Illinois Deer Classic

03/28/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2026 BIG BUCK CONTEST WINNERS!

03/26/2026

03/25/2026

HERE ARE THE SHED CONTEST RESULTS FOR THE 2026 ILLINOIS DEER CLASSIC BIG BUCK CONTEST! 🎊CONGRATULATIONS! 🎊 BIG BUCK CONTEST RESULTS ARE COMING SOON!

SINGLE TYPICAL
1st place Jim Jones 90 0/8
2nd place Jim Hagndorn 84 5/8
3rd place Abrigail Meadows 84 2/8

SINGLE NON TYPICAL
1st Place Steven Thomas 96 2/8
2nd Place Wyatt Polston 86 6/8
3rd Place Josh Reynolds 86 4/8

MATCH SET TYPICAL
1st Place Dalton Kutz 143 4/8
2nd Place Nathan Harper 143 2/8
3rd Place Alex Bernardoni 140 4/8

MATCHED SET NON TYPICAL
1st Place Bob Pondelicek 179 7/8
2nd Place Alex Lane 166 3/8
3rd Place Nathan Wagle 157 6/8

03/25/2026

What a weekend! Thank you !

03/24/2026

YES, We’re Making a Move for 2027 — East Moline, IL… Here We Come!

We know this announcement may bring both excitement and questions. Before jumping to conclusions, we ask that you take a moment to understand why this decision was made.

First and foremost — this is a ONE-YEAR MOVE.
We fully plan to return to Peoria in 2028.

Selecting the right dates is critical to delivering a successful, high-quality show. In 2027, Easter falls on the 4th weekend of March (March 28). This pushed another regional expo onto the 3rd weekend (putting 3 shows on that weekend).

That left us with the 2nd weekend as the best opportunity to ensure strong exhibitor participation and an overall better experience for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, the Peoria Civic Center was not available for the 2nd weekend. Given these constraints, moving the event to East Molines Bend XPO for 2027 was the best decision to maintain the quality and growth of the show.

We’re incredibly excited about this move—and we’re not stopping there.

We have a MAJOR addition to the show that we’ll be announcing soon… so stay tuned! When people find out what we are going to do with this event, people will be booking flights from across the country to be there!

03/23/2026

We know you have some great pictures of the weekend! Can we see them?
Post them in the comments please!

03/23/2026

That’s a wrap for the 2026 Illinois Deer Classic at the Peoria Civic Center!

Attendees - Thank you for your attendance this weekend! The amount of support you showed these exhibitors was nothing short of incredible!

Exhibitors - Thank you for your commitment and trust in us! We look forward to working with you all for the next one!

Scorers/Staff - None of this would happen without your dedication to this show. Thank you.

We will be posting Big Buck Contest results soon!