Hadley Creek Outfitters

note: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.

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outfitter review submitted by: Taylor Williams on Feb 12 2006

Species Hunted: Whitetail

Game Quality: Excellent

Accommodation Quality: Good

Camp Condition: Good

Food Quality: Good

Guide Experience: Excellent

Other Personal Experience: Good

Overall Impression: Excellent

Recommend: Yes

Reviewer Comments: We knew Pike County had the deer and after some research we found that Hadley Creek had 20,000 acres in "The Land of the Giants". As soon as we pulled into Barry, Il. the rains came and for 4 days it rained and the wind blew 25 mph. It was miserable but you can't kill'em in camp and as rough as it was the deer did move a little. I saw P&Y class animals every day and 3 B&C class bucks. Everyone in camp saw shooters. A buddy watch 2 150s try to kill each other at 50 yards, another fella saw a 160 breed a doe out of range and several shot opportunities were blown. We killed 2 bucks in camp a 145" 9 and I killed the smallest of the 3 "Booner" class bucks that I saw- a 178" 12 that tipped the scales at 300lbs. It is fair chase. Stacey and his guides were better than any I've met.Most had B&C class animals to their credit and guaged their success by your success. Who wants to hunt with a guide who doesn't hunt? Even though not everyone in camp got a shot, everyone is going back and odds are the weather couldn't get any worse.

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outfitter review submitted by: Jeff Labuda on Jan 18 2006

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Game Quality: Good

Accommodation Quality: Good but overcrowded

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Good

Guide Experience: Should be called Taxi Drivers

Other Personal Experience: Good

Overall Impression: Over hunted

Recommend: Yes but overhunted

Reviewer Comments: I thought this was a good hunt but quality of deer suffering from overbooking. I hunted Nov 6 to 12 (Rut)and saw numerous deer and several spikes and three points everyday. I saw three 120 to 130 inch bucks for the week, but nothing in between those and a three point. The camp I hunted in was very clean but overcrowded. I stayed in a cabin with three other hunters and only three beds. I slept on an air matress that went flat in the middle of the night. The other camp had 14 hunters and only two bathroom/shower facilities. Many of the hunters showered at night to avoid fights. Not good for hunting trophy whitetails. I hunted with a different guide at a different farm everyday. This was nice because you weren't stuck with a bad guide or bad farm all week. Each guide had 300 to 400 acre farms and guided for 2 hunters plus himself 6 days a week. The guides seemed like excellent hunters and went out of their way to accomedate you, but most of them were only their for a few weeks so I don't know how they knew their farms. They basically drove you to the farm and showed you a tree to climb in. My stands were typically located in a small wooded ravien that ended 60 yards infront of me and was surrounded on three sides by vast picked agricultural fields. I typically hunted within 30 yards of a fence that I presumed was a property line and didn't know if the adjacent property was managed for trophy whitetails or not. Most people in camp saw a shooter deer, but none of the 18 hunters in camp harvested a deer over 130 inches on a rut hunt. I overheard one guide say he was guiding three hunters a day, six days a week, for six weeks and they only harvested one buck so far. I don't know how they claim 65 percent of their hunters kill a 130 inch deer or better.

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outfitter review submitted by: Revel Rawlings on Jan 16 2006

Species Hunted: whitetail deer

Game Quality: Excellent

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Excellent

Guide Experience: Very good

Other Personal Experience: high

Overall Impression: Very Good Trip

Recommend: yes

Reviewer Comments: This was my first experience of an illinois whitetail hunt and i wanted 140 or better. Over the course of the week oct31-nov4 I saw 37 rack deer. 2 over 150 2-3 over140 lots of others. Had a 150 inch deer chasing a doe very close but i couldnt get him to stop with a good shot at vitals. Last day of my hunt I got an opportunity at a 130plus 9pt. Made a bad shot and we werent able to retrieve deer. You will hunt stands that have been hunted before but that will be the case wherever you decide to book. Everyone was very nice and i felt that they tried to put you on a good stand. Only one deer taken out of my group that was in camp. 120 plus. Lots of opportunities during the week.

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outfitter review submitted by: KEITH WEST on Nov 5 2005

Species Hunted: DEER

Game Quality: FAIR

Accommodation Quality: VERY GOOD

Camp Condition: VERY GOOD

Food Quality: NOT GOOD

Guide Experience: 50/50 SEE COMMENTS

Other Personal Experience: OKAY

Overall Impression: 50/50

Recommend: 50/50 CALL ME

Reviewer Comments: THIS WAS THE 2ND TIME I HUNTED THERE AND DID HARVEST A DEER AGAIN.THE FOOD WAS VERY UNSATISFACTORY FOR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WAS PUT OUT. AS FAR AS GUIDES GO THEY WERE VERY FINE PEOPLE BUT I DO NOT THINK IT IS RIGHT FOR THE GUIDES TO HAVE THERE BUDDIES FROM BACK HOME THERE HUNTING AND FOR THEM TO BE HUNTING ALSO. I THINK THAT TAKES AWAY FROM MY HUNTING THAT I HAVE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR. I WILL NEVER GO BACK. IN RESPECT TO THEM I WAS THERE FOR A RUT HUNT AND IT HAD NOT STARTED AT THAT TIME BUT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD CONTROL ON THAT.

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outfitter review submitted by: Anthony Grosso on Nov 3 2005

Species Hunted: whitetail deer

Game Quality: excellent

Accommodation Quality: excellent

Camp Condition: excellent

Food Quality: good

Guide Experience: excellent

Other Personal Experience: very good

Overall Impression: excellent

Recommend: absolutly

Reviewer Comments: I've have hunted with Stacy Ward for the last three years and will hunt with him again this Nov.2005.Every year that I hunted with Hadley Creek I have seen more deer than I can count with many bucks in the 140+ class.I can't imagine where you can hunt whitetails and have a better opportunity than with Hadley Creek.I have hunted all over the USA and Canada and Hadley Creek is one of the best outfitters that I have hunted with. Anyone having a problem hunting with Stacy needs to understand that this is hunting not killing and nothing is guaranteed.All they can do is put you in a position to be successful (and the rest is up to the hunter,the weather and the deer)which they do extremely well.I can't recommend this hunt enough for someone who is willing to put the time in and wants an opportunity to take a record book deer.

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outfitter review submitted by: Jeff Brown on Oct 20 2005

Species Hunted: Whitetail

Game Quality: Good

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Excellent

Guide Experience: Excellent

Other Personal Experience: Excellent

Overall Impression: Excellent

Recommend: Absolutely

Reviewer Comments: I am a veteran of many different hunts in many different states. I have seen the good and bad of the outfitting business. This was my third hunt with Hadley Creek, and even though this was an early season hunt (October 9-14, 2005) I saw lots of deer and several good bucks. I had been on a November rut hunt with them the previous season (saw 45 bucks!) but my expectations were lower for the early season hunt this year. The weather was warm (70's) and we had an east wind, which really seems to suppress movement. But nevertheless I saw many does and immature bucks. I saw three different 130-class bucks within shooting range and a 140-class buck out of range. I killed a 130-class 8-point on the last day. In my opinion the stands are positioned very well, and hunted lightly because there are so many (more than 1,500!) spread over dozens of different farms. We hunted great food sources (standing corn, acorns, food plots) and heavily used trails to/from bedding areas. There are no sure things in hunting, but this operation certainly gives you a good opportunity to encounter huge bucks. I will certainly be back...

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outfitter review submitted by: Mark Fabrizi on Oct 19 2005

Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer

Game Quality: Very Good

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: Excellent

Food Quality: Excellent

Guide Experience: Excellent

Other Personal Experience: Excellent

Overall Impression: A great time!!!!!

Recommend: Yes for sure

Reviewer Comments: This was my 1st outfitter hunt. I hunted the 2nd week of Oct 2005. As soon as I arrived at Hadley Creek and meet everybody and saw the camp I knew I was going to have a great time. Everything is top notch. I saw some great bucks and alot of deer.Didnt work out for a shot but the deer are there. I look forward to going back again.

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outfitter review submitted by: Stephen on Mar 10 2005

Species Hunted: deer

Game Quality: poor

Accommodation Quality: good

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: poor

Guide Experience: poor

Other Personal Experience: poor

Overall Impression: terrible

Recommend: absolutely not!

Reviewer Comments: I hunted during the RUT, i never raised my bow in 6 days of hunting. The guides could care less which way the wind is blowing when they put you in your stand.All of the stands were grossly OVERHUNTED! We had one hunter get in his stand, and after 15 or 20 minutes saw some blood on the ground,got down to check it out and found a blood trail and footprints, only to find out later that someone had killed a deer in that same stand the AFTERNOON before. This is nothing but a "production line operation" of taking your money, putting you out on a stand reguardless of wind direction or previous hunting pressure and sending you on your way. We too had one of the guides kill a deer which i think is wrong, and all of the guides also stated that they only do this so they can hunt during gun season, Stacey does not pay the guides any money, just hunting rights later in the season. The camp i was in had 14 hunters (they have 4 total camps with this many hunters EACH WEEK)and there were only 2 deer killed, and this was DURING THE RUT! Please look elsewhere if you want to kill a trophy deer and get your moneys worth. THe food also sucked!, i think they bought supper at the local supermarket deli, cold cereal for breakfast, and if you were lucky, bad sandwiches for lunch. HUNT HERE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND YOU WANT TO THROW AWAY OVER 3,000 DOLLARS.

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outfitter review submitted by: Ray Smith on Jan 11 2005

Species Hunted: White tail Deer

Game Quality: Poor

Accommodation Quality: Excellent

Camp Condition: good

Food Quality: good

Guide Experience: Poor

Other Personal Experience: Poor

Overall Impression: Poor

Recommend: No way

Reviewer Comments: Our group hunted the last wk of oct.Stacy,s so called guides are trading their time delivering hunter,s to and from stands for hunting privledge,s.We felt that this hunt was merely an assembly line for hunters.Land is overhunted and if you did see a good buck they would move you to a new farm and guide.We will never hunt with hadley creek again.

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outfitter review submitted by: Gary Jenkins on Dec 3 2004

Species Hunted: whitetail

Game Quality: good

Accommodation Quality: execellent

Camp Condition: execellent

Food Quality: very good

Guide Experience: average

Other Personal Experience: good

Overall Impression: good

Recommend: yesI

Reviewer Comments: I saw a lot more spikes than last year. The weather was warmer than hoped for and my deer sightings were not as good as last year.Stacy runs a first class camp and his guides try to put you on deer.Some of the other hunters saw deer in the 135 to 175 class.My largest deer sighted in two years was about a 140 class.The 3 other hunters with me saw better deer than I did.There are definitely some 170-200 class deer there.

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