Teacher One I'm not sure what county you hunted in, but I'll share my thoughts on Illinois. This year made 23 or 24 years I have hunted the state, so I been fond of the hunting there. I have been in the southern part of the state for the last 10+. I personally feel like the quality has dropped way off in this part of the state over the last few years. It seems the central part of the state has made a big recovery from consecutive years of EHD outbreaks, which probably helped them get back on track. The area had become overpopulated therefore quality had dropped off. If I were in the market for a new lease, I would be looking north of southern 1/4 portion of the state. Get above the counties around the KY state line! Granted there are still pockets of quality deer to be found, but it's fell off pretty bad in my personal opinion.

As for cost you can expect $20 per acre minimum for anything halfway decent. To get that price you will be dealing directly with the landowner, so encourage you to seek out some landowners. Anything with a middle person involved will be north of $30 i'd say. If I were you, I would make a road trip and try to meet some landowners. I have a couple contacts that are up in age that have acquired land by making a road trip and meeting folks. Seems like these farmers feel more comfortable leasing to someone similar in age as them. The further north you go the more expensive these tracts will be. Back in hayday of the golden triangle, I heard talk of ground leasing for $100 acre for the hunting rights.

My overall opinion of IL is not what it once was!! I think the legalizing of crossbows has hurt the quality tremendously and has increased hunting pressure 10 fold. I also think the new rifle reg is going to continue the decline. The state also lacks serious game enforcement and a good many of the locals run rampant up there due to that fact. It's nearly impossible to manage for quality if you have locals as neighbors. This opinion is based off firsthand personal experience across multiple counties throughout the state.

My best advice is be careful who you deal with and try to find out as much information as can on the available property. It's for lease for a reason which could be legit or it have a host of problems.