Whitetail Deer Hunting

fresh shed in the snow

Compared to last year’s mild winter with several days of above average temperatures and hardly any snow accumulation in West-Central Illinois, this year has been a different story. The biggest advantage to having a hard winter for shed hunting purposes is that the sheds will be more concentrated. When the weather is milder and little

Ask any bowhunter about their favorite treestand location and they’ll probably have a name for it; “A” stand, honey hole, assassin, death valley, etc. There’s a special stand location in every whitetail hunter’s head that they think about year-around. Waiting for that special week or even day that they can slip into their “A” stand

Illinois archery hunting outfitters

It was day 5, and after a long week of bowhunting hard, Dennis and I were making our long, uphill trek to a secluded beanfield where Dennis had already made three long sits without any sightings of the buck he was after. A mature, main frame eight point nicknamed “Hank”. Hank was consistently popping up

The weather forecast for the last week of October is looking promising for deer hunters across West-Central Illinois. After a cold front moves through on Tuesday, it looks like we will be back to more “normal” temperatures for this time of year. With the daytime highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s, the

Finding land in a highly managed deer hunting area can lead to consistent success!

Purchasing Illinois Deer Hunting Land Specifically for Upper-Age Class Whitetails There are hundreds of farms for sale right now in Illinois being marketed as Illinois deer hunting land. How do you choose one from another when the ads all say something like- “big buck factory, whitetail paradise, dream deer hunting farm, the perfect deer hunting

Early Season Whitetail Hunting

Bowhunting mature whitetails in Mid-October can be challenging, yet very rewarding when the weather conditions cooperate. Deer movement can seem to be idle at best during the “Indian Summers” the Midwest typically experiences sometime during the first 2-3 weeks of October. Many whitetail hunters refer to this time of year as the “October Lull”. However,

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ALL SCOUTING PHOTOS!  The bucks are looking great here in Pike County, Illinois as we are just days away from opening day of deer season! We’ve had an optimal growing season this summer and the bucks are looking great! Sign up to win a FREE WHITETAIL HUNT!! All you have to

A deer hunting at Heartland Lodge Outfitters

Bowhunting Illinois Outfitters – Pike County, IL Heartland Lodge is a specialized bowhunting outfitter located in Pike County, Illinois. We take bowhunting very seriously at the lodge. All of our guides are accomplished bowhunters and know how to put you in a position to have a great bowhunting experience. Bowhunting without a doubt is an

We are very proud of our awesome team for being recognized as the Pike County Business of the Year! Heartland Lodge was among three finalists. The other two finalists are both excellent businesses and are both leaders in our community. We were blessed to be chosen as this year’s winner! The award was presented at

Finding Match Sets of Shed Deer Antlers

Numerous factors lead to when a buck sheds its antlers. Stress related to weather is one of them. This year, here in West-Central Illinois, we’ve hardly had any snow, and other than a few short days of extreme cold, this winter has been mild (so far). We had an extreme cold snap around Christmas, but

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