Family owned · Henderson County, Illinois
The hunt is good. The camp is why they come back.
Nearly 8,000 acres of managed Illinois ground, six licensed guides, and a twelve bedroom lodge that sleeps thirty four. Hunters keep writing about the food, the family and the fact that nobody here treats them like a booking.
01 · The board
Every hunt, every price, posted.
Most Illinois outfitters make you call before they will tell you what a week costs. Ours are on the wall. Lodging and meals are included on every hunt, and one child hunts free with each paid adult.
03 · Who we are
What a guided hunt in Henderson County actually gets you.
Bigger Bucks Outfitters is a family owned outfitter in Media, Illinois, hunting nearly 8,000 acres of managed ground in Henderson County, just over the bluff from the Mississippi River. Six fully licensed guides, a 4,800 square foot lodge that sleeps thirty four, and prices that start at $600.
The ground is a working mix of rolling hills, river bluffs, corn, soybeans and year round food plots, cut through with timber, CRP and natural travel corridors. That mix is the whole point. It holds deer rather than pushing them across a fence line, and it gives a guide real options when the wind turns.
What the reviews actually talk about, though, is the camp. Ten of our Google reviews mention the lodge by name. Six mention the staff. Five use the words family atmosphere. People book the deer and come back for the people, and after a while we stopped being surprised by that.
Travis and the crew make you feel like you are part of the family while still giving you 110 percent on putting you on big bucks.Chris LaBuguen · Google review
04 · The ground
Nearly eight thousand acres, one county, no guessing.
Cameras run year round across the farms. Stand placement follows the deer rather than the map, and by the time you sit down your guide has been watching that buck since summer.
Rolling hills and river bluffs give the property vertical relief that most Illinois farm ground does not have, and that relief is what creates the funnels. Deer bed in the CRP and the timbered draws and travel the edges between them. We hunt those edges.
05 · The lodge
Twelve bedrooms, three baths, and room for thirty four.
The lodge is 4,800 square feet and it is the reason most of our reviews read the way they do. Twelve bedrooms, three full baths, a family suite, an outdoor pool, an archery range, boot dryers and bow hangers by the door, and an ice machine that never quits during shotgun season.
Meals are cooked here. Evenings happen here. If you have hunted somewhere that put you in a motel in town, this is the part of the trip that will be different.
06 · Recent hunts
What comes off this ground.
No composite photos, no borrowed bucks, no stock. These are hunters who booked a week and drove home with the animal in the truck.
07 · What hunters say
Twenty six reviews. Four point eight.
★★★★★
My first turkey hunt and first time hunting with Bigger Bucks Outfitters did not disappoint. The lodge was awesome. The people were great. The hunt was amazing. Travis the turkey whisperer Bigger was my guide for most of the trip.
Shannon Mallow · Google review★★★★★
Travis and his crew are amazing. The camaraderie and the lodge and overall welcome feel you get there is top notch. Unfortunately the weather was against us on our hunt but you cannot control mother nature. We will definitely be back in the future.
Vince Sinkule · Google Local Guide08 · Before you book
Illinois permits are a deadline problem, not a paperwork problem.
The nonresident combination archery permit is $411 and the online lottery closes on June 30. Firearm lotteries run earlier still. Most hunters who miss a season miss it on a date, not on a draw, so we wrote the whole thing down. Fees and windows are set by the Illinois DNR, not by us.
Nonresident combination archery
$411
Lottery closes June 30. Over the counter from August 3, subject to availability.
09 · Check availability
Tell us the week you have in mind.
Fill this in and Travis or one of the guides will call you back, usually the same day. If you are chasing November dates, the phone is faster.
