I was sort of rushed by being on a schedule and the crowd. I met a few Bowhunting.Com stalwarts, missed a few, bought a couple DVD's, and a Bowhunting.com cap from Jmbuckhunter. John is a great guy...wish I had more time to talk with him. Duke is as he seems on here.....says what he thinks and full of enthusiasm! I like him. Joey Rott of Rutjunkie.......very nice young man and I was glad he was able to take some time for a conversation. He is one of my favorites from Hunting.net and here. He has some high quality and fantastic clothing. I've got to put in an order soon. Todd Pringnitz of WKP....we couldn't talk or rather he couldn't talk. Poor guy lost his voice, I mean it was literally at a whisper.......lol. But a great smile and handshake. I bought his Ground Zero video and am watching it as soon as I get offline. Justin Zarr.....I missed him twice!!! I met and talked to Justin a few years ago at the Classic though. Christine....I got a glance at her, she was busy at the Bowfishing booth. Met her a few years ago also at the Classic. Somehow I missed Walt of WKP and Dan of Rutjunkies. Some nice booths set up, IMO more quality products for the hunter than the last time I was there. Checked some Bowtechs out at an archery dealer and finally got my first look at some Strother bows. I may do more than just check out this bow when a local dealer in my area recieves his order in a few weeks. Love that Predator camo finish on their bows and after standing back watching/listening to a visitor shooting one........its a damn quiet bow! Also got my first in person look and demo of the Treewalker climbing stands..........very impressive! This may be my next climbing stand. Also Muddy stands......nice! Here are a few pics of some of the bucks at the show. Some may be firearm kills while some are definitely bow kills..........didn't take the time to sort each one out. First one is a possible new Illinois state record non-typical taken by bow.
Yeah, you WOULD show up now after I was there how many years wanting to hook up with you? :D We're just gonna have to meet up for the first time on that huntin' trip we've talked about for so long...
My wife and I were there Saturday and boy was it crowded. Probably the most I've ever seen in the five years I have attended. Went back over Sat. evening after supper and it was much better. You could stop and look at things and actually converse with people without being swept away by the crowd. Next year, we will probably go to Ohio since they are moving the Illinois show to Peoria. That's just getting a little too far away for a weekend trip. We had a great time as we always do. I had some trailcam pics entered in the contest but I haven't seen or heard any results from that yet. Blessings.....Pastorjim
Logan and his father are class acts, you will love this stand (Treewalker). Glad to hear all the familiars on here are as pleasant in person as they are on the site. Maybe one day ya'll will get down this way and come to a show in Georgia. We have the buck a rama but it is nothing as grand as you guys put on up there.
Man bummer cougar mag I didn't even know you were there, I can't believe I missed ya I hardly even left the booth all weekend.. But thanks a ton for the support!!Walt
Nice to meet you in person also Cougar. Yeah, Saturday was pretty much a zoo most of the day, it kinda slowed down later in the evening.
Yeah I know Greg, I had not been there for 5-6 years. I asked John if you were at the Bowtech booth and that I couldn't find it or you. Dang, they didn't have a booth this year. We'll plan something for somewhere in Shawnee this fall.
I talked to Justin there, and I realized that I spoke briefly to John w/o knowing who he was. Sorry John.
It was great to meet you as well Cougar. Glad you could stop by for a while. Luckily I was able to meet 15-20 guys from various hunting forums.. which was great to finally put faces with names. It was my 1st trip to the IL Classic, and wow, what an awesome show. Can't wait till next year.
