I Developed Target Panic | Total Archery Challenge Seven Springs Recap

Target panic isn’t a theory when you’re standing on a steep mountain, pin floating, heart rate up, and your release hand refuses to finish the job. After Total Archery Challenge at Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, we’re giving a full after-action report on the Prime course, the moment my shooting fell apart, and why it nearly made me want to quit archery on the spot.

We talk through what it actually felt like to hit the click and freeze, why uphill shots exposed a “slightly long” draw feeling on a 35-inch ATA bow, and how mental pressure turns small misses into a spiral. Then we get practical: adjusting bow let-off to increase holding weight, fine-tuning D-loop length and anchor position, and shifting back toward a hinge release. I’m also committing to blank bale work, shoulder mobility, and a more intentional shot process so I’m not relying on luck and adrenaline at long range.

You’ll also hear what I learned from better shooters at TAC and why the advice kept coming back to the same fundamentals: shoot paper, build reps, and earn distance. We wrap with lessons from the RMEF course, gear considerations like peep and aperture size in changing light, and why the TAC community and vendor village can be one of the best places to learn fast.

If you’ve ever battled punching the trigger, freezing at full draw, pin float, or confidence crashes on 3D archery targets, this one will hit home. Subscribe, share it with a buddy who’s struggling, and leave a review so more archers can find the tools to work through it.

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Transcript

Seven Springs Recap And Stakes

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We just got back from Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. We shot the total archery event up there. I shot with Dan Staten. I developed Target Panic. I fell apart. I almost quit archery. Let's break it all down today on this episode of the Archery Project. Welcome back, guys. Thanks for joining me. I'm your host, Zach Placeika. Some of you guys know I have a company called Extreme Outfitters, one of the fastest growing archery suppliers and shops in the country. We serve archers across the nation. So if you ever need anything archery related, head over to the website extremeoutfitters.com. Use the code ArcheryProject. Save you some money, whatever you need. But yeah, I just got back. So it was a great event. Seven Springs, Pennsylvania is by far my favorite total archery challenge event that we tend attend. It's the biggest, there's the most people. The courses are incredible. It's in an incredible venue, and it's just a lot of fun. And this year, the weather was perfect, right? No rain, clear skies, sunshine. The temperature was absolutely fantastic. And it was huge, man. There was a ton of people. But I will tell you, this is by far the most challenging total archery event I have shot personally. And um I struggled through it, let me tell you. I've always prided myself on shooting pretty decent, right? I'm a decent shooter, nothing crazy, nothing good. I get to meet a lot of really great shooters. I'm okay. But I've never really struggled mentally with shooting a bow. Ever. Like just never. I've always, you know, we we talk to people about it who've developed this, and um, it's always been kind of interesting to me because I've I've never personally dealt with it. Well, let me tell you, it hit me full force this past weekend. Uh so we got in, we set up, um, and I went and actually I linked up with Cody Griffin from Easton and Dan Staten. All you guys know him from Elk Shape. Um, we went, me, Cody, and Joey, my camera guy, we went up to the airport, picked him up, met him. Great guy, great individual, very nice. Um, just a good dude, somebody that I honestly could enjoy being around. He's uh, I think we're very similar um personalities and have very similar interests outside of just Archery. So incredible dude. Uh, I really enjoyed being with him. But we, you know, me and him and Cody went and shot the prime course. I think it was Friday morning. So we got up early, we got on the course at 6:30, beautiful day. And I was, you know, really excited to shoot the course. Um, prime course has always been known to be pretty difficult, pretty challenging. Up for a challenge, no big deal, right? Whenever I go on a course, I typically carry five arrows with me. I've never lost an arrow at a total archery ever. I've never lost an arrow. If I have missed a target, I've recovered the arrow. Never broken an arrow, nothing. That was not the case this weekend. Let me tell you. Um, so we got there. We got on the prime course. Of course, Cody was late, right? He didn't get the memo, apparently. He was, we were, we linked up at 06, got on the course by 6.30. Cody thought we were supposed to link up at 6.20. So he's late. He managed to get on the course, though. I think at he might have got he got to us at target two. So, you know, Cody is on Cody's time, fashionably late. Um that's just Cody. I've known Cody for a long time and you know, laid back, just doing his own thing. Uh, but he made it to us the and the course started off really, really good. You know, if you know the prime course, it's 25 targets. You've got a good mix of long shots, technical shots, tight shots. It's typically a challenging course. Um, and I've shot it um, I've shot it in Tennessee, I've shot it in PA before uh a couple years ago. We chose to shoot it again this weekend. Uh, and it's a long course, man. It takes a while. And we were the first ones on it, and it took us, you know, like four, four and a half hours, maybe getting through it with nobody in front of us. Um, but yeah, again, very, very, uh, very good course, very challenging course. A lot of uphill, a lot of downhill, a lot of just in the timber. You had a really good mix, and uh it started off well. I say that, it started off pretty decent, right? We got through a few targets, things were going good, shooting fine, no issues whatsoever. And um, and then I think I misranged or missstyled um a target. And also, all this is documented, so you can go watch my struggle. Um, Dan put a video out on his YouTube channel on the Elk Shape um YouTube channel, and then you'll see we we're putting a video out on Extreme Outfitters YouTube channel. Uh, it'll probably be out by the time this podcast hits. Um, but it's all documented, so you can watch me struggle through this and kind of become demoralized as I get through it. You

When Target Panic Shows Up

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know, it kind of gets worse and worse until it does, until it gets better. Um, but yeah, I've never struggled with that. So we get into it. My first target, I missed a target, which was like, how did I miss that target? I was still trying to wrap my head around it. And um, I just I just shot right over its back. Good shot. That it was just high. It's like, okay, cool, pulled it back together, shot another one, put it on it, no problem, good to go. Well, we start to go through this course, and uh as we get through it, as we get about midway through it, things just really fall apart for me. Like I just could not hold on target, like I could not do it, like no matter what. Um, and I've never experienced that before ever. Um, and I don't know, I still don't know exactly what it was, but it was definitely a form of target panic, obviously. The the biggest challenge for me was shooting uphill, and we know that's challenging, anyways. Uh, I just could not get my shots to break. Like I would get in, I would get on target, I would hold on target, and I would get to my click on my release, and then that's where I would stay. And it's like I just couldn't expand through the shot, is the best way to put it. And I don't know exactly what the cause was because I've never had that issue before. And there was a lot of uphills on this course, but once I started that struggle, it got worse. Just worse and worse and worse until I was like, you know, I was pretty, I was pretty frustrated uh with the the whole fiasco. Um yeah, it was it was a it was a struggle, man. And like I said, I I just could not get my shots to break. Like I would get on target, boom, I would get into anchor, I would get it be in my peep sight, I would have my pin on target, and I would get to the click, and I just couldn't expand anymore. And I would almost have to fall force the shot. So I would get in as I was pulling through, as I was start trying to force this shot to break, I would fall out of my peep sight, the shot would break, the target would miss its mark. So there's a couple takeaways I had from it, and and I'll be honest, I like I shooting with Dan like was great through this whole thing. Um, you know, if there's anyone you would ever want with you within your group, it's Dan and Cody. Dan is like the most positive individual I've been around as far as like if you needed a hunting buddy, a training buddy, you were doing any kind of competition, this is the dude you want in your corner because you know he's constantly got a good mentality, good outlook, and um helps you kind of get through things. Just fantastic. He was he was great to be there. And you know, we talked about things. I talked with Cody, I talked to a lot of different people, and uh, there's a couple things I'm gonna, some changes I'm gonna make to my bow. Um, and and it's all it's all it was all me. There was no issues with the bow. There was no issues with my sight, my third axis, my arrows. I wish I had something to blame, but it was all me. It was a shooter-induced issues over and over and over again. And but it there were some takeaways from it um that I'm going to implement with my bow. So, first thing, this is still a newer bow that I'm shooting. I've never shot a bow of this length. And I'm shooting a 35, 35-inch ATA bow. And with that, one thing I've kind of noticed is that even though my draw length is what it is, depending on the ATA, it's definitely seems to shift a little bit. Um, and it that the 35, for whatever reason, felt a little bit long, specifically shooting uphill. And, you know, we know obviously things change when you're shooting uphill, but I'd never had that, it never felt as off with my 33 or my 30. So took it back a little bit and I talked to some guys. I talked to some really um guys with a lot of experience, just really good shooters, about some suggestions on what to do and how to fix this thing. And one of the things I'm gonna change is I've always shot a bow pretty much at 85%. Um, it's just where it's landed, it's where it's been, it's what I've always shot, and I've never had an issue with it. Um, but we all know the more holding weight you add to a bow, typically, the better you shoot the bow. With it's got to be relative what you're doing, right? Obviously, we don't want to hold all the weight, but you hold a little bit more weight, it keeps you in the shot. You can't relax as much, therefore, it's you have a more consistent, better shot. I mean, look at all your target archers, that's what they do. They're shooting, you know, 70-75% let off. So I'm already started playing with a little bit and went from 85 to 80 percent. And changing that holding weight a little bit, it does allow me to not relax as much. And it improves the draw cycle of the bow, in my opinion. It's just very, very smooth. There's no hump, and there's not a not really a hump in this bow, anyways, but it's just very the draw curve is very straight. It doesn't go up and then stack. It's all the way back, you get into anchor, you hold a little bit more weight. So that's one of the changes that I'm making from this because I wanted to shorten my draw length up just a little bit because every time I shoot uphill, it just feels a touch long, which would explain me not being able to expand through my shot, getting my shot to break and that release to go off, which was the number one struggle that I had. So also with changing the let off, it should help with holding the bow a little bit better. I struggled a little bit as far as holding on target, like the bow, just my pin float was a little bit more than what I wanted. And I think it was partially a mental game to this as well. Um, I just mentally I was just falling apart and that and it got worse the worse I did. Uh and it took a little bit for me to regroup. So those are some of the changes I'm making. I'm starting with going from 85 to 80 percent, changing the holding weight on it, which does when you change the let off, it does change the draw length a little bit, so it shortens the draw length up a little bit. Uh, and I'm gonna play with my D loop length a little bit more, just so that my anchor is where I want it to be. So I think the other thing that I'm going to do is I think I'm gonna go, and I have one in um, I think I'm gonna go back to it now that I'm done with, I think I'm done with Total Archie this year. I'm still not 100%. Um I'm gonna go back to a hinge release. I'm gonna do a lot of blank bailing. So this was honestly good, believe it or not, which to develop this form of tar target panic that I did. I think it was good, and it's kind of excited me a little bit because it's given me something specific to work on, right? Versus just going through and shooting my bow, going through the shot process, but specific aspects of the shot process that I need to work on. And so it's it's it's it's kind of excited me at first. I was really, man, you talked to me, I was just kind of bummed, you know, uh that this thing kind of transpired the way it did on that course, shooting with those guys. Because, you know, nobody wants to break down whenever you're shooting a video and hanging out with your buddies and some some dudes you never met. But it happened, and I think it was really good. There was a lot of takeaway from it for me. So, and it kind of reinvigorated me, made me want to test a little bit more things specific, and then it really made me reach out to other people who are really good shooters to get some advice from them uh about some things. And you know, I talked to Cooper French, who is with PSE, who is a whiz, man, just a target guy who's just a very technical, uh, very good shooter. Picked his brain a little bit. Um, I talked to um James from the Bow Disciples, who is honestly a really cool guy when you sit down, kind of one-on-one. We kind of sat a little bit and talked, and he's a really good shooter, too, man. Um who's full of a lot of great information. He spends a lot of time with Paige Pierce uh and just a wealth of knowledge. So I picked his brain, and then I had the opportunity to talk to George Riles as well, who

Why Uphill Shots Unraveled Me

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was in the stand booth right beside us. And uh I kind of went through and talked a little bit to each of these guys and just trying to get some insight as to what my true problem was, why this happened, because at first I really was unsure of what the issues were that was causing it. Um, and and that's kind of what they they would agree, I think, were were part of the problem. Not the whole problem, but part of the problem. Major problem was the mental side, the other part was just me going through the process of shooting. And, you know, George made some really cool or gave me some really cool information about setting my front shoulder, and Cooper did the same. Um, one thing that I've always done is taken it from like my bow hunting background, right? We talk about, you know, whenever you're you draw the bow, you shoot angles, you bend at the waist. Well, George was saying set your feet first, get your base set, right? Set the bow where you need to bow, where it needs to be, and then draw the bow straight back versus drawing the bow straight and then leaning at the waist. Um, so these are some things I'm gonna take away, and I'm gonna get a little bit more in depth with you know Cooper on this. I'm gonna give him a call and bug him some uh so he can kind of help me through this. Uh but it was interesting, man, because it was some of the shots weren't even that challenge. Like there, the don't get me wrong, the course was was very challenging. But some of the shots were not that challenging, right? Some of them were within you know 50 yards, and you know, I just could not hit where I wanted to hit. I would hold low, I would hold under the target, and um my pin would just float all over the place. So very, very eye-opening, very humbling. Uh, but at the end of the day, I think it was good. It's you know, takes me back. I'm gonna start this process all over again. Um, and I've got work to do, is what I learned. But it was a great experience, nonetheless. Uh, the event was absolutely fantastic. Um, it was great meeting everybody, and it was um it was cool, man, because it was packed. If you've never been to Total Archery Challenge, Seven Springs PA, like it is worth going to at least once as a shooter. It's kind of congested, but um, like the overall experience is just fantastic. Just because the venue is so cool, it's so big, the terrain is incredible, and the vendor village is massive. There's so many vendors there, so many people walking through. Definitely a really, really great experience. Um, so there was that man. It was great, it was a lot of fun. Uh, Dan was fantastic, just he is like he is, I think. Just a good dude, fun to shoot with, just fun to be around. And then Cody from Easton, again, I've known him for a long time, and it's always good to get to hang out with him. But I actually got to shoot with him again. He struggled through the course as well. So me and him kind of rode that struggle bus a little bit. Um, but it was fun, man. That that prime course, it was long, man. But halfway through is I really started to fall apart. But then, you know, like I said, I hadn't lost any arrows. I blew up five arrows on one course. Prime course. Incredible. And uh, of course, it was them probably some of the more expensive arrows I've ever done because I don't normally build a custom arrow for anything. I usually shoot like factory fletched AE Max stealths that come on the Easton arrows, like your five-os, FMJ Max's, axes five mil. I'm a kind of run it, keep it simple kind of guy. So the the arrow I built was a 5-0, 300 spine, just cut like 27 and a half inches. It had 50 grains up front with a hundred grain head. It had a wrap on the back, had a tack driver two and a quarter built up. They looked really good, and they looked really good until I blew them all up. Or I think I lost, lost or blew them up. So maybe I'm not ready for the custom arrow build stuff yet. It got expensive quick. No, but it was all me. So, like I said, I had been shooting those arrows. They had been flying phenomenal. They, the bow and everything tuned really good with them. It was just shooter arrow. But through the course, I really struggled midway when we got into the timber, especially. Um, I'll tell you the prime course, it was hard to range some of those targets, man. Like myself, Cody, and Dan struggled to get some ranges on some of these. And there was a uh third scale moose that the three of us all lost an arrow. We couldn't get a range. I think we ranged it for like 67, and it ended up being like 47 or 52 or something like that. Every one of us shot over the back. And um, you know, so it was it was tough, I think, for everybody. I think everyone would agree that it was a very challenging course. And I think all the courses, from what I talked to, a majority of the people were tough, just tough courses in general. There was a lot of debris in front of these courses, so your shot windows were very tight. So everything was really technical. You really had to be dialed in, but that's what makes it fun, right? Is that challenge, except for whenever it pushes you to the point of target panic like me. But it it was cool, man. I mean, they did a really good job. Um, there was not a lot of give me shots. I mean, we were walking after the prime course, we were walking past the SICA course, and I was looking at some of those shots straight uphill. I mean, just brutal, straight uphill. Long courses, and then you got to end that on like a 111-yard ram or something up the up the side of the mountain. It was good. The guys attacked did a really good job. Um, Sean and Rob are absolutely fantastic and uh helped us out quite a bit uh getting us taken care of, and they just ran a fantastic event. But back to the prime course, man. Midway through it, struggled through it, right? I ended up getting down to it. I had to borrow Cody's two of Cody's arrows, right? He's they're similar to mine, but I shoot a 300. He had a 340, cut down super short. It was a four-fletch, there was only three veins on it. Um, but I ended up finishing pretty strong, pretty good. Everything ended up working out. I kind of got my head back together, and that's what it ended up being. A lot of it was a head case. Um, and it was able to finish decently well um through the the remainder of the course, and um which was refreshing, right? It kind of helped to build the confidence back a little bit because I got to the point where I was like, man, what am I doing? Like, is and is this just maybe I'm not an archery guy? I see it when guys get to the point where they get so frustrated there, they just got to put the bow down. But, you know, was able to walk through it, talk through it a little bit, and uh recover and finish decently. You know, we got through the last target. The last target's, of course, a 130-yard moose across an open ravine with a hard crosswind. And um, you know, I'm shooting an arrow that's not mine. But we got it on target, we made impact, it was good, and we kept the remaining two arrows, and uh there was a lot of lessons learned. So at the end of the day, it was a lot of fun. Um, definitely, definitely a challenging course. So yeah, I and the the more the because I struggled so much, I I talked to you know, the guys I I just mentioned, um James, Cooper, George, and some of them. And I my my question was, you know, I'm an okay shooter. Like I would leave it at that. I'm an okay shooter. Dan is a master of his craft, like Dan pounds, Dan stroke that course. Um, he, I mean, he is what he is. He he clearly puts in the work. He does a fantastic job. He's just an a really, really great shooter. And like I said, a master of his craft. Crushes it, man. When you watch him shoot a bow, he just, you know, when you see somebody that just looks good shooting a bow, the dude looks good shooting a bow. Every time the shot breaks, how he holds on target, his release hand, all looks good. Shot it, he shot it with a stand, Solex um wrist release, crushed it, man. Fantastic. And got me look, got me, you know, thinking a little bit more talking with these guys, and I was like, and I was asking them, I'm like, what do I need to do to become a better shooter? Right? It's fun to go out and shoot these targets at distances. Like, you know, I got a nice 3D range at my house, but what do I really need to do if I want to become a proficient, good,

Bow Setup Fixes To Try Next

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consistent shooter? And the the answer was pretty consistent across the board. Shoot paper. I'm not a paper shooter, man. It's never or a target guy, like specific target archery. It's never really uh interested me um to a degree where I wanted to really get into it. Um, but I get it, right? So when we look at target indoor stuff, specifically is what they were talking about. They're like, dude, shoot a 20 yard three spot is what you need to work towards. I mean, and then just develop and hone those skills until you just can't get them wrong. And they're like, dude, if you're gonna do it, do it. Build a target, an indoor target boat, and and start working through that. And you know, Cooper's advice. Was build a bow specific four indoor, work the shot process, get some help with it. And I've never had anybody, I've never worked with anybody, um, and focus on that specifically. And he's like, I was like, so just start shooting uh, you know, 20-yard three spot. He's like, he's like, dude, shoot, start with a five-yard, shoot a um a 30x, then go to a 10, a 15, 20, 20, and kind of like la, you know, pyramid up slowly over time. Don't just rush into it and start with there and really hone in and focus on everything you're doing. So I'm I'm I it's kind of intrigued me a little bit. It's kind of, you know, kind of like I said, got me excited a little bit. I might, I might go that route. Um I'm still unsure. I'm not 100% sure. But now it's kind of piqued my interest because at this point, after falling apart like that, I'm like, I need to really do everything I can in order to become a more proficient, better shooter. And because I don't want that to happen again. You know, that was an eye-opener. So I'm considering it, I'm thinking about it. I'm unsure of exactly if I do go that route, what bow I'm gonna build, how I'm gonna build it out. I will get some insight from those guys and um start, you know, working through that. But as of right now, you know, I'm gonna start implementing some solutions for this, is I've already taken and changed the let off on my bow to 80%. So it feels good, feels a little different. Um, I like it. I had the guys from Stan feel my release too, just to see what their thoughts were. They were said release was set up great. Um, I think I'm gonna go to a hinge right now. I'm gonna go to a three-finger hinge. And this was another interesting thing. I was talking about with Pete from Stanley and um Stanley, Stan, not Stanley, not the Den Cups. Pete from Stan was about how to actually hold a release and the pressure in your fingers and how much it really impacts the consistency of that release going off, especially when we talk about a hinge. He's a two-finger hinge kind of guy. Um, he was talking about with the more fingers you have, the harder it is for some people to have equal pressure in order to get that release to break. So two to three finger is common, and then setting it up correctly, which I've never, dude. I'm so simple with things. Like I don't over like I don't overthink like most things. Like I'm like a very simplistic individual. You know, you get it up, you make it work, you run with what you got, versus really the fine-tuning process. Um, and maybe I've kind of missed with that um because I don't like to overcomplicate things. I like to work on the fundamentals and the basics, and I understand with the archery side of things, it all kind of works together. So I got some changes I'm gonna be make. Like, like I said, I'm gonna go to that hinge. Um, I'm not sure what hinge. I've got an HBC flex. Um I I tell you, I shot the I the Stan Lynx aluminum, I never liked it, but I shot the Stan Lynx in brass, and I really, really like that release. So I may be picking one of those up. I'm sure we're gonna be bringing those in here at Extreme Outfitters because I was really impressed with the release on how it felt. Just the quality, the weight of it felt really good. Messing with it on the shock trainer, I really liked it. So I'm probably gonna pick up one of those uh and I'll be going to a hinge from here on out um the rest of this year until we get into hunting season, probably. Uh, and then I'm gonna be doing a lot of blank bailing, um, just so that I can eliminate every other variable, right? Like aiming and all of that, and just work through the actual actual release execution side of things because if you watch me shoot, I do have some mobility issues within my shoulders, right? Um, that I've got to kind of work through. And um I'm real quick about almost coming off of my face, just trying to get in that position to kind of like push, expand, and pull through that shot where my shoulder, my hand almost kind of pulls away. So I'm gonna try to work through some mobility stuff with my shoulder in order to get that shot to break a little bit cleaner, coming straight back versus pulling away and dropping my hand. Um, all little things, right? Uh things that aren't really a big deal when you're shooting, you know, 20 to 40 yards on a deer, but whenever you're shooting 110, 120, 130 yards on an animal, you know, at total archery challenge is what I'm referring to. Any issues within your shot become amplified. And they did, even at those little bit closers, those 50 to 70 yard shots uphill. Um, so those are kind of what I'm gonna be working on. Those are gonna be my focus moving here forward. Like I said, it was an eye-opener, and there was just a big, there was a lot that I took away from it. But again, initially I was kind of a little bummed, but the more I thought about it, the more I got excited about it and I was like, oh, this is another opportunity, another challenge I get to work through, and it's an opportunity to become a better shooter. So it's a good thing, you know, it's all about perspective, I think. And uh I'm excited for it. So those are the big changes that I'm gonna make. I'm I'm gonna do a little bit more talking with Cooper about bow setup, specifically my 35, um, and then potentially that target bow. We'll see. Am I gonna be a target guy? I don't know about that, but I might build one so that I can come in in the shop because I have a hard time shooting a lot, right? We run a shop, I don't spend as much time with my bow as I should. Um, I shoot it as often as I can, but you know, some days it gets neglected with as busy as we are. We work long hours. Um and typically I don't shoot in my shop ever. Like it's just I don't because I've usually got stuff going on, but I'm gonna try to carve out time and be consistent. I'm a routine guy. Like if you look at my entire life, everything is pretty routine, and I just have not created a routine to stay on it with the bow like I need to. You look at my dieting, my training, all of that's very regimented. My training for my bow is not regimented. It's kind of get it when I can, get it, go. Um, so I'm gonna be putting more effort into that, making sure I am spending more time with it as we've always preached, and carving out enough time and then implementing those things so that I can hopefully fix this, work through it, and become a better, more proficient shooter with a bow. You know, that's my ultimate goal with it. So that was the big takeaway. That was Friday morning. It was a lot, it kind of a little overwhelming. We ended strong. We got in, we went and had lunch, or I ate a little bit. Uh, and then me and the guys from Extreme Outfitters, my my guys all that came with us, um, we went and shot the

Rebuilding With Paper And Blank Bale

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RMEF course later that afternoon. So the RMEF course is one of my favorite courses. It's the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. It's all elk, and it is awesome. And it was different this year, it was in the timber. Um, so 15 targets. The course is still pretty long, takes a while to do. We were the last ones. We closed out the course and um we shot with one of the Total Archer guys who got a joined dust midway. His name is Kai, awesome dude. Uh young kid. He's got a new bow. He was actually sighting it in on the course. It was a fun time. But the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation course is a lot of fun because it's all elk. So you've got some technical shots, you've got some longer shots, you got full-size elk, you got third scale, a lot of different style targets, embedded elk, all kinds of stuff. It's a lot of fun. Um, and you had a little bit bigger targets, which at this point, after that morning, I was excited for. But that course actually went much better for me. Um, still some things I struggled with, you know, but I built some more arrows while I was at TAC, and they were, of course, very simple, not a custom build, pre-fletched, 50 grains up front, 100 grain head, 300 spine cut down. They worked great. I didn't lose one. What do you know? I was back in the game. Maybe Dan just, you know, made me so nervous. I'll blame him for it. Uh, but the the uh army, of course, went well. All the guys shot really, really good. Uh, Mr. Ed, of course, crushed it. He never loses an arrow, he never misses. And um, you know, he's just a really good shooter. Kevin, too, man. If you watch Kevin um shoot a bow, he's the other guy he was building, doing the custom arrow builds for us in our booth. Uh, he's an excellent shooter man with killer form. Uh, whenever I see Archery and I see that guy shoot a bow, it's like that's what I want to look like when I shoot a bow. It just breaks, it looks clean, it looks awesome. And then Brian, of course, out there, you know, stroking it, uh, stroking the course, man. He absolutely crushed it as well. So we had a really good group of guys, and uh everyone shot very well. Um that course was a lot of fun, man. Like I said, it was different though. It was in the woods, it was in the timber. So there were some super, super challenging shots there just because some of the windows were so tight uh and there was debris. Like, whenever you look at the target, like there was like debris that you had to like figure out how to shoot through. Um, it was it was interesting, it was quite a challenge. So, but but we all made it happen. It was a lot of fun. It was later in the afternoon. Again, the weather was fantastic. Being in the canopy was nice, the lighting was cool. There was a lot of shadow. So there's a lot of things you really had to battle and think about. And, you know, that was another thing for me, you know, kind of looking at it and talking to people about different peep and aperture sizes and scope housings and and whatnot. And you know, some guys struggled a little bit with the light because their, you know, their the aperture and their peep site was a little bit small so that they struggled to see. So, you know, for kind of finding that sweet spot for total archery challenge if you're just, you know, if you're building a bow specifically for it, and then if you're running your hunting rig, you know, it kind of gives you some real life scenarios to see, you know, how you would perform, how how everything looks. Are your pins bright enough? Are you getting enough light in your aperture that you can see your target, especially when those low light scenarios, right? In the evening when everything's kind of, you know, the sun's starting to set, and you know there's a lot of shadows, and you're in weird spots in the mountains. Um, there was a lot of takeaways. And I feel like every time I go to Total Archery Challenge, I learned something new. But this was by far the most eye-opening and most educational um attack event that I've shot. Uh, it was it was fantastic, man. We put in a lot of miles that day, covered a lot of ground, shot a lot of different targets, and um it was a lot of fun, a lot of great people. You know, and the thing about Total Archery Challenge, man, the thing that always humbles me, you know, we shot, it was a lot of fun. But the thing more so that was was really great about this event is we get to meet and talk to so many people, and the amount of people that come up and know us and you know want to talk to us and pick our brain is so humbling. Um, it's it's always it's probably my favorite part is the community side of archery that Total Archery Challenge has created because we get to interact with so many people from all across the country, guys from Canada, you know, all across the US, you know, coming down, talking to them, picking their brains, because that's one of my favorite things to do is ask everyone else, like what works for them? What are they doing? How do they set their stuff up? Where do they struggle? You know, because we're all doing the same thing, man, you know, trying to figure this thing out and enjoy the process of it. And it's great meeting so many like-minded individuals who come across and who are willing to take the time to even come and talk to us. I mean, I'm very thankful for that and the people that support our business because this is what we do. Uh, I'm thankful for all of you guys uh who spent the time come over to say hello and give me some of your guys' insight and you know, speak with us and speak with me. Um, very thankful for it. It's always a lot of fun. It's probably my favorite part of Total Archery Challenge. And I think, man, like the the crowd that TAC draws is just good. It's just good people. Everybody at these events are so helpful and so welcoming. Um, it's it's probably the I honestly think it's like one of the best things for the archery community. So if you haven't shot one, I would definitely encourage you to go. It'll humble you. Well, at least it did me. It made me, it was a gut check, but it was good and it was a lot of fun. And like I said, the people are what make the event. Um, it just everybody there, and you have shooters from so many different backgrounds, right? So many different experience levels. You got little kids out there, you got husbands, you got wives, you got whole families doing these things, young, young dudes, young women out there all getting after it, going out there and putting some crazy shots on some of these technical, hard, um, hard courses. There's a um a lady and her husband, their name escapes me. She, it's like womanhood archery or something like that on Instagram. Um, she's little and she shoots a 40-pound bow, right? And she strokes these courts, like crushes it. So she shot, I think it was on the SICA course, uphill, 111 yards. They had to do some archery math, like to get her where to hold, and she hit this target with a 40-pound draw, draw weight. Her draw length is short, 111 yards hit this target. Unbelievable. We saw her in uh Tennessee, and she hit a 94 yard. Um I think it was a it was a bison or an elk or something at

RMEF Course Wins And Gear Lessons

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94 yards on this practice range, crushed it. Dude, she comes out here, Pennsylvania. Obviously shoot, they shoot a lot, they get they get after it, but she's up here at Pennsylvania smoking these long bomb shots with that bow. Just incredible, man. You just all different calibers and levels of shooting capability out there. It's super cool, man. And there was um a lot of kids, man, a lot of kids getting after it, having fun. Uh, dude, there were some dudes there with trad bows. Brandon Lilly was there. He's shooting with the trad bow. Absolutely insane. He's a stud. Just tons of different people. Um, just a really, really great time. And it's like I said, if you haven't had the opportunity to go, you definitely should because you meet people like George Riles is there, just hanging out in the booth, giving you know tips for people, helped me out dramatically as to kind of dissect what my problem is and where I need to start. One of the big takeaways being pick one thing, break that one thing down, and you know, do one thing at a time versus overwhelming yourself with so many different things that you're just not productive in you know, course correction. So that was a big takeaway for me. It's dissecting one thing at a time, correcting it, and then building on that. So that's another thing. And then you get to meet all the other guys, Cooper French from PSE, phenomenal wealth of knowledge. Um, obviously, you have all your other archery celebrities there, and then you know the the manufacturers themselves. So if you want to, you know, go and speak with representatives specifically from the brands that you're interested in, like Easton was on was on the ground with Cody there, and then Dylan, you know, the engineer is there. You know, you can talk to him and ask him why. There was a really good uh question from somebody who shop kept telling these individuals that Easton arrows aren't made in the US. And, you know, who better to talk to than the engineer themself or Cody Griffin, you know, one of the faces of Easton to break down and explain everything to them. You know, this is where the carbon is sourced, this is where it's manufactured, this is how it's manufactured. So when you got questions, you can go directly to the source that versus getting it through, you know, whoever who doesn't have a full understanding of everything. So it's a great place to really, you know, get some really great information, get some good deals. There's always good deals going on there, tons of product. And um, you know, any questions you have, you're surrounded by everyone who enjoys what you're doing. So that's the biggest thing with Total Archery Challenge. Not only will it challenge you, break you down, build you back up, but you get to meet all these different people, all the manufacturers, pick the brains, the guys from Diod there, absolutely fantastic, right? Scott, Kevin, they'll level your site, they'll level everything for you, they'll take you. The cool thing about diod was when you buy a site from them, they mount it for you, they level it for you, then they take you to the practice range, they get you dialed in with like four to eight shots, and then get you a site tape and everything figured out. So fantastic service. Same thing. HHA there, Jake. Cool dudes, just willing to help out. Um, yeah, man, who else was there? Like there was just all your big manufacturers, Matthews there. It's great talking to those guys, the guys from Hoyt, the guys from PSE, Botec, our rep Jamie, um, and then the other guy from Black Gold, I can't remember his name. Um, just great individuals, willing to help out, answer questions, just super personable because it's one thing when you see all these people like online, right? We see, you know, all these different celebrities or influencers, or what I see as business guys who happen to have to do content, which is what we do because we run a business at this point. And then you actually meet them and you're like, wow, they're really down to earth, super cool individuals, willing to take the time with me. At least that's how I felt whenever I interacted with everybody. Um super humbling, super cool, a lot of fun. But dude, if you if you get an opportunity, man, if you if you're a first-time shooter, I don't know if the Prime course is the course to to go with. At least it wasn't for me. I need to reevaluate my life um after that event. But you know, there was a lot of new courses, a lot of new names, I should say. There was a PSE course, the bearded butcher course, and then you had your staples, um, like Prime, RMEF, um, the knock-on course I heard was super technical,

TAC Community Vendors And Course Picks

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super challenging. Um, and then Sitka, which is like the longest, most one of the more technical or long shots, I should say. So if you're going to these events, do a little bit of your research to kind of get a rough idea what courses you want to sign up for based off your, I would say, physical fitness level, because some of these courses are a little more challenging as far as like walking, navigating, and distance that you cover. And then uh your shooting capability. And the cool thing is like even if you get like the most technical hard course there is, like maybe you shoot a knock-on or you shoot prime or um whatever. The cool thing is you can still walk up if you're not comfortable with a shot. Of course, I didn't do that. I probably should, but you can walk up and you know get within your wheelhouse to take shots on things, which is another great thing about it. And the other cool thing is like there's so much different terrain, right? You're shooting uphill, downhill, different, like rocky terrain, your footing is different. There's all these things you got to work through, which to me, if you do like an after-action report, kind of like what I do after you go there, you evaluate these things, you break down where you struggled, and then you're able to create a game plan in order to correct those things. And that was my biggest thing with this event. This one was the most eye-opening and the most in-depth after-action report that I think I've done uh based solely on one course. Um, and the big challenge for me, shooting uphill, man, just getting it figured out. So I'm making some changes to my stuff. Um unfortunately, here on the east coast at sea level, I can't practice those uphill shots like I'd want to, uh, just because we don't have anywhere to do that. Maybe I should shoot a set of target on my roof and shoot up over it. I don't think my wife would appreciate that, nor the uh the people in the county, the next or the next county over. But you know, I can work through these other things by, you know, spending more time behind my bow. I gotta carve out more time in order to shoot it, making those little changes to the bow. And then, like I said, shooting paper, man, because paper doesn't lie. And whenever building those repetitions, like these guys were talking me about, and practicing with intent, not just going out and shooting, but actually being practicing with intent intent, you know, focusing on a specific aspect of what you're doing and breaking down each part and then putting all together. That's what I'm going to be doing. That was my big takeaway from this event. Um, and like I said, the struggle I think was good. It was needed for me. Uh, it brought me back to reality. And uh, I will no longer be taking just five arrows, I'll probably take at least eight to get through a course at this point. Um, overconfidence kills, apparently. What do you know? So that's it, man. Uh, like I said, just want to say thanks to everybody that was there that came that took the time to come over and say hello to us. Uh, it was great meeting everybody. Um, you know, as always, you know, our goal is to be a resource for you guys. If you ever have questions, I we do our best to answer them and get you the stuff you need, man. And again, thank you to everybody that took the time. Come say hello, come hang out, uh, and provide me with the valuable insight that you guys have because I know there's a ton of you guys out there that have a ton of experience. That uh it's it's good for me to be able to get that from you guys and uh learn a thing or two. So again, just want to say thanks to everybody and uh I hope to see you guys at some of the events in the future. I don't know if I'll be at any other ones this year. I'm undecided. Um, I've kind of doing some talking with some other companies. We'll see. We'll see. Michigan, it's a potential, um it's just a long way to travel. If I do it, it will be specifically for media. It will not be, we won't have a booth set up, but we got some stuff in the works, some things we're working on. And uh yeah, definitely excited for it and decided, excited to link up with more people in the future. Hopefully, we'll get to shoot with some for some more individuals as we get to go to more of these events. So again, appreciate everybody. Thanks for listening to another episode

Final Takeaways And Listener Feedback

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of the Archery Project. Drop some comments, give me some feedback. Let me know your thoughts on if you were at Total Archery Challenge, Pennsylvania, what you thought of the courses. I thought they were awesome, incredibly challenging, but give us some of your insight. What was the most challenging course that you shot? And if you struggled, what was your struggle? So that um I don't feel like I'm the only one over here that was that got my teeth kicked in. So drop some comments, give some feedback. As always, appreciate you guys listening. If you need anything archery related, head over, check out my company, extremoutfitters.com, for all of your archery bow hunting needs. We sell it all. Use the code Archery Project. If you need it, if you got questions on it, real people at this place, man. I've got techs that are willing to answer any question you got. So if you call us, our sales team will direct you to the right, um, Archery Tech, in order to answer your questions, whether it's arrow builds, sites, technical questions, tuning questions. We got the staff here to do it, and that's our goal to serve you guys, provide good information, and uh help you out along your archery journey. So thanks for listening, guys. We'll see you all in the next episode of the Archery Project.