2024 Total Archery Challenge Recap
Post-Event Wrap Up from Beaver’s Bend, Oklahoma including gear, course review, and more.
Total Archery Challenge ’24
Surpassed my expectations
Myself and fellow author and veteran Steve Stratton (stevestratton.com), hit the trails of Beaver’s Bend, Oklahoma, to lose some arrows and have a blast while doing it. Overall, it surpassed my expectations.
Lost some arrows and had a blast while doing it. Although at over $10 an arrow for my custom Adams Precision Archery arrows, I cried a little each time
To say I enjoyed myself would be an understatement. It was not just fun, but it was mentally refreshing. I’ve been grinding away at the podcast and writing for months now without a break, plus work demands and family requirements have been piling up. I’m not complaining, but I needed a break and this was exactly what I needed.
Did I shoot well? No, not exactly. But at TAC you don’t have to keep score. The point is to get outdoors and have fun.
Video captured from the course is live on youtube
The gear
Jeff’s Setup:
Bow: Elite Carbon Era
Arrows: Adams Precision Archery custom Easton Axis 5MM. 340 Spine, cut down to 29 inches and stuffed with Easton Inserts.
Sight: Dialed Archery Arxos Total Archery Challenge Edition
Vendor Village
Maybe the coolest thing about TAC is the vendor village, where all kinds of vendors representing archery, hunting, shooting, and the outdoors gather to show off their latest gear and talk shop.
I stopped by Lacrosse Boots, who let me wear their new URS ES GTX boots for an entire day! I met one of their reps while at a food truck grabbing a cup of coffee to warm up (it literally rained all day Saturday), and he told us about their promotion. All I had to do was stop by and talk about great boots. They let me try on a pair and walk in them all day!
These things were incredible and on a rainy day kept my feet dry, relaxed, and stuck to the ground. Very comfortable and waterproof. Highly recommend you check them out.
I also got to chat with the guys/gals at Elite Archery, my preferred bow manufacturer, about their carbon bows, a new limb-mounted flashlight that also serves as a limb shock absorber that is rechargeable and has LED white and green lights, and of course picked up a new hat!
I also talked with the pros at SIG Sauer about their new optics, which include the range finder pictured to the left. The KILO 3K range finder is the entry-level range finder with blistering new tech, and despite being entry-level, it was packed with features.
Yes, I already ordered one. Had to after I ranged a hotel across the lake at over 1,000 yards away.
SIG also has new tech called Optical Image Stabilization, that allows for electronic balancing of the image in the viewfinder just like it would on a GoPro. Incredibly handy when you are freezing cold on the hunt, or just on a hike and glassing around at nature. Your shaky hands will no longer make it hard to see through the lens with these binos.
A bit pricy, but man, they were incredible.
There was tons of other gear from Matthews Archery, Hoyt Archery, Montana Knife Company, Leupold Optics, representatives from Warrior Rising, plus camo from Kuiu, Sitka, and others including Lancaster Archery, who had a massive trailer there with tons of archery gear. Thankfully so too, because I finally found a bow tripod that fit my bow.
The Course
Here’s my setup that I took to TAC, which was setup specifically for target shoots.
Jeff’s Setup:
Bow: Elite Carbon Era in Outdoor Green
Arrows: Adams Precision Archery custom Easton Axis 5MM. 340 Spine, cut down to 29 inches and stuffed with Easton Inserts.
Sight: Dialed Archery Arxos Total Archery Challenge Edition
Strings: Winner’s Choice
Rest: Vapor Trail Pro-Vd drop away
Camera: GoPro Hero 7
Leupold Course
The Leupold Course, the course we chose to shoot had 25 targets ranging from 25 to 60 yards across Beaver’s Bend State Park.
We walked for over 3 hours up and down slopes, over streams and creeks, and through trees. The previous day (Saturday), it rained all day so the course was muddy and still wet on Sunday when we took to the course. We slipped and slid around, but found our footing for the most part and I only fell once!
The course offered more challenging shots that I expected, but it was fun to approach each of the 25 targets, including this one to the left which we ranged at 74 yards. I’ve never taken an archery shot that far, and I was pleased with my shot!
Steve nailed this one in the leg, one of many he “took out” throughout the morning shoot.
Overall, the course was great. My last shot on “hole” number 25 was my best shot of the day. I donated a few arrows to the archery gods, but still left with a bunch not broken. I need to practice more for next year, as some of the shots were more technical and at longer distances (40+ yards shooting through narrow trees).
But I wasn’t the only one with broken arrows! We found tons of arrows on the course the entire morning where fellow archers donated some as well!
more pictures and posts on ig/x
The stay
cabin, food, and more
We stayed in a great little 2 bedroom cabin that was perfect for our needs. Highly recommend you check out the Westeria cabin on VRBO if you ever want to take a trip down to Beaver’s Bend, Oklahoma. And I recommend you do. For a little town of only 4,000 people, tourism is booming and I’ve never seen a small town so busy.
Best meal of the weekend came from Mountain Fork Brewery and I ate it too fast to snag a picture of it. They have wood-fired oven baked pizza that was to die for. On the second night we went to the Warrior Rising after party and I had their wings and homemade salsa. Both were excellent and their Three Rivers Blonde Ale with blood orange organges and pineapple hit the spot.
The Fellowship
more than just archery
We talked with so many people there it wasn’t even funny. Between the vendor village and the Warrior Rising afterparty, we met tons of people and talked all things archery, shooting, outdoors, and veterans programs. The weekend was just as much about fellowship and networking as it was about archery and shooting the courses. I talked with the guys at SIG Sauer about everyday carry like we were best friends. I talked archery and new tech with the team at Elite Archery like we were family.
Warrior Rising has a cool ambassador program for the Total Archery Challenge events that I will be volunteering for next year to help man their booth and work with the vendors present to gather donations for the Saturday night raffle. I don’t know how much they raised, but I witnessed the raffle go down and a lot of money was handed over, and for a damn good cause.
Check out Warrior Rising at warriorrising.org
I took the COURSE OF ACTION PODCAST on the road for the first in-person intervew and we had a blast. Be looking out for the episode with guest Dan Horgan, Air Force veteran and Director of Communication and Outreach for the Warrior Bonfire Program.
The Warrior Bonfire Program is a very cool organization that serves Purple Heart recipients and their families, and Dan even did a fundraiser to start getting some of these heroes into archery.
Check out Warrior Bonfire at warriorbonfireprogram.org
summary
i’ll be back
Lastly, I’ll be back for sure. To say I had fun would be an understatement. I plan on going to the Oklahoma TAC next year, and would like to get up to the Colorado shoot as well in Steve Stratton’s neck of the woods.
Plus, I love the mountains.
Check out Total Archery Challenge at totalarcherychallenge.com and see if it is an event you might be interested in, and I’ll hopefully see you on the course!
*Some links might contain affiliate links. If you click and buy, I might get a small commission at no cost to you. I vet all gear, so nothing is BS here. Appreciate your support!
