Illinois Deer and Turkey Trip
2 Comments Published by David Blanton on Monday, June 2, 2008 at 1:44 PM.
Above is a cool pic of Daniel Thomas, Ben Plattner, me and Rhett Rossi taken while we were in Illinois just a couple weeks ago.
Come this November, I will have the honor and privilege of be able to hunt with Ben and Lynn Plattner of Timberland Outfitters in Central Illinois. Ben and I have visited on several occasions over the past few years at different trade shows and consumer shows and just hit it off so we arranged for me to travel there this fall and try my luck hunting with him. (This is where Rhett Akins killed that huge 165-inch 8 pointer on Monster Bucks XVI.)
Since I’ve been so busy this spring and have done very little turkey hunting (the only trip being with Michael to WY & MT) I was anxious to get out of the office and “mess around” a little bit. So Realtree Outdoors Producer Daniel Thomas and I planned a quick two-day trip out to Timberland to scout and hang some Lone Wolf stands for the upcoming deer season. This was our first priority!
Then, Ben calls me up just a week prior to our trip and asks if I’d be interested in doing any turkey hunting and since I had a tag I, well, uh . . .duh!
THAT’S A “NO BRAINER”.
I was terribly inconvenienced to have to pack along a gun case carrying my Benelli 12 gauge. This really is a tough job.
Still though, scouting, getting these stands hung, and shooting lanes cut was our MAIN objective.
Daniel would video the entire ordeal and hopefully it would piece together really nicely with a huge buck I shoot there this year. This would be a really cool segment for the show . . . all the tough decisions of where to hang, walking dozens of miles, wading through beaver swamps with stands on our backs, fighting off water moccasins . . .
Okay, so Ben already had the trees in mind where a “booner” will give me an 18 yard shot and I didn’t even have to walk more than 300 yards from the truck. . . across a cut bean field. But hey, it’s my blog and I can write anything I want.
Oh yeah, my next blog will reveal how the turkey hunting went while we were there “working”.
Yeah dave I hear the prarie state of corn o plenty is just filled with swamps and water moccasins. You are lucky the Illini alligators aren't out of hibernation that time of year or you would have been in big trouble. You did not mention the mountainous terrian you had to traverse, just to cross a barring desert to get to the swamps that had the king cobras, alligators, brown bears, and Yetti's. Good thing those stands aren't all that heavy. By the way how did the Bad Boy Buggy do driving acrossed that picked beans field? lol.
Hey David,
That's a great blog. Can't wait to hear about the turkey hunt. That buck that Rhett Akins killed was huge. Good Luck on this years deer hunt there, let us know if you kill a Monster Buck there. Talk to ya later.
God Bless & Good Huntin'
Kristle Oberlander
P.S. It's pretty bad that we are already talking about deer season I can't wait. :)