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Dan Forster VP and Chief Conservation Officer for the Archery Trade Association stops by to discuss a report "State-by-State Hunting Data, 3.7 Million Bowhunters in America" "The ATA worked to determine an accurate number of licensed bowhunting participants in America and is happy to report the nation had 3.7 million bowhunters in the 2021-22 season. This is the first time ATA or any other entity has gathered a complete set of state bowhunter estimates. As a benefit to ATA members, the ATA put the data set into an easy to read, single-page spreadsheet available here." Give it a listen, the data driven conversation is way more interesting than I thought it would be, Dan was a great guest! State-by-State Hunting Data, 3.7 Million Bowhunters in America Archery Trade Association  

Wes Siler from outside Magazine comes on to chat about bowhunting Black Bear in the suburbs of Seattle, and meeting the weirdest guy in a bar who invited him to hunt archery. As it turns out there’s an archery only hunting land in the suburbs of Seattle. Wes tells us about hunting bear, how to hunt them, common sizes and how the best place to hunt them is right above a nudist colony. He explains how they hunt the bears in plain clothes and shares a funny story about coming across a couple of nudists. He shares his favorite recipe and what temperature you should cook it to so you don’t end up with worms. And lastly, he shares his one tip for bear hunting black bear in Washington.

"Jack Wallace - Repeating the Meaningful Shot" Professional archery and dedicated hunter, Jack Wallace stops by to chat about hunting, shooting events and balancing it all. Timestamps: 1:30 Introduction to Jack, how he got into archery and how he met fellow professional archery Sharon Wallace. 9:30 favorite tournaments 11:00 Hunting vs Tournament Archery 13:00 Jack's favorite species to chase, how he stays in shape and tips for separating the two mentally. 21:00 Directional focus 22:00 the equipment he's shooting.

"Malcom Jones - Tips for event prep" Malcom Jones, professional archer stops by to give us the low down on the steps he takes to get ready for these high intensity shoots.   Timestamps: 2:00 how Malcom got started hunting and his first bow. 4:30 10 rings dad! 6:15 interest in shooting professionally and a rude awakening in hid first open money class, how he shoots every single day and juggling day to day life with being a professional archer. “Consistency is key in archery” “Better to bleed in practice than on the field.” 15:00 3 top tips 29:30 A run down on Malcom’s equipment.

"Joe Deu-Ngoc - Bowdometer" While perusing the Archery Wire, I came across a press release for this cool device that counted arrows and data that would help you become a better archer. I thought an interview on a show dedicated to the New School Archer would be perfect.   Timestamps: 1:30 what is a Bowdometer? 2:30 how the device mounts to a bow 3:45 What kind of data does the Bowdometer record? 8:00 Other than how it can help the beginner and intermediate shooter, Joe explains how this can assist the advanced archer. 21:00 the story of how Bowdometer and two software engineers came up with the app. 24:20 The most common question asked about Bowdometer 25:30 Joe explains how this is meant to be a global product that spans age ranges and demographics.   Links: Bowdometer website Bowdometer Facebook Bowdometer Instagram  

"Justin Ma - The Way of Archery and Traditional Chinese Archery" Justin Ma, author of The Way of Archery, and Chinese archery historian stops by to talk about this ancient art form, he shares his experiences, tips for traditional shooting and a bit of interesting history.   Timestamps: 1:00 Introduction 4:00 The difference between Chinese bows and recurve/long bow. 10:30 Thumb draws and thumb rings 14:30 anchor points 17:00 why he focuses on the bow shoulder with new archers and how to settle it prior to the draw. 23:30 some history on the sport, significant figures and traditions. 31:30 details for submitting questions for a follow-up episode   Links: Thewayofarchery.com Youtube Channel Facebook Page Facebook Group

"Danny Hinton Talks Peep Clarifiers, string changes, waxing your strings and single pin sights." We keep going! This is Part 2 of our interview, if you haven't listened to Part 1, I encourage you to do so. Pt 2 1:30 how to know when you need to swap out your string and why Danny doesn’t wax his strings. 3:00 why you should change your cable and string at the same time. 4:00 the cost of equipment 6:50 What a Peep Clarifier is 8:00 Peep Sizes. (For the record I’ve used the same bow for 10 years and when I have had new strings put on they just put on the same size peep, so I never had to worry about my 1/8” peep!)11:00 Single pin sights 13:00 ideas for upcoming episodes.

"Danny Hinton Talks Bow Maintenance, Tuning and Draw Stops" My original plan for this episode was talking about home bow maintenance. It turned into so much more... Pt 1 2:30 How proshops are a disappearing breed and how the youtubers are making it look more complex than it needs to be. 4:30 Per Danny, if your bow is set up properly, bow maintenance is unnecessary. 8:45 How you can tell a bow is tuned correctly out of the bow and what the “squish” is. 13:45 “Draw stop” explained. 21:00 Top 3 things you should inspect on your bow after a long period of not shooting it.  

"Talking Competitive Archery Organizations and the National Field Archery Association with Chuck Cooley" Archery Pro Chuck Cooley sits with us and explains what the NFAA is, what they do, and why you should join. If you're interested in joining a professional archery association, you should listen to this episode! 1:00 Who is Chuck Cooley 4:30 what is the NFAA 7:00 A breakdown of the chapters of the NFAA, state vs national and how they run the events. And how both IFAA and USA Archery work in conjunction. 10:00 How the membership fees work and who grandparents your membership. 13:00 how to keep from getting overwhelmed and where to even start. 16:00 How the NFAA shoots are different from IBO (International Bowhunting Organization) shoots. 21:00 Chuck’s #1 piece of advice for someone interested in tournament shooting. 25:30 Thoughts on why women tend to not join these organizations (right or wrong). And how easy it is to forget the new guys are just new guys, and we were all new to archery once. As well as the state of the archery tournament scene with the pandemic turning everything upside down. 40:00 Links and information Links Chuck Cooley Facebook NFAA Facebook NFAA Twitter NFAA Instagram

"Turkey Hunting and Surviving in The Hunting Industry with Michael Lee" Michael Lee Vice President of Marketing and Outdoors at Lethal Products, and Co-host/Co-owner at Backwoods Life, stops by to chat about turkey hunting and how he's survived in one of the hardest industries. What he attributes to his success and longevity in the outdoor industry. Balancing work and personal life How the lockdown and pandemic has changed his strategy for hunting and filming. His personal advice for starting a show in the hunting industry. Textbook turkey hunts and real life. Using trail cameras to hunt turkeys. Different tactics for different regions. He shares his favorite state to hunt turkeys. Links Backwoodslife.com Lethal Products Backwoods Life Facebook

"Tips for Choosing and Purchasing a New Bow with Will Brantley" Will Brantley, Hunting Editor of Field and Stream Magazine stops by to chat about trying out some new bows, to allow yourself the opportunity to test out and choose the right bow for you. He walks through the steps he and his team performs to test out a new bow. Links Field & Stream Website Field & Stream Facebook Field & Stream Article "The Best New Compound Hunting Bows of the Year"  

"3 Tips for Setting Your Trailcam with Trent Marsh" Trent Marsh of Spypoint Cameras talks to us about the company, Project Spypoint the company’s own content stream, the Spypoint podcast, why he recommends Spypoint trail cameras in relation to value and performance, how cellular options are more cost effective than ever before  and the price points – including a free plan. #1 tip he’d share with someone who’s never set up a trail camera in their life. The biggest support questions a trail camera company gets. Tips for setting up a trail camera to practice with them. Tips for putting out trail cameras on public vs private.   SPYPOINT Trail Cameras Website SPYPOINT Trail Cameras Facebook