Golden Triangle Whitetail
Golden Triangle Whitetail
Rated 1 out of 5.0 based on 7 Outfitter reviews.
Contact: Michael Pavlick
Location: Orland Park, Illinois
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
State(s) Hunted: IL
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Submitted by: Joe Onizuk
Review Submitted: Mar 4, 2016
Hunt Date: Nov 20, 2015
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 3
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain: Farmland
Method: Shotgun
Price Range: 3000-3999
Number of animals seen, met expectations?
Size of animals seen, met expections?
Hunting pressure in the guides area, met expectations?
Would you hunt with this Guide again?
Worst Hunt Ever
Very disappointing hunt. Didn't hunt in the "Golden Triangle", hunted in another county. Hunted a farm that was not prepared or scouted. No cameras, broken stands, no stands on the fields. The land owner was the guide, an he was NO guide. Hunted hard for thee days and never saw a buck even close to a shooter. Brought all this to the attention of Mike the owner of Golden Triangle Whitetails and received the message he didn't care about the hunters just the money! I have never written a review but feel so strongly that I need to warn other hunters. Don't waste the money!
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Submitted by: Shane Poore
Review Submitted: Feb 24, 2011
Hunt Date: Dec 2, 2010
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer
Days Hunted: 4
Hunt Type: Guided
Primary Terrain:
Method: Shotgun
Price Range: 3000-3999
Number of animals seen, met expectations?
Size of animals seen, met expections?
Hunting pressure in the guides area, met expectations?
Would you hunt with this Guide again?
Golden Triangle Whitetails= Waste of Money
Was expecting a top of the line hunt when going to Illinois. Got to camp and it was pretty nice, had some huge deer mounted in the main building. After a group meeting the first night I found out I would be guided by the owner himself. Even though there were over 30 hunters there I was not worried. I sat every day from daylight to dark for four days and the largest buck me or my father saw was 100" or less. Between the two of us we saw 5 bucks all small and about 15 does in four days. After four days of hunting there were 8 deer killed by over 30 guys and a few missed but all the guys that missed killed by the end of the hunt. In my opinion the farms are over hunted seeing over 200 hunters a year and is a waste of time and money.
note: The following reviews predate the numeric rating system and are not included in this outfitter's overall rating.
outfitter review submitted by: Bruce Foley on Jan 24 2010
Species Hunted: Whitetail
Game Quality: Great
Accommodation Quality: Great
Camp Condition: Great
Food Quality: Good
Guide Experience: Great
Other Personal Experience: N/A
Overall Impression: Good
Recommend: Yes
Reviewer Comments: Mike has got the deer. My son took a 155 on the first day. I passed up one on the last evening at 20 yards that I'm still thinking about. Not bad for a three day hunt. The hunting was out of bow stands, which was a little tough for this old hunter. He's got them up there! We were there for gun season and had a great time. I would use them again, but talk Mike out of box blind. Just kidding.
outfitter review submitted by: Steve Nelson on Nov 4 2008
Species Hunted: White Tail
Game Quality: 1 buck in 3-1/2 days
Accommodation Quality: ok - slept 4 to a room - bunk
Camp Condition: good camp
Food Quality: ok
Guide Experience: Horrible
Other Personal Experience: average
Overall Impression: WASTE OF MONEY
Recommend: Wouldn't go back for free
Reviewer Comments: Mike is a nice guy and appeared to have a few repeat customers. So at one time, I think he ran a pretty good outfit. But this trip, even his repeat customers were not happy. So my opinion is only my opinion. The land is over hunted - they try to accomodate too many hunters - you will likely get stuck hunting a handful of stands and in our case (3 hunters) saw very few deer. THEY WILL NOT ROTATE YOU TO PROPERTIES SEEING DEER - WHAT EVER FARM YOU GET, YOU HUNT. If I can keep 1 guy like me from being cheated out of their money - I have done my job.
outfitter review submitted by: Chris on Nov 17 2007
Species Hunted: White Tail Deer
Game Quality: 2 per day ave.
Accommodation Quality: 3 men to a room
Camp Condition: varied
Food Quality: good
Guide Experience: Average, nothing special
Other Personal Experience: varied
Overall Impression: below average
Recommend: NO
Reviewer Comments: Our hunt was a bow hunt. Our land (we were stuck on) was garbage. The stand are 40-50 yards off the trails, the guides hunt wind driection ONLY and not deer locations? You can have the wind in your face all day, but if the deer arn't there....? IL has potential, but NOT Golden Triangle. Very disipointing, it was a waste of money!
outfitter review submitted by: Chris Daniels on Dec 20 2004
Species Hunted: Whitetails
Game Quality: Fair
Accommodation Quality: Fair
Camp Condition: Excellent
Food Quality: Good
Guide Experience: Good
Other Personal Experience: Varied
Overall Impression: Good
Recommend: Yes
Reviewer Comments: I hunted the first gun season and saw a lot more deer than I expected -- 10 bucks the first day. Three were respectable 8 points but not the kind you go to IL for. I was placed in a stand that was within 75 yards of another property and had other hunters within sight most of the time, which was somewhat of annoyance. The second day was a total bust -- one small buck and a few does. The third day I saw a shooter buck but I blew the opportunity. Overall, I saw a lot more deer and a lot smaller bucks than I expected. I also was surprised to have so many other hunters so close by. Most of the stands that I hunted seemed like they were set up for bow more so than a shotgun hunt. Three or four bucks that were killed by others might have gone 140 to 150, but nothing spectacular. Several 8 points that would have been better bucks next year were taken by other hunters. Haven't decided if I will go back next year; they should put in place some antler restrictions to improve the herd. They also need to change up the stands a little for gun season.
outfitter review submitted by: Mike Lembke on Nov 23 2003
Species Hunted: Whitetail deer
Game Quality: excellent
Accommodation Quality: good
Camp Condition: good
Food Quality: good
Guide Experience: excellent
Other Personal Experience: excellent
Overall Impression: excellent
Recommend: yes
Reviewer Comments: Mike's area in western IL meets all that is written about it. Saw mulpitple bucks although largest were tending and not moving. Took to young bowhunters who had multiple opportunities. Guides were great with them. Rest of camp saw monsters and lots of smaller bucks. Food is ok. Camp is clean and comfy. This was a bowhunting only season with IL shotgun the following weekend. We're going back for more next season.
Contact: Matt Brewster
Location: Latham, Ohio
Species Hunted: Whitetail Deer, Turkey
State(s) Hunted: OH
Iowa Hunting Information
Iowa is one of the best Midwestern states for monster whitetail bucks. Non-residents must apply for a tag in their annual drawing. Archery tags are the most sought after and depending on what units you apply for generally take 2-4 years to draw.
Ohio Hunting Information
Ohio is best known for its trophy whitetail deer. In fact, the world record non-typical whitetail was harvested in Greene county by Mike Beatty in November 2001,
Colorado Hunting Information
Colorado is one of the best western states for trophy mule deer hunting and has the largest population of elk in the west.
