WHAT A HUNT INCLUDES AT HEARTLAND

Heartland Outfitters in Brown, Pike and Adams counties in west/central Illinois may very well be one of the best places in the East not under fence to take a trophy buck. When I was there last week, I saw more bucks with 130 - 180 B&C points than I'd ever seen at any place in the East. Let's look at what a hunt includes.

"A hunt includes all food, lodging, guides, hunting and deer processing," says Dr. Robert Russell, the owner.

Dr. Russell's wife, Ann, is a gourmet cook. If you don't put on 5 to 10 pounds while at Heartland, you can resist temptation better than I can.

"We may have cheaper prices for hunts earlier in deer season," Dr. Russell explained. "When the weather is warm, the deer don't move as well. So during the early season, we charge from $1,650 to $2,150 for one person to hunt. A $2,150 hunt is a rut hunt. We don't have more than 12 people in camp, and we hunt 12,000 acres."

Dr. Russell owns five farms and has leases on several other farms in this section of Illinois. The hunting is so good for trophy whitetails in this region that Heartland Outfitters stay booked about a year in advance.

"We like to hunt one hunter per 100 acres per year on our 14,000 acres," Russell mentioned. "If we take 40 to 50 bucks on that amount of land, we won't reduce our buck population hardly at all. Because each year we find trophy bucks that have died of old age, we feel we can maintain a trophy buck herd each year by not overhunting it."

You might ask why would a plastic surgeon from Springville, Illinois, own hunting lodges and be in the hunting business. "My wife and I just like being around hunters," Dr. Russell commented. "I enjoy hunting. Hunters are a different kind of people than I see in my office every day. I like hearing the hunters' stories about the bucks they've seen on my property, and I enjoy seeing the bucks they harvest. Operating a hunting lodge is just fun for me."

For more information on hunting at Heartland Outfitters, contact 480 South Meadowbrook Road, Springfield, Illinois 62707 or (217) 787-0050.

Check back each day this week for more from John's latest hunting trip...

Day One - Robb's Trophy Buck
Day Two - Why So Many Trophy Buck
Day Three - What A Hunt Includes At Heartland
Day Four - Talking Deer
Day Five - The Truth About Odor