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=6113) 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=18Also some of the harvest reviews indicate smaller deer too...
http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=2870http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=29254) 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=3616http://bowsite.com/bowsite/OUTFITTERREPORTS/detail.cfm?reportid=3575I'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