whitetail! Our new friend Dwayne Martin use a drag rag to bring this awesome whitetail to within bow range! Congratulations Dwayne!... Read the full story

A 130" October 10pt Rich Peace took this nice whitetail on October 26th. It was one of those overcast, cool days that you just felt like something was going to happen. It was Rich's first trip to Heartland Lodge. Congratulations Rich!!... Read the full story

An October 143" 15pt!! Our good friend Ed Taylor from New Mexico harvested this nice buck. Ed shot him on October 25th and recovered him the morning of the 26th. After a bad shot the deer only went about a 100yrds and bedded down. It pays not to put any pressure on a deer after... Read the full story

280lb Monster October 9pt!! Kirk Scribner took this monter whitetail during Illinois archery season in mid October. This mature whitetail weighed over 280lb pounds and scored 157" as a 9 point! Congratulations Kirk on an awesome buck!!... Read the full story

Come hunt with Sitka and Rhino Outdoors pro-staff members For the second year in a row, Sitka pro-staff member Jeff Sposito will be joining the Heartland Lodge Crew for a whitetail hunt October 7th-11th. Also joining the Heartland Lodge Crew this year on the same week will be Rhett Hardin pro-staff member of Rhi... Read the full story

Extend your archery comfort range The common archery hunter practices three to four nights a week shooting 20 and 30 yard distances. Practicing these ranges night after night can make you feel comfortable in making a good clean shot at 30yrds. However, have you ever had a big shooter buc... Read the full story

Long bearded thunder chickens Even though whitetail season is just around the corner, trail camera pictures of giant long beards in food plots and scratching old acorns in the timber remind us of the great 2011 spring season. The idea of busting a good one in the spring of 2012 linger... Read the full story

One more change of the calendar The season is getting closer and you now realize that with only one more flip of the page the calendar will reveal the opening day of Illinois deer season. Some of you are wondering where you are going to be sitting on opening day, and some already know.... Read the full story

2011 Spots Available 2011 Spots Available As the 2011 season approaches and yourrealize you have not yet picked out your spot to hunt this fall don’t worry we still have a few prime spots available for both archery and gun hunts. I have listed a few dates before that t... Read the full story