A PA60 AEROSTAR AIR TAXI PLT HITS TREES NW OF THE TKOF RWY DURING A NIGHT; EARLY MORNING DEP AT DNV; IL.

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I ARRIVED AT DNV ARPT AT APPROX XA30 TO PREPARE FOR AN XB00 DEP TO FNT TO PICK UP CARGO. AT THIS TIME THE WX AT DNV WAS CLR SKIES WITH PATCHY FOG IN SOME AREAS. I THINK VISIBILITY WAS STILL VFR. I DID A NORMAL AND UNEVENTFUL PREFLT AND CHKED THE RADAR ONE MORE TIME BEFORE PULLING THE AIRPLANE OUT OF THE HANGAR. FOG HAD STARTED TO FORM A LITTLE BIT MORE. I THOUGHT THERE WAS ALSO A LOW SCATTERED LAYER FORMING WITH A HIGHER ONE ABOVE AS WELL. AT ABOUT XA45 I STARTED THE ENGS AND PICKED UP THE AWOS. I REMEMBER THE WINDS WERE 300 DEGS AT 40 KTS WITH GUSTS AND I JUST REMEMBER THAT THE VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS WERE VFR. THE AWOS PRINTOUT I RECEIVED DAYS LATER CONFIRMED THIS -- THE CEILING WAS 7000 FT BROKEN AND VISIBILITY WAS 5 MI. I TAXIED OUT TO RWY 34 BECAUSE THAT WAS MOST IN LINE WITH THE WIND; ALTHOUGH IT IS THE SHORT RWY (3999 FT). I HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH RWY. AFTER A NORMAL RUNUP I CALLED MY COMPANY TO LET THEM KNOW I WAS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF. AT THIS POINT; I TAXIED INTO POS FOR A NORMAL TKOF. I ROTATED AT ABOUT 3/4 THE WAY DOWN THE RWY AND RETRACTED THE LNDG GEAR AT ABOUT 50 FT AGL. I HAD ANNOUNCED MY INTENTIONS PRIOR TO TKOF ON THE CTAF. I HAD NOT RECEIVED AN IFR CLRNC BECAUSE I THOUGHT I COULD MAINTAIN VFR UNTIL I GOT A HOLD OF ZAU TO GET THE CLRNC. ALSO; AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT DNV IS CLASS G AIRSPACE AND AN IFR CLRNC IS ONLY REQUIRED IN CTLED AIRSPACE; SO I BELIEVE THAT I WAS TOTALLY LEGAL. AS I RETRACTED THE LNDG GEAR; I SET IN A 5-10 DEG PITCH-UP ALT IN THE ATTITUDE INDICATOR TO CLB; THEN AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL I RETRACTED THE FLAPS FROM 20 DEGS TO 0 DEGS. AT THIS POINT; I WAS FLYING MAINLY WITH REF TO MY INSTS ON ACCOUNT OF THE EXTREME DARKNESS AND FEATURELESS TERRAIN. AS THE FLAPS RETRACTED; I NOTICED A DIM WHITE LIGHT OFF THE L SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE. THIS IS WHEN I BEGAN FEELING THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS SINKING. AS I WENT TO VERIFY THIS WITH THE ATTITUDE INDICATOR; ALTIMETER; AND VSI; I STRUCK THE TOPS OF THE TREES THAT ARE LOCATED ABOUT 3/4 OF A MI FROM THE DEP END OF RWY 34. I BELIEVE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE INCIDENT WAS A RELAXATION ON MY PART TO SCAN MY INSTS PROPERLY. THIS COMBINED WITH A LITTLE FATIGUE AND WORSENING WX WERE THE MAIN CONTRIBUTORS TO THE INCIDENT. BECAUSE DNV IS AN UNCTLED FIELD; AN IFR CLRNC WOULDN'T HAVE PREVENTED THE INCIDENT I DON'T BELIEVE. I THINK HAD I BEEN MORE CAUTIOUS CONCERNING ALL ASPECTS OF THE FLT; THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. BY THE SAME TOKEN I DON'T THINK ANY FARS WERE BROKEN AND AFTER THE CONTACT WITH THE TREES; I BELIEVE I ACTED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE AIRPLANE AND MYSELF.