Bonus Episode- Tips & Tricks for Total Archery Challenge

Driving back from Total Archery Challenge and decided to record some of the tips and simple tricks I’ve learned attending 5 TAC events at Seven Springs Resort in PA. Great event and a ton of fun! If you have questions send me an email at sheddinglightod@gmail.com. 

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Hey everyone, welcome to the show. This is a bonus episode all about Total Archery Challenge and what you might want to know going into it. And some tips, tricks, things that I've learned. I am now coming back from my fifth Total Archery Challenge at Seven Springs PA. Now that is the only Total Archery Challenge that I have been to, but there's been a few things that I've experienced that I think will remain true no matter which location you're going to. And uh so I just thought I'd get on for a few minutes here as I'm driving home and share a few things. So first off, I'll just tell you uh once again had an absolute blast. I have not been to one of these events where I haven't just came home just with a smile on my face, less arrows in the quiver, less money in the bank account, and um but still just a good time. It it really is a lot of time. It really is a good time if you just enjoy like some highly technical shots, some far like distant shots that you've never had before. Now, if you are a person who can't stand the thought of losing an arrow and you want a nice, smooth, easy walking path, uh, you know, and a very clear, open shot, uh, then this might not be your cup of tea. Uh, Total Archery Challenge, if you don't know, it is a non-competitive uh event uh that is all over the United States. You can get on Total Archery Challenge uh website, check that out. They have events just about all over the United States. Um, the one I go to is at Seven Springs Ski Resort in uh Champion, Pennsylvania, and so it's about a three, four-hour drive from my house. And we go with a group of buddies, and I've gone by myself once, I've gone once with just one other guy, and the last few trips we've had five or six guys uh that we've gone with, and all of those have been just a lot of fun. Um, probably the worst was by myself because I ended up shooting with some guys that I didn't know, and that was kind of cool, but it's just more fun just to have buddies that you can rag on, rip on, compete against, and just have a good time. So uh that's just me. But uh a few things about Total Archer Challenge. So, first off, I will tell you this the hardest part, at least for the one that we go to, is getting registered for it. Uh, you have to put your name into like an email kind of thing, and you'll get a reminder. But the way that it works is it opens up on a certain time, and as soon as that clock strikes zero, so I think it was like 11 o'clock on April something this year, I don't remember exactly what it was, um, you have to hit that refresh button or it opens and then you hit submit and you're submitting your email. And I did it on my phone and I did it on my computer, and I still probably ended up about 700th in line, okay? Um, and then it gives you an estimation as to how long before you actually can get on and click a link and start adding knock times to your cart, and it is it is a challenge, like it really is a challenge to get yourself at the front of the line or to get close. Um, the other thing, like we had certain courses that we we hadn't shot before that we really wanted to shoot, and so you you're picking a general knock time, not necessarily super specific, um, but you're gonna get on there and it and you have to do it for yourself. And then if you're trying to register a group, um, that's probably the best way to do it, rather than if you have three or four guys and you're all trying to do that. Well, one guy might be three hundredth in line, and your other buddy might end up at seven hundredth or fifteen hundredth or whatever in line, um, it's best to do it as a group, but it's also really tricky to do it as a group because you're going to have to know everybody's birthday, address, uh, phone number, and their t-shirt size, and all that stuff. So you need to kind of have that saved, ready to go to kind of do quick fill. Because what happens is once you get into the system, you're gonna pick, you know, we picked seven springs. We wanted to do the sitka course, and so I signed myself up. There were 60 spots left, and so I go through the whole thing, type in my email address, go quick through it, hit submit, and then I get a chance to add another participant. So I go to add one of our other people, and by the time I hit that submit button, there are only 30 spots left. In like the 20 seconds it took me to fill out my information. I'm like, there is no way that there's going to be enough spots at this time if you know I'm trying to sign up six people. So I had to choose a maybe a what you might consider a less desirable course, but honestly, it ended up working out. Um, and there's multiple courses that you shoot, some of them are 15 targets, some of them are 20, and a lot of them are about 25 targets. The way it works is you'll be assigned a knock time after all that shakes out. So you'll go through your payment, do all your stuff. There is a new way to get ahead of the line called VIP, but I think it's I think it's 500 some dollars. In my personal opinion, not worth it to do that. Um, but there's some tricks that you got to kind of think about going into the event. So uh you're gonna be assigned a knock time, but you still have to show up at the event and get into a registration line, um, and that's where uh you want to plan ahead. Before we get to that registration line, you gotta decide you're gonna come in that day and shoot, or are you gonna come the night before? Um, so what we've done the last uh couple years is we've came in the night before. I take that back, just this year we came in the night before. Last year we came in the day of shot, got an Airbnb that night, and then came back and shot the next day. And that worked out pretty well. Um, but we came during the middle of the day, so sometimes it's hot, you know. Um so this year we decided to come the night before. Came the night before, you know, with six guys, uh, you can pull resources and you can usually get a pretty nice um place to stay. And that's what we had this time. It had a hot tub. Uh you know, really when you break it down, uh, we're just staying two nights, and uh it was worth the money to have a place that was comfortable for everybody to have a bed, so we don't have to share a bed, a couple showers, and it was just and we were close to the you know resort, so that was a bonus as well. Uh so we came in the night before. What we didn't know, and I don't know if this is across the board, but it is worth checking out. If you are anywhere close to the TAC event and you're coming in the night before, zip over to the registration that night before. So we came in on Wednesday night, the event doesn't start till Thursday, and there were the shooting range was not open yet. They were still setting up the practice range. We were hoping to zip some arrows, uh, but that wasn't fully set up yet. But what was open was the registration. So you have to sign a waiver form, they're taking safety extremely serious since last year somebody did get shot at one of these events. It was kind of a crazy deal. Um, you have to tie an orange bandana on the back of your pack and make sure that you know there's always somebody you know standing in front of the target or put a pack in front of the target if you're searching for arrows if you miss. And so, anyhow, you have to sign that waiver. So, my brother and I we came early, we drove separate from the other guys. We were able to sign the waiver, and we were able to, and there was like eight people in line. It was awesome. But the rest of the guys, they weren't coming until late, and that that tent was only open until about seven. And so um we asked, like, hey, could we sign, you know, could we get something for our buddies? Could we, you know, is there a way that we could get them, you know, they're coming with us. Like you, they have to sign it. It's a waiver, they have to sign their signature. No, obviously, uh, you know, we couldn't sign it. And so, you know, the next morning our buddies get up. We didn't have our first knock time, was the Rocky Mountain Elk uh Federation uh Foundation uh course, and we had a knock time of mine was 9 a.m. That was the other thing that was a little wonky, is mine I had a 9 a.m. All the rest of the guys were 9 30. Uh so what they allowed, I think we ended up being allowed to go on at 9 15. But the registration line, back to that. Uh our buddies showed up, and I think we showed up at maybe 7 30, and that line was deep, and it was a long, long line. And if you're going to TAC this year and you're listening to this, it is worth it to get there two hours early. Um, because it when we got there this morning, we got there um at 7 a.m. Uh it it the line really wasn't too bad at all yet, and then it got worse as the day went on. Of course, some of the people already registered for two or three days, they were there yesterday, being Thursday when it opened, so maybe that's why it was long, but it was it was bad. Uh, some people that pulled in with like a half hour before their their knock time and they didn't pre- you know, didn't register yet, didn't sign that waiver, which they couldn't have unless they showed up before. Um, yeah, it was a long, long line. We're talking like maybe 80-90 yards long, like it was back and it took a while to get through. So, my brother and I we go to the practice range, they have a huge practice range, a ton of targets. There's some novelty shots. Uh, you could win a camper, one of those truck bed campers, by shooting a gremlin at 36 yards. Um, and so we actually saved that for our very last shots. Uh, it was free, you know, you get three free shots, and uh was able to hit that gremlin there at the end, which was cool. They have the the caribou shot where you can win a truck. I don't I don't waste my time on that. I think it's 108 yards, 118 yards, and you got to hit the X inside out. Um, so no, I don't don't play with that. That one you have to pay for. It'd be cool to win a truck, but you actually have to hit that target, and I could have 100 shots and not hit that. So, anyhow, um our buddies had to wait a long time, but they fortunately we were early enough, they got their registration, they throw in, you know, some uh nice stuff. You get a t-shirt every year, and it's a soft, nice t-shirt. You get a sticker, you get some um, you know, veins for your arrows and uh all that. So, you know, they they have a lot going on. What what I love about TAC is the atmosphere down in the village. Down in the village, there are all kinds of vendors, and they are from all over. All of the bow companies are there. You've got Lancaster Archery there cutting arrows and doing things, you know. Whatever you need, they've got uh you've got Mountain Ops, you've got uh Black Flag, you've got first form, you got all those guys giving out energy drinks. Uh we had Black Rifle was giving out energy drinks all week long, so I snagged a few of those. Uh just there's giveaways. Our buddy just was standing there uh last night and they had a little giveaway and he won a uh cell cam. You know, so just cool. There's just it's just a fun atmosphere. Everybody's got a pretty good mood and a lot of events and things going on, and it's just it's just fun, it's just one of the like one of the funnest things uh that you go to as far as archery is concerned. And then you get on the course. Let me tell you about the courses. Um, I've shot several different courses, and honestly, I I can't tell you the difference between some of them because you kind of lose track over the years. The Rocky Mountain Elk uh foundation course last year, at least at Seven Springs, was out in the wide open. Uh, we were shooting off of the ski load. That's the other thing that's really cool. Is you several of the places you take a ski lift up the mountain and then you kind of shoot your way back down. Um this wear good hiking boots. You do not want to be in tennis shoes if it rains at all. It is rough. If if you're going anyplace mountainous, I don't I know they have these all over, but at least here at Seven Springs on the mountain resort, you need a good pair of hiking boots. Um, you need something with tread. It it it several of the places we were were pretty treacherous coming down off of or going up. They will make you go uphill some too. Um that Rocky Mountain one this year, though, they pushed that one into the timber. So they used to have an ultra view course, highly technical in the woods. Well, they took those elk and put them into that. And the first shot you're shooting between two trees, I and it was it was hard. I lost some arrows because we were shooting elk out past what my bottom pin was, and just hard, you know. But it was a ton of fun shooting 70, 80, 90, even 100, and I think four was the longest elk shot, and uh that was a tough one. The way it works though, that's what's really cool, is you usually can shoot more than one course in a day if you have an early enough knock time. It took us usually, on average, three to four hours to get through a course. The Rocky Mountain Elk one uh was only 15 targets, and that's why like last year we didn't care for it as much because it was out in the wide open, and so we went through it pretty quick, and it was just kind of like ho-hum. I mean, it it was good, but it just wasn't real technical, and they were just all out there standing in the wide open, which isn't like how I elk hunt typically. So this year that was cool. Um, but if you get done and go down, hang out in the vendor village, grab a snack, grab food, whatever, and then at one o'clock is whenever you can get on another course. So we finished Rocky Mountain. Uh, we started uh what was it like 9.15? They let us on the lift because I was nine, my buddies were 9.30, they let them go a little early. And um, yeah, it was uh great course, great time. And then we came back and we decided that we'd never shot the sick course, and that was 25 uh targets long. We started that one, uh I forget what time that would have been. Uh maybe 1.30, yeah, I think somewhere in there, 132. And it took us, I don't think we finished till 5. It took about four hours and some change to get through that one, and it was some highly technical, long shots, long, long shots, and really enjoyed it. Um, but I definitely lost a lot more arrows on that one. Um, if you're like me, I I consider myself a decent archer, I've gotten better over time. Um, but a few years ago, whenever I was starting to get into elk hunting, that's when Ranch Ferry and all those guys were coming out saying you've got to have a super heavy arrow, you gotta have 600 grains or more or whatever. So I didn't I didn't go crazy heavy. My arrow was a uh 495 grain uh arrow, so 50 grain brass insert with a 125 grain tip up front, giving me a ton of FOC, and that's stuff that I wouldn't have known anything about, you know, two or three years ago, really. But um learned some of it. I still don't understand a lot of it. I don't do my own arrows, I let other people help me with that, but that's what I know, and so I do know I'm shooting a 59-pound bow, uh, and I thought it was actually heavier than that, but I don't know if my strings stretched or what happened, but shooting 59 pounds, and I've got a ton of arc whenever I shoot beyond 50 yards, and at tack, you just need to know their game plan is to make you lose some arrows. Uh, they will have limbs that are hanging down low that you've got to shoot under, and for me, I didn't have enough speed to have or straight trajectory. I'm I'm shooting arcs at these targets, and I clipped a few of those. They've also got trees like right up beside the 10 ring. There was one today that we did to uh so this morning we got on the Jack Lynx course, and right off the bat, you had a 106-yard shot at a giant Sasquatch, which was really awesome. Um, and uh, but I need to back up yesterday. I lost uh arrow after arrow, and I was just getting flustered. You know, I made a couple really great shots. Normally in previous years, I just moved up. There's a cone, but you don't have to shoot at it. But I felt like I had to shoot at because our buddies for the first time we decided to really keep score, and there were six of us, so we each drew cars and we got a partner. So I had my my partner Jake, uh, and then of course I'm competing against Jeremiah and Lee, and then my brother and a buddy named Grant are on a team, and so the competition's on. So obviously, if I'm facing these guys who all have hundred-yard pins, by the way, because they have sliders, I've got fixed pins. My bottom pin was 70. Um, that's really hard to compete. And I should have probably just said, I forget, I'm gonna slide up, but because of that, I took some shots that honestly I have no business taking because I am sky drawing, aiming so far above the target, and just trying to guess where it's gonna hit. Um, so yeah, I lost some I lost some expensive arrows. Got down to about two that I had tuned and ready to go, and ended up losing those two toward the back half of the sitka course. So I had brought six uncut arrows with me, and so I ended up at the Lancaster booth. Uh, you know, fortunately they were still there by like 6:30, 7 o'clock last night. Um, go there, they cut me the 12 arrows. I get the inserts, put them in, and uh was able to get over on the course and shoot one round before they shut the course down at 7. That's the other thing you need to know about. Uh course opens for us here at 7 Springs at 7 a.m. The practice course that is. 7 a.m. That opens and then it shut down at 7 p.m. And it may extend throughout the season, I would assume, based off of daylight, but that's what our course was. And so I got one round in and I was not what you would call dialed. Um, so my brother and I, we found a spot out in the woods. Um, nobody else, of course, was on it. We had a good backstop. My brother had brought a target, so I'm not shooting their targets, and I got my bow set up. Uh, I decided I was going to lose that 50 grain brass insert. So taking me down to about 460 grains, still a decent heavy arrow, still good FOC, but just wanted to be able to get out to 80 if I could on that bottom pin. And so we found a spot. I started shooting, got her dialed to 60 before it just got too dark for me to really see, and I was also just gassed and tired. I'm not used to shooting that much, that many arrows, you know. And uh so I was like, hey, you know, I've got it pretty well dialed to 60. So it gave me some confidence going into this morning. This morning got on Jack Lynx. Um, most of Jack Lynx was under, I want to say, 60 yards for the most part, uh, but they just start you off with that uh that giant Sasquatch out there just at the start. And you gotta go up this super steep hill to get up there, 100 yard climb. Um we ran into a guy three targets in that was really struggling. So I will say this about the Total Archer Challenge. Uh there are some easier courses, at least at Seven Springs, uh, than others, but um for the most part, i if you are a person that's just not in great shape or um you can't hike real far without you know getting out of breath, you don't have to be a premier athlete or anything like that. I'm definitely not. Um but I do work out, I'm getting ready for elk, you know. But there was a guy who was a little bit older and definitely out of shape. He blamed it on uh having too much bourbon the night before, but he was gassed. He shot three, we are six guys, and we caught up to this guy. And on shot three, he's just struggling, and we say, Hey, just so you know, back at one of those venture poofs, they are giving out um IVs, you know, if you need some, you know, need some IV fluid to help you out. And I th his eyes kind of lit up, and then he let us pass him, and then next thing you know, we look back and he's headed back to the village. So uh it was kind of a unfortunate because actually after that point the the course did get a lot easier. They put you on a path and we just walked out and back. But definitely a challenge. If you go by yourself and you're gonna be pulling all of your own arrows, that also can be a challenge. Um We really enjoyed just the camaraderie with the guys, making the competition, hanging out. That's what made it a lot of fun. And what it did was we took turns on who was gonna hike, clear up the mountain, pull the arrows, and meet us down at the next one. Um, the course is well marked. Uh this year they had out signs reminding you to yell clear whenever you were clear of the target. So safety-wise, it really is a well, you know, there's always stuff that could happen, but it is a really well uh orchestrated event, clearly marked, and um but definitely a challenge. And the other thing that a lot of people get frustrated by, and and I did too, was there was at least one of the targets on that uh Jack Lynx course that we did where the hitting the 11 was impossible. They put it behind a tree, and if you're gonna hit the 11 middle ring, you weren't able to do it unless you can somehow make your arrow you know slice or something. Like there was no way to hit it. All you could be you would be lucky to hit a 10 on that target. You're just trying to hit the target. So if that's something you're like, nah, I want no part of that, then this isn't your event. But for most people, it's just funny, like you're just hitting the target and going on. Um, other tips that I would give, uh, like I said before, make sure you have good boots, um, make sure you have plenty of water. There are water stations, but only one, and I had a big old Nal gene, and then I had a uh Power Aid, and that that was enough to get me through. Like, you don't have to do a hydration bladder or anything like that. Um, although my brother had one, and if you drink a ton of water, like there's just um on the 15 uh course, the 15 target course, there was no water on that. One and that's the one we did first yesterday. So I actually ran out of water. I still have my power aid. Um, you want some way to carry, you know, arrows, you know, whether it be on a quiver, but then you probably want more than what your quiver can hold. I'll just tell you, I shot within my two targets, I sh or two courses. Um, I had over nine misses. Now, you're you may be a way better shot than me. I'm not a terrible shot, I will tell you that. I did struggle a little bit with target panic, rushing my shots, not going through my process, and at 70 yards and beyond past my bottom pin, obviously, I wrestled, you know, uh with that. Some people are gonna be way better than me. But honestly, as I think about our group, most people in our group lost at least at least three to five arrows. Um it's just they they make it hard. You're shooting through limbs and past trees and rock sometimes they'll put a target at 85 yards, and the only thing behind it is a giant rock, and it's not a big target either. And so you you unless you are a very good accurate shooter, you know, uh, you're used to competitions, you know how it is too. You get in front of your buddies, and they're all watching you shoot, and then they start harassing, hey, you see that tree, don't hit the tree, and then all you can think about is a stupid tree. Yeah, you you just need to go in knowing that you better have enough arrows. Um, I'd rather have more than enough than like me. I had to get some cut, had to get more made, and almost missed the window of uh Lancaster Archery, you know, booth being open. So make sure you have plenty of arrows, make sure you have water, snacks. You want to have food while you're out there, you're gonna get tired, you're gonna get fatigued. Uh, so have some snacks in your bag to kind of give you some energy. Um, the other thing, just for me, I you know, a lot of these places where they have these events are on expensive resorts. And these resorts, they have good food, but it was like I think 16, 17 dollars, maybe more than that, just for like a brat at the snack shop. None of the vendors, like there's not like food trucks, at least not at our event. None of the vendors were really selling food other than like the protein bars, and so if you want like a substantial meal, you know, uh, you're probably gonna be paying a pretty good dollar for it. Uh, so you might want to figure out am I gonna pack lunch? I ended up taking some wraps with me uh to the Airbnb, and the night before I made myself uh tuna wraps. So I took two two packs of those uh tuna things, you know, have like the flavor in them, the ranch tunas. Made myself a wrap, put it in the fridge, uh wrapped it up in a bag, and it was still you know cold by the time I got to it at lunch. So that might not be your cup of tea, but there's other things, so you might want to pack a lunch. I I liked doing that because it just made me feel good. Like I saved at least 40 bucks doing that and just eating my snacks. Like I said before, you will get a ton of free uh samples, like we got several hydration uh packs, ignite packs, you know. Black flag was given out like the little packs of you know, caffeine and the hydrates, that's all available down there. The other thing that's really cool about the the vendor village is just the show specials. They they have some really good deals. Um, Black Flag had a deal where you, if you buy two of the ignites, which I use, I guess it's not called ignite, whatever their caffeine, you know, uh drink mix is. I bought two packs of it because usually uh that's what I'm taking out west whenever I'm hunting in the mountains, which I'm doing this year. And so I just went ahead and bought my two packs. Uh they had a deal where if you bought two of them, they're discounted, and then you could get a whole thing of uh creatine, one of their bags of creatine, you'd get a t-shirt or a tomb or a water bottle, and so I ended up getting the water bottle because my other one had broken. So, you know, uh just things like that, just really cool. Bearded butcher was there this year, and they're giving out pepperoni roll samples and letting you try their, you know, um uh snack sticks and things like that. Just a really cool experience. Um, I didn't write any of this down, so let me think just for a second. Any other tips? Um, I would just say my my last tip that I'll give, and then I'll just wrap this up, is make sure that you go in with realistic expectations and go in with a positive attitude. Like, if you are there and it's all about beating your buddies and you don't want to lose an arrow because you are like me and you don't like the idea of your wife getting mad that you have to buy new arrows and spend more money. If if you're worried about that sort of thing, and of course everybody should be concerned about how much money you're spending, but like if that's at the top of the list, this is gonna be a stressful event for you. You're gonna be shooting with stress because you're like, oh, I don't want to lose any arrows. And that was kind of me yesterday. And then once I lost my final arrow, I had some of these junk arrows. I started shooting great. I was they were sh I they were such light arrows and very short. I don't even know where I got them from, but I started shooting the lights out. I was hitting 90 and 100 yards with these because one, they went a lot further. I had to do math in my head to try and figure out how far they would shoot. I was actually having to shoot 15 yards less than what my other arrows were. So, like, if it was like a 95-yard target, I'm holding 80 and I was actually hitting it. Um, but just go in with a positive attitude, just go in and be like, you know what, just gonna enjoy this. I'm gonna have fun. I am probably going to lose arrows. It is it is their goal, no doubt in my mind, that they want you to be challenged. It's called Total Archery Challenge for a reason. And I also know that some of their sponsors sell arrows. Hmm, isn't that ironic that they would put that doggone uh groundhog right in front of a rock face? You know, there's that's just how it works. So if you can go in with a good attitude and just go have some fun with some buddies, and it's going to be a good time. Uh, make sure you wear the right gear, you know, that sort of thing. It was chilly a little bit in the morning, especially this morning was a little colder, so just having the right stuff. Uh, a lot of times it rains, so having that stuff in the pack. That's some of my quick tips for you. So a lot of rambling on this one. I had a blast. It is something that I definitely want to do again. If you are planning to go on your first uh out west hunt, you know, you're gonna hunt mule deer or elk or long shots on antelope. I strongly recommend going to attack because it just gives you that scenario. You just hiked up a mountain to retrieve your arrows, your next shot is 90 yards down over a hill, and maybe you don't want to shoot that in real life, but just having that experience, I don't think you can recreate that scenario in your backyard. Um, your buddies watching you, it kind of creates that whole jitters moment. And so if you get the chance, you want to go. Um, if you have any questions, send me an email, shedding lightod at gmail.com. There's really not a bad course. Uh, I've been on some courses that were a little bit shorter and really highly technical. You're shooting like 25 yards through brush. You know, those I don't like those as much. Um, I like kind of I'd rather do longer distances where, you know, um, you know, if it's out there, like the last one that we did, Jack Lynx, it was great. You were shooting 50, 60 yards, technical shots. Um, some of them were kind of ridiculous, but for the most part, they were they were manageable. Um, you know, so do some research. They usually give you some uh uh a definition of what each course is. The courses do change sometimes, you know, and they change the names because of different sponsors or whatever, but but yeah, that's it. That's uh my tips and tricks and what I know about Total Archery Challenge. Um, if other people have uh, I'm sure there's there's plenty of YouTube videos and other things to tell you about specific areas, and you can check those out, guys. Hope that you enjoyed the bonus episode and uh hope that you'll come back uh for more. And until next time, remember to shed the like