Illinois Whitetail Deer Hunting

Our Illinois whitetail deer hunting property is comprised of thousands of acres in Southern Illinois primarily in Hamilton, Wayne, Jefferson, and Franklin counties. In our region of Southern Illinois, we have a very diverse topography. We have rolling hills, big timber, large river bottoms and expansive ag fields. Having all this different terrain in the same area is why Illinois truly is a whitetail deer haven.

We primarily use 22-foot-tall ladder stands with lumbar padded seats that fold up allowing whitetail deer hunters to stand and lean back against the tree or provide the comfortability to sit all day. We also have several elevated blinds we utilize as well. If you don’t want to sit all day, that is fine, we can coordinate pickup at the time you wish, but we will usually want to go back out in the afternoon by 1 PM.

It is the same for early/late season whitetail deer hunts, which consist of short morning sits, coming in for lunch and preparing to go back out shortly after noon. When we pick you up in the evening and bring you back to the hunting lodge our cooking staff will have supper prepared. Generally, it’s a steak and tater type of meal for dinner. If you have any evening meal requests let us know!

Whitetail Deer Hunting Guides

We have several whitetail deer hunting guides on staff that will take you to and from your stand or blind. How you prepare for your morning whitetail deer hunt depends on the period of the season you are hunting. During the rut bow and gun hunts we STRONGLY recommend all day sits if you are capable of it. Having yourself prepared to take advantage of midday movement GREATLY increases your odds of success. Wake up in the morning, use the restroom, and have something light prepped for yourself to eat to make it through the day. We recommend jerky, PB&J, turkey/ham sandwiches etc., something that will get you through the day with minimal bowel movement, don’t get caught with your pants down.

Deer Hunting Gear

Our whitetail deer hunts are relatively turnkey, but you will need to bring some deer hunting gear. Bring your weapon in a case, Illinois requires all weapons gun or bow to be in a case during conveyance. Take the time to have your weapon sighted in. We will require you to shoot upon arrival to make sure your rifle is still sighted in, but you need to be familiar with your weapon. Bring your camo, toothbrush, toothpaste, phone charger, rubber boots and lace up hunting boots. We generally have scent-free soap in every bathroom, but you should probably bring your own bottle as well.

We have multiple pillows on each bed, but if you are particular you might want to bring your pillow as well. On top of that you should bring your normal deer hunting gear such as a rangefinder, binoculars, field spray, etc. We encourage you NOT to use deer scents or deer calls. In our experience we have seldom had clients use these to lure mature bucks into a position to harvest them. What does happen most of the time using these types of products is we get busted, educate mature whitetail deer and ruin sits.

Illinois Deer Hunting Season

Being in Southern Illinois we have a wide range of climate possibilities during our deer hunting season, it could be 70, it could be 10. Watch the extended weather forecast and have yourself prepared for these swings. We encourage you to coordinate with us to help you prepare for weather conditions. Contact us at any time with any questions or concerns.

Our whitetail deer hunting season starts October 1st. Hunting in October can be very productive if you catch cooler temperatures, conversely it can be slow if warmer temperatures prevail.

Our rut hunts kick off in November and that is when we encourage all day sits.

The first gun season of the year is always Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Then, the second gun season is Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, two weeks after the first gun season. The weekend after Thanksgiving weekend.

During the gun hunting seasons you may use 12- or 20-gauge slugs, muzzleloaded firearms with a minimum caliber of .44, centerfire handguns or rifles with a case length not exceeding one and two-fifths inches, or a straight wall centerfire cartridge of .30 caliber or larger. Rifles must be single shot or modified to only hold 1 round.

The muzzleloader season is then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after the second gun season.

Only muzzleloaders are allowed during the muzzleloader only hunting season.

Our late season bow hunts have been some of our most productive whitetail deer hunts. There are still a few does cycling in and that keeps the mature bucks on their feet. Also, having rutted extremely hard they are trying to put some weight back on. We have seen more mature bucks’ daylighting on late season food sources than any other time. Our bow season stays in through the second or third week of January.

During the bow hunting seasons you may use compound bows, crossbows, or even air bows to harvest your trophy whitetail buck.