ive got family in just about every county in illinois, including cook, and i can vouch for the awesomeness of the entire state (south of I-80) and man you got nothin to worry about-in fact, some of your lesser known counties are even BETTER at producing trophy bucks because of less hunting pressure and whatnot...i have hunted sangamon, menard, christian, pike, brown, fayette, macoupin, whiteside, logan, and champaign counties (all on family farms) and i have seen a P&Y buck every trip out there, so be ready for a big one sir...and hope you enjoy illinois