My buddy and I had several leases in Richland County for a number of years. Our experience was same as the other guys, get there on Nov. 1st and leave on the day shotgun season opened.

If I were going to hunt around Crab Orchard or Rend Lakes I would definitely take a boat. Those spots typically get a lot of pressure from the out of state guys so a boat should help get to some isolated spots.

We found a good processor in Louisville. Made it a lot easier on us when we were staying 9-10 days.

Basecamp has a few leases left that look decent and are fairly cheap. That might be an option to avoid the pressure as well.