Whitetail Archery, Leroy Illinois, April 2009 

The weatherman was predicting a rainy day, but so far it was just overcast. I decided to chance it. I was in mid Illinois just a short drive from Leroy, the home of Whitetail Archery. It was a bit out in the country, and for a while I was sure I had missed one of the signs, but I just doggedly continued on until I found the club. 

Whitetail Archery is situated on some 80 acres of woods and fields south of Leroy. Of course as I pulled into the club, the clouds began to mist. Not enough to forego shooting but enough to remind you to take a jacket. Whitetail Archery has a practice range with targets setup every five yards from ten yards out to fifty yards. I took my obligatory three or four shots to estimate how far off I was, and I headed out on the course. 

The course was laid out very nicely. This was my first shoot with thirty separate shooting stations since my Achilles tendon surgery in January, so I was a little nervous about how my foot would do. The ground was pretty wet, and I am glad I followed my doctor's advice to wear boots if I did any off trail hiking. The course is laid out with a number of shots down and uphill. It was on one of those downhill shots that I slipped in the mud and did a two and a half gainer with a back flip, and ended on my rump, no worse for the wear but to my pride. 

A nice couple was shooting in front of me, Butch and Sara Heath, members of the club. They were kind enough to allow me to shoot through, and didn't even laugh as I stepped up to one of the shorter stakes and launched an arrow in the general direction of the deer target. They even asked if I was alright when I did my imitation an Olympic diver. I tried to work ahead of them to protect what was left of my pride.
 
Whitetail Archery was using a combination of Rinehart and McKinzie targets, and they were all in pretty good shape. There was a complete variety of targets, ranging from turkeys and ground hogs to some good sized deer and even a caribou if I recall correctly. The course wound through mostly forested terrain, but they did have about four targets in open fields. As I mentioned earlier, there was a good selection of uphill and downhill shots. A nice creek worked its way through the course and very sturdy bridge allowed for easy passage.
 
I thought I found myself in a time warp as I caught up to the Heaths again. I must have had a puzzled look on my face when I came upon them again, because they felt it necessary to explain that they skipped a few of the field targets. Kindly, they let me shoot through again, with hardly a snicker. I found out that they had just come from an IBO shoot in Atlanta the week before, and were headed to another next week. They were shoots from stakes at which I couldn't even see the targets. I scooted ahead again. 

Whitetail Archery had set their shooting stakes out based on a yardage scheme where stake colors would allow for no shots beyond thirty yards, no shots beyond forty yards, and no shots beyond 50 yards. This required some pretty open shots, but the yardage was varied enough to make it challenging. The club also provided coolers of water on the course, and at target 15, you were only a short 100 yards to the clubhouse, where you could purchase soft drinks, and grab a brat or hot dog to replenish your energy.
 
I skipped the clubhouse in order to try to beat the rain, and found myselft behind the Heaths again. Explaining that they would shoot number fifteen on their way in, they allowed me to shoot through again. By this time, I had no ego left, but put on my game face and proceeded through the course. 

I wrapped up the course in about two hours, and didn't get too wet. My foot was pretty sore, but it felt good to get a full course under my belt, or boot. I forgot my good camera, and tried to take some pictures with my phone, but they didn't turn out good enough for this article. However, take my word for it, Whitetail Archery was a very pleasant shoot , and one I would recommend to any who asked. And if you run into the Heaths thank them for being so kind to me.