The Archery Project

The Ultimate Total Archery Challenge Prep Guide

• Zakk Plocica • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Ready to take on the ultimate 3D archery experience? Whether you're headed to your first Total Archery Challenge or looking to improve your next TAC adventure, this comprehensive preparation guide covers everything you need to know before hitting the mountain.

The Total Archery Challenge isn't your average 3D shoot. With courses stretching 2-8 miles through rugged terrain, shots ranging from 40 to 120+ yards, and extreme uphill and downhill angles, TAC tests every aspect of your archery game. We break down the essential equipment considerations that can make or break your experience, starting with what might be the most critical gear decision: footwear. Quality boots with ankle support will keep you moving confidently through mud, rocks, and steep terrain throughout those long days on the course.

Your bow setup requires special attention for these challenging conditions. We discuss the advantages of slider sights over fixed pins, the importance of properly leveled axes for extreme angle shots, and arrow selection strategies that balance speed, weight, and durability. From the popular Easton 5.0 arrows to micro-diameter options, we explore the pros and cons for TAC's demanding shooting scenarios. Don't forget to pack smartly – hydration systems, rain gear regardless of forecast, snacks for energy, and a small first aid kit can save your day when weather shifts suddenly in mountain environments.

Beyond gear, we share invaluable course strategy tips, safety considerations, and physical preparation advice that will help you not just survive but thrive at Total Archery Challenge. Whether you're a competitive archer or a hunter looking to test your skills, proper preparation will transform your TAC experience from a grueling challenge into an unforgettable adventure through some of the most beautiful shooting locations in America. Come join the fun – your bow, your boots, and your adventure await!

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Zakk Plocica:

Back in the game. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the archery project.

Bryan Gay:

Bryan, how are you? I'm good sir. How are you?

Zakk Plocica:

I'm doing excellent. So today we're going to break down everything you need to prepare for the total archery challenge, because we are headed to Pennsylvania.

Bryan Gay:

Either tomorrow night or super early Wednesday morning in like the next 48 hours.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, so that's what we're breaking down today. I'm excited. I've looked at the weather. It doesn't look fantastic. Once again.

Bryan Gay:

Well and this is, I think, a lot of reason we need to do this right General preparedness, whether that be for you as a, you know your gear.

Zakk Plocica:

Me as in myself, yes.

Bryan Gay:

I wasn't speaking about you specifically, but I will not be carrying your arrows, so don't forget that pocket quiver.

Zakk Plocica:

That's a good point. So this is a good recap for me to watch before we leave.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, I need to make a mental.

Zakk Plocica:

Actually, I'm going to log my checklist on here.

Bryan Gay:

Oh, that's good yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

That's good, because you're going to look at it literally hours before we leave or when we're on the road and say, oh man, I forgot this, I totally forgot. Yeah, you're right.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that's weather definitely kind of I wouldn't say jammed us up, but it put a different angle on things when we were in Tennessee right, it did, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

So that's kind of like part of the discussion here, because the weather seems to change pretty quick within these locations. So, starting off Total Archery Challenge, you know what is it? It's because there's a lot of people who still haven't been right, who's still kind of on the fence about going. Uh, and to me it's one of the things that if you're going to do any event in the archery world, this is the event to do.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, the most options as far as shootability. What your capabilities are you? You know the capabilities of your equipment right this is really going to test a lot of those aspects of your game personally in your setup absolutely, because total archery challenge is just that it's a, it's encompasses everything.

Zakk Plocica:

so you're looking at 3d archery, taken to the extreme right. So terrain, rugged, I mean very scenic, lots to see and do. There's a lot of different courses. You have anywhere from five to, I think, nine courses, depending on the location that you go to, um, and all of those courses, you know, encompass extreme angles, extreme distances. You know we're talking a hundred plus yards Um, and then the physical aspect of it all as well, right. So it puts everything to the test, not only your person but your equipment, and that's the great thing about it.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, it'll definitely poke holes in your armor that you think you have. And, like I said, what was it last year? You don't have to be in great shape to hunt, but, gosh, it makes it so much easier, dude, it improves literally everything.

Zakk Plocica:

Literally everything, everything you could possibly do. But gosh, it makes it so much easier, dude. It improves literally everything, literally everything, everything you could possibly do. So again we're headed. We. We went to tennessee. The other couple weeks ago. We were supposed to go to west virginia, it just didn't work out. But now we're headed up to pennsylvania as a vendor, right yep. So we've got a lot more to consider. When we're taken, because we're taking a big trailer, we'll have a lot of equipment, a lot of product with us, but we also plan to do some shooting while we're there, if we can. But this trip is a little bit different because it's just the two of us. Just just the two of us.

Bryan Gay:

You know exactly that should be our theme song now just the two of us and well, we can't have a theme song because we don't have a radio in the truck that we're taking this is true, so that we're taking the dually.

Zakk Plocica:

It's, uh, I think, a 2014 model, so it's a little it's got the am radio station it's got the am radio stations but there's literally just a hundred thousand miles on this truck yeah, it's, yeah, so brand new, essentially yes, I have.

Bryan Gay:

I have my little portable stereo. We'll bring, we'll put it in the dashboard.

Zakk Plocica:

We'll have, we'll have music so we can listen to some podcasts. There you go. What is that podcast called?

Bryan Gay:

oh, there's so many of them the tom segura one well there's, he does a bunch of them. So yeah, he does like your mom's house one with his wife and he does two bears one cave there's burt, he does. There's a whole bunch, but you're gonna, we're gonna be awake.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, say that well, yeah, because we're leaving at. Our goal was to leave at zero three so that we can get there in order to set up on time. Um, and the last time when we were driving to Tennessee, you know, we left at three and, uh, dude, we were both just struggling to hold our eyes open just waiting for the sun to come.

Bryan Gay:

Yes, that was very tough, especially when everyone in the vehicle besides you is sleeping.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, joey was awake. He was just clueless to my struggle. He's like dude, I didn't realize you were hurting. I'm like dude, I was doing everything I could to make it to sunrise.

Bryan Gay:

And we did drove the whole way, didn't you? Yeah, there and back, so did I? Yeah, same thing, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

Not bad. I mean, it was a long trip, it was like 12 hours almost.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, well, then I had to get back in the truck after we unloaded it and drive home another hour. And some change from your place.

Zakk Plocica:

I don't know how you did it, it wasn't smooth you know the thing about it, too, that we didn't, uh joey, hit a deer.

Bryan Gay:

But going back home, still sensitive subject for him still isn't.

Zakk Plocica:

He's still waiting on his vehicle. And kendrick got pulled over and got a ticket. Yes, so two out of four down and out. Man, that was a rough. That was a rough go on the way home. Yeah, everyone's still. Everyone's still alive, though, so yes very much, you know so.

Zakk Plocica:

But getting back to it, total archery challenge, kind of what can you expect? And this is one of the big things. There's a lot of unknowns going into this if you've never been, um, and the big thing is one, the terrain and then the distance you cover at each course right, because you need to plan on these courses are anywhere from two to like almost eight miles, sure, so you've got to plan accordingly to be out for a full day, and you know that comes to looking at the supplies and stuff that you need to kind of get you through the course. And that's water, you know, for hydration, one, and then two, the snack side of things to kind of keep you moving and morale up whenever you're struggling to shoot the snacks the snack side of things to kind of keep you moving and morale up.

Bryan Gay:

Whenever you're struggling to shoot the snacks, especially when you're you're shooting 25 targets right there is and the hiking terrain you get a little fatigued and whether you realize it or not, you're going to start that fatigue is going to set in and you need those snacks, you need that refuel just to kind of get everything back going again. Right, you know which I'm notorious for getting my snacks yeah, I never bring any no you're, you're just, you know, dude, I'm dude, I am the survivor.

Zakk Plocica:

I keep preaching on it.

Bryan Gay:

I like lighten light magic you are a light trouble minimalist, that's it man.

Zakk Plocica:

Minimal one arrow, that's all you need. That's it which. The last in in tennessee, I was surprised we made it through with one arrow because there were some tough shots, yes, which which you can come to expect at these events, and that's the cool thing about it is just how challenging some of the shots really are. But you know, if it's too challenging or outside your capability, you're able to move in and move up on the targets. Yeah, absolutely, which is cool. So look at it, you typically have your yardages. I mean it seems like an average of, you know, 40 plus to out to 100, 120.

Bryan Gay:

120 was the longest poke we had in Tennessee.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, so you got really long targets and the other aspect that's kind of cool is the terrain right, so really steep elevation. So you've got some really steep uphill and downhill shots which you have to take in account for your equipment is set up correctly for that, because if you don't have the axes set up on your site correctly, you're going to be missing left or right at those extreme angles and this really brings out any flaws or weaknesses within your one, your capability, your skill set, and then, two, your equipment.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, oh yeah. It definitely will poke holes in your armor. Like I said, it's a true test. It is man, it really is.

Zakk Plocica:

And then the other thing you got to look at is the weather shift right, which we didn't really take into account. We knew there was going to be some weather, but the shift in weather because some of these are in, like mountainous areas, so you've got valleys and you've got mountains the weather changes pretty quick and it's not exact. It doesn't always. You know, based off what the radar says, it's not always true based off the location that you're at.

Bryan Gay:

And it'll come in a lot faster than that radar says too.

Zakk Plocica:

Exactly, and that was one of the things is being prepared for those rapid weather shifts. You know whether it's because we experienced it all whenever we were in Tennessee. It went from hot, it went from to cold, to rain, to hail and then back to nice weather, you know fast Just mud everywhere.

Zakk Plocica:

And then, yeah, mud everywhere. So you've got to take all those things into account and that's why you need to prepare your gear accordingly, cause if you're out on a course for four to six hours, there's a lot of things that can change within that time span. So having a good pack and packed and loaded correctly is going to be a, you know, only make things better for you.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, but I mean, so what if you had one piece of gear, right, that is a vital. What would? What would it be, do you say?

Zakk Plocica:

That's tough man For one piece of, one piece of kit, one piece of gear. Uh, honestly, for me I think it would probably. It's, I mean aside from the necessities, right to shoot the course. But, like for me, it's going to come down to footwear. I think Yep agreed Same, so footwear is crucial for these. Just because you're going through, I mean the terrain is so it varies from course. I mean it literally varies from course to course. It varies from target to target.

Zakk Plocica:

And target to target. You know we experienced that A lot of mud, very slick, very rocky terrain, loose soil there's a lot of different things. And good, broken footwear, I think is just critical, one for safety too. I mean roll your ankle or whatnot. A pair of low top shoes is not going to be a good time whenever you've got to come out another three miles. You know up and downhill.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

So, to me, the number one piece of equipment that you should probably that you should really invest in is, when it comes to these events, I think, is footwear.

Bryan Gay:

Agreed, same yeah, and that's, I think, why we both invested in an exponential cost pair of boots.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, you look at it now, though. I mean I look at the cost. I mean it's kind of the standard for quality boots, because we sell high-end boots too. I mean, but you absolutely get what you pay for when it comes to to footwear until you get home.

Bryan Gay:

My wife looked at these boots and says I don't have a pair of shoes that cost that much. I don't have two pairs of shoes that cost that much. I, baby, one of us, has got to be wearing fine Italian leather.

Zakk Plocica:

So this is true. Yeah, my wife was cool. She was like, oh, those are nice. That was the end of it.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, I know, my wife does all the bills.

Zakk Plocica:

So she sees everything.

Bryan Gay:

There's no getting away from it. Yeah Well, you got to worry about that. Mine's pretty, mine's pretty laid back she's laid back, but she likes to give me a hard time. Of course, no one ever sees that she's a saint.

Zakk Plocica:

Well, I know, that's the thing about your wife. Yeah, that is funny man, which will me and Sherry talk about. She's like, she just doesn't seem like that. And then I talked to you and you're like no, not at all.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, she's a cloak and dagger I setup side of things specifically for this event, this event.

Zakk Plocica:

You don't have to be a target guy to do this. You can run your equipment that you hunt with. That's the cool thing about this event is it's designed around the bow hunter, in my opinion, but a little bit more on the extreme side. There are some things that will make this event a little bit more on the extreme side. Right, there are some things that will make this event a little bit better or make you shoot, improve your capability at these events, and that being your sight setup and selection, Because you know a lot of guys, especially around here.

Zakk Plocica:

We get a lot of guys that run a fix three, fix five pin. Whenever you go to this event, you can still do it, but you're not going to be able to shoot from the cones that they set. Right, If you really want to be able to stretch your bow out and shoot those distances, you probably need to look at investing in a slider sight, whether that's a single pin or a multi-pin slider, because you need to be able to dial to those yardages Because, like what we talked about, you're looking consistently at 60 to 80 yard shots and then beyond that, and you're not going to do that with a fixed three pin unless you're Kentucky windage again.

Bryan Gay:

And then it's all luck. And it's all luck. At that point. I mean, there was the one, the full size moose, that was 120. My scope housing is so big on that boonie that it only rolls to 100. Right, so I moved up to, I think, 106, 108. And I still had to, you know, kentucky windage it. Hold it a little bit yeah. But there was no way I was holding 20 yards off. That's a little excessive.

Zakk Plocica:

Right, yeah, I would agree.

Zakk Plocica:

And that's where coming in with that dial sight, like the sight that you have the ability to dial- makes a big difference, just so you can accurately one, make sure your range finder's on, you need to sight your bow into your range finder, that's a big thing. And then having a sight that can stretch out to those distances. And that comes with a couple different things when it comes to setting your bow up, right. One, you need to make sure that whenever you mount that sight that we talked about, because of all the angles, you need to have your axes leveled. And then, two, to get the distance out of that site, you need to make sure, one, your form's dialed in and your peep is as high as you can get it within your, in your string, within reason, sure, right, so you can get more distance out of that site so would you?

Bryan Gay:

would you change it for hunting season?

Zakk Plocica:

personally now, the way I've got my bow set up because I'm shooting the PSE Mach 33, I think I'm going to run it, as is Typically, because I was looking at going like if I only have one bow and I need to do it all. This is the bow to do it. It's a PSE Mach 33, so it's a 33 inch axle to axle bow. I've got an HHA nitrix on it. That's a two pin that I've got um set up at 28 and a half inches. It's pulling right at 74, 76 pounds and with this particular setup, with the arrow that I'm running, which is an Easton five oh, it's right at 418 grains I'm able to get my site tape goes out to, I think, right around 140 yards that I can dial with that setup. That's ridiculous.

Zakk Plocica:

It is, and I talked to Cody here and he kind of helped me improve the setup because we did a video on it how to get more distance out of your site and one of the things that I was doing wrong it wasn't necessarily wrong, but something that habit that I was into is I was kind of scrunching into my peep site. So what I did to get a little bit more distance out of it was I just made sure my posture was a little bit better and that I wasn't ducking my head into my string. I was bringing the bow and the string over to me and I still had that proud posture and I moved. That I could get a little bit more height out of my peep site, which allowed me to get a little bit more distance out of my housing after I'd already maxed it out.

Bryan Gay:

What I noticed, too, was that the HHA, the nitrix, the scope housing, is exponentially smaller than the boonie that I'm shooting. It is so you're able to get that much more.

Zakk Plocica:

I think there's pros and cons, yes, pros and cons to that, because I really like the spot hog housing, just because I like how big the housing is. With the peep site that I'm running, I typically run a 530 seconds peep, which is what I hunt with. I like how it lines up, perfectly right. I don't have any additional light that comes into my peep. With the HHA, with that smaller housing, I can dial it a little bit further, with better clearance for my arrow, but there is a little bit more light that comes into my peep site. So could I correct it?

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, I could actually put in a different aperture, shrink the aperture up on it, but again, I like to run when I hunt with Sure, so that's why I leave it and I just kind of make do with it and it and it works out well. I felt like I shot really good um and performed well and as I've gotten used to that HHA nitrix a little bit more, I I'm I'm liking it more and more because it's got it's a two pin and when I dial, that second pin is exactly, exactly it's fixed. So I don't have to use a micrometer to set my pins individually, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I have not always been perfect with it when setting those multi-pin.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, when you shot that 120 with that second pin, you were like I don't know where this is going to go. I haven't sighted in my second pin and it was spot on.

Zakk Plocica:

It was dead on with my sight tape. So, yeah, that was good and I encourage everybody that's coming out to these make sure your sight tape is on. Oh yeah, Take your time with your sight tape. I mean, it's crucial for accuracy because the margin of error only increases as the distance increases. So if there's any flaws or any issues with your setup, it will be absolutely amplified out to those distances and angles.

Bryan Gay:

And angles big time with those angles.

Zakk Plocica:

I cannot emphasize enough that third axis yeah because when we started that prime course and even the Jack Links course a year ago out in PA, you start off and it's. I mean the angles are either straight up or straight down on some of those targets.

Bryan Gay:

There is no Eastern North Carolina targets that are just flat, just shooting through trees. It's hard to prep for here.

Zakk Plocica:

It varies and that's what makes this event kind of cool, because you get to go out in those experiences and try something different.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, agreed.

Bryan Gay:

So so for you, you're running the boonie yes, I'm running the spot hog boonie um vertical three pin, just so I could get the extra legs out of it. Um, I'm running a east end four millimeter access long range, uh, with it's got 75 grain, half out which I really love, the east and half outs I think they've just dialed it perfect and then a 100-grain tip. So total arrow weight is 480 grains and I will hunt with this setup. I'm not changing anything. It's 80-pound draw, 20.5 inches on the Matthews Lift X and that thing is just. I mean it's pushing right at 290 on the feed per second and I don't have an issue pulling it 80 pounds. The cams are just so forgiving on that. Um, and I can, like I said, dial out to 100 yards, which I will not take a shot at anymore. 100 yards, but taking a shot of foam and 100 yards, I mean worst case scenario is going to be losing an arrow right yeah, and that's pretty impressive too with that bow, I mean because your arrow is significantly heavier than mine.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, right, and you're shooting about six pounds more than me.

Zakk Plocica:

Uh, roughly, and you're still 290s my bow right now, shooting like 298 yeah uh, with that mach 33, with that, with that arrow build and I think you know it is a little bit lighter arrow I typically run a 440 ish, 480 grain arrow for honey. But I think with this 5.0, because there's a little bit more FOC in it, because it's a lower GPI overall arrow, I think I'm going to run it as my hunting setup as well. If anything, I'll add a little bit more weight to either the insert system, because I've got that 50, 75 grain brass break off.

Zakk Plocica:

I've only run a 50 grains of it, so I can run additional 25 grains there and I could even go to a 125 head to get a little bit more overall weight, just to slow the bow down a little bit, yeah. But I mean as of right now, I mean I plan to kind of run it like it is for the hunting season. I just enjoy the bow. One shoots really, really well. I feel like I shoot it good.

Bryan Gay:

That EC2 cam in with that. I mean they've got the carbon nailed down. I agree I don't think anyone else is going to touch the carbon that PSE is doing right now and then with their EC2 cam, like my Mach 30 is just butter, and then I think you really kind of put me in a corner. I really want to. I'm about to pull the trigger on the 5.0s, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

Just because you can get.

Zakk Plocica:

I can back back down to 450 grains, but put all that foc in the front yeah, you can't so there, and so there was a little bit of hesitation for some people and we had some question. As far as the 50 like I've heard that it's you know people questioning whether it's brittle and um, to me it's. I have not had an issue with it yet. Obviously I haven't done any extensive testing hunting wise yet because we haven't moved into the season, because I just got them. But the all the shooting I have done, I've had no issues with them whatsoever. And um, excuse me, jr shot him, he shot into foam, he bent an insert, didn't hurt the arrow at all right so as far as brittle goes, I have not seen that yet.

Zakk Plocica:

Obviously it's not an Axis 5mm. Axis 5mm is a bulletproof 5mm shaft from Easton. But so far the 5.0, I think, is going to be one of the dominating arrows for the year, just because you have so much freedom to build the arrow out to your liking. If you want it to be heavy, you can make it heavy. If you want it to be inserts and point weight to really increase foc. There's just a lot you can do with that shaft and we saw a lot of them at tack and we've sold a bajillion of these things.

Bryan Gay:

Oh yeah, yeah. I remember the first shipment you got in. I think somebody bought the whole thing. Yeah right, yeah, they did, they sold out in less than 24 hours.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, but luckily now we've got a massive inventory on these things, so we should be good to go. But I mean looking at.

Bryan Gay:

So four mils I love because of the, the micro diameter of them. But when we shot the one in tennessee it was 86 yards. It was a small, I think, blessed buck, maybe the one right over the road with the massive left right wind right. You and I literally shot almost the same spot. We, we were holding on the same and the wind drift took my arrow just as much as it did yours, and yours is significantly lighter and also wider, so in theory it should have caught more wind, but we shot them both in the back hip. Yeah, you know, there's no way that I mean. So the proof is in the pudding. For me there's no reason not to go to the 5.0.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, it's hard to say, man. I mean in theory, right. I mean I'm sure if there's some extensive testing and you take the human error out of it, the 4 mil is going to perform better at distance in wind because it's less surface area for wind drift. But I don't think, I don't necessarily know enough that it's worth going For.

Bryan Gay:

But I don't necessarily know enough that it's worth going For our purposes Right. I'm never going to take the human error out of it.

Zakk Plocica:

Exactly.

Bryan Gay:

I'm never going to shoot at an animal with a machine.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, you look at ballistic-wise on paper. I think theoretically the 4mm should outperform as far as one penetration, which I do think you get probably a little bit more penetration with the four mil, especially the way you've got it built. It's just a really good build. And then two, it's less surface area so there's going to be less wind drift because there's obviously less sure. But I mean with based off that target that we shot, they were very, very close.

Zakk Plocica:

So it's it's really hard to say man right five mil is a good in between do all arrow. It's great in between the standard and that micro diameter shaft. To me it's just it's hard to beat a five mil arrow. They just won there. They're a little bit more durable, I think, than the four mils, because a four mil obviously it's less carbon. So the little bit thinner walls, right, less material. I noticed when I shot the four mils when they would break. I noticed when I shot the four mils when they would break they would break right behind the insert. Um, and with the five mils they've just durability wise. To me they've just been better and they perform really, really well out to distance.

Bryan Gay:

Right, it makes it it's hard to argue not to go to them. It is other than the fact that I just got a dozen, four mils, and there's for your Matthews, right yeah, but you don't have any arrows for your mock 30.

Zakk Plocica:

Correct, and you're shooting a. Is that going to be a 300 spine out of that? Yep Good I got some for you.

Bryan Gay:

I'll do a 300 spine. I'll probably do almost the same build. I'll run a wrap on the back with the boning X veins 75 grain half out from Easton and then the match grade point at 100 grains, and then that should be right at 450-ish. And screaming through that EC2 cam, it should be.

Zakk Plocica:

Is that a 70-pound bow? It is, yep, yeah, so that'll be a really good build for that, I think.

Bryan Gay:

But I also may put the gas System X strings on it come season time.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah.

Bryan Gay:

It needs new strings anyways. I literally just had to reserve the center serving for the knocking point and then reset up everything. But it's almost time for news. As much as I shoot, I need strings every year, so why not try? And hey, let's test these out and see if we're getting the extra. What is it? Six to eight, Eight per second out of?

Zakk Plocica:

them. That's what it's supposed to be. Yeah, I haven't looked at it and tested it, so I'm not sure I think. Didn't JR put a set on? I think so. Yeah, I think he got a little bit more speed on his bow, Did he, yeah, but I mean, it was as smooth as it draws.

Bryan Gay:

I was still getting 285, 280, 285. Right, and it was only once the string stretched out. The stock string.

Zakk Plocica:

It was at 69, so smooth it is, man it's a good cam, so that's kind of like the aero built set up. And one of the things you need to make sure when you go out to these events is just I would take a once over your gear, I'd put it through paper before you head out to these events too, just to make sure Because if you're going to take the time to go out to an event, you're going to commute to it stuff that you've that your bow is in working order. You know you don't have any little hiccups that could potentially ruin your weekend like one. The site got bumped so you need to reconfirm that whenever you get there. But making sure the bow is in time and it's tuned so that there's there's no issue when you get you don't got to worry about equipment failure I would yes agreed, and then arrows.

Bryan Gay:

Arrows are big yeah how much? I mean, if you can. If you lose a dozen, hey, we probably need to go back and look at equipment setup, right. Right, I mean, if you do lose a dozen, we know a place where you can get some yeah, just come see us.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, just capability too sure maybe be a little bit more reasonable with your shots.

Bryan Gay:

Yep, there you go, more realistic but if you have a certain arrow, build that you know what it is. Make a dozen of them so you know exactly where yours. Because how many times we had guys come up to the booth and say, hey, I need this length arrow with this much weight at this setup and this and this and this it's a. It's super hard to get done right there without everything that we have here at the shop and we can get it really close. We can get it really close but it's not going to be a hundred percent your arrow, especially if you have a custom wrap and custom veins.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, yeah. I think you need to be realistic, but you need to make sure, with these events, you do need to take into fact that you are going to lose some. Just be prepared for that. I would. I would write that in. So I took a dozen arrows. We had enough. Obviously we didn't shoot as many courses as some guys who were shooting two to four courses over the weekend. Um, but I would make sure you come in with enough arrows, I would say. I would say for most people, at a minimum, come with a dozen arrows.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, yeah, that's. I think that's a safe bet. Safe bet, um, obviously, some of them you're going to either, like jr bennett, insert right he didn't miss anything right. He just happened to hit the hard part of the target, where the stem for the stance was, and so that arrow is toast right, that's like me I.

Zakk Plocica:

I had a insert pull out and I did too, which was was odd. I can't believe it. Yeah, me neither it happened, I was a little annoyed. Well it happens.

Bryan Gay:

It happened to me too. On that first course, we got stuck in the hailstorm with oh, yeah, okay. One of the other guys in our group was pulling arrows, and he pulled it out and showed it to me. So then I shot his arrow on the next target.

Zakk Plocica:

Perfect, all right. So you know, make sure your bow and stuff is set up, one of the things I would look at too. So one of the changes I'm making with my bow is it's a Mach 33. It's a little bit on the lighter side. I think I'm going to add some more weight to it because some of these shots they are, you know, you go from a wooded area to an open and there's some strong like especially crosswinds on some of these. So playing with your stabilizer setup too, and it's hard to do if you haven't gone and shot these. So it's something that you can definitely do an after action report on and say, hey, this might make my bow perform a little bit better if I add some weight to it, change my stabilizer length, add a back bar, yada, yada. So those are all things to consider because I'm going to make a couple changes, I think to my bow going into PA.

Bryan Gay:

Have you done it yet? Nope, we leave in 48 hours. I know. Just okay, here we go. General preparedness this is Zach to the team.

Zakk Plocica:

It is dude, I've been talking about doing it. I mean, and I just honestly haven't had time Since Tennessee.

Zakk Plocica:

Since Tennessee, dude, yeah, I was sick for half of the time since we've been back. So I Tennessee dude, yeah, I was sick for half of the time since we've been back, so I'll use that as my excuse. But but yes, I mean realistically, like I mean, be ahead of the game. But the cool thing is they've got a fantastic practice range that you can go to and you can experiment while you're there. Sure, if you have the equipment so you have some extra bars, back bars you can play with your stuff while you're out there to kind of get a good feel for your setup High, to kind of get a good feel for your setup.

Bryan Gay:

I highly, highly encourage going to the practice range, especially if you're traveling. You take your sight off and then you have to put it back on If you fall in the course, if you do X, y, z, you know, use that practice range. There are multiple targets, multiple distances and if it's the same place as it was last year in PA, it's up the hill like up the bunny slope of the hill. So you've got that slight angle.

Zakk Plocica:

You get everything you need out of that practice. Just going for the practice course alone to me is pretty cool. Yeah, the practice courses are always fun. Yes, agreed so that.

Zakk Plocica:

So from there, make sure your bow's set up and moving on into the next thing is a pack. I think one one of the essentials, especially for these really long courses. Right, you need to take into account you're going to. This pack is going to be on your back for hours on end.

Zakk Plocica:

So if you're not used to carrying a pack, make sure you've got a decent pack that you can pack correctly with the stuff that you need and those things being one rain gear, because this weekend in Pennsylvania it's going to rain, so make sure you've got rain gear that you can deploy at a, you know, a pretty reasonable rate so you don't it's not lost or you don't forget it and make sure you've got it on you. Water and then some kind of snacks with you because it goes looking. Looking at the weather this weekend it looks like it's going to be cool compared to where we are currently here in North Carolina. The highs are like in the low sixties. So the weather looks like it's going to be nice, aside from it's going to be damp and wet.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, I don't think we're going to be wearing any short pants.

Zakk Plocica:

I don't think we will. I think probably going to have a layer of clothes as far as like a decent jacket, rain gear and then some long sleeve shorts and some pants.

Bryan Gay:

So I took I got the Eberly stock, three liter bladder for my bag which is amazing.

Bryan Gay:

And eberly stock, uh, three liter bladder for my bag, which is amazing. Um, and then a huge shout out to those guys because, uh, one of my hose on the for the mouthpiece didn't have an o-ring on it so it wouldn't. I couldn't pull, couldn't pull, couldn't pull. So I carried around three liters of water that I just had to take off and drink out of the bag. But when I called those guys, they were like hey, send us a picture. It sounds like you think you know what you're talking about, but we want to verify. Correct 24 hours. They sent me a whole new bladder. They're like just use it whatever you want. I was like awesome, so I just throw that in my bag, I hook it up and rig it. And then snacks are obviously key because I I'd like to eat a lot. Yeah I.

Zakk Plocica:

I typically just run like two water bottles in there that I throw in the back um to get through the courses. Obviously we try to brush run through the courses pretty quick just so we can get back to a booth.

Zakk Plocica:

So we tend to opt for the little bit shorter courses, which still aren't short. 25 targets is still never short, never short. Um, but the other thing that's kind of cool too, that I would recommend everybody have is a good bino harness. So again going back to Eberly stock, which is one of the ones that we carry in the shop and we sell a lot of that modular bino harness is fantastic because one obviously you can carry your binos, you can run your range finder on it, it's all right at your chest so you can access everything quickly and efficiently. And then you can even run your releases and stuff in the pockets. So it's a great system, very modular. You can build it out to your liking. I I once I've kind of gravitated towards that and I've built mine out. I don't it's going to be hard to change.

Bryan Gay:

It's very, it's going to be very hard to change. I'm the same way. It's a great system. Um, with that good glass that you I mean. I had the old 8x42 Vortexes and it just wasn't enough magnification to really get to those longer targets and see the scoring rings for lack of better term, or even the vitals, especially when it's going from light to dark and shooting into the woods and it's very hard to see anyways. So I went up to the 10x50ifties, I think by vortex. World of difference still fit in the bino harness on, I think, the medium sized bino harness and I didn't change anything else and it's. It has been phenomenal for me, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, I don't. I have um. To be honest, I can't even remember the name of the glass that I got. They're fantastic, though, but one of the other things in that bino harness that I would encourage people to take with them is I would have a spare release and I would also have a set of Allen keys.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, because one of the things is we've seen it Mods come loose. Make sure you have Allen keys that fit the hardware that you need to adjust, but from quivers to sights, to mods coming loose, you need a way to be able to tighten those back down whenever you're on the course to make do and get you through. So I would highly encourage you to have a set of Allen wrenches, and then again, with a spare release, just in case something happens. One your mouth functions If you're running a hinge or something and the click or something comes loose, the moon shifts or you happen to drop one or lose it and lose it, you have a backup so you can continue to shoot the course yeah, that's and that's all in the vinyl harness.

Bryan Gay:

I didn't actually exactly it all fits and actually wear a vinyl harness until two years ago when we did tack. Every time I would go in the woods I would have just my binoculars and my rangefinder in my bag, which sitting in a tree stand is not ideal. And then I started wearing it for tack, got more comfortable with it doing our 3d events and then I just now it's a part of my essential gear that I take in the woods with me every time I go. I will always have it, I agree.

Zakk Plocica:

Adding to your pack. Load out too, for being on the course, a couple of things that I would consider because you're covering so much distance. Some people aren't necessarily used to walking that far on that type of terrain. So there's a couple of things I would add to my pack. Um, just just to have in general, and that is one blister care, I would have some kind of band-aids, because I mean you just small, small med kit, small med kit, and then ibuprofen and some electrolytes. So sore knees, hips, feet, blisters, cuts, you can, you know, take care of those. Cover them up with any of your first aid stuff. And this is a basic first aid kit, right, we're not talking super small hemorrhage control.

Zakk Plocica:

We're talking just basic stuff and one of the big things being foot care, because if you have new boots you're not used to working that distance in those terrains. You have just soft feet anyways. You can take care of those blisters and continue to move through the course and not be miserable. And then you could pop some ibuprofen or Tylenol to kind of numb that pain and get you back to where you need to be, Because I guarantee you'll be sore the next day too if you're not used to doing this. So it's good just to have on hand. And then the electrolyte side of things you're moving a lot. Staying hydrated is key for one muscle recovery and just being hydrated in general so you're not fatiguing as quickly. So those are a couple of things that I keep in my bag that I would encourage others to consider, just so they can make you know, make do and make sure everything they're good through the course. And then the only other thing I would say is the dark energy, battery packs and make you know, make do and make sure everything.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, they're good through the course. And then, um, the only other thing I would say is the, the dark energy battery packs. Oh, battery pack for your phone, for I mean, and they got like four or five, six plugs on those things. You can plug into anything. Yes, so I mean, heaven forbid you get off the beaten path and need to use your phone to get back to some sort of civilization. You have a general direction, you have that battery power. I think the dark energy aerosol has a flashlight on it too, doesn't it? It does, yep.

Zakk Plocica:

So it doubles as you got, and that's the cool thing about it. So when you're taking your gear and setting up your gear, you should probably have multi-use factors for it, and that's the cool thing about the dark energy thing. So you don't got to pack a flashlight and that you know it doubles as both you know power and and light um, it's, it's a great thing to have.

Bryan Gay:

so some kind of battery pack, I think, is pretty important and you think you're shooting these things during the day until that weather rolls in and you're getting hailed on and it is exponentially darker. Yes, then you think that it should be at three o'clock in the afternoon, right? So it caught us and I was like we can really use a flashlight.

Zakk Plocica:

And also the other thing, too, is because the canopy is so thick in some of these areas it's a lot darker than you anticipate as well. So just things to consider. Man, so, looking at you know, we talk about gear, the kind of equipment that you would need, things that we would consider. The other thing that I would look at is kind of strategy when it comes to actual event day.

Zakk Plocica:

When you go to get to this thing, make sure you give yourself enough time when you get there. Right, you don't want to be rushing like, cause it's all knock times, sure, so you need to know what your knock time is and make sure you, because the courses are spread out, you might have to take um, and make sure you, because the courses are spread out, you might have to take a bus or whatnot, or a lift to where you need to be. So those are things I would consider Make sure you get there on time and make sure you don't try to rush the course either. Right, enjoy it, work at your group's pace, because this came in from what it sounds like to bite one of the groups in the past.

Bryan Gay:

Well, so that's a double-edged sword, right? So I like, I like, I call it backwards planning. So I know if I have an event, so I know my knock times call at nine o'clock, right, I need to be registered at least an hour before that, because you never know what's going to happen at registration. The line could be a mile long. There could be something wrong with the waiver.

Zakk Plocica:

Who knows?

Bryan Gay:

You have to take a lift. You have to take that, but work at your group's pace, but be considerate of others. Don't take a shot and then say, oh, that was horrible. And then shoot that three more times with people standing behind you and then shoot that three more times with people standing behind you. With you have zero of four arrows into a target that is 56 yards away.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, be considerate that's a big thing and, I think, be respectful of the course too, and that's, you know, this is, I mean, common sense. But cleaning up after yourself, because we walked through the courses and there was quite a bit of trash and if we want to keep these things alive and, you know, continue to watch these things grow, um, I think it's important that we're considerate of the courses and the people that put it on, so Carter and the gang they do a fantastic job, um, but it's important that we do our dual due diligence as well as cleaning up behind ourselves.

Zakk Plocica:

And if you pack it in, pack it out, pack it in, pack it out, that's good. The other thing is a safety aspect too, right, so that's big. I mean these events. They do a very good job of setting these courses up very strategically so you can move along in a safe manner. But there's also some you walk up to, you pull and you move on. You don't come back, you don't come back. So you need to be, you and your group need to be aware of what's going on around you so nothing happens to you. We don't got somebody down at a target alone and another group comes up and he's still trying to find arrows and they can't see or hear you and they start sending arrows and you're downrange because unfortunately it did happen.

Bryan Gay:

Yes.

Zakk Plocica:

And it's. I mean, there was just a miscommunication somewhere.

Bryan Gay:

It was multiple, I think links in that chain broken.

Zakk Plocica:

I agree, and there's enough people in a group that those little mistakes, which can be incredibly costly, can be avoided. Sure, very avoidable.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, I'm just going to bring a golf towel with us, so when we are pulling, I'm going to put the golf towel over the target.

Zakk Plocica:

That's not a bad idea.

Bryan Gay:

You know what I mean. So towel over the target, that's not a bad idea. You know what I mean. Um, so, even when you look down, you're looking through glass, you're looking to try and locate your target. Hey, oh, there's a towel over it. We're down there.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, just some way to identify that you are down range because, like I said, some of you, it's not a pull and return, it's a pull and keep moving. So you never come back to that that stake that you shot from.

Bryan Gay:

Right, so you can't leave your equipment there.

Zakk Plocica:

You can't. So whether you stage somebody in front of the target so that you've got eyes on a person, downrange and the other group's looking for arrows or doing what needs to be done, or pulling arrows or some kind of identifying piece of cloth or whatnot, yeah, I think that's a really good idea because obviously they've done a very good job of avoiding any issues over all the years, but unfortunately there was one in the past week or weekend or whatnot.

Bryan Gay:

Just a series of unfortunate events is all it was, and it was an accident 100%, but accidents can be costly, sure, so minimize that.

Zakk Plocica:

So I think that's a really good idea some kind of identifying marker on the target.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, just bring a golf towel. That's all I'm going to do is put it in my bag. They're tiny, they're light. I sweat a lot anyways, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

It's going to be. I don't think you'd be sweating this weekend, though.

Bryan Gay:

You underestimate my cooling.

Zakk Plocica:

I don't know, man, it looks like it's going to be the weather. It looks like to being out for being outside. It looks like the weather is going to be fantastic.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

So yeah, so I'm kind of excited about that. We'll be out of the humidity and heat that we're used to and accustomed to right here. Um, hopefully it'll be you know, we shall see we shall see, because looks like there's gonna be some rain rolling in. I'm hopeful that it does not rain a lot, because you have rain gear I found my rain jacket.

Zakk Plocica:

I did okay, perfect, yeah, so we're good. I'm taking those cheap boots we bought too in case we gotta stand in mud uh, I am just gonna bring my nice boots, my nice actually hunting boots. I'm bringing both because I'm not taking those trash things whatever no, the only thing is if we go shoot a course and we get poured on. You've only got one set of boots. Yeah, I'll bring my muck boots, oh you'll bring your muck boots.

Bryan Gay:

I guess I'm not taking those straight up, just rubber walmart boots. They were awesome. In my opinion, if you're six and you're playing in a puddle outside, that's essentially what we were doing, not six, oh we were playing in puddles. Yes.

Zakk Plocica:

What else you got? Anything else Preparation-wise, heading to the event, any tips, tricks?

Bryan Gay:

So I try to, because last year, up and down the mountain, I've tried to stay in a little bit better shape. I'm actually probably 20 pounds lighter than I was last year, um, and I quit drinking. So that was, that was massive. That actually helped me stop sweating so much and so profusely. Weird, I'm not poisoning myself anymore. And then, um, I think just my general physical preparedness, I think, is better going into this one. You know, hucking around in Tennessee that I was just cruising, boom, boom, boom. There wasn't anything that was slowing me down or stopping me, I was fine. And I think this is going to be very much the same case. Just because I've prepared myself. I've, you know, life lessons. It took me 40 plus years to learn, but I did it.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, I think it's. I think it is one of the overlooked things, because the last thing you want to do is be a liability for your group and you're the one slowing everyone down. And I get it. I mean, it's not everybody's there and it shouldn't deter you from going to these, but it should be, I think, a reality check too. I mean, because you know, the last thing I want to be is a liability.

Bryan Gay:

Well, and it's. You know, there's a lot of places, especially here, that we hunt. You can't take a four-wheeler back to Right, and it's so hot here I don't have the time to quarter out an animal and make multiple trips. You know, it's not, the meat's not going to keep. If I do field dress an animal, I have to do it fast and get out of there, especially in September, and then 90% of the time I'm dragging it out because it's so thick that you're not getting anything back there. You're not even getting a pull cart back there. Like when we recovered Joe's bear, we were literally in a burrow to where he died, low crawling to pull this thing out.

Zakk Plocica:

So I mean, and we had forwarders, forwarders, we took forwarders as far back as we could, but that general physical preparedness that we both had allowed us to grab that bear and pull it out of that brush yeah, so, essentially, being in good shape is going to improve all aspects of your life and again, it's going to come in, come in handy whenever you're, you know, traversing the mountains and the terrain at the Total Archery Challenge. So, yes, I think being a more physically capable individual improves all aspects of everything you do and it's only going to make your total archery experience that much more fun, because there are some tough courses, sitka being one of the tougher ones at any of these events.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that's what we've heard. Yeah, we haven what we've heard.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, we haven't had the ability to go out on it just because timing we just don't have the time to do it as a vendor. But yeah, I mean I think the general consensus across the board. With the Sitka courses it is typically a challenging course Longer, Longer, Terrain is tough and the shots are long and difficult. So just being in good shape is only going to assist in what you're doing out there. So one of the other tips that I would have, I would say, is get used to shooting with uneven or awkward foot placement. So if you're used to standing on a flat range and shooting feet perfect, you need to maybe change that up a little bit, because I can assure you your footing is never going to be perfect at these events. There's typically rocks, uneven terrain that you're going to be standing on. That is going to challenge you. So that is one thing that I would.

Zakk Plocica:

A tip that I would recommend is, before you head out to these things, get used to shooting on some uneven or uneven and challenging terrain. Just foot placement wise and you can. You can build that to challenge yourself. You don't have to be in the mountains to do this, but I would consider doing that just so you can get used to one, making sure your bow fits properly. You're not. Your draw lane's not too long, because when you're shooting those steep angles and your bow is too long for you, you will notice it Big time. So look at doing that and then mess with your footing, because standing in that awkward footing is does make the bow a little bit more difficult to shoot.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, one of the targets, I think it was that miniature Sasquatch. You were actually sliding in the mud as you were drawing the bow.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, so make sure your footing's good whenever you're you're out there because, yeah, it could end quickly. So that's one thing. That's one of the big tips too, I think. Mess with your footing and your foot placement, because it is never going to be perfect while you're at these events. Yep, so that's what I got, man, anything else?

Bryan Gay:

No, I think we need to do a recap, cause we went over a lot of things like footwear massive, making sure your bow is dialed into you as best as possible.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, and then uh, as possible, yes, and then uh, you know, a small first aid kit. I would say, if you had to pick three, yeah, yeah, so make sure again. Yeah, that's a good point. So quality footwear is going to be crucial for these things. Make sure they're broken, make sure they're, I would say, above the ankle, just so your feet are, you know a little more stability a little bit more stability.

Zakk Plocica:

Make sure your bow, set up in tune to make sure your bite, your, your sight, has the capability to shoot these distances. That is something because you're looking at you know 20 all the way out to 140 yards. Make sure you've got a good pack and make sure that pack is packed correctly with the gear you need Rain gear, hydration, snacks and then a small first aid kit. Yep, agreed, that's it, man. I think that covers everything. Yes, sir, cool. Well, we've got to get ready. We're leaving in less than 48 hours, so we've got to pack the truck and trailer, get all of our stuff together. So we are going to go ahead and do that. And anybody, listen and make sure. If you can give us a review, let us know. Give us some feedback, drop some comments, let us know if you're going to be out at the Total Archery Challenge. We'd love to see and hear from you guys.

Bryan Gay:

And yeah, yeah, hopefully we see you out there. If you can stop by the booth say hey, come by and see us. We'll both be there. That's it.

Zakk Plocica:

Appreciate you guys listening. That's another episode of the archery project and we will see you guys later.