I've got a line in with a guy up in Illinois for a 5 day bowhunt during the first 3 weeks of Oct. He has 9,000 acres of private farms in the heart of the Golden Triangle. Lodging is provided and you will be taken back and forth to stands. They have over 300 setups that include ladder stands, lock ons and pop ups. Average buck taken in upper 150's to low 160's. So far I have my buddy and I going up the first week If anyone from here would like to share camp with us please get in touch with me soon. The deadline for the non resident lottery is THIS SATURDAY the 30th! Another great deal is if we don't get a deer and want to come back at end of season it's free of charge. Permits run about $400 and licenses are $30-40. Please PM me for more details or questions.

First 3 weeks of October? You are better off waiting for the following 3 weeks.

I understand that the rut starts at the end of oct and first of Nov. but this is when I can get the best deals. I personally like hunting opening week of season while they are still on their feeding patterns and in bachelor groups still and no ones burned tree stand or set ups from sloppy hunters. But I appreciate the suggestion.

I hunt Iowa....will kill a few does during the first few weeks out of non rut stands. Mature bucks are pretty nocturnal in our area till that last week of October. Good luck on your hunt.

thanks man. None the less we will have some fun. Spoke with the guy last night and they are watching a couple studs right now including a nice droptine buck.

I am going to Il this year too , last week of October , I am excited looking forward to going.


Also looking for an affordable bowhunt in TX too

Good luck on your hunt. Who's place are you going to or what outfitter? PM me and I can maybe get you set up on a TX bowhunt. We should have some nice whitetails this year and great exotics.

One of these days Lord willingly I want to hunt ill and ks. Best of luck

Thanks. This outfitter is relatively cheap and have great reviews. I will be sure to write up a review and hopefully share some pictures from the hunt.

Good luck on your IL hunt....

Damn i can't wait till October!! It's going to be a blast bud!!!

It sure is...I may have to guy buy another cooler for the all the beer! Working on a trailer for us as well....I'll keep you posted.

what is their name? I hunt with outfitter up there, sounds like pretty big claims for that price. what is the opportunity and harvest %? If average buck is high 150's then that means all the 120 and 130's taken by the hunters from East and Southeast there must be several Booners taken to up the average!

See above from WITO. THat's where we are going. From all the conversations I have had with them thus far and reviews I've read. I odn't see a problem with this hunt turning out to be a great hunt for us. Hunter (texasbamaboy)has been very helpful and continues to keep me updated with things. I will be sure tp [ost up pictures and comments after the hunt.

Searching internet Western Illinois Outfitters looks par for the course. If you haven't done an outfitter trip up there, it is different.

1) Outfitters up there run a ton of hunters at a time. Usually the rut hunts are booked 20-40 hunters at time. Other times of year like October they usually don't fill up and a little more attention, but also not prime time.

2) Opportunity and harvest rates are much lower than we are use to coming from Texas. 30-40% is a good opportunity and harvest rate up there. reviews at bowsite.com seem to support this, all but two of the reviews are good, but only about 30% actually harvested.

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/outfitter.cfm?outfitterid=611

3) Some of the deer actually harvested are 120-130. This happens with inexperienced hunters from other parts of the country that come to Illinois or desperate hunters last couple days that aren't seeing something and just want to shoot. View their photo album and you see a bunch of smaller racks like this.

http://www.westernillinoisoutfitters.com/gallery/cat.php?cat=18

Also some of the harvest reviews indicate smaller deer too...

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=2870

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=2925

4) You can't keep everyone happy and some customers are more likely to be bad than the outfitter, but the bad reviews give a rounded perspective.

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=3616

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=3575

I'm not trying to downplay the outfitter or hunt, but I have experience in Illinois and especially us Texas hunters need the right attitude going in vs. just going off the overhyped fancy websites that make it seem most hunters average a 160 deer.

From my analysis WITO doesn't look any worse than the others, they look par for the course. Research carefully as there are others out there with almost no success and universally bad reviews. One of the biggest names you see on all the TV shows gets some of the worse ratings.

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/outfitter.cfm?outfitterid=45

Thanks for the information. I have seen the same reviews that you posted up. I am aware that the rut does in fact run later in the year and how they conduct hunts. As an outfitter myself i know that things are never a given even under our texas HF ranches and especially with a bow. I am treating this trip as a vacation and a chance to experience something new. If I am lucky enough to take a buck then it's an added bonus. One thing I liked was the opportunity to come back later in the year if we were unsuccessfull in talking with the outfitter. I like anybody else will be looking for a huge buck that's mature...if he ends up being below average then so be it. I'm lucky that I have already taken a few deer over 160 so again I'm just going to focus on enjoying the trip. But again thank you very much

HG83, Illinois is a great place to hunt. I go every year, but I go the 1st or 2nd week of November. I hunt a buddies property in Pike County. Rob says it right, there are a lot of 120-130" deer taken by folks but there sure seem to be a lot of 150" deer taken as well. I have layed eyes on a couple of Booners up there but one was 275 yds from me on one of Hadley Creeks farms and the other I saw driving around. It is a great place and a lot of fun. Dont expect to see what you see on tv with the time frame you are going up there. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Shoot a doe if you can too. The meat cannot be beat.

The Outfitter thing is different. I have seen it while beig up there. I will never hunt with an outfitter. Rob is also right about one of the biggest names be one of the worst. There are a lot of people up there that dont liek the owner. It doesnt take too long to figure that out. Just go to any local cafe in pike County and listen to folks talk.

What town are you staying in?

we will be near Lima

I hunt about 70 miles south of there near Pleasant Hill

I think he's referring to the old owner Aaron Milliken. The new owner Hunter Still has been first rate in my book and has been on top of everything.

We are now full for the special early season bow hunts. Contact me for other dates. We are also running a special on Gun Hunts. $2000 with lodging included. Dates are Nov. 16th - 18th or Nov. 29th - Dec. 2nd.

[img]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf928Bd57o0&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1[/img]

Talking about the owner of HC

PM's answered