Big Buck Classic 2011

Look out! My first blog ever! Who knows what is going to come out of this mind. HA!! It was Friday, January 21, 2011, when Corey Koester and I jumped up at the sound of our alarms around 6 a.m. After some last minute packing and a trip to drop off my niece at school, we were on the open road leaving Red Bud, IL, on our way to Little Rock, AR to meet the other team members of Struttinbucks. Corey and I were so nervous to meet all these guys. After all, we have been watching these guys for a while on the DVD, talking on the phone and e-mailing for a few years. All we were worried about was making a good impression. (I know I left an impression! HA!!) Well, a lot of this nervousness was shot down by being stuck on the interstate 55 for almost 3 hours just inside the Arkansas border. Our 5 ½ hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip before we arrived at the hotel. We checked into the hotel and made our way over to the BBC (Big Buck Classic). Once there, we were greeted like familiar friends! Talk about taking the pressure off! Especially after Heath came at me like a line backer! LOL! The nervousness was gone.

Friday night, for me, was about meeting everyone, talking about hunts and what the future holds for SB (Struttinbucks). Meanwhile, I was still a little reserved at this point.  After leaving the BBC around 9 p.m. we all headed over to a Mexican restaurant where we all talked about National Team Meeting locations, got to know each other more, showed off hunting pictures on our phones and I even shared Corey’s hunt we filmed this past season. This dinner with our new friends went by in the blink of an eye. Soon it was closing time. Back at the hotel our team meeting was underway. It was headed up by our new Marketing Director, Ray Scheide. Discussions ran until around 1 a.m. It was very exciting to hear about the direction SB was going. Look out for what the future holds!!!

Around 10 a.m. the next morning Corey and I headed down to grab some grub. After catching up with Brandon and Heath, at breakfast, we were off to the BBC. What a great day this was! We got to meet so many more people. Everyone was so nice!! Everyone kept warning us about Charlie Parton and I didn’t understand why. But when I met him, I knew -- I should have done cheek exercises before I got there! Charlie cracked me up so much my face hurt by the end of the day. This guy can interview anyone and be serious – including a monkey. I kept waiting for the little bugger to BITE HIM! HA!! Just kidding Charlie!!

After a long day of laughing and carrying on it was time for “The Raptor” to come out and play. Only a select few of you know what “The Raptor” is, but I am sure more of you will find out in the upcoming SB videos! It is an impersonation I have been doing since college (& my friends dubbed me “Raptor.”) Some could say this must be embarrassing for me, but I just say if it makes people laugh then it is all good! I live to make people laugh! To account the evening’s events, “The Raptor” took over and sauntered to the booth across the way to sniff, that’s right, I said SNIFF, the stuffed bear. Eruptions of laughter were heard. The booth attendants didn’t think it was funny – tough crowd I guess. I opted to reel in “Raptor” mode. Now my only thoughts were, “I bet these SB guys are thinking, who the heck is this guy?” LOL!!

After being at the BBC for around 8 hours we all needed to unwind. And what better way to do that then with video cameras. (I really feel sorry for Heath who is going to go through all these tapes from the BBC and try to make sense out of what we were doing. LOL!)

The booth with freeze dried pets was our target. Interviewer Charlie was all over this. His first question was if they could stuff his Grandma! I bet they didn’t know what to think. HA!! In all seriousness, this organization provides a unique way to comfort people who’ve lost their pets.

It was now 9 p.m. – time to fill our bellies. And wouldn’t you know it, Hibachi Grill! We all sat around two grills eating sushi and watching our chefs flip knives, light onions on fire and cook us up something real nice – even better than, “Bork-Bork-Bork” – the Swedish Chef. And of course I had to yell, “Bonsai!” The cook asked me if I spoke Japanese and I told him, “No I speak Karate Kid.” HA!! I guess he didn’t know what kind of guest he was in for. Good Times!!

The next morning came way to quick! Corey and I got up early and hit the open road. We wanted to say our goodbyes but opted to let our friends snooze. I really wanted to shout “FIRE” right outside Sherb’s door and see if he came out sporting some BVDs. It would have been priceless!!

All Corey and I could do on the way home was talk about the great memories we made and super nice people we met. Two new phrases we learned from that weekend were, “Bloomer Crickets” and “Turn-a-beach.” We always say, “whip a Louie,” when we tell someone to turn up ahead. “Turn-a- beach” must be the Arkansas version. LOL!!

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend! We couldn’t have been in better company with such a great group of guys! Everyone was so welcoming to us and treated us like family. I know I personally look forward to all the camp fires, hunting trips, mountain sides and future endeavors we cross with these guys. Thank you to all the SB crew for such a great weekend!