Latest / The Bow Disciples Podcast / RANKING Total Archery Challenge locations

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RANKING Total Archery Challenge locations · The Bow Disciples Podcast

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New podcast, brand new podcast. First one of I was going to say
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of July, but technically they're already be one out.
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So anyway, new podcast. As of now, it sounds like our
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tax season is finished. We did Oklahoma, Tennessee,
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Pennsylvania and Montana for a quick blaster before we get off
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to it. Please subscribe to the podcast.
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5 Stars Apple and Spotify, and this episode is sponsored by
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Podium archer.com and Badlands gear.com.
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Yeah, let's get into that. Team BD is going to save you
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money. New partnership with Badlands.
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Very exciting. Just to clear it up, Pump
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station will still work as a code anywhere.
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We have a partnership but Team BD Much faster to type, easier
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to spell. Figured it made sense that both
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options. So how let's let's backtrack on
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that real quick. This might be, you know, people
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request, they said pods could be longer.
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So ultimate goal is pod is really breakdown our our TAC
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experiences kind of for people who have never gone to them and
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whatnot and want to think about which ones to go to the pros,
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the cons things, all those things.
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But we'll get into that. So breakdown kind of your start
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because Badlands goes a little bit further back.
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Well, precursor it before you were even kind of like involved
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with them. Ted always loved Badlands.
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Yeah, Teddy boy loved Badlands long time He's he's worn their
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rain gear for forever and that was the first time I'd ever
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heard about their. I think my most favorite part
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about them is their lifetime warranty.
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Ted has never had an issue if he which we go through some nasty
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stuff, so it's inevitable, but you know any if he's ever ripped
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a piece of gear or like I think he eventually broke a portion
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off a backpack and. Yeah, maybe like a clip or
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something. Sent it right in.
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You throw a piece of tape on the section that is damaged, they'll
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either repair or send you a new one.
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Nine times out of 10, they're just sending you a new, new
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supply of whatever it was. So that that's epic.
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Because hunting equipment, let's face it, is expensive, you know,
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So if you don't have to go buy a new pack or new set of rain gear
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for $300 or whatever saves you a lot of money.
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And so the warranty to me is the best part.
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The prices are also, I think competitive.
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You know, I, I don't think they're not the highest price
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hunting equipment on the market, which I am a fan of because I
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think sometimes it can get too pricey just for a name, which is
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ridiculous. But so that's that's how we
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initially like Ted was a big fan.
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Well, actually I had known about Badlands a little bit earlier
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because Nick Coleman ran the backpack and the Bino harness
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way back when we started. And at the time, not only
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Badlands, but all the Bino harnesses were really big and
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bulky at the time. Now everyone's gotten them
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smaller and, and, and more trim, which is great.
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But he had the backpack, he loved it, had the Bino harness,
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really liked it. And then, yeah, my dad got the
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backpack because Nick had the backpack and he, he really loved
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it. He still runs it, the day pack.
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He's had it, I don't know, six years, you know, and, and then,
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yeah, the rain gear as well. So to go the next step, I got
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the opportunity last year in December to do a whitetail hunt
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out in Oklahoma for Badlands Deer Camp, which was like this
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basically an event where they invited, I think it was about 8
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hunters maybe and from all different places.
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So you had some of the bearded butcher guys, you had Bree who
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does a cooking show, you had a old, older dude who was a
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writer, and then the guys from deer and deer hunting as well.
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And then myself and yeah, went on the hunt, had an absolute
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blast. It was ran super well.
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It was super fun and I'm hoping they'll do it again because it
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was like one of the highlights of my year is just really fun.
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And yeah, after that, obviously that was in December, didn't get
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anything done until now. July 1st essentially.
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So yeah, I don't know, just kind of came back around.
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I always liked the gear. It was just a matter of figuring
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out a partnership that worked for both sides and eventually
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got it, got it to where we were both stoked and, and I'm stoked.
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A lot of my contracts don't have a discount code.
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So like they just are like a partnership between me and the
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brand. And then like we promote based
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on that or just I use the stuff in the videos.
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It's cool to me when you get a code as well because then the
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actual consumer can get like save money.
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And I am a fan of saving money. Yes, you are.
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So anyway, yeah, pretty exciting.
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But you also got kitted out with the gear.
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So you got some of the ladies gear, you got a pack, you got
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some other stuff. What was your first impression?
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Yeah, great, great first impression.
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The the lightweight pants for the overalls phenomenal.
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They get to do some sizing checks just when you order new
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stuff and like with this, we don't really get to try it on
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beforehand to to get sizing right.
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So there's a couple things I need to adjust.
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But once we get that all dialed in a great selection sometimes
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still still, I'm going to say it's the women's section is
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still more minimal compared to the men's selection and variety,
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but still more variety than some other brands that I have seen or
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looked at. And I do appreciate that because
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when you want to choose one set, like I prefer to have one set of
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camo on, like not mismatch it. And when you can't find
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lightweight pants and a lightweight shirt or a full set
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of outerwear with the, the, the, you know, warm layers
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underneath, it's, it's annoying to me as a female.
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And so they do have a good enough selection that you can go
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through and fully kit yourself out, which I think it is great.
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So couple little things like I wanted to bring the Suntec
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hoodie hoodie over to the female side at that's an easy unisex
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option. Like some texts aren't female
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male specific Well. It's nice that you know, now
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you, you're, you know, working with them too, as an extension
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of the brand. And, you know, maybe over time
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you can work with them to expand and and improve the woman's
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line, make it even better. Yeah.
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I mean, I I obviously really like the backpacks a lot.
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And you've been loving the you've had the pants.
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On the. I really like and.
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I love the pants. So I really like those pants.
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I forgot I forgot what they're called.
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They're the ones with the knee pads.
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I think they're called like the pyre or something If I.
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Remember, I pull the knee pads in and out, but the but the
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stitching on them is what makes those so cool because you're so
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much less likely to RIP the pants.
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So like it's meant for if you're crawling, it's got that
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stitching across the knees and the butt and on the butt.
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So when you're sitting on rocks and glassing and you're sliding
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down, no. Those pants are like the I've
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been able to tear those that's durable the least out of any
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pants I've tried. So that to me that's big because
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I blow through pants really, really quick.
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Big fan of the backpack that I got because backpack sizing for
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small females is always very tricky.
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You're always thinking about like what's going to fit enough
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for long hikes where you got enough water plus can store your
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jackets from the morning because you're not going back to a
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vehicle. You can fit a set of vinos and a
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tripod and you know, but it's not going to be too small, but
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still has a waist belt. That's always pretty tricky.
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And I don't think unless you're going on a multi day hunt where
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you're not coming back to the truck, which they do have hard
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pack. What do you call them?
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Like frame packs, But I don't think they're necessary to carry
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around. It's just more weight for no
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reason. You're slowing yourself down.
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So their day pack that I have was ATX 16.
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Is that what you said? Fantastic.
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Size wise, you got to think smaller people.
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Our clothes are smaller, our our stuff is smaller.
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So the size of it fits all of my stuff phenomenally.
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Plus it has a waste belt still built into it.
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A waste belt to me, I have to have also at TAC, I just ran the
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Fanny pack, which I thought would be maybe too big.
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I was a little worried it would be too big.
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So it's pretty, pretty large, but it really wasn't.
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And I was actually quite nice because I can fit my camera no
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problem. I can fit some other stuff.
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I do need to add a water bottle attachment to it.
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But once I have that, it'll be money for stuff like TAC.
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And anyway, definitely not a sales pitch.
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Just something exciting that we're we're doing and it gives
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you all a chance to save some money using that code Team BD at
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badlandsgear.com, which is really, really cool.
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Killer warranty, good people, great gear.
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So yeah, just exciting. And then like I said, of course,
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Podium, archer.com, all your archery stuff if you don't have
9:33
a good local pro shop to go to. So yeah, freaking awesome tack.
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Let's roll into it. Let's roll into it.
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So Montana was let me just. Well, I'm not talking just the
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tax we've done this year, I'm talking.
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About all time I get it, Let me, let me, let me get it.
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Get us there. Let me get the ship to where it
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needs to be. OK.
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Montana was in a way pretty brutal because we didn't get to
10:00
the Airbnb until 2:57 AM on Friday, Saturday morning, and we
10:08
woke up at 4:40 Saturday morning to go shoot.
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So if you do the math, Max, if you went to bed as soon as you
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hit the bed, as soon as you woke up, that's an hour and 40
10:20
minutes, Max. Sleep in in in a day.
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Yeah. So we go out, shoot first thing
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in the morning with. Lesson tax are not your your
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forgiving tax as far as your hikes go.
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So like. Yeah and we were doing sick, of
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course. So we're right into, you know,
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one of the flagship courses and I will say a couple things first
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impression. So we wake up obviously with
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dark when we drove there and flew there woke up with a cool
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little Airbnb and the views amazing right from the Airbnb.
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I was like, wow, it's pretty and it gets light really early.
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I. Know I love.
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It really early so we get there we get checked in quickly I like
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my mind doesn't even remember checking in hardly but we get
11:10
checked in and then we shoot up it's me Joey you Rebecca no
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filmer. We're just passing the camera
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around sit could course. Now of course last year we did
11:22
Big Sky and I think the question you're trying to get to is
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ranking sort of the tax that we've been to.
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Now I have now I have been to 10 different tac locations now.
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Now about 1/2 of those don't exist anymore.
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So I can kind of compare some. But what I guess we'll start
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with is comparing the 2 Montana stops.
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Yeah. What did you think of this stop
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at Red Lodge compared to last year's stop?
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Well, first I kept confusing Utah, the new Utah location,
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with Big Sky. But now I have Visually, I'm
12:00
locked into Big Sky. They're in like that, like
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parking lot kind of section. We looked at our hotel and you
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could see it off to the right. Yes.
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That's the correct spot we had like the party house that
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became. Remember, yeah, yeah, pros and
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cons. So we'll go to Big Sky first,
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which now it is at Red Lodge and don't know the reasoning for
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that, but whatever. So Big Sky pro, I suppose you
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could call it a pro, but it's really a fugazi.
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Fugazi, because Airbnb's exist now and they're almost more
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affordable than the the lodges is that you have a lodge, so you
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have more food options, Usually a lodge with more food options,
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there's a little more variety. So I don't think lodge food's
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ever amazing by any means. Now that restaurant that we had
13:03
breakfast a couple times, me, you and Matt went down to in Big
13:08
Sky. Great.
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And that breakfast was included with the room.
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Correct. Which is nice.
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The the like cafeteria food hall kind of section of the lodge.
13:18
It's your, your typical, you know, ski resort food, kind of
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like going to an airport where you got like the cafeteria
13:26
section where you can get like to go food or snacks.
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And then you'll have your couple little like burger, you know,
13:32
sub joints, whatever. So if you're going with like,
13:37
say your families coming or whatnot and they want things to
13:40
do, Big Sky did allow for that. I think they even had like a
13:44
rock climbing area or something, I can't remember.
13:46
There are some stuff for kids there.
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So it offers more options, I guess you could say.
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But so do towns like, and I think that's the part that is
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missed when it comes to taxes. We do.
14:00
You focus on the tack. You want to get as much out of
14:03
it as possible. You want to talk to all the
14:04
vendors. You want to see the things.
14:06
If you don't go to hunt Expos, try them out.
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You want to do as many courses as possible.
14:13
It's great. But really, I mean, if you're
14:15
going to be burnt out by the end, just be burnt out by the
14:17
end. Go out into the towns when
14:20
you're at tax. Because the one thing con to Big
14:25
Sky verse pro to Red Lodge the town.
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We didn't really get to experience it just because of
14:31
how tight our schedule fly in fly out was.
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But they do not do fast food restaurants in Red Lodge.
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The town doesn't have any other than a Subway.
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They're all local restaurants. And there was a lot of them too,
14:44
I know, before you're driving around.
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Whereas in Big Sky, there there was only one place.
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Remember that we did go to it and it was good and fun.
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I love the place. We got one.
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Only one, there's more, a little bit more like you said on the
14:58
mountain, but in the town none. So I think had we have gotten
15:02
number one, had a little more energy and #2 had a little bit
15:06
more time to hit the town, I'm sure it would have been fun.
15:09
Food probably would have been better than on the resort.
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So I really, I really like both actually.
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And now that I've like kind of have remembered Big Sky more,
15:21
but I think if I had to pick, I mean, both are you're in
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Montana. So both of them are gorgeous,
15:27
like gorgeous settings, but red Red Lodge was like the prettiest
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terrain I've ever seen. And some of those?
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Oh my goodness, the like jagged, like cool rock croppings and how
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I feel like I'd have to look it up, but I feel like we were even
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higher. Or it's just because there was
15:43
less mountains around the mountain we were on because you
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could just see to the ends of Earth.
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Literally. Yeah, it was.
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And then just the mountain itself is extremely pretty with
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those rock outcroppings and they incorporate the courses into
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them and whatnot. So I I would put Red Lodge over
16:06
Big Sky any day I think of the week.
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What I also I will talk throw in to the mix is to me both of the
16:17
stops, both the Montana stops felt pretty small and intimate
16:24
as far as the people at them. They felt like pretty low key
16:30
really for for the event, Like it wasn't as packed, at least
16:36
from my perception as like, you know, Pennsylvania obviously.
16:43
But like I think that's kind of nice if you want something a
16:46
little more mellow, a little more shooting focus, but still a
16:49
good amount of networking or just mingling.
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You know, there was a good amount of vendors.
16:53
I thought they did a good job with the vendor area.
16:56
It was actually quite similar to big skies, really kind of a
17:00
loop, but it was fun. I really liked it.
17:05
And since we talked about the importance of the town, that's
17:10
what puts Oklahoma so high for me.
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Oklahoma, I just. Before we moved to Oklahoma, I
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really want to. Oh geez, Lapeat, there's.
17:18
Lots of well, there's lots of areas niches to discuss per
17:22
tack. What I want people to get out of
17:24
this is like to be able to, if you've never experienced any of
17:28
them or only select ones, it's, you know, kind of make decisions
17:34
on what it is you're looking to get out of it.
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So like, you know, there's your lodge verse, no lodge kind of
17:39
thing, Airbnb verse, you know, resort style.
17:43
But the other subject is, and we kind of mentioned the, the
17:48
vendor area a little more intimate, but still a good
17:53
amount. Like I remember being up there
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on that lift and counting the rows.
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I think there was a good amount of vendors for a more intimate
18:02
tax size. And I think that's always great
18:05
because that is something, if you don't go to the hunt Expos
18:08
and things like that, that's your chance to get to look at
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products, put your hands on things that maybe aren't in your
18:16
local shops or your Bass Pro or, you know, whatever.
18:20
That's your only chance to actually get to see it in person
18:22
before you commit to a purchase. You see this ridiculous.
18:25
Yeah, well, he's toasty. It's hot.
18:28
Oh no, we can't shut that door. So.
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So 1, I think that's great. Yeah.
18:35
Two. Well, before we leave vendors,
18:38
I'm going to put some secret secret sauce tips in there that
18:41
I just learned about, you know, so and maybe lots of people know
18:45
this. I feel like it was, it's more
18:47
like the East people know, except heard multiple people
18:49
mention it, but I never knew it until Brittany told me.
18:53
Lots of products, don't be afraid to ask them if you can
18:57
try it out on the course. For example, Sig stabilization
19:02
binoculars, if you just go up there, usually you can have them
19:06
hold on to your binoculars and you fill out a form and usually
19:10
like you'll give them your ID or something and you can bring the
19:14
binos out onto the course. So if there's a product you're
19:17
interested in, trying boots too. So I think it's Dan or Lacrosse.
19:21
If you just go over there, you give them your ID, they'll give
19:23
you a set of boots to try out on the course.
19:26
That's really cool. So secret, secret tip there, you
19:30
know, if there's something you want to try or maybe you forgot
19:33
your boots or you blew them out or you're doing a Western tack
19:36
and you don't have really grippy boots because it's not what your
19:39
train is like. You can go to those.
19:42
Those are just two that I know of, but I'm sure you can ask
19:45
more of them and you can essentially rent things for free
19:50
for the day to bring out on to the course.
19:52
So fun secret tip there when it comes to tax.
19:55
But let's jump into terrain real quick.
19:59
Obviously, we talked scenery. It's beautiful, but if we were
20:03
ranking terrain for a shoot experience.
20:10
Talk about the terrain a little bit, because westerns are very
20:13
different from the Eastern tax or even Midwest tax or whatnot.
20:17
Yeah, I mean, I, I thought, I mean, obviously it's big
20:22
terrain, you know, but I didn't feel like it was overly steep
20:25
with the way they built them. The courses.
20:28
I will say that of the four tax I've done this year, and I don't
20:32
even know how many courses, that sick of course was probably the
20:36
best one I've shot all year as far.
20:38
As and normally the flagship ones ones are.
20:40
Well, it was just like the terrain they had was awesome and
20:43
and everything, but yeah, I really, I really liked it.
20:46
Huge country, lot of Pines. There was deer everywhere we
20:50
saw. I don't even.
20:51
Know Yeah, make sure not to shoot.
20:52
The deer, yeah, make sure we had one walk right behind to target,
20:55
which I got on film. Was pretty fun.
20:58
So a guy I met had seen a they seen a bear cub.
21:01
I didn't get to see that. But I mean as far as like
21:04
wildlife goes, we did see deer in Oklahoma as well.
21:07
We saw white tails versus saw muleys and Montana.
21:12
I don't think we saw anything in Tennessee and in Pennsylvania we
21:16
did see some wow white tails as well.
21:19
So I always think that's cool when you get to see a little bit
21:21
of wildlife. But yeah, I mean terrain wise,
21:24
obviously Montana's. Experience, yeah.
21:27
Obviously Montana's going to be cooler and bigger and broader
21:30
terrain than Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
21:33
It just is what it is. But of course you would assume
21:36
that. That being said, if I were to
21:39
rank the other ones, we went to Tennessee's very hard for me to
21:43
rank because it was hard to get a read on with how wet it was.
21:46
Yeah, if it were just a little bit of rain, it would have been
21:49
a little easy. I would almost say the terrain,
21:52
if I were to rank it on like slope and difficulty, I almost
21:57
think had it not have been rainy and I got more time to like be
22:00
outside, I think that I would go.
22:03
Last would probably be Oklahoma, third would probably be
22:07
Pennsylvania, second would probably be Tennessee, and 1st
22:11
would be Montana. Of the four from this year,
22:13
Yeah, to rain wise. Yeah, because Tennessee's.
22:17
There were some good hills and stuff, it was just so slippery.
22:20
Under I think underrated flies under the radar.
22:23
As far as its terrain, I like. That too, I actually liked the
22:27
venue a lot. Like I think had that one not
22:30
have been so blown out weather wise, I think it would have been
22:34
a lot better. But the weather was just ass,
22:38
you know, unfortunately. Well, it literally made courses
22:41
unshootable because of safety, the amount of mud and, and how
22:47
steep some of the sections are. And there's a lot of up and
22:50
downs in those Tennessee courses.
22:51
Like I would love to get to that one.
22:54
At the end of I think it was the Sitka course that has like the
22:56
rope that you climb up. I say that, but then I had to do
22:59
that here in Montana. I was like, oh, this, this is
23:02
hard. You're literally like rappelling
23:05
on a rope down with your bow. But yeah, so I I wish that that
23:13
would have been a little less rainy so we could have judged it
23:16
more. But as far as terrain goes, like
23:20
if you've never experienced any of the western ones, Montana is
23:26
if you want a little more intimate setting, something your
23:28
family could go do or a town to go hang out in at night.
23:33
If they keep it at Red Lodge, it's definitely one for people
23:36
to keep on their radar just because of all of the the.
23:42
BTS Content. The, you know, added value to
23:46
everything around and experiencing a western mountain
23:51
ski resort tech. But then I guess we could roll
23:57
into one that's similar in intimacy size but different in
24:01
terrain is Oklahoma, which we are calling our favorite of the
24:07
year. Yeah, I really liked it a lot.
24:11
I really liked it a lot. I think that there's many
24:15
reasons why, but I would say the main thing is 1.
24:21
The weather was really good. You could say the same about
24:23
Montana. Makes a big difference from the
24:25
weather's really good weather was great.
24:28
Number two, it was a very unrushed trip.
24:35
You know what I mean? Like where is like Montana was
24:39
super crammed, super tight. This was not that and that's
24:42
nice. We had a day on the front, day
24:44
on the back kind of chill. That's very nice.
24:47
Makes a big difference on the experience. 3 the Airbnb's out
24:52
there and the price. I wish you can get them top tier
24:56
top shelf right. Huge bonus #4 town excellent,
25:03
tons of little water holes, tons of restaurants, even other
25:07
activities if you want to take the old ball and chain on a
25:10
date. Or if the kids are coming then
25:13
like they get tired after one course the next day.
25:16
Like there's a huge petting zoo out there with all sorts of
25:19
strange animals at it. A lot to do.
25:22
A lot to do and then the venue itself.
25:28
Sure, you know, not the steepest or gnarliest or whatever, but
25:33
the being right on the lake, awesome, amazing vibe.
25:37
The vendor area, great. I love how it's in a circle.
25:41
I thought that was really neat. The just everything about I love
25:47
the how you take the boat over to the one course.
25:50
And that makes that course pretty cool and challenging
25:52
because if you even if you got get out there in the morning, by
25:56
the time you get around to like the windward side, it makes
26:00
those shots on the on the water's edge very challenging.
26:05
So and then they did a lot with other than outside of the Sitka
26:10
Island course, everything else is really in the woods, like in
26:14
the wooded areas, literally everything is.
26:19
And they do very well, you know TAC for being known for their
26:25
there are hard window shots and whatnot and they made the most
26:28
out of those. So I thought the courses were
26:32
nothing to balk at as far as being easy.
26:37
They still made technical, challenging shots of.
26:40
Course of. Course and.
26:43
Yeah, it was it was awesome. And and not only not only were
26:46
the the restaurant options and bar options in the town really
26:49
good, but the food options at the shoot were good because
26:52
there was food trucks. There was like 2 to 3 food
26:54
trucks. One of them I think was even
26:58
selling beers like, you know what I mean?
26:59
Like it was they just did a really good job of having a
27:03
well-rounded event at Oklahoma. And I can't guarantee it because
27:09
I I do want to hit continue to hit new stops and, and meet
27:12
people in different pockets of the country.
27:13
But if there was one I was going to repeat go to next year, it'd
27:17
probably be that one. It's such a sleeper task.
27:20
I'm kicking the tires on doing Vermont and cuz you know, Chuck
27:25
would love it, you know what I mean?
27:26
So kicking tires and doing Vermont and then one of the ones
27:30
in Michigan, I was told it was a banger.
27:32
And then maybe Oklahoma and then maybe Utah.
27:35
There's time like for her to do a fourth return to Utah because
27:38
I do love Utah and I think we need to touch on that.
27:41
We gotta. Get We're gonna get to Utah,
27:43
Yeah. Am I jumping too far ahead or
27:45
should I kind of talk about Utah?
27:47
Well, we'll round out Oklahoma, which I think we encompass to
27:50
all those we come encompass terrain, the venue itself.
27:54
I do think hit on it one more time.
27:56
The fact that a lot of the ones at ski resorts and whatnot have
28:00
contracts that they can't have food vendors because they want
28:03
people to come purchase food at the resorts.
28:06
But the fact that you could get a quick bite to eat in between
28:11
doing a morning course and an afternoon course and those food
28:14
vendors were phenomenal is it's everything to me because once
28:22
you get out there hangry all you're upset.
28:26
And so not too many of the tax do have food vendors at them.
28:32
Also a pre bearded butchers who's been at a lot more tax,
28:35
who's been serving cuts of meat, which I love.
28:38
It's like a little snack along the way.
28:40
Those guys are awesome, by the way.
28:41
But so that that was just another sleeper thing.
28:44
And they had a, a local, I think a local coffee company that had
28:49
decided to do a booth. So they were doing hot coffee
28:52
that you could just come up anytime and get a quick to go
28:54
cup. So it's just the little things
28:57
like that that make attack even more enjoyable.
29:03
Plus the tiki bus. Oh come on, baby.
29:06
You know, yes, they're parking. Yeah, the, the parking, you
29:11
know, you're just parking along the road.
29:14
So it goes a long ways, but they shuttle you and, you know, don't
29:19
make the mistake of getting on a regular bus.
29:21
Wait and find the tiki bus at least once because it is a vibe.
29:26
It is a vibe. But yeah, that's Oklahoma.
29:28
I guess in a nutshell, it's a sleeper tack.
29:31
It's one that I think it's going to continue to grow because
29:33
people are hearing more and more about it.
29:37
Well, and I had heard people, I had had people tell me me before
29:40
that it was like the best one. Yeah, Fade for example, had told
29:44
me that, a couple of other people had told me that.
29:46
So I had a pretty high expectations.
29:50
I definitely. Have met.
29:50
Him. Oh yeah, 100% I agree.
29:53
I can't think of a a con to the Oklahoma attack.
29:57
I mean, if you wanted a nitpick, you could say that you know the
30:01
terrain is mild. Yeah, I suppose so.
30:04
That's like the only thing, but I think they make the most out
30:07
of it. I don't really.
30:08
Yeah. So I I thought it was great.
30:10
Yeah. Utah shoot man, where to start?
30:14
Oh, so I've been to, I want to say 5 different locations in
30:20
Utah of their shoot. So I've been to five Snowbird,
30:24
Snow Basin, Park City, solitude, Solitude.
30:31
I think there might even be 1 snow.
30:35
It's either four or five, maybe it's only four.
30:37
So I've been to a bunch in Utah and I really, really like
30:44
solitude a lot. I know a lot of people say park
30:47
cities, they're they're a favorite, but I really like
30:50
solitude a lot. Why I do like it a lot, let me
30:54
tell. You why?
30:55
I'm going to tell you. What if you say the pool and the
30:58
slide? I'm out.
31:01
I love the vibe at the pool and the slide in the hot tub and
31:04
hold on, hold on, let me continue.
31:07
I also love how close the condos are to the vendor area and the
31:13
lift right. I love it.
31:15
I love it, I love it. Everything's tight about it.
31:17
You can just walk home, drop your bow, switching your flip
31:22
flops, 2 minutes later you're back in the vendors.
31:24
I love that. Now, if I wasn't able to stay in
31:29
the condos at the event, I don't know that I would be in on it,
31:35
but because of how sick that spot is, I'm definitely in.
31:40
I would actually say it's one of my favorite joints because of
31:44
that. Really, I've got a hot take
31:46
compared to everybody else's opinion.
31:48
I like that the mountain has two different sides and they're both
31:52
different. Yes.
31:52
See, again, that's a con. To me, that's like.
31:56
Am I kind of dropping bars right now?
31:59
Your, your hot takes are what you're dropping.
32:03
So I view, I view the two sides as a as a con, not a pro.
32:08
I think it eats a lot of time when you're trying to make the
32:10
most out of your trip to have to wait for the bus ride down or
32:14
you had to take the, the lift down to the bottom, then catch
32:19
the bus to go somewhere else, then the bus back to the the
32:24
lift back. It's just, it eats a lot of time
32:27
out of your your trip that you're trying to make the most
32:29
out of. So I view that as a con.
32:33
Secondly, I guess sure, if you love the pool and the slide,
32:38
it's a vibe, but outside of that, there wasn't much else to
32:42
do with that resort. Like you had like 1 pizza joint
32:48
that closes super early and then one very expensive fancy
32:52
restaurant. There's also that place called
32:55
like the Funky Monkey or something.
32:57
Remember that the. Bar.
32:58
Yeah, yeah. It's just a bar though.
32:59
But yeah, I I do agree it's it's quite lacking there.
33:03
Yeah. And.
33:04
Then the the vendor area, is this just a nuance I guess to
33:10
me, but like I felt like it was so spread out because it's in
33:14
just this giant field essentially at the base of the
33:17
the mountain. So like you go out and just feel
33:24
so open that it feels empty, even though it's one of the
33:28
biggest tacks. So I don't know, I preferred
33:34
Park City over. Park City is great.
33:38
I mean, there's, look, I'm not. I'm not over here holding the
33:41
gun to Park City. Like I love Park City.
33:44
Yeah. And if it went back, I'd be
33:46
pumped on it. Definitely.
33:49
I really like Park City a lot. I think that I like how you
33:55
would take the little lift up. There's all the vendors right
33:57
there. In that first spot.
33:58
There was that whole circle area with like the stage, the water
34:02
hole. There's another restaurant off
34:03
to the left. There was like cornhole out
34:06
there. Then all the vendors.
34:10
They even had like indoor outdoor vendors because there's
34:12
that little like circular building that you could go in
34:15
that they had vendors inside there well.
34:17
I think you're underrating some parts of solitude though.
34:20
Do you not remember when you would shoot the other side?
34:22
So the side like not over by the vendors when you would finish?
34:26
There was that restaurant with actually pretty good food and
34:29
they always had like a live band and it was pretty lit.
34:31
Like you'd have bikers there, hikers there play cornhole like
34:36
throw bags and had that BBQ truck right next to it.
34:39
You don't remember this? I do the place we stopped to get
34:41
some some lollipops like twice. No, that's even a higher one.
34:46
There's like three of them, then there's the one down lower.
34:48
Come on, Tell. Me.
34:49
Yeah, the one even lower. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
34:51
Tell me that place didn't slap. I think you're forgetting about
34:54
some of these joints I found like a salesman for Solitude,
34:58
but I'm telling. Yeah, yeah, I guess that place
35:01
slapped that just. But again, like say you wanted
35:05
to go experience that afterwards, like the lift shuts
35:09
off. So you're either walking all the
35:10
way down there or you're driving down there.
35:14
I don't know. I want the locality of it all to
35:17
be more dense. And you just don't get that at
35:22
solitude. So I am not the biggest fan of
35:29
solitude. I suppose that's.
35:30
Interesting. See, I wish I was going this
35:32
year, but obviously I'm not going to be going.
35:36
But I I do like it. I think the terrain for shooting
35:39
is really good. There's a lot of courses,
35:41
vendors are plentiful. You know what else I realized
35:45
too is that when you go to a lot of tack.
35:47
So I've been going since 2019 hit.
35:51
I think I did 3 stops last year, maybe 4.
35:54
I can't remember this year, I did 4 the year before, probably
35:57
a couple. Billy says we need to add 1/5.
36:00
No, I'm not doing that. You get a little, you get like,
36:06
I got to put myself in the shoes of a first time goer like I was
36:09
in 2019, right? You kind of like, don't I think
36:14
maybe appreciate how cool it is to have all the vendors actually
36:18
there. You know what I mean?
36:19
Because you see everybody all the time.
36:22
So it's like this routine thing of just chit chatting.
36:25
But if you're only going once a year or for your first time
36:28
ever, I think the vendors are a really big part of it.
36:32
Yeah, well, that's why I like doing this because you got to
36:35
decide what it is you're wanting the most out of or kind of like
36:40
rank them yourselves if you're a first timer or like you're going
36:45
to 1 new one for the year or adding a new one to your stop or
36:51
you want to experience something different than your local
36:54
terrain and environment. That's what I think listening to
36:57
something like this is good because for example, things like
37:01
Oklahoma, Montana, your vendor though, I think the selection of
37:07
them was was great quality and there was a sufficient amount it
37:11
didn't feel lacking. If you're looking for that like
37:15
mix of hunt Expo with shooting, your choices are going to be
37:21
Utah or Pennsylvania because they're just massive in their
37:26
selection of vendors. Solitudes Vendor Village,
37:31
though, I don't like that it's in the giant open field.
37:36
It's huge. I mean, there was just a
37:38
boatload of, of vendors to go look at.
37:43
And so I think that's that's really cool.
37:47
Same with Pennsylvania, just an enormous amount of vendors.
37:53
So it just depends on what it is you're fully looking to get out
37:56
of you have one priority completely over another.
37:59
Or if you are trying to mix like, you know, I want a decent
38:03
amount of vendors, but I also want epic shooting like, you
38:07
know, weigh what it is you want out of it.
38:10
And so Utah, your vendors like if that's your chance to
38:15
experience new products, feel them, try them, touch them and
38:18
you know, use them, rent them, you want to go to one of the
38:23
bigger ones where you have more things to be able to see.
38:28
But yeah, I mean, Solitude, regardless of the resort itself,
38:31
that I'm not a giant fan of the, again, just mountainous terrain
38:40
still phenomenal. Those I'm trying to even really
38:45
remember. I just know that it's on a
38:48
mountain and it's more mountainous than, you know,
38:51
something like Oklahoma. But if you don't really get to
38:55
experience that where you literally need to take a ski
38:57
lift up to. Ah, was Solitude the new one
39:04
that we rode up? No, no, no, that was that was
39:07
Big Sky last year where we didn't put the little thing down
39:09
and we froze. That was Montana, right?
39:15
It was Montana. Was it?
39:17
I think so. Yeah, maybe I don't.
39:19
Know I don't remember Well, we're back.
39:20
We had, we had a bathroom break, we had a SD card problem.
39:25
You had a e-mail, you had all kinds of things.
39:28
Yeah. With that being said, let's go
39:30
ahead and get to the e-mail. Let me touch on it.
39:32
So you've been trying to drum up a, you know, a bit of business
39:38
kind of helping people with social media and some ad, you
39:40
know, Adsense type stuff, Facebook ads, stuff like that.
39:45
And you just got an inquiry. So super exciting.
39:49
If anyone else would like to inquire for Brianna's help and
39:53
kind of brand management, you can go ahead and e-mail
39:56
bodisciples@gmail.com and get in touch about that.
40:01
But we were talking about. I don't even remember.
40:05
We're still discussing tax. So we have covered Montana, we
40:10
have covered Utah, we have covered Oklahoma.
40:14
Another one that we did this year was Pennsylvania, which was
40:19
new for us. So pros, cons, things like that.
40:25
We'll jump into train very quickly.
40:27
It is at a ski lodge, nice ski lodge as far as like there's a
40:35
pizza place, a coffee place which I loved.
40:40
There's some restaurants inside. Downside to the resort itself,
40:47
the hotel rooms or condos. I'm not sure how they run their
40:50
lodge, if they're purchased like owned condos or if they are
40:55
hotel rooms, but compared to other ski lodges we have gone
41:01
to, they did not have rooms big enough to supply larger, larger
41:07
parties. So we were kind of out on
41:10
staying right there at the lodge.
41:12
So similar to Park City, UT's where we stayed in the townhouse
41:18
down below and then go up to the the resort.
41:24
It was like that we stayed at the the townhomes that were
41:29
located on the mountain as part of the resort.
41:33
And then it was a very quick 5 minute drive down to the the
41:39
venue. So you know, Con if you want to
41:43
be right there and not have to drive if you're with a big group
41:47
of people, unless you're renting multiple rooms.
41:49
I will say that Pennsylvania, out of all the ones I've been to
41:54
as far as lodging goes, one of the most expensive.
41:58
Both the townhomes, both the Airbnb's, both the the lodging
42:04
at the resort itself. Pretty pricey for the size of
42:09
them. So I would suggest an Airbnb
42:12
where you have to drive maybe 15 minutes and you're splitting it
42:15
with a bunch of people you know. Just takes away from staying
42:21
super local localized. He looks like he is just
42:23
avoiding you at all costs. Well, he's just tired.
42:26
He's such a such a tired little bear.
42:28
Look at, look. See this.
42:30
Yes, we're just. Tired, loving, humble poppers.
42:34
But terrain it was a ski lodge. So tell me your thoughts being a
42:38
W coaster used to mountains and tacks that have mountains.
42:43
What you thought of this ski lodge tack on the East Coast?
42:53
I enjoyed. This is ridiculous, by the way.
42:56
He's he's just cuddling me. I really enjoyed Pennsylvania a
43:00
lot. Number one, I like the scale of
43:05
it and I love mingling, you know, So that was fun.
43:12
I'm talking terrain of the. Course, I'm almost drawn a blink
43:14
on what the Bender village was even like.
43:17
Let's talk terrain of the courses first.
43:19
I thought terrain was was good. I mean, especially when we shot
43:23
Prime the last day. I thought it was plenty steep.
43:27
I mean, there was some really steep sections and some good
43:30
wooded sections. It was a long hike.
43:33
It was certainly not small terrain.
43:37
Yeah, it wasn't Montana. I wouldn't say, but certainly
43:42
still, you know, mountainous and lots of timber, lots of trees.
43:48
That's why I think it's one that though I love the scenic views
43:52
and the mountain rocky outcroppings that they can play
43:55
with and what not with ones like Montana.
44:01
I think if you're looking for the best of both worlds,
44:05
Pennsylvania's kind of it where you have just an enormous vendor
44:09
area, like over 350 plus vendors, but also want that
44:15
mountainous, more challenging hikes and and courses,
44:19
Pennsylvania would be your way to go.
44:22
It's just the con to me is the the expense of doing that one it
44:29
I felt it was a little pricey. Not talking tac prices don't
44:35
change, but the, the area you're staying in is a little bit much.
44:41
And then I'm trying to think of like there.
44:44
Oh yeah, there really is no like going out into a little town
44:49
like you're up again on the resort.
44:51
So grocery shopping, make sure you stop because the nearest one
44:55
like a full grocery store was like 30 minutes away.
45:01
So stop before you come in. And then another con we haven't
45:06
even talked about was like flat flying if you're which a lot of
45:10
people are to these, unless you drive, you're 2 hours away.
45:16
There is a more expensive area in Billings Airport that's
45:19
smaller to go to Montana's Red Lodge.
45:22
But otherwise you're driving 2 1/2 hours.
45:24
It was a 2 hour drive from Pittsburgh or from a little bit
45:28
longer I think from the one in Philly.
45:35
No, what? What's the other airport further
45:36
South that we want to fly into next year if we do it?
45:41
For Pennsylvania, well, there's Philadelphia, but that's not SI
45:46
think it's like East. Maybe, yeah, but and so
45:50
whatever, it's like 2 plus hour drive for that one.
45:53
Oklahoma also a drive you fly into Texas.
45:58
Yeah, I mean, that is true. That's the nice part about
46:00
motorcycles challenge too, is that if people come to it, it's
46:05
only about an hour from the San Diego airport.
46:07
So people can buy in, rent a car, pop over to the challenge
46:11
Which? Now, Utah's not bad, though,
46:13
because you fly in. If you fly into Salt Lake,
46:16
you're a quick drive. Less than an hour I think.
46:19
Yeah, I will. I will say too, I was very
46:21
surprised this year. I heard a lot, but people say
46:26
like they thought about coming to BD Challenge or are planning
46:29
to come next year. Lot of people were telling me
46:32
that. So I think that, you know, year
46:36
4 might be pretty, pretty substantial just because of the
46:41
amount of inquiries I'm already getting.
46:43
Yeah. And it's just a special event,
46:46
you know. Yeah, it's a.
46:47
Special event. It's much more.
46:49
You could again use the word intimate as far as like not the
46:53
size of tac, but like the, the, the vibe of being in like the
47:00
campground and you just walk right over and jump on a course
47:04
and you have all day to do it. You could do courses multiple
47:06
times, you know, Jack's show in the evening, the the vibe at the
47:13
little practice range and, and and shooting against you and and
47:18
others and whatnot. It's just it's a different type
47:22
of experience, similar in a way to tack and definitely courses,
47:26
you know, not as long as in mileage because we don't have
47:29
that amount of of acres to work with, but still Southern
47:34
California offers challenging terrain, especially at at bare
47:40
state. So it's like you get this mini
47:42
version of still equally as challenging courses and you are
47:46
phenomenal, phenomenal at choosing targets and windows
47:53
that create challenging shots. So like your courses are just as
48:00
exciting. But then the vibe of being able
48:02
to go back and forth to camp and hang out and just like pop from
48:06
campsite to campsite and visit people and whatnot.
48:09
Just a different type of experience.
48:12
So yeah, I think it will be pretty big next year, but still
48:18
just as as fun. I just realized that it's 12:23
48:22
PM right now and I'm a nasty hungry boy.
48:27
Well, let's finish. Let's round out some of these
48:29
talks here. So anything else you'd like to
48:31
say about Penn? It is the, I think it's topped
48:35
the largest tack and I think it used to compete and go back and
48:38
forth with Utah. I think it is the largest tack.
48:41
Yeah. I mean, I think it, I think Penn
48:43
is great. I definitely would consider
48:45
going again. There's not too many I would
48:48
like not go to again. Like I can't say I've been to
48:51
one that I'm like, I wouldn't go to that again.
48:53
Maybe one or two of the ones in Utah, but those aren't around
48:57
anymore. So of the ones that are still
48:59
around, like I for sure would go to San Antonio again.
49:03
To me, that's a top tier one. Same with Oklahoma.
49:07
I would definitely go to Solitude again.
49:10
I would go to Red Lodge again. I would probably not have gone
49:13
to Big Sky again. So that's a bit of an
49:15
improvement I would say overall. Tennessee I would go again,
49:20
especially if the weather was nice.
49:22
Definitely Pennsylvania for sure.
49:26
So yeah, I mean, I, I don't think any of them are poor.
49:29
I think they're all really good, all sort of different.
49:31
I think ultimately it comes down to what's closest to where
49:34
people live because most people probably don't travel as far to
49:37
these as we do. What I'm hoping people get out
49:41
of it though, is if they start venturing out a little further
49:44
than their, their closer state tax, you know that they have
49:49
some information to be able to choose what would be most
49:54
appealing to them. When you're making such a big
49:57
commitment as far as cost goes, travel goes, time off work goes,
50:03
that you're getting the right tack for you when you're
50:07
dropping that much money and time off and whatnot.
50:10
Now. Well, I guess the last one we
50:12
could talk about that we've at least we're, we do it last year
50:15
or you did it last year. San Antonio is San Antonio and
50:20
that one used to be one of your, if not still is top choices for
50:25
a tack. Again goes into the fact that it
50:28
is at a cool location. So again, if you're bringing
50:33
family and you want to make this a trip, it's at this cave,
50:37
Natural Bridge cavern, Natural Bridge Cavern, which is awesome.
50:41
And. There's, which is also right
50:42
next to the zoo. Like one of those Dr. zoos I
50:44
think. I don't know if.
50:46
It's a drive. One or not?
50:47
But either way, I really like that now they.
50:50
Have like a little mini roller coaster for like a bunch.
50:52
It's like a little tiny theme park.
50:54
Yeah, for kids. I love it.
50:57
Usually that's the one that they have an actual, not just like
51:00
Leopold, but the actual kids. Course we got kicked off one
51:03
year. They all have that future
51:05
champions, do they? Well, they're just like hidden
51:07
sometimes. I love future champions.
51:10
We did get kicked. Off we did, yeah, but we were.
51:13
I was trying to promote it. No, I was trying to promote it
51:17
to let people know there was a kids course there.
51:19
Yeah, I don't remember. The video came out.
51:21
I. Don't think it did because we
51:23
never finished it. What I should do is go find that
51:26
footy, but I bet they'd let me do it now.
51:29
But it would be a good way to promote it.
51:31
Yeah. Oh, you know who I bumped into?
51:34
Also, this kind of random side note, but in Red Lodge I bumped
51:38
into her twice. The lady that does the the
51:40
headset teaching kids on recurves at no way elbow.
51:44
She was there at Red Lodge, yes, and I said, hey, crazy.
51:46
I said, I've been waiting for you to hit me up, and she said,
51:49
well, my classes are just getting started.
51:51
I said, well, I'm serious, so you better hit me up, Buster.
51:54
But she was there by I think she was shooting by herself.
51:57
Like her compound? Yeah.
51:59
Oh, cool. Well, so.
52:02
I can't wait to do those videos. San Antonio's venue?
52:04
Oh, I can't. Wait, I know.
52:05
Can you imagine San Antonio's venue?
52:07
Can I wear like a fun hat or something?
52:10
Sure. OK.
52:12
Great. Yes, phenomenal.
52:16
You're a bit far from shit. A little bit far from.
52:19
A little bit if you want to go into a city, but that's the
52:22
thing. You can drive in and you're in
52:24
San Antonio. So like a massive ton of stuff
52:29
to do if you wanted to, you know, pair a vacation.
52:33
I highly recommend it. After we tried to do it, pair it
52:36
on the front end before you participate in tack on the back
52:40
end. Don't put it on the back end.
52:41
You're too tired. But you could vacation
52:45
beforehand in San Antonio or the family can go out during the day
52:48
while you're out shooting. Lots of options because you're
52:53
in a city, but the terrain in San Antonio will surprise you
53:00
because a lot of times you think Texas, you think flat.
53:04
They work in they're in like this like Cliff band section.
53:08
It's probably the only semi cliffy version area of Texas.
53:13
So they work in some stuff in there that makes it very fun.
53:18
It is a little more humid and you'll get some mosquito action
53:22
because it's it's Texas, but the terrain not boring at all.
53:28
I think it's a little more exciting even than Oklahoma for
53:32
both of them being like smaller tax.
53:37
But the train is it's fun. It's exciting there.
53:41
So that is also I think a sleeper sleeper tack and not a
53:47
far drive as far as your fly in finding somewhere to stay is
53:52
probably not hard at all because you're in San Antonio.
53:54
So I mean tons. I'm sure of Airbnb's with how to
53:58
hook up because Whitney, but I'm sure if you are renting a place,
54:03
not hard to find one. So San Antonio I think is a
54:07
great one. If someone wanted to vendor
54:09
village a little small, I think it's smaller than it's the
54:14
smallest of any of the ones I've seen.
54:16
It's smaller than Oklahoma's, It's been smaller than
54:19
Montana's. It's smaller.
54:23
So if you're looking for the vendor.
54:26
I don't know that I agree with that.
54:28
No. I've been four times.
54:31
Maybe I'm misremembering it, but I thought it was.
54:33
It's kind of like after you pass the like amusement stuff and
54:37
cross the bridge, it's just like that little bit right there.
54:42
Yeah, like all that to the left, to the right.
54:46
No, it's to the left and the right a little bit, but anyway,
54:50
yeah, great stop, check it out. It's been cool to.
54:57
I like the vendor area. I always love seeing the
54:59
marsupial boys. They go to a lot of Ryan legend
55:05
big fan gas bowstrings been it like all of them, which is
55:09
really cool and I think they sell strings and working bows
55:12
right there at. The thing I utilize that.
55:15
Cool. Bowtech, Bennett, all of them, I
55:17
think so it's cool, cool seeing the partners and, and, and then
55:21
just friends with brands that aren't, you know, we don't even
55:24
really work with like Ultra View and seeing Billy out there is
55:27
really cool. And I mean, that's the nice part
55:30
about going to multiple stops. Voice just cracked a little is
55:35
you could actually kind of make some friendships and
55:37
relationships and vibes, which I like.
55:40
So yeah. All in all, great times.
55:44
I'm very hungry. I'm going to get some food.
55:46
I appreciate you doing the podcast.
55:48
Yeah, we'll do more in the future and subscribe to the
55:54
podcast YouTube channel, 5 stars on Apple, Spotify.
55:58
That really helps us out a lot. And yeah, we'll see you guys in
56:02
the next podcast. Yes.
56:06
Thank you very much.