The Archery Project
Welcome to The Archery Project where we sit down and have raw, unfiltered conversations discussing archery and bowhunting adventures in depth through the perspectives of unique individuals from all different backgrounds.
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The Archery Project
Mastering the Total Archery Challenge: A Beginners Guide
Stepping into the world of Total Archery Challenge with experienced tech JR Gettler, we unpack everything you need to know before attending one of archery's most exhilarating events. From Pennsylvania's steep mountain terrain to Tennessee's challenging courses, this insider guide reveals how TAC has transformed 3D archery into an experience that tests skills, builds friendships, and creates lasting memories.
Unlike traditional competitive shoots, TAC focuses on realistic hunting scenarios with shots that will humble even veteran archers. You'll be navigating uneven terrain, shooting steep uphill and downhill angles approaching 30 degrees, and stretching your bow to distances you may have never attempted before. The beauty of TAC lies in its accessibility—shoot from wherever you're comfortable, bringing your regular hunting setup, and focus on the experience rather than the score.
Equipment preparation is crucial for success on the mountain. We discuss sight setup considerations, arrow selection (typically running slightly lighter, 400-450 grain arrows for flatter trajectories), and what essentials to pack for a day on the course. Veterans share hard-earned wisdom: confirm your sight after traveling, bring more arrows than you think you'll need (we've seen archers go through dozens!), and don't underestimate the importance of proper footwear on these challenging courses. Beyond the shooting itself, TAC offers a festival atmosphere with vendor villages where you can handle the latest gear, network with industry professionals, and build connections with fellow archers from across the country.
Whether you're contemplating your first TAC event or planning your return, join us at the Tennessee or Seven Springs events this year where our Extreme Outfitters team will be selling arrows and offering advice. The ultimate takeaway? Have fun, challenge yourself, and embrace the camaraderie that makes Total Archery Challenge the premier event in modern 3D archery.
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the archery project. We officially have a name. It's been the show forever. It is officially titled the archery project now so where we discuss all things archery, bow hunting in the industry today. Welcome back, jr. Hello, hey guys, everyone knows JR, one of our head techs here at extreme outfitters, my you know right hand man. I think at this point kind of do everything together Best friends.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been a. It's been a fun journey.
Speaker 1:It has been a fun journey. That's one of the things I've covered quite a bit in some of our social stuff. Man is kind of reflecting on us as a brand and you know it's been a short seven years but we're getting ready to go on a cool trip again. We've got two of them lined up this year. We're talking about the total archery challenge this year, what it's like, how to prepare for it and kind of what you can expect. And JR has more experience at TAC than any of us here at the shop. He was one of the first to go, so that's what we're covering today. Jr, how are you?
Speaker 2:Good, good, glad to be here. Thanks for having me on again.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, man. It's gotten better, especially since our first one that me and you did together. Yes, it's evolved.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, it's been another fun thing to watch evolve and just be part of a journey with it. So it's been a blast, man, it's been a blast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I appreciate you taking the time coming in two minutes late. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2:I said one of those mornings kids not wanting to be kids this morning just acting up like with my son Cause he just had the stitches. He was freaking out about those this morning Cause it was like oozing again and it wasn't feeling right on him. So we were fighting with him on that.
Speaker 1:So that's funny. Stitches has been a part of your week, the the last I'm with, yes, seven to 10 days. Your son, then Corey, came in, cut his hand off almost cut his finger off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right down the middle. Uh, I guess he had to get six stitches.
Speaker 1:So yeah, good time. Gotta be careful with those knives especially those se knives.
Speaker 1:They're sharp. All right, jr, so let's get into it. Man, we're talking about total archery challenge. Um, obviously, last year was our first year together as a company there. We went to total archery seven springs up in pennsylvania and this year we're covering two of them. We're doing the Tennessee and we're also doing Seven Springs. But I wanted to talk to you about it and kind of get some insight from your experience. So the first one you did was, I think, seven Springs a couple years back.
Speaker 2:Yes, that was when Dane was working here. We went with his family up there. It was a very short trip because we only shot one day one course and then we had to drive all the way back the next day. So it was a very short trip, but it was still a blast.
Speaker 1:So Total Archery Challenge. Can you describe it to someone who's never been Like? What are you expecting? What is it all about?
Speaker 2:So it's really about going out there having a bunch of your buddies, if you can go out and just building camaraderie between you and your buddies and even some other shooters, sometimes just going out there mingling with other archers to have fun on a course Um, a lot of them have a bunch of different courses as well. So and it's all challenging shots. Some of them are very challenging.
Speaker 1:It's. It's a little different than what your standard. I mean. I think total archery has really, in my opinion, revived some of the 3d style shooting right. It's completely different than any of your ASA or IBO stuff. You're not going there for a score. You're like you said you're going there to shoot a course with friends, have a good time, challenge yourself, and when you go there there's multiple courses set up, so you're not just it. Challenge yourself, and when you go there, there's multiple courses set up, so you're not just it's not just a one and done.
Speaker 2:You've got like PA, for example, three or four days, right, Four days at the PA, one and you I think there's like seven or eight different courses that you could shoot. Um, I mean, the only downside is you have to get knock times for all of them. But what they do is really cool, because if you stay there long enough, or if you get an early morning knock time, you they will let you go back out in the afternoon so you can shoot two courses in a day if you're able to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know some dudes who were doing like three courses in a day, which is pushing it, because the courses are, they're long, I mean, and all the places that they set these up are, you know, incredible just venues, right, I mean from the landscape, I mean the way they set up the courses, it's, it's fun, man, it's challenging.
Speaker 2:I mean you got some long shots right, and I mean with that too you don't have to take those long shots. They do have cones where you shoot from, but if you don't feel comfortable shooting from there, you can move up. So always remember that, guys too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so definitely a good time. So so, somebody who's first going to the the event, is there anything that you weren't prepared for whenever you went, or something that kind of caught you off guard?
Speaker 2:Nothing really caught me off guard. It's just really the biggest thing is making sure your tapes are correct. We did notice that the first year when our tapes were a little bit off so we had to adjust for that a little bit, but I mean, all in all, it was not that bad. If you're going to one that has more mountainous, like PA, there's a lot of hills. You are in the mountains. With that, try to prepare your body, because going up and down hills, some of those are pretty steep elevation changes. So always remember that. And then always bring good boots, good socks.
Speaker 1:That's really my biggest advice for somebody going yeah, you're covering a lot of ground, for sure. I know when we went last year, um, me and Brian, you were running the booth and me and Brian went out and we shot the Jack links course and I did not confirm my site a big mistake, a rookie mistake, right. I was like, ah, we slapped it back on after travel. It's good to go First shots like a hundred and something yards on a Sasquatch bigfoot. It was not good.
Speaker 1:You hear, joey, in the video. You bushed it completely missed, left of the target and I had to spend the next like five or seven targets, you know, reconfirming my site, housing and everything, and get everything back on. So they have practice courses there, which are actually really cool, courses too that are set up on the side of the mountain Uh, lots of different animals. I would definitely highly encourage you to reconfirm your site after travel, correct? So, going back, like I said, these are all over the nation, right there, I mean from East coast to West coast. They're all over. And obviously us, being here on the East coast, we do more of the East coast ones and that's primarily our focus when we. We talk about it and you, you hinted on it a little bit the terrain, you know, for us, we're going from sea level right.
Speaker 1:You go up to PA and it is not sea level, it is in the mountains, like you said the terrain is, it's tough.
Speaker 2:Yes, some of them it's. It's a very steep angle. Uh, some of them were like 30 degree shots from I'm right from my range finder. So definite big change for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is really cool though it's, which made it fun, right Cause it's it's so unique, cause we don't get the opportunity to shoot anything like that. Right yeah, we can stretch our bows out here with some of the shoots that we do with our novelty stuff in our 3d and really shoot you know a hundred plus yards, but you don't get that terrain feature and you know elevation changes like you do whenever you go to some of these events, like you were talking about. There are some incredibly steep angles. You know, both uphill and downhill, that you're shooting.
Speaker 2:Right, and I think it's in Tennessee. There's one where you're almost like straight up vertically, like almost 90 degrees, taking a shot at a animal and there's a mean that went around for quite a few years. There's a guy, he was taking the shot and right after he shot he just dropped his bow. It went right out of his hand and went tumbling down.
Speaker 1:That's a bad time, Maybe it's a good. Maybe it might be a good idea to take two bows with you if you're that guy yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's definitely challenging, it's, it's unique and that's one of the things too. You're talking about footwear, right You're you're covering so much ground. I think it's important that one. You have good broken boots. You know that you're there. You're not buying brand new there and then throwing them on and trying to cover it because you know, like, for example, the Jack links course I mean it was it was just constantly uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill was it was just constantly uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill in this big loop and I mean there's a lot of rocky, loose soil. So you know footing and everything's important. Even with taking your shot right, it's not all perfectly flat, right level ground that you're shooting from right.
Speaker 2:and another factor of that is making sure your sight is leveled correctly too, because once you start stretching out those distances, plus adding angles in, if your second, third axis is off, you're going to be missing, you're going to have a bad time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I would agree. Make sure I would. I would probably encourage anybody that's going to some of these events have a once over on your bow, just cause you're going. You're taking the time to go out there right To make sure it's timed and then you you know you make a really good point making sure those site is all your axes are leveled.
Speaker 2:Correct. Yeah, Yep. And then another thing is make sure you have enough arrows. Um so, normally when I go I take about 18 arrows. That's normally enough, Cause I mean, especially with us running the boost, we're not gonna be able to probably shoot as much. But I mean, if you're going out there for all four days, you're going to shoot one or two courses a day. I would probably look at maybe bringing two to three dozen arrows.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't worry if you don't have arrows. If you're at the Tennessee or seven Springs one, we'll be there. We've got you covered. We'll have a bunch of arrows for sale. But that's a great point because you know it's funny. We had guys coming up that were buying. I think there was some dude that bought like three dozen and lost a majority of them.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I would encourage you to practice a little bit before you head out there because, again, the shots are challenging, um, and they're unique. Like I said, that's that's one of the things. Keep going back to it the your footing and everything is not perfect. I mean, sometimes you're standing off, you know uneven terrain, you're shooting in one of the courses, like the elk, uh, rocky mountain, elk foundation course it was. It was really wet and slippery, yes, and there was like little bits of Creek running through there that you're standing on. So just a bunch of different things to consider, um, when going um, as far as it's, obviously it's fun, right, but do you think any it has any? Carry over to the actual bow hunting side of things.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, I 100% agree it does. It's a great way to kind of get yourself ready for the next hunting season, because I mean they run from March all the way until, I think, august, all these events. I mean obviously that's nationwide. For that they kind of hit the East Coast first, then they're going to go sorry, it's more Midwest. They kind of hit the East coast first and they're going to go, or sorry, it's more Midwest than kind of East coast, then they go out West for the finals out there. Um yeah, it's just another way to hone your skills so that way you can become a better archer when you're out in the woods.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, it's. I mean, and the thing about it is, it's not, none of the shots are and we talked about the challenge, but they're, none of them are. Give me shots, right, you've got. You're shooting over, you know, logs. I mean they hide them right behind there where your arrow drops right in. I mean there's brush you have to be conscious of, um, I mean, the targets are not always fully exposed. Uh, so there's a lot of things to consider which makes it gives you more of that realistic feel when you're out in the woods actually bow hunting.
Speaker 2:Right, um, it's. It's almost setting you up for some like scenarios for for hunting scenes, Cause I mean, sometimes you get it with the cone and you have to look, you have to scan for where the target is. Yeah, you have to find it. I mean, sometimes you'll see it where all the arrows are in the, in the trees and logs and stuff. But it's, it's like I said, it's it's a great time and it's a great way to really think it.
Speaker 1:Really it, cause we always encourage guys like hey man, you need, we're big on shooting your bow all year and this makes the off season fun. It gives you something to look forward to, not only going to shoot the course, but the, the camaraderie that comes along with it and the people that you meet, right, cause these events I mean they're huge guys are coming from all over. I mean we can met guys from Canada, right, I mean all over the country, out of the country that came to travel to these things and you know with one thing in common they like shooting a bow and they like bow hunting.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely, and, um, yeah, it's. It's a great way to also network. Um, lots of vendors are there at all the events and it's just a great way to meet a bunch of awesome people.
Speaker 1:It is. That's cool. So, like you're talking about the vendors there, they have their vendor village, uh, which obviously PA is one of the bigger ones on the East coast. That's why we go and set up at it. It's really cool, man, because you get like a first eyes on some of the new product out there. You can actually get stuff in your hand, Cause not everybody has a great bow shop right that they can go to and check out all the latest and greatest gear, cause some of it's really high-end stuff and that's what's cool about it, right. You got the vendors there that you can actually go and play with some of the stuff, check it out, and I know some of the vendors even allow guys to test the stuff like range finders, binos. You can actually rent them out, run a course and then return them afterwards to get a feel for them.
Speaker 2:Right, and one thing I thought was really cool is last year there was a guy with a bow tech. He blew up on them. The bow tech guys had a bow there. They let him set it up and they let him shoot it on the course, so that was really cool with them to do.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Shout out to Jamie and bow tech. Man, bow tech did a phenomenal job. They're always looking out for guys there. They've got a good booth set up. We'll actually be representing uh, bow tech and a couple other brands out at Tennessee and, I believe, pa as well, and PA will definitely be. You know, our focus will be Easton arrows, uh, and our brand, of course, uh. But it's cool, man. I mean, all these companies come together just to support the bow hunters and it's a unique experience with all the people that come over, come out, because it's. You know, you're not just talking about pro target shooters, you're talking about the, you know, your blue collar guys that want to come out and just enjoy, enjoy shooting. Yeah, absolutely yeah, man, it's awesome. So, looking at it, you know, this year obviously every year we have different bows that we build, cause that's what we do Um, what are you looking at this year as far as your bow build for this event?
Speaker 2:So I'm going to be bringing the expedition X light 32. That's what I'm shooting this year.
Speaker 1:So what kind of drew you to that bow?
Speaker 2:Um, well, it was unique because it's a new bow. I actually shot Expedition bows. I think it was the first year we went to TAC at Pennsylvania. They had their trailer up there. I was shooting some of the bows. I liked how they felt. I'm trying to remember which ones it was. It was the MX series, I think, is what they had then and I even brought it up to you when we came back about Expedition.
Speaker 2:But I mean, the price point is a little bit higher, right, especially with that magnesium or the magnet riser. It does increase the cost a little bit, but the finishes on them are awesome. I do like how the bow holds, um, because I've been shooting a little bit like I was just shooting last night again trying to get my side tape confirmed for everything, um, and I mean shooting at 60 yards. We we even had a little bit windier of a day yesterday and I was still shooting really good with it. So I just, I just honestly can't miss with that bow is what it feels like yeah, we just put a video out on that.
Speaker 1:It was title. I can't mess with this bow which um, so is there anything special that you do for your bow, specifically for tack, or do you just run it like you would for a normal hunt hunting? Do you change out bars? Do you change out sites?
Speaker 2:I try to keep it as much to a hunting setup as possible. One thing I'm kind of playing around with the bow. Still, though, is it is a little bit lighter of a setup, so I am possibly looking at throwing a back bar on just to get a little bit more weight, or maybe throwing a little bit more ounces up front on the front bar, but all in all, generally speaking, no, I don't do anything crazy special. I do normally run a little bit lighter of an arrow, just cause I want to have that speed to be able to make those long shots and have enough clearance with my site.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. Um so, and that's one of the cool things about this event too, is, like you see, most guys come in there. They're, they're, they're running their bow hunting setup, right. So it's not. You don't see, from what I noticed, you don't see a lot of target bows there. We saw a handful, but it was pretty much it was guys running their hunting rigs, and that was one of the questions that we get from people. It's like well, is my bow capable, you know, to shoot this thing? And it absolutely is. Even, I mean, like you said, you can walk up, shoot closer if your sight tape doesn't go out that far.
Speaker 2:But I mean, that's what it's designed around, I think, is the guys that you know run what you brung, you've got to build something specific for it. Yeah, and that's what a lot of the courses are tailored to, like you're talking about, like SICA course, that one's tailored to the guys that are out West hunting, so a way to test your equipment and yourself and some of the shots that you could expect to see out West.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what's neat, cause there's so many different. There are so many different courses, right, and they're all themed or sponsored by, you know a brand or something like that, like the Rocky mountain elk foundation course, incredible course, all elk. And we're talking about some bomber shots, some really technical shots. I mean you can expect to really stretch your bow out and then you go to something like we did the ultra view course very technical, right. You know the targets were small. You know the distances. You know 70 yards on little bitty coyotes and stuff like that. They're all different and unique, which makes it fun. So you're not going to go from course to course, of course, expecting the same thing. They're all going to be different and set up pretty strategically, right, yeah, super cool man.
Speaker 1:So what about as far as your arrow set up? I personally like to run again something a little bit lighter, just because I want to get a little bit more distance out of my bow. Um, so I'll, I run. You know, 400 and 400 to 440 grain arrow, typically, um, which is not a lot lighter than my hunting arrow, but it is a little bit. You know, 400 and 400 to 440 grain arrow, typically, um, which is not a lot lighter than my hunting arrow, but it is a little bit. You know 20 to 40 grain difference. What about you? Do you have an arrow weight in mind or is it just based off what the speed that you get out of the bow?
Speaker 2:I'd like to be over 300 feet per second. Um, last year my arrows were about four, 50. This year they're like four, 43. Cause I did build up some of the 5.0s, I got a 300 spine. I cut my arrows to 29 inches carbon to carbon. I threw in a 55 grain match grade half out system for the 5 mils. I threw on some air razors on the back with a wrap, so my total arrow was coming in at 442, I think it was.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Yeah, the 5.0, again hot topic, super popular arrow. It's going to be a great arrow for for the total archery challenge, along with the victory HLR. Yes, my opinion those are probably going to be the two most popular arrows that we see, Uh, one because they're new and two just based off the GPIs alone. They're a great build for something you're looking to stretch out.
Speaker 2:Yes, um, I was going to run a little bit different last year, but um, so I was getting ready for an elk hunt last year so I did have a lot heavier of an arrow that I built for my hunting setup. So I didn't run those because those were like 540 something greens, so I wasn't going to run those out there yeah, that's heavy man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially for attack event. Yeah, very cool, so you know if you're going into it. You're new to it and you're going to be out on the course all day. Maybe you're running two, maybe you get the opportunity to shoot three courses in a day. What's your pack look like? Like? What gear are you have? Do you have on you? What are you toting around on the course?
Speaker 2:So I normally bring a day pack. I'll have some rain gear in there just in case it does rain, which I mean. I try to look at the forecast. Normally the forecast is pretty good for that area, not here where it can change 20 minutes later. Um, definitely bring lots of water. So I'll bring a camelback uh, probably nalgene just as well, because I do like to drink a lot of water. Um, I do have some first aid stuff just in case, because I mean I have fallen on the course before I know a couple of the guys have too. So if you get any cuts, scrapes, bruises, anything, have something to kind of fix yourself up with that and and other than that. Um, that thing is really it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm similar. Um, I like to keep it pretty simple. I'll carry some extra water on me. I do like, instead of running my arrows on my bow, I like running them in my pack and like a little quiver there just makes it a little bit easier. Um, toting that bow around. Last year I shot the PSE evolve 33 and I did not run a quiver on the bow, I ran it all in my pack.
Speaker 1:Um, and then again same thing to water. You know, some electrolytes, cause, some of the days were a little bit warm. Um, so, you know, running through the mountain, I mean, once you get in the woods it's not bad, but, you know, just staying hydrated and taking a couple of snacks, Uh, and that's really about it for me, man, Um, I think, uh, some guys found out pretty quick that they overdid it. You know, because you're, you're, you're walking a course, you know, take a couple hours. You know, there were some guys that were toting around. I mean, they had full on and teach their own. They had full loaded like meat hauling packs, which is kind of cool. Maybe, simulate your training a little bit, throw a ruck on your back hump. The mountain, shoot a bow makes it fun. But yeah, there were some guys carrying around some big old packs around there with a lot of gear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that could be a great way to get some training in, especially if you're planning to go out West. You have to throw a pack on with just 30 pounds and we can get a little bit of training in yeah, not a bad idea.
Speaker 1:You're covering a lot of miles, man, especially depending on the terrain that you're you encounter. Um, is there any gear that you brought that you found out that you just didn't need? Did you overpack anything?
Speaker 2:I think overpacking I don't. I'd say probably not. Um, I mean, we didn't need a rain gear last year, uh, except for things. The last day did rain a little bit when we did the Ultraview course, but it wasn't anything crazy. And it did rain the day we came to set up. But other than that, no, I feel like I did pretty good on that. But I have gone for the last four years so I think I'm able to kind of tailor that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we overpacked in terms of our booth.
Speaker 2:We did. We did. Yeah, but I mean first time going we didn't really know what to expect being a vendor, so it was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll definitely be a little. We'll scale it back a little bit this year, which I anticipate is PA's growing. From what I can tell, it seems like every year the events continue to get bigger and bigger. So we want to make sure we do have enough, you know, product there to to sell. I mean, our focus obviously is arrows, cause that's what everybody's going through Again. Um, I don't think, I don't think you can have. Well, I take that back. You can't have too many arrows. We saw it with some guys. If you, if, if you're running through you know 36 arrows, you might want to, you know, take a step back, reconfirm your bow on that practice site or practice range. Yeah, as someone that's never been to this, or maybe new to the archery, world.
Speaker 2:would you encourage them to go to total archery challenge? Oh, absolutely. If you love to shoot your bow, you love to bow hunt, it's a great time. Find one near you and just take the couple of days, go have some fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree. I think it's for everybody. You don't got to be an advanced or somebody that's been in the sport for a long time. If you're new to the game, it's a great opportunity, honestly, to go learn a lot too and talk to a lot of different people, because everybody's super friendly. And again, you shoot the course at your own pace, right, Right, you don't have up. Shoot it. Get familiar with your bow. It's only going to make you a better shooter.
Speaker 2:Correct and um. It's also a great way to bring your family too, so saw plenty of kids out there taking their bows having fun, so it's a great way to get your, your family, involved in it too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's all kinds of cool things going on outside of just the shooting, right Again the vendor village. But they have some different challenges that they do where you can like win trucks, win prizes, all kinds of stuff. So it's that's what makes it unique, is you know? It's not just about shooting the course, it's all the other things happening within the event. I mean, you can spend all day out there and only shoot one course and do all kinds of cool stuff.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Um, they also have like the after parties. Um, I can't remember all the foundations, but there's like four different foundations that they do after parties for, so you can go out there. They also do giveaways and stuff there, so it's another just great way to get everybody involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree it's. I mean it's huge. I mean I was honestly kind of overwhelmed when we got to seven Springs, which is how many people we saw through the event. Cause that's cool, that's what's cool for us, right? Is we get to go and we get to meet all these people because, you know, with our, our company, extreme outfitters, we, you know, we ship stuff nationwide, so we interact with a lot of people. We put out a lot of different content and a lot of different people follow our stuff. So you know, and they comment, and then when we actually see and read some of the comments, then we get to meet those people in real life who are from across the country. It's really a neat experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really is. It's very humbling to just the amount of support that we've gotten, so it's, it's awesome.
Speaker 1:It is the archery communities, and a pretty incredible community in my opinion. Um, just a lot of really good people, uh, with all different experiences, man from all over the country. You know it's. It's cool because we had, you know we've met guys up at total archery challenge who made the trip down to come visit our shop from meeting us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and actually came twice.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So very, very cool man, a lot of fun. I definitely highly encourage anybody that's on the fence about it to go to one, because it is unlike anything I've ever been to. I mean, it's just, it's massive, it's fun, it's challenging, um, you can really put your equipment to the test too and see just how tough and durable it is, and you know how good you are under a little bit of stress.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, and it's um, as you said, stated before, it's just grown drastically. Um, I remember the first year we went there was only like 70 vendors. Last year there was almost a hundred.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's grown a lot. Yeah, I expect there to be more. Um, I'm very hopeful and this is going to be our first year at Tennessee. Uh, and what I've heard is the Tennessee courses are super cool. Uh, the venue is a little bit different, um, just because it's not at a resort, so I think it's all like campground style stuff.
Speaker 2:Right, I haven't made it out to the Tennessee one yet, but that's what I've heard too, yeah.
Speaker 1:I've heard good stuff about it. It's cool, cause they've they've changed them up every year. I mean, you know they don't have Georgia this year they brought Tennessee back. They've got West Virginia this year, which unfortunately we can't be at that one. I'm hoping that again, as we continue to build through this, we're able to do more and more each year, you know, based off our capability and the staffing that we've got.
Speaker 1:So definitely fun man, definitely unique. I would highly encourage you to go to one. And, speaking of, I need to set my bow up for the event we leave in one week and I still do not have my new bow set up, so I'm still kind of on the fence.
Speaker 1:Um, I need to get it going. I think I'm going to run a, probably that, uh, hoyt RX nine ultra, um, something a little bit longer axle to axle, like we do. We change bows pretty much every single year, um, and I haven't shot a Hoyt in a few years and, uh, I'm excited to shoot the, the RX nine ultra, just something a little bit different. Carbon bow. I've grown pretty fond of the carbon bows myself. Um, and the only reason I'm not shooting an expedition is because you're shooting expedition, so I'm going to shoot something different. But, yeah, I'm going to set that up and I'm going to build it specifically for tack. You know I don't typically shoot that long of an axle to axle bow. I personally like 32, you know 32 max for me, just cause my draw line's a little bit shorter 28 and a half inches. But with this being a total archery event, I shot the evolve 33 last year for it. I'm going to stick with that a little bit longer axle to axle they just for me. I'm a little bit more accurate at distance. I need all the help I can get, yep, uh, so I'm going to run that thing and I think I'm going to set it up. I'm going to run my standard man, I'm going to run a hamski rest on it.
Speaker 1:Uh, as far as site goes, I'll probably go with that spot hog option. Uh, the boonie, the boonie probably. I'm still torn, I'm not a hundred percent on it. Uh, I just really liked the spot hog stuff and I know that you know the total archery stuff. You can be pretty rough on your equipment and the last thing I want is something that's not durable. Uh, so I like, I like running the spot hog, maybe a dialed site, I don't know. I'm still on the fence man, but I am going to run probably a three pin um the slider site option and hopefully be able to get enough distance out of it with my draw length. I'll run a little bit lighter arrow, probably at Eastern five. Oh, like you, um, um, yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 2:Well, we got HHA now, so that's another good option that nitrix.
Speaker 1:I forgot. We literally got those in yesterday. Maybe I'll do something like that. You know, one of the questions we got about sites which reminds me, is pin size. Right, yes, you know what pin size do you guys run, or do you in particular run?
Speaker 1:And I know, for me I've always gravitated towards the 19,000s. I mean, no matter what I've done, I have never had an issue with the 19,000s not being able to see the targets. I mean, I'll put it right on the target and had no problem and I like it, because one any of your low light scenarios you do not have to, you don't have any issue seeing it and I don't run a site that requires me to run a site light. I cannot stand a sight light. They die, they run out of battery, they're not reliable, in my opinion, most of them. So if I have to run a sight light in my sight it's pretty much a no-go for me. I'll go to a completely different sight and that's why I've always kind of gravitated towards that 19,000s pen. It's just big enough, it collects enough light.
Speaker 1:Especially with your spot hogs, your black golds, even your dials, you have the ability, um, to kind of play with the, the cover on the scope to let more light in on the fibers or not? Same thing with your excels. Like the real stat, I think housings all really great options. Um, but I did run this last year a dialed um there. What was it? The Arcos?
Speaker 2:Arcos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that site and I ran it with a 10,000 fiber pen and I never had one issue with it at all. I could see it in all my low lights, uh, hunting scenarios. It was fantastic. So I'm kind of on the edge, but I I tend to gravitate towards a 19,000 just because they've been they tried and true. The pens are a little bit more durable in my opinion, Uh, and they're very easy to pick up. 19 000 green fiber my go-to yes, very good.
Speaker 2:Um, I normally run at 10 000 just because I do like to take a lot longer shots. I do a lot of long range shootings for practice because it really does help me kind of hone in those short distance shots because it just feels like a little chip shot. So I like to practice a lot of long distance shots, starting 60 yards all the way out. Um, however, I do have a little, have a little bit of a stigmatism in my eyes. So once those pins get too big, I do get that star bursting. So that's why I like to also run in 10 thousands with that.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. That's a really good point. Uh, do you notice more when you get to the smaller pin sizes that you notice more float?
Speaker 2:I don't, I don't think so, no, no, Okay yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's one of those things to to each their own right, I mean what works best for you, because everybody's vision is a little bit different and like, for example, for you, a star bursting can be detrimental to somebody who has, you know, any kind of issues with that, where it really blows that pin out right, because I mean even at like 30 yards, if I have a 19 000 spin I can blow out the entire vitals.
Speaker 2:So that could be bad for me, just make a bad shot to and end up winning animals, which nobody wants to do. That and I mean it's going to happen obviously in your boating career. It's going to happen and it's happened to to the best of us with that, with taking bad shots or just having an air shot and just winning that animal. So yeah, try to take the steps to avoid that as much as possible absolutely.
Speaker 1:and when it comes to you, you running. So there's a lot of different pin configuration options, especially like back on the topic of tack, I mean, you know you've got a single pin, you've got a like a, a double pin where you'd have the ability to, where you don't have the ability to adjust the, the distance, the gap between the pins. You've got the horizontal three pins, You've got a triple stack. Is there something that you gravitate towards specifically for tack?
Speaker 2:um, for tack specifically, not really I've. I've ran all those configurations over my my years of bow hunting. Um, I I don't mind a single pin for for this style shooting because it's more just target shooting. However, I want to keep it more towards my bow hunting setup, so I normally gravitate towards a three pin. I do like to be able to adjust my pins so like the triple stack is a great option. Um, or, I'm running the new uh proof site from dialed so I'm running the horizontal three pins so I can actually adjust mine, because I on my arxos I had the vertical pins and those were fixed so you'd have your fixed pins. So be 20, 40 something, probably 60 something for your pin gap. I did like how I did have that pin gap, but, um, I just like to be able to adjust it so I can have 20, 30 and 40.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense. That's kind of how I've always I've been. That's why I like the spot hog stuff. I do like the triple stack um with the ability to individually adjust your three pins. But again, I'm I've been on the, the, the dial site, where you don't, which is the, the three pin, that is fixed. You can adjust them. I've always kind of struggled getting that perfect gap, um, and you know you brought up a really good point. Using micrometer you can match them a lot easier. Um, I have not taken the time to do that, so I was just funny. I was shooting the other day and I was using my. I don't ever use my bottom pin on it, right, I usually pretty much dial for my yardage or use the second fiber and I use the third one, and it was not even close. So I was like, yeah, I guess I forgot to set the indicator for this pen. So it's, I'm missing an arrow somewhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I had one last night that I had too low on my target. It's one of the Delta McKenzie ones that we had in and it's right there where the the lake comes into the body and it's, it's all plastic there, it's, it's stuck in there. I can't, I can't get there. It's in there for life Probably.
Speaker 1:Yep, nope, I've seen that, done that myself too, um, but yeah, so I don't know this year. Uh, I keep going back and forth. I'm going to look at the HHA stuff now that you brought that up, and maybe maybe run one of those and kind of figure out what pin configuration I want. Uh, since it's specific to this event, I don't know, man.
Speaker 2:But I mean just going back to that topic. I mean I have plenty of guys that come in the last question to. A lot of guys are particular on whether they want a vertical pin or horizontal pin. So, um, for me, like I said, it doesn't really bother me that much because I can get enough time where I can get adjusted to it, so it's not a huge deal breaker for me.
Speaker 1:on that, yeah, I go. So for the longest time I only liked horizontal pins, Um, but the more I've got behind the vertical pin, the more I've really come to enjoy them, just because I have, you know, visibility on both the left and right side. So when I'm looking at vitals on a minute animal, I feel like I've I've been a little bit more consistent, maybe with it, oh, but it's probably just honestly because I've I've been a little bit more consistent, maybe with it, oh, but it's probably just honestly because I've I've kind of shot it more here recently and gotten used to it.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's one thing I do like about the vertical pins. I mean you can just basically put that right on that front leg of a white tail and just come straight up and I mean you're right there, right there in the, in that vital V.
Speaker 1:That's it, the vital V everyone's looking for the vital V. All right, dude. So as far as your first experiences, I mean how many arrows, what's the most amount of arrows you've lost at a course to, to, to dude, that's doing something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was the first shot, was a hundred percent me. I didn't dial the right yardage. Second shot I didn't see there was a big rock covering kind of the vitals. I had a little bit low skip right off that rock and it was toast the right yardage. Second shot I didn't see there's a big rock covering kind of the vitals. I hit a little bit low skip right off that rock and it was toast.
Speaker 1:Done, sir, done yeah, yeah so luckily, when I went last year I didn't lose any arrows, which is, surprised, the only reason I didn't lose them, because I found them right. So we were going back to that first course, um, the jack links course. Getting that that bow sighted back in, it was a a struggle, man. But I'll tell you what I shot the Easton Sonic 6.0s last year and I can tell you that isa daggone durable shaft man, because Joey watched me lob some arrows into the dirt and find it in those things no issues whatsoever Still spun, true, just a good durable shaft which I was a little worried about with that six mil diameter, um, but there was no issues. You know I've run the access five mil forever, which everyone knows is a bulletproof shaft, and I went to that six mil for a little bit lighter and, uh, was thoroughly surprised just how tough and durable it ended up being.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah and um, I've done a little bit of playing with the five O's. I know there's been um some people concerned about the durability on that Um, but like I said that, that arrow man that's in that targeted, it's max super hard. It's still alive. I just got to get it out somehow.
Speaker 1:You just have to lay the target on side. Oh.
Speaker 2:I try that. No, it's in there.
Speaker 1:It's, it's in there. Yeah, you have to wait for the right day for the sun to hit the target and soften everything up Yep.
Speaker 2:Or if I get a buddy to come over and shoot, then get another hand on it.
Speaker 1:So there you go. All right, so you're doing the Pennsylvania one this year. I will be at both. I will be at Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Um, I'm excited to go to the Tennessee one, just because never been to it. Um, I think it's going to be cool. We got a good team. We're actually our. We're running a little bit heavier this year, I would say, as far as staffing goes right, cause my goal is, whenever we go to these events, we want to be able to shoot them too. And it was hard last year getting away to go from the booth in order to go and actually shoot them, right, cause there was only three of us, um, which kind of sucks whenever you're lone man in the booth and there's tons of people coming through and you're building arrows, trying to run cards and stuff like that. So this year we're taking four guys to each of the event, um, so we can break up in two-man teams so that everyone can split up and kind of do some shooting I want you to make it more fun.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely yeah, I got a little bummed last year that I couldn't shoot as much, but I mean, you know, I've been plenty of years and I've had plenty of time on the mountain, so I'm like you guys go have fun. I want you guys to get the experience too. So which?
Speaker 1:which we appreciate man which that's what I wanted to eliminate this year. I wanted everyone to be able to go and get the full experience of, you know, one shoot the courses, but to be able to go walk the vendor village and see and talk to everybody because there's like, I mean, there's so much cool stuff to see and do Absolutely Makes for very long days.
Speaker 2:I remember I think it was like the first day after we got done you guys looked at me and you're like you, okay, you're going to make it. I was like I'm just, I'm beat.
Speaker 1:Well it doesn't help that when we go set up in these cause obviously we got it, we got a, we got a pretty solid staff here right at the shop, but, um, you know, we still have to be back to work right, cause there's there's constantly things going on, um, and luckily we're able to. I can pull enough guys away from the shop that we can go do these things. But we got to get back as soon as we can, so we got to minimize downtime. Well, you know, my idea is we leave at like three in the morning, we drive nine to 10 hours, we spend that day setting up the booth and then we go, um, get log or get go to our lodge or wherever we're staying, our Airbnb, and then get ready for the next day. So I mean, I'll give it to the guys that go with us. Man, I mean we run them pretty hard.
Speaker 1:It's a. It's a busy four to five days, um, on minimal sleep, especially that first day, uh. So, yeah, it's, it's a lot, and so I'm going to go ahead and say thanks to all the guys that volunteer to come from our shop. You know, you, we got Brian Kendrick's going this year, the other Zach's going, um, chase is going, joey's coming up on to the Tennessee with us, which is going to be cool so we can get some more cool footage. Uh, it's going to be good man, uh. But yeah, you know, everyone knows, whenever you go to it expect to, you know, not get as much sleep as you normally do, that Especially the first day man it's, it's a poke for us.
Speaker 2:I mean, cause Tennessee's what.
Speaker 1:Nine Tennessee's like 11 or 12 hour drive, well, which is, yeah, going to be a bummer. Yeah, we're running two vehicles too. So Brian's going to drive truck and trailer. I'm going to drive my car because we we have the total of five guys, so we won't all fit in the truck, so we'll be convoying up there. Hopefully we'll be able to make good time, because that's I was wrong whenever I looked at it, because I thought, choosing between Tennessee and West Virginia, I'm like, oh, tennessee's closer, way wrong, west Virginia is way closer by like four hours, way wrong, west virginia is way closer by like four hours.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I made that mistake. That's my bad, that's right. Um, yeah, so it's gonna be a poke, be a good drive. You know, what's funny too is the drive to pennsylvania. Uh, pennsylvania, uh, last year, remember going up through there, through the mountains, and we're pulling a big truck and trailer, right, so we got a long loaded trailer, a dually that we're driving on, and one of the roads up to Pennsylvania you go over a single lane bridge that does not look like it's designed to hold a bicycle.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And we're pulling a truck and trailer over it and Brian's sitting in the backseat praying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm like I do think I remember that bridge and sure enough, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm like I do think I remember that bridge and sure enough, yeah, yeah, that was good times it was.
Speaker 1:it was interesting. We made it though there and back. The drive back was equally as rough because, um, we draw as soon as, as soon as it ends on Sunday, we pack up and we head out and we drive the full distance get back because everyone's got to go to work on Monday, so everybody comes in kind of dragging. I know Brian didn't even go to sleep and he had to go. You know work, you know on base and check in and work. So more power to you, brian. Yeah, good times All worth in the end. It's always a good story though. Oh, yeah, makes it fun. All right, dude. Um, what about? So new guys? Anybody that's never been. Do you have a piece of advice for them? Um, what's your number one piece of advice to somebody going?
Speaker 2:just go have fun, have fun. That's, that's really the end goal with it. Go, have fun, meet, meet a bunch of cool people and just have fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree. And also, my little piece of advice is make sure you have your gear in order and you've already, you know, hinted on it. Make sure your site's confirmed before you get there and then, when you get there, reconfirm it Right. I think it's important. You'll have a much better time because you can quickly, you know, crush your confidence whenever you go out there and you start missing targets right away, and you've, you know, because you're having an issue with your bow start missing targets right away, and you've, you know, because you're having an issue with your bow.
Speaker 1:So I would do my due diligence prior, make sure everything's ready to roll, um, and you know everything is cited in and checked in correct, you know, correctly, the bows up and running, so that if you're missing it's you and not the equipment, cause that's the worst man. You go out there and it turns out the bow is, you know, having issues. You know what are you going to do to fix that, because I mean, we don't have a press out there, we're not working on bows out there. I don't know if anybody was out there working on bows.
Speaker 2:I think last year there were a couple vendors that had headsets for it, Even the Lancaster Archery. They had a press and stuff too. So worst case, you could always get up to those guys. But we can always take a look at it too and see.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do what we can Cause. You did. You actually had to reserve some sitting center serving or something, while you were there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, that's right, and that was actually the guys that came back. Uh, came down to the shop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. No, that's right. That makes sense, Cause we did see man. You know, one of the things that we saw was, uh, there was a handful of blown up bows. There was, course. Make sure you take your time and you're aware of what you're doing. It's real easy to get in you, you know, you're with a new group, you're talking to some guys or some girls and, uh, you're not paying attention to what you're doing and you're, on course, one. You're there for three days and you blow your bow up.
Speaker 2:That's why I like, uh, the guys that put on the back of the riser arrow or something like that and it was, does not man?
Speaker 1:That's a good idea. I would tape that up on the back of the riser check your arrow. Or, you know, knock an arrow, something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mr Doug has something on there.
Speaker 1:Well, Mr Doug did it twice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not attack though Right. Yeah, here in the shop. Yeah, here in the shop and at uh.
Speaker 1:I, yeah, and they were like back to back though, weren't it? Within like two weeks or something. Yeah, shout out to Mr Doug. He just had a went through a little bit of surgery getting some heart valves fixed or replaced, and he's doing good now. So he's out of surgery, so we're looking forward to seeing him. Do you know if he's going this year? Oh no, there's no way he can now.
Speaker 2:You can't shoot a bow until, like I think, September Gosh that's a bummer man. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good times, man. Well, what else you got? Anything else that people need to consider? Any tips and advice for the total archery challenge?
Speaker 2:I think we pretty much covered everything. Yeah, it's like we've said before just it's a great time, Great way to meet new people and just have a fun experience.
Speaker 1:I agree, if you're on the fence about doing it, I would highly encourage you go check it out. It's unlike anything you've done, um, it's just unique. It's fun, it's huge. There's all different courses. You're going to meet all different people, all different experiences level. You don't have to be a great bow hunter archer to go out to these things to have a good time, um. And then it's cool too, man. You get to go and see all the latest and greatest stuff. Talk to people that you follow on social media. That's a great thing about it is it brings the community together in one place and you can meet. You know we've all got a lot of friends that we, we meet virtually via our social channels. This and these guys end up going to these events. So it's really cool to shake hands, you know, put a face to a name and, um, you, you know, make some lifelong friends that you know, potential to have some connections future for, you know, maybe hunting trips and stuff.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's good man. Network building, camaraderie it's a great event.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's. It's not overly expensive to go either. It's only like 60 bucks a day, um to shoot. And then you know, obviously you just got to find lodging. So you've got a couple of buddies split an Airbnb, you know a couple hundred bucks, you have a couple hundred bucks, you have a fun weekend that's exactly what we do, and you're right, man.
Speaker 1:And the cost is not. It's not bad for what you get. I mean, it's a full I don't even know how to explain it's just a full experience. It's awesome, man, good times. Well, jr, it's about that time we've got to get this shop opened up. I want to do a quick one this morning with you, like I said, recapping total archery event and kind of giving some advice to new guys that are going out there and checking it out. Um, you know, if you're interested in following Jr, jr has got his social stuff. I'm sure you can check him out. What's your? What's your Instagram?
Speaker 2:I think it's just Jr underscore Gettler, that's super easy.
Speaker 1:Way easier and you'll find him on you know, our extreme outfitter social stuff too. He's on there quite a bit. Uh, you see him on all of our YouTube stuff as well, so if you want to follow along with him you got questions for him you can always reach out to him on his social channels, or you can obviously call the shop here and ask for JR, and you will get on the phone with JR.
Speaker 2:I'm here almost every day.
Speaker 1:He feels like a wealth of knowledge, man. So good times, man. I appreciate you coming on the show, absolutely Thanks for having me the archery project officially named I like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do too, man, it's cool. We got a lot of big ideas for it, um, but yeah, you know, if you guys enjoyed the episode, make sure you guys follow along. We are on Spotify, we're on Apple, we're on YouTube. If you want to watch the video podcast, head over to YouTube under the air. Uh, the archery project. We are everywhere. That's our goal. Right Provide good information. Talk to unique individuals with all different experiences. Right Provide good information. Talk to unique individuals with all different experiences, backgrounds in the bow hunting and archery world. That's what this project, or this podcast, is all about. So again, jr, I just want to say thanks for taking the time to come and sit down with me before we start working this morning.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely Sorry, it was late.
Speaker 1:Oh man, yeah, we'll let it slide. We'll let it slide, but that's it, guys. That's a wrap for the uh episode on the total archery challenge with JR. Again appreciate you, guys, and we will talk to you guys in the next episode of the archery project.