Todd Berkenpas lives in Northern Illinois and has been bow hunting for about 20 years. Todd has 3 kids that are very active in school and sports. His youngest son Ty has become the hunter and has been on MW Whitetail shows already. Along with hunting with Rich and Ty, Todd’s primary focus this year will be back in his home state of Iowa. He has drawn a bow tag for this year and will be pursuing whitetails in west central Iowa on his dad’s farm. Another Illinois pro staff team member , Paul Marshall, will be joining Todd this year as he too drew an Iowa tag. Putting in food plots, setting up stands, and placing trail cameras when you are 400 miles away is a challenge but the property is in one of the best whitetail areas in Iowa.

Todd has been waiting 3 years to get back to Iowa and is excited about the opportunity once again. A full 2 weeks of vacation time have been set aside as he sets his sights on another mature Iowa whitetail.

While in Illinois this year, the focus will be on patterning early season animals and getting on as many properties as possible. Getting Ty his first buck with a bow would be an added bonus. Ty is however just waiting as he has accumulated points to get his bow tag for Iowa next year.

As Bill Winke always says "DREAM BIG". Those are Todd’s thoughts for 2011 .  

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Rich Fry is the founder of Hunt’n’Fry’m Productions.  Rich has been hunting deer in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin for 35 years, and the last 10 years filming with Todd. Rich lives in northern Illinois with his wife Patricia, 14-year-old son Matthew and 11-year-old daughter Jenna.  The Fry children also love to hunt and will be regulars on the show.  Rich does all his hunting on private land.  The terrain, in N. Illinois, is gently rolling.  There are pockets of cover between crop fields and subdivisions to hunt and they can hold some real dandy bucks.

Wisconsin terrain is much different. It has steep hills with big sections of hardwoods and plenty of ag fields around. They just hunt this for gun season.

Both areas have good numbers of mature bucks, so join Rich and Todd as they chase some of the bucks this season.

Here is a look at a few they will try for this year.   

Todd and Rich's 2011 Hit List

5 By: This old broken buck was captured in late November 2010 and in talking to the area people he was not taken during the late season in Iowa. He was however very visible to the camera during late November and most pics were during shooting light. I am assuming his broken side to be the same as his 5 by side hence the name 5 by. This is a mature deer that would definitely be a trophy in both size and age. The area he was frequenting is heavy with does and has a good food source nearby. I will be hunting close to the food in hopes that he comes to check for does. It would be nice to encounter him with both sides intact and really see his potential.

Splits: This is an Iowa deer that I have gotten pics of that I feel is a quality deer and should be killable. I have him on camera 5 different days and 4 of them are during daylight. He also has a travel pattern that has put him past 2 of our tree stand sets. I know patterns can alter but with the doe population in this area he may stay close to home. We will continue to monitor the area with cameras till we get to Iowa in November. If he stays the course you may see him on camera again!

Tom: Is a IL.deer that lives in a place where no one can hunt so we are setting up on a creek line that he runs in and out of that safety zone. Same plan for this buck, start scent drippers with Timber Valley Scent late Sept. and early Oct. to see if he will come and check for that first doe.

2 K : Is an IL. deer I just found this deer this year. It is a new place I picked up in early spring.

Todd and Rich's 2010 Hit List

"Gnarly"

This is a buck I got trail camera pictures of in late October '09. He is a mature buck with a gnarly rack, hence the name. I hunted the new spot several times after this picture but never saw him. I spoke to another hunter that was in the same area as I was and he said he saw this deer late season and was sure he would be around for 2010. There was not a lot of hunting pressure in this area since it is a smaller partial of land, so hopes are high for 2010 that he will be out there again. Trail cameras have been placed to hopefully confirm his presence. I will be hunting a travel corridor along a tree line in hopes of getting a shot at him. Where I took this picture and where the hunter I talked to saw him were on the same tree line between bedding and feeding areas.

"Pretty Boy"

I got pictures of this buck on the same camera as Gnarly. He looked like such a pretty deer that I called him Pretty Boy. He only looked to be 3 1/2 in this picture so it would have been tough if I had encountered him last year. The neighbor to this small property has said that he has seen a nice looking 8 pointer in his hay field and I can only presume it is Pretty Boy. I will be looking for new trail cam pics to be sure but for now he is on the list. I will have the same opportunity to hunt this deer as well as Knarly on the same travel corridor between bedding and feeding. I have confirmed there are a few mature does in the area as I have them on trail cam pics already. If one of these bucks is chasing during the rut I look to use our new sponsors Rocket Broadheads to end the deal.

Todd and Rich's 2009 Hit List

I plan to watch the area from a distance as the season approaches and set up trail cameras on different routes that Sony may be using. We have a stand set up near where we have been seeing him and will use this location primarily as an observation stand. When we see him on a particular pattern, we'll move move in. This stand allows for great visibility in all directions where this deer may be traveling. It would be a bonus if we could actually harvest "Sony" from this stand.

"SHY GUY": The past season we were picking this deer up on 3 different cameras on different parts of the farm. We could never get a full picture of this deer.  He must be a “Shy” buck when it comes to having his picture taken. That is how he got his name. Our cameras are out again and we look to confirm his presence this year. He had the best potential of all the deer we had seen on camera last year. For this area right now, he is a very good deer.  

The plan is still open on how to hunt Shy Guy. From what we learned about this deer last year, we may be able to predict his patterns once we pick him up on the cameras again. The rut is probably the best opportunity since he was nocturnal in '08.