W MA HUNTER, i have never actually hunted in Pike county; but the counties i hunt in (Morgan & Cass) are just on the other side of the Illinois river and share in the absolutely awesome whitetail hunting that Pike co offers.
as far as your upcoming hunt goes, you are going to have a great time. you are going to see a lot of deer, including some very big bucks. if you're worried about shooting a 125 class buck or under, my advice to you would be to not take any buck that has less than 10 typical points if you want to be extremely careful dont take anything less than a 12 pt typical. there are a lot of immature 8 pointers who fall right in the range of 110 to about 130 or so.
good hunting and best of luck.