Destination
Species
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(7 Reviews)
Golden Triangle Whitetails
Illinois' Golden Triangle

Our goal is to provide you with the biggest TROPHY Illinois whitetail of your life! In the past 11-years our clients have taken hundreds of bucks over 150 and 91 Boone & Crockets. We have 600 strategically placed treestands and 300-acres of food plots. We have been in business since 1998 and our trailcam photos and trophy galleries are proof that big opporunities arise when hunting on GTW grounds. We offer the perfect mixture of strictly managed land, exclusive hunting rights, guides who are not allowed to hunt, and trail cam technology to provide our hunters with records book bucks year after year.

  • Reviewed by

    Reggie Tokarski on November 08, 2020

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    Great accommodations. Brandi and Mike run a 5 star outfitter business. Had tons of opportunities at deer. Even seen 3 over 150. Next year I hope to have one walk in my range! If you are looking for a whitetail outfitter you've found the one!

  • Reviewed by

    Matt Martin on October 30, 2022

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    My bowhunting buddy and I booked a six day bow hunt with Golden Triangle Whitetails, October 21-26. First off I am aware that they can't control the weather, it was hot, windy, and one day of rain, and we basically had one day of good weather for deer hunting. The staff was super friendly, the accommodations are really nice, and they have bow range with elevated shooting tower. The food was top shelf, and the cook was awesome. Now to the not so good part, every stand I got into had not been prepped, I had to cut branches out of the way, one stand was not even close to level it wanted to pour you off the front, and one stand had a large branch right above the seat and I could not stand up, so there is no way the guide had been in any of these stands. The first stand I was in had a homemade ladder and on the way down a step broke off. Pretty much all of the stands creaked when standing if you moved. So in stand preparation they get a failing grade. Our guide was nice kid, but I felt like he did not do his do a good job prepping the spots where he placed us. We still had fun, made some friends, had some laughs, but for the money we paid it was not worth it.

  • Reviewed by

    Justin Dawes on November 10, 2022

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    Me and a family member just hunted Nov. 5-9 2022 at GTW. The staff was friendly and the food was great. The lodge we roomed in was fair but others across the yard seemed nicer. But we came to see some mature bucks and possibly kill one . Well that never happened, We had a nice young guide taking us a hour away to a farm when other hunters got to go to farms minutes away , and the farm we hunted had old dangerous tree stands on it that was sketchy to get in. 4 of us got dropped off to sit daylight to dark for 5 days seeing very few deer and never seen anything close to a mature buck. We understand it’s fair chase but it was obvious some hunters get good farms and some get the gar hole. Great lodge if you’re looking to eat and sleep good! Not for Real hunters

  • Reviewed by

    Douglas Bear on November 24, 2022

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    My dad and I booked a hunt with GTW for the first time this year. We had a great time, accommodations and food were great. Most hunters we spoke to were return customers so that should tell you all you need to know about this business. Our guide was great, very knowledgeable and great farms to hunt. We both saw big mature bucks, unfortunately we were not able to harvest any. It is fair chase so you can’t expect to kill every time. We did see a giant killed while we were at camp along with several other really nice bucks. We have no complaints about GTW and have allready rebooked our hunt for next year. It may not happen your first trip, but there are some true trophies roaming their property. I would recommend any serious whitetail hunter to give this place a try. You will appreciate all the hard work these folks have put into creating a great experience and opportunity at harvesting a big whitetail.

  • Reviewed by

    Rob Hidding on May 18, 2023

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    Very nice property, tons and tons of acreage. All the guys were nice and knowledgeable. Faculties we’re all clean, I like the way it was all laid out. Went for a turkey hunt so I can’t speak to the whitetails but their lodge says it all!

  • Reviewed by

    R Ashton on October 12, 2023

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    GTW is one of the best place to spend your hunting seasons! The accommodations are great! The food is top notch! And the people are the greatest! I love spending my hunting season here! I can’t wait to go back again!

  • Reviewed by

    Bobby Oliver on December 11, 2023

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    Worst hunting experience of my life! My friend and I booked a hunt for muzzleloader season, December 8th - 10th, 2023. I literally just got home and wanted to write this while all the memories are fresh in my mind. I had certain expectations of what the experience would be like with a guided hunt. The lodge and accommodations were fine and the chef and his team did a really great job. On the guide and hunting aspect, which is what matters, GTW fell well below my expectations. In IL, your tag is for a specific county. We had Schuyler County which is over an hour each way from camp. That was awful in and of itself. Our guide, who is a local and a know it all, had zero interest in providing any recommendations, tips, suggestions - basic guide stuff. He does not look at trail cam pics - doesn’t like it! How can you be of any value as a guide if you don’t know what is on your property, where and when it’s moving, and what stands provide the best opportunities. He never checked wind, never explained where we were going and why. In fact, I ended up with wind at my back most of the time - NICE! I did have the distinct pleasure of two plus hours in the truck with him bragging about the deer he had killed. Who cares!!! You should be helping your hunters and getting feedback and setting up a game plan for a good hunt the next day. Day 1 - we left at 4 am, I was dropped off at a box at 5:20am, TOLD I would be in that stand all day, picked up at 5:30pm, back at camp at 7pm. That night we asked what the plan was for day 2 and he told us he knew where he was putting us. When I asked if we had any input, he said “sure” and totally copped an attitude. The next morning, he proceeded to put me in a rickety ladder stand that had no padding on the shooting rail, no seat cushion, no safety line, and no chance to see a deer. Stand was noisy and dangerous - ratchet straps look like they had been on stand for 3-4 years. It was in a hole with max shots of 50 yards and a railroad track behind me less than 100 yards. What a great spot to see a trophy whitetail! Who wants to hunt with 50 yard views with a muzzleloader??? I was told to bring a safety harness and I did. Too bad they don’t have lifelines on any of their stands - they don’t tell you that in their “hunter checklist”. So my one and only hunt in a tree was incredibly dangerous and completely useless. I committed to boxes after that because the safety of the stands was a big issue. We asked at dinner that night, how he decides where we are gonna hunt each day - he said “I know where I’m putting you before you get here”. Are you kidding me? I hunted three straight days from sunrise to sunset - I saw a total of 26 deer including two spikes. I saw 3 deer (total) before 10am and that was on day 1. The rest of the deer (23) showed up after 4pm and legal shooting light ended at 5:05pm. It was by far the worst hunting experience of my life. I like Mike and Kyle, the two owners and guides. I wish they took the time to ask how our hunt was going but they never did. They should require all of their guides to utilize current technology and share that information with their hunters. There is absolutely no point of paying for a guided hunt with a guide who doesn’t make an effort to put you in the right spot to at least see deer and maybe actually see a buck, not to mention a shooter. I am convinced my guide intentionally put me in bad spots once I asked if we had any input. So basically we had an Uber driver to the stand - zero guiding was provided. This is the polite version of what I really think about my experience. It’s unfortunate that one bad guide can make such a lasting impression. If you go to GTW, make sure you don’t get Schuyler County and you don’t get the Uber driver.