I’m not sure where to start other than the beginning. I apologize ahead of time as this will be a long read. I spent 11 days getting to and from IL from Pa and each day is filled with something I’m sure I’ll want to share with ya’ll. Thursday morning I was on the road bright and early, 6:00 am to be exact. There was no other reason to really start out earlier but had I known what Chicago would bring, I would have considered it. I hit Chicago at the worst possible time plus the fact of not one but two broken down semis had all the traffic either stopped or at an unsteady crawl. It took approx 2 hours to get from one side of Chicago to the other. My plan was to meet up with GregH to swap stories, meet and greet and share dinner. I have to applaud GregH for his patience as I was easily 2 hours behind because of Chicago but low and behold after numerous phone calls and texts I made it. I met Greg at Chillis and I already told him prior to my arrival that dinner was on me. I truly appreciated him waiting. Greg, thank you sir for a wonderful time at Chilli’s . I had a great time, it was very much a pleasure to finally meet you, shake your hand, listen to your stories, share mine and pick each other’s brains. I hope it won’t be too damn long until we can do it again. It will come as no surprise that at the end of this story when I say, I’m coming back next year. As it grew late, I could have sat and talked with Greg for hours more. Besides, the food was good, the beer was cold and the stories interesting. I finally had to hit the road so I paid our bill, we talked as we walked out to our trucks and I was off to meet up with Dr. Andy. (Thanks again Greg). It was approx 45 minutes when I arrived at Dr. Andy’s “cabin”. This was the first time I was meeting Dr. Andy and like everyone I’ve had a pleasure to meet here from HNI/Bowhunting.com, Andy is a class act and super guy. I cannot express how appreciative I am that a total stranger, other than from forums was willing to put me up for a couple days of hunting. I was shortly unpacked and Andy and I had a chance to talk. This is one friendship I’m glad I had a chance to strengthen. Andy’s plan for us was simple for the morn. He had two stands hung at the edge of a pasture where some massive sheds were found this previous spring. Massive is an understatement as we roughed scored the mass as 20 inches per side. WOW. The morning didn’t pan out to Andy’s liking so it wasn’t long until we were back at the house changing to hang a few stands for the afternoon. I did manage to see 3 doe skirt the pasture on the far side. After a delicious breakfast of Andy’s homemade venison sausage, potatoes and eggs we set out for our afternoon stands. The afternoon sit was much more productive. I couldn’t get over the amount of sign be it trails, scraps or rubs, deer were definitely not only abundant in this area but also frequent. My afternoon sit involved sighting several dandy bucks. I wasn’t in the least disappointed. With no shots fired, we found ourselves back in camp. That evening, plans were simple, Todd Graf, owner of Bowhunting.com was coming over to join us for dinner as well as Jfergus07. Todd was first and after knowing Todd online for nearly 10 years, we were able to shake hands for the first time. Todd, it was my extreme pleasure and it’ll happen again. Jim (Jfergus) rolled in slightly later and we all enjoyed Andy’s Medallion Linguine. The back straps from his previous kill done over pasta with Blue cheese sauce, carrots and mushrooms. I must say, MMMMmmm MMMMmm! That coupled with wine, cold beer and great conversation, well the night went by way too fast. The next morning we were in our previous stands. Plenty of deer movement but no shot opportunities presented themselves. That evening, the wind switched and our stands would not have been right so I pulled mine and Andy pulled his for a different sit. I again saw a shooter, an impressive buck but he wasn’t interested in calls no coming to see what’s what. He walked off as if he had some ladies in mind. Unfortunately
Sounds like a great trip, buddy! Glad you got to experience the Midwest at its finest... One of these years you'll have to swing out early and you can hook up with Matt and me at my place on your way out here again.
That's definitely the longest post I've ever read the entire way through. Glad to hear you guys had a good time and congrats on the deer!
Definetly a pleasure getting to meet you Rob. Already looking forward to doing it again! Hope you liked the dvd!
Congrats on the buck Rob, and I feel your pain on the miss! Great story and I will definitely be here next year when you come back so we can meet up.
That was one heck of a read Rob. Glad you had a good trip out this way and is good to send you home with a buck and memories you will never forget!! You guys need to come more in my direction so I can meet up with you!!
Good read, Rob. Any guesses on what the big guy would have scored? Sounded like an intense hunt. Congrats on the buck.
Can't believe that you were out here and we never managed to get any pictures. Will have to remember that for next time.
Greg / MO, I was hoping to do that this year especially since you headed more north with JMBuck and I had that invitation. It just didn't work out this year. I'm already looking forward to next year but hey, I'll meet up with you in August in Wyoming for our Pronghorn hunt. Dubbya, thanks for sticking through my post. I hope you enjoyed it. There was probably much I left out but after that trip of emotions, my brain was mush. I'm remembering so much more now. Jfergus, you know I was thinking the same thing. We didn't take a single picture and I'm sure all 4 of us, you, Todd, Andy and I had cameras too. Damn....next trip! Great meeting you and thanks for the DVD. Justin, I was asking if you were in the area but alas, you had to go and win the Outdoor Challenge again...lol Kudos and congratualtions. Next year we'll shake hands. Il_Bow_Man, thanks for enjoying the story and thanks for the accolades. I appreciate it. racewayking, that'd been cool. I was hoping to meet as many as possible. Now with Todd, Jim, Andy and GregH, I have a few more members as in person friends. buttonbuckmaster, I called him a 160 class 10 point. The guide said there was 2 over 170 walking the area I was sitting, he very well could have been one of them as I tend to underscore them. 130Woodman, thank you sir. dmjarb01, thank you. Hogwire, thanks, I was rootin for me too, even reading my own I was disappointed I missed. LOL Siman, thank you again. Dr. Andy, sir, it was my extreme pleasure to meet you and I cannot express enough how much I appreciated the hospitality. You are very generous as well as someone I consider to be a good friend. Thank you for hosting me, feeding me and putting me in a stand. By the way, you never supplied me with your address yet. Thanks my friend. He was bigger than this one below
