Harpoles Heartland Lodge
Harpole's Heartland Lodge
Rated 3 out of 5.0 based on 6 Outfitter reviews.
Contact: Gary Harpole
Location: Nebo, Illinois
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer, Turkey, Chukar, Dove, Partridge, Pheasant, Quail, Woodcock, Ducks, Geese
State(s) Hunted: IL
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Submitted by: Mike Blasius
Review Submitted: Aug 30, 2010
Hunt Date: Nov 15, 2004
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 3
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Any
Method: Bow
Price Range: Any
Number of animals seen, met expectations?
Size of animals seen, met expections?
Hunting pressure in the guides area, met expectations?
Would you hunt with this Guide again?
Nice lodge, but geared more towards the "Eddie Bauer crowd" of quail hunters who like wine and cheese. Deer hunters kind of take a back seat to the wingshooters. Had a terrible guide first trip, who just did'nt care. Saw a nice buck and decided to try it again. The guide on the following trip was great - we're still friends. Lots of hunters in camp - would have liked a smaller crowd. Killed a doe, but did'nt have an opportunity at a buck. There are some nice deer here, but I probably would'nt go back.
report this reviewnote: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.
outfitter review submitted by: Clark Thorne on Jun 8 2010
Species Hunted: White Tail Deer
Game Quality: Good when visible
Accommodation Quality:
Camp Condition: Excellent
Food Quality:
Guide Experience: Good
Other Personal Experience:
Overall Impression: Iffy
Recommend: No
Reviewer Comments: I have been hunting Heartland for 6 years, but we did not return on 2009! What we saw in 2008 told us that we should not return. I learned to hunt deer at Heartland. The quality of deer and the number was GREAT for the first couple of years. By the last two or so years, the numbers had started to dwindle, with people complaining that they were not getting the opportunities that they were claiming. I have heard that they have lost many land leases. So they, in 2008 started re-using stands with different groups that were in there at the same time. The year before, our guide only allowed us to use his land, but in 2008, after our guide left, I was listening to the other hunters and they were all at one point or another in the 5 day hunt, using the property we had used exclusively the years before...(the Wildcat Hollow area) and same stand! This means that the stands never got a chance to rest. Even if you were limited on your land, by putting more stands you keep the deer from eyeing the same stands... but that was not what was happening. In addition, the good areas that Heartland had, were now classified as Trophy areas, and they almost charge double for it! If I were to hunt there again, I would go the first week of the season, guaranteeing fresh stands!
outfitter review submitted by: Daniel Hodges on Aug 28 2008
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Game Quality: great
Accommodation Quality: great
Camp Condition: great
Food Quality: great
Guide Experience: great
Other Personal Experience: great
Overall Impression: First Class
Recommend: Yes
Reviewer Comments: We went on an early season hunt in Oct 07. It was extremly hot but the deer moved pretty good. The guides went out of their way to put us on deer. They would move stands, change farms, and work together to make sure we would have the best chance to get on a big deer even though the weather was in the 90's. The lodge was great, food was great, and Gary is first class. We have rebooked for 08 and will be their in a few weeks.
outfitter review submitted by: Kevin on Dec 16 2006
Species Hunted: whitetail
Game Quality: excellent
Accommodation Quality: excellent
Camp Condition: excellent
Food Quality: excellent
Guide Experience: excellent
Other Personal Experience: very friendly
Overall Impression: excellent
Recommend: yes
Reviewer Comments: Hunted Nov. 17-19 gun season. Lost count of amount of deer I saw!!! Guide was great and eager to help. Seemed knowledgable about his "farm". Food was excellent even though on two nights the second helpings were hard to get due to too many people and not enough food. Lodge was spotless and very comfortable. Tagged out on 128" 8 pt. with 10" G-2's on the last day. Brother in law shot 142" 12 pt. Would definitely go back again.
outfitter review submitted by: Mike Bommer on Feb 27 2006
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Game Quality: Excellent
Accommodation Quality: Excellent
Camp Condition: Excellent
Food Quality: Outstanding !!!
Guide Experience: Very Good
Other Personal Experience: Very Good
Overall Impression: Excellent
Recommend: Yes
Reviewer Comments: I have hunted with Heartland Lodge for the past 4 years. Last year I harvested a 141" 11 pointer that field dressed at 240 Lbs. I had to watch him come in for about 25 minutes as he rubbed every tree he passed, chased smaller bucks off, chased does and made scrapes. By the time he finally gave me a shot, he was a mere 7 yards away and only went 30 yards after the shot. I shot this deer on the first morning of my hunt at 8:30, only 2 hours after I got in the stand. It was the second buck I have taken with them, the other was 3 years ago, it was also an 11 point but scores 159 and some change. The lodges are beautiful, very comfortable and the food is outstanding !! I would recommend this outfitter to anyone that asks.
outfitter review submitted by: Kenneth Wiesen on Mar 8 2005
Species Hunted: Whitetail
Game Quality: couple of nice buck's
Accommodation Quality: excellant
Camp Condition: excellant
Food Quality: more than you can eat ! !
Guide Experience: Fair
Other Personal Experience: Great
Overall Impression: Good
Recommend: Yes
Reviewer Comments: Hunted the 3rd week of October, weather turned very warm,Rut was just starting to kick in when it turned warm. Saw lot's of big rub's and scrape's. Saw 2 buck's in the 140 class, and one in the upper 150 to 160 class. saw lot's of deer, buck's where to far to shoot with a bow. Would like to go back for the shotgun season. Only complaint the treestand's where set-up with the deer coming in from behind you.
Contact: David Stanley
Location: Ocate, New Mexico
Species Hunted: Elk, Mule Deer, Black Bear, Turkey, Mountain Lion
State(s) Hunted: NM
Utah Hunting Information
Utah has recently been outstanding for trophy elk, but the best tags take many years to draw. Utah does have conservation tags available for purchase that allow hunters to bypass the drawing. Given the high demand for these premium tags prices can be high. In the past Utah has been a top trophy mule deer state but recently only a handful of units consistently produce B&C caliber deer.
New Mexico Hunting Information
New Mexico is one of the top destinations for trophy Elk and Antelope hunting. Draw odds can be tough depending on the unit but landowner tags are also available for those who don't draw. Mule Deer are plentiful but generally of average size. Only a couple of units and reservations consistently produce big muleys.
Alberta Hunting Information
Alberta is a large, diverse province with rolling prairies, farmland, river bottoms, Boreal forests, and large expanses of the northern Rocky Mountains. Many species of big game, waterfowl, upland game and predators inhabit Alberta. Long known for monster whitetails, Alberta also is home to big mule deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, black bear, cougar, Canada moose, and bighorn sheep. In fact, 7 of the 10 largest bighorn sheep in Boone and Crockett record book are from Alberta. In addition to big game, Alberta offers some top notch bird hunting. Serious waterfowlers know about the large flocks of ducks and geese that call Alberta home or migrate through.
