Hancock is a real good county and your going at one of the best times in Illinois. The rut should just be starting and deer should be chasing pretty good. I'll be taking my week vacation starting the 6th of November. Its the time of year when rattling, grunting and bleet calls can all work so it make it a little more fun.
I have to think the youngster that was bad mouthing you probably grew up in a small town and has the time and resources to either knock on doors or talk to the people over the course of time to get permission to hunt. Some of us die hard hunters live in large towns and cities and don't have the resources to explore by taking road trips, explore small towns, knock on doors and hope one out of a 100 pay off. It's not financially sound to spend so much money of gas, hotels, etc when you can lease or use an outfitter. I'm sure every hunter out would rather have there own land to hunt on, but with the price of land its not possble for most. I am lucky enough to have met a good buddy (actually on this site) who lets me hunt his property but if he didn't I'd have to lease or use an outfitter. I wouldn't want to, but I'm going to do everything I can to hunt. As long as its not high fence I'm happy for anyone who shoots a deer, buck or doe. I'd rather not have leases out there but thats the way the hunting world is now and its not changing. Plus, with the horrible crop season in the Midwest farmers are really going to be hurting financially so instead of this year thinking it of a lease, think of it as really helping farmers out for the privledge of hunting their land.