Opening Weekend of Duck Season! Few Spots Remaining!

November 2nd, 2023 Opening Weekend Duck Hunt Recap- “We had a phenomenal opening weekend hunt at the lodge this year. The weather conditions were near perfect with a major cold front pushing through on Friday evening. We had great hunts with several ducks harvested. Book Your 2024 Opening Weekend Duck and Goose hunt today before we sell out! For more details call 217-734-2526 or E-Mail Gary@HeartlandLodge.com. Hunt package rates below.”

The anticipation of opening day of Illinois’ duck season has our guides, staff and hunters anxiously counting down the days! We have had a long-standing tradition of waterfowl hunting at the lodge, almost as old as the migration routes on the Mississippi flyway! The opening waterfowl weekend consistently produces phenomenal duck hunting.

Not only do we have a very healthy local population of ducks and geese, but we’ll also have early migrators filtering through the area. We’re located in between the mighty Mississippi and Illinois Rivers with several thousand acres of backwaters, sloughs, flooded fields and marshes creating optimum waterfowl habitat.

Opening Weekend Duck Hunting Conditions

In West-Central Illinois, we typically start our duck season on the last Saturday of October. Weather conditions are usually very comfortable with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 30’s. The mornings are cool and crisp. The rising sun will burn off the early morning fog in the river bottoms. The whistling wings of ducks and geese can be heard before light. Our guides and hunters will be counting down the seconds until legal light.

Early in the duck season we tend to have high numbers of teal, mallards, wood ducks and coots. Fast and low flying teal offer challenging shots as they fly by the blinds at rocket speed! Wood ducks are plentiful in late October in our region. Small ponds can hold dozens at a time! Many of the local mallards and geese haven’t had any pressure and are more apt to decoy compared to later in the season.

Combo Waterfowl/ Upland Hunts- Opening Weekend

An upland and waterfowl combo hunt at Heartland Lodge is a great hunt for those looking to get plenty of wing shooting action. Enjoy hunting half the day in the waterfowl blind and the other half in the upland fields behind some of the finest bird dogs in the country!

Our pheasant hunting and quail hunting is known to be the #1 quail & pheasant hunting lodge in Illinois. Our upland fields consist of native prairie grasses, thick drainages, and several acres of milo strips for additional cover and a fall/winter food source that provides excellent pheasant shooting and quail shooting opportunities. We are the only Orvis endorsed lodge in Illinois.

Waterfowl Only Hunts (End of Oct - End of Dec. Call for dates.)
Three night, three day duck hunt	$2,550
Two night, two day duck hunt	$1,700
* Includes guides, dogs, meals, accommodations, game cleaning, & packaging. Waterfowl hunts end at 11:00.

Book Your Opening Weekend Hunt Now!

To book a hunt, please give us a call at 217-734-2526. or E-Mail Gary@HeartlandLodge for more details.

More information on our hunting packages:

Guided Duck Hunting Packages

Goose Hunting Lodge

Pheasant & Quail Hunts

Combo Duck/ Upland Hunts

Last Updated: November 2nd, 2023