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Before you travel
What to bring on a guided Illinois hunt.
Layers, your weapon, your permit, a harness and blaze orange for firearm seasons. Bedding, meals, ice, boot dryers and an archery range are already here.
01 · Straight answer
What should I bring on a guided Illinois hunt?
Layers for a forty degree swing, your weapon and ammunition or arrows, your Illinois permit and licence, a safety harness, boots you can sit still in, and blaze orange if you are hunting a firearm season.
The lodge covers the rest. Bedding, meals, ice, boot dryers, bow hangers and an archery range are all here. You are not packing a camp, you are packing a hunt.
The mistake we see most often is underestimating how cold a stationary hunter gets in western Illinois in November. It is not the temperature, it is the wind coming across open crop ground, and it will find the gap in whatever you brought. Bring more than you think, because you can take a layer off and you cannot add one you left at home.
02 · The list
Bring this. We have the rest.
03 · Afterwards
What happens once the animal is down.
Your guide handles field dressing. The lodge has an ice machine and cooling, which sounds like a small thing until you have three deer down on a warm October afternoon.
For processing and taxidermy, talk to your guide. They live here, they know who is good and who is backed up, and that is worth more than a list on a website.
What you need to hold before any of this is covered on the permit guide, the blocks are on the season dates page, and what is waiting for you at the end of the day is on the lodge page.
04 · Questions
Packing questions.
Do I need to bring bedding?
No. The lodge is a lodge, not a bunkhouse you have to kit out.
Is blaze orange required?
Yes, during Illinois firearm and muzzleloader seasons. Check the current requirement with the Illinois DNR before you travel.
Can I check my bow when I arrive?
Yes. There is an archery range at the lodge, which is exactly what it is for after a long drive.
What about my deer after the hunt?
Field dressing and cooling are included. There is an ice machine at the lodge. Talk to your guide about processing and taxidermy options locally.