Show Notes
In this episode of the Antler Up Podcast, Jim D’Agostino and I dive into a laid-back conversation about archery, upcoming events, and the importance of just having fun with the process. We talk about how shooting outdoors provides better practice than indoor ranges, the competitive madness of Total Archery Challenge (TAC) registration, and the logistics of planning an event—from Airbnb setups to coordinating schedules. Beyond the logistics, we break down how different arrows serve different purposes, and how tinkering with arrow setups can lead to noticeable performance improvements. Whether it's weight distribution, smaller veins for wind resistance, or finding the right balance between speed and penetration, there’s always something new to learn in archery.
But this episode isn’t just about gear—it’s about the experience and friendships built through archery. We discuss how community events like TAC bring people together, why spending time shooting bows is therapeutic, and how the archery community continues to evolve. We’re looking forward to more gear discussions in future episodes, but for now, this one’s all about keeping things light, having fun, and remembering not to take life too seriously. Tune in for a relaxed, gear-filled conversation that’ll get you pumped for your next shoot!
So, grab your gear, sit back, and join us on this episode as we Antler Up with Jim! Stay tuned, stay safe, and Antler Up!
Show Transcript
Welcome back, everybody to the show. I'm joined on the other line by my best friend. got Jim DiAgostino on Jim. Welcome back to the show. And, dude, before we get into this week's episode, we have to do a quick little update. So last week, if you tuned in, Jim was was on again and we talked about just kind of
Jim (01:11.087)
Hello.
Antler Up Podcast (01:34.814)
Recap and where we're at in this month, February's winding down and we just, we got into a little bit about gear. talked about what we're planning ahead and a little bit, even though it's only been a week, things have changed a little bit. And we are also discussing about like the podcast, what are we gonna do and all that type of stuff. And at the moment, as of right now, Jim and I had a really cool, fun discussion a couple of days after the podcast and...
Basically the plan is to continue to do weekly episodes and I'm going to go back to doing things I guess that that we really enjoy and just want to just talk and some of that discussion might be Jim and I just for the next couple weeks. We might have Josh on, might have Tim on, we might have Tom on, we might just have more of quote unquote close friends on rather than maybe certain guests.
It's not because we're going to stop doing that. We're going to continue to do that. But just right now it's that time period. You and I, we're going to kind of go over a lot of different pieces of gear these next couple episodes and kind of hone in on maybe like today, we're going to really talk about arrows because that's what we were really hammering when we would just talk individually outside the podcast this past week. So we're going to talk about arrows today, some other things. But we just wanted to give you a quick update where
We're just going to these next couple of weeks have some friends on and if there's a topic or something that comes up and there's a different guest that we want to have on and talk about, we're still going to do that. That's not changing. We're just letting you know, kind of moving forward that we're, you know, we, might be 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour about just whatever. We might talk about fitness. We might talk about nothing hunting related. So we just wanted to give you kind of that heads up and I hope.
you enjoy the episodes and hopefully they turned out well. so, you know, if there's anything particular again, like always hit me up and we're going to continue to record because you know, any chance I get to talk to some good friends and everything like that, I'm going to do that. So long winded introduction to this week's episode, but I thought it was important to go over that. So Jim, we're going to, dive into some arrows and everything like that, but you were shooting your boat the other day, right?
Antler Up Podcast (03:56.244)
Little coldness.
Jim (03:56.402)
Finally, finally found a little hot pocket in this winter wonderland we've been having. yeah, I got outside and shot, I don't know, 50, 60 arrows. Felt good. Only backed out to like 35, 40 yards. But that's plenty for right now just to kind of knock the cobwebs off.
Antler Up Podcast (04:10.389)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (04:15.328)
Dude, I was watching the competitive archery coverage from Foley from this past weekend and they threw up one, I don't know what day it was from. I don't know if it was from Friday and their PJ was on the range with them and he was, I forget what the target was. I think it was a Turkey. It was at 60 yards. You know, and it's just like,
Jim (04:40.178)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (04:43.124)
Man, I'm not even reaching that with my, my four 10, and it's freezing out and I haven't even shot past like 20 yards, even if that, and I couldn't tell you how long these guys are going down there and dropping 12s on a Turkey. it was really cool to see, man, just how some of these guys are and having their setup and like, you and I were just talking yesterday. I took the exalt out just in the backyard and I was only shooting like 15 yards and I was like, dang, just from like,
Jim (04:53.21)
Right.
Antler Up Podcast (05:12.542)
being outside and shooting that 15 minutes or 15 yards compared to just being in my basement and shooting four, five yards. It's just like, man, they're already out there dropping bombs and some really good scores. Shout out to Nate. Nate shot, think a 180 the first day and then he ended up coming back and he ended up shooting, I think eight 12s the second day. He ended up finishing, I think like 20th in that semi pro open class. So he ended up having a
Jim (05:18.607)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (05:41.79)
really good second day. So good for him. That's his first, I believe his first like big ASA, you know, kind of event that he did. So I'm anxious to talk to him to catch up with him and see how that how how he felt because I like you and I are saying I know he was probably disappointed in that 180 first score just because how good of a shot he is and he came back and shot really well. I forget what he was plus that second day. He was plus something.
Jim (05:53.81)
you
Antler Up Podcast (06:10.816)
above 200. So good for him.
Jim (06:14.279)
Yeah, it's awesome, especially being another East coaster where he's been battling this weather and hasn't been able to get out and really shoot much out there. I mean, that's that's awesome. He's a great shot. He works hard and it's awesome.
Antler Up Podcast (06:19.626)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (06:23.198)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (06:28.384)
Yeah. So before we dive into the arrow talk, man, the reason why we were really talking arrows is just because from last week, we were discussing like your new bow set up and, you know, I think you've kind of really put the seal of approval on that. Your artist, when you get that in is going to be your strictly hunting bow. And you kind of elaborated that, but I think, you know, since then you were like, ah, maybe I would take it to tack or something along those lines, but you're going to run your ethos.
Jim (06:48.818)
Hmm
Antler Up Podcast (06:57.664)
for that tack for 3D type shoot and really build that artists for that. So obviously we're going to have different arrows. and that's what kind of really triggered this whole arrow discussion. And we said, dude, let's save that for a podcast. But the reason why though was because total archery challenge for Pennsylvania, it kicked off as far as registration this past week and true to tack colors.
Jim (06:59.666)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (07:26.876)
It was a total shit show again. And, so I had a sign. I ended up being the one that signed this all up. It was, it's going to be me, you, Josh and Tim. And so the four of us were trying to obviously stick together, get a shot. we were getting an Airbnb, all that stuff. And we haven't signed up to participate in it in two years. So we took like a two year gap.
And we've, we've talked about it on the podcast before, like the montage mountain, uh, shoot was like our, the last two years, one that we really look forward to Northeast PA kind of like where we grew up hunting, just where we grew up in general. So it was kind of like, uh, you know, it felt really cool to have an experience there and, uh, they did a really good job with it. And obviously I know things will be coming out, so I don't want to be the one to say anything, but it is moving.
Jim (08:11.986)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (08:23.012)
And so with that, we were like, man, all right, well, that's, that's cool. That's, that's fine. But we also wanted to give like have Josh experience total archery challenge and do something like that. And just another reason to get together. So we were, we decided to do it again this year. And with that, we were like, okay, we know, we know how hectic it is just from years past and we've gotten lucky. We've, we've always wanted to shoot the knock on course. We've done that for that first thing in the morning. So this year.
I got everybody to send me all your information and it was going live 11 a.m. Eastern time. So nine, nine o'clock Mountain time. And when you go on the website, dude, so what you had to do is you went on total archery challenge dot com or whatever it was. You click on the registration for seven springs and then you there was like a bar where you put your email address in and right at eleven o'clock, thousands of individuals.
We're doing the exact same thing and you hit submit. Okay.
Jim (09:26.846)
So you were logged on already at like what, like nine o'clock or 9.30?
Antler Up Podcast (09:29.886)
Yeah, I was watching the clock tick. So basically there was like a timer and it was like, my email was already in the bar and all I had to do is wait when it said three, two, one, and then the button like basically went from being ghosted to like lighten up to hit submit. And once you would hit submit, basically what that does is it puts you in a queue, you get an email. Once you get that email, you click on the link that's provided that brings you to actually register.
So I kept hitting, well, I hit submit and it was basically going through cycling, which I'm sure a lot of people had this experience just from reading some of the comments and it timed out and then it timed out again and then it timed out again. And it's like, my gosh. And it kept doing that for the first like 11 minutes. Well, finally I did one on my phone.
just because I didn't know if it was like the internet or anything along those lines. I did it on my phone and when I hit it, it said you're in the queue. Like it went through after like 11 or 12 minutes and it said you are going to get an email at 1150. And I was like, dang. And it was like, well, didn't say I was like 560 second in line. Yeah, way out. And I was like, this is ridiculous. So I sent, I was sending you guys screenshots in our group chat, keeping you all up to date. And then
Jim (10:47.121)
Yeah, way out.
Antler Up Podcast (10:56.32)
I ended up randomly checking my email. I'm one of those individuals where I hate having a ton of emails. Like that's just, I don't know, it's just like a OCD thing I have. And when I checked it, I was like, dang, I have 16 emails. So I'm deleting, deleting, deleting, deleting. At this point, it's like 11 22, right? Like 10 minutes gone by. I ended up having to do something while I was at work. And next thing you know it, I wanted the last newest.
Jim (11:04.735)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (11:24.188)
emails said from stride events, you're you're ready to go. Don't waste time. Go register. And I was like, what the heck? said 1150. So if I didn't check my email, dude, I would we may not have even gotten a chance. So I ended up clicking on it. So which was like 10 minutes after. Luckily, though, like I wasn't it didn't send and I waited 10 minutes like it happened like pretty right away when I was checking. So that was like lucky.
Jim (11:34.698)
Sure, you would just bump the way out. You might not even be able to register.
Antler Up Podcast (11:52.104)
And do, but when I went on there, I knew we wanted to try to shoot super early and get the knock on course. There was one slot left. Like meaning one person could go on. And I was like, dang, that sucks. So we're not shooting that one. And then I looked and there was only like a couple for sick. And by the time when ended up happening and I was, and I was glad I didn't pick that one. so my, my personal second choice was ultra view just because it's a newer course from like three years ago.
watching a couple of videos, it's just seemed very technical, not crazy terrain and knowing us like how we like to shoot. We like that technical stuff and that still had the ability. There was over like, I don't know, a hundred slots left. but this is what I found very interesting as I was doing the process, there was over a hundred slots left and you basically what has changed since when you and I last booked. Remember like we would book our time.
like we would have our tea time. Now you get in a time zone, like a 730 to nine. And then a couple of days go by, I guess the TAC crew then will send you an email like, hey, Jeremy, you're in your crew are going to shoot at eight o'clock. And other people are gonna get the 730. Some people are gonna get 745 and so forth. So as I was putting in though,
individuals like myself. And then I was signing us up as a group, dude, it went from over a hundred. Then when I put like your information in, we were down to 80. And then when I put your information in and put Josh's and we were down to like 70, like it kept dropping. So like, even if there was only, like I said, 50 spots for sicka, I would have needed to have like our stuff in like super, super quick to maybe try to get that. So like it went, we got registered.
So here's my plan of thought. And I don't know if I said this to you yesterday or not. With the ultra view course being technical, we have the morning with it not being the crazy terrain. I'm thinking this as long as like we get early, which we are, we're in that first time zone. We should be able to eat and then like go right back up on the mountain and shoot.
Jim (14:14.645)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, we'll definitely capitalize on the time slot and try to get as much shooting in as we can just to make it, I mean, we want to shoot as much as we can anyway, but to make it affordable. But to back up to what you were saying about the whole registration process, I still can't believe, you know, it was not last year, the year before, so two years ago when we tried to maybe we were trying to sign up for TAC again and I was on the registration side of things and
Antler Up Podcast (14:15.273)
if we wanted to try.
Antler Up Podcast (14:22.527)
worthwhile.
Yeah.
Jim (14:43.129)
It timed me out and locked the website out so bad that by the time they came back in, I couldn't get it. Like everything was just sold out. I remember just on this last one, I was reading through the comments on Instagram on Total Archery Challenges on Instagram page because they were keeping everybody up to speed, of like, hey, the website's back up or whatever, which is the right thing to do. And the comments were just blowing up, obviously, with we'll get to that. But.
Antler Up Podcast (14:57.952)
they were keeping everybody up to speed. Yeah, it crashed. was what was happening.
Jim (15:10.489)
Like some of the, I was reading that guys were in the same boat as you were. were in logged in two hours before waiting to hit send at that exact second that it transferred. And then they ended up, they were like back 1800, 2000 in the queue. You know, you were lucky to even be like five, 600. And it's just, it's sad because a lot of these, you know, guys are returning customers who are dedicated that put a lot of time and money and into going to this and
Antler Up Podcast (15:13.8)
the
Yeah
Jim (15:40.09)
Even the new people that it's a shame that no one gets a real fair shake at this. It's like a super lottery. It's like at this point, you might as well make it a draw system, like a tag. You know what I mean? Like it's actually insane. And I know like it's a way bigger lift to probably try to change the, you know, technical side of things. I'm not a computer guy, so I don't really know how all that coding and stuff works and try to change a website. like with all the money that's been given to this
Antler Up Podcast (16:02.586)
Yeah.
Jim (16:09.003)
organization and how much money people spend on this stuff. mean, they've got to figure out a way to make this better. It's just it's taken away from the fun of it. And everybody should have a fair shake at going. And I guess it should still be first come first serve. I totally get that because there has to be a cap. Right. There's a max capacity that you could have for an event like this. And they reach it every year. But it's got to be if you're doing your due due diligence to to sign up in the middle of a workday.
Antler Up Podcast (16:30.56)
it's gotta be, if you're doing your due diligence to sign up in the middle of a work day, you know, can't have a website crash on you and then send a email, random email at a time frame that wasn't even specified. And then to try to just, I don't know, it's overly frustrating. And I'd like to see it
Jim (16:37.198)
You know, you can't have a website crash on you and then send an email, random email at a time frame that wasn't even specified. And then to try to just, I don't know, it's overly frustrating and I'd like to see a change.
Antler Up Podcast (17:00.514)
opportunity to try to go out there and and and see it right like we said the montage mountain shoot was always really fun and like as far as the shoot has gone it we thought it was even like better than tac it's just that you're not getting that same experience of what total archery challenges and I'm pumped that we were able to not only register you were we were able to get an Airbnb and that will accommodate all of us which is is good but yeah like no yeah
Jim (17:14.585)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (17:26.69)
That was the other thing, sorry to interrupt you, but the Airbnb side of things, right? We kind of have a spot there for a few years we got in a row. it's a, I'm not gonna give too much information away, but it's a sweet little spot where we're able to shoot out back and kind of toy around with our stuff before we go out and everyone's got their own room and it's just a nice, comfortable place, right? Nice condo. And...
Antler Up Podcast (17:42.42)
Hmm.
Jim (17:51.543)
I've had that thing like saved like in my Airbnb app for like weeks and I should have just booked it because it's free cancellation and I didn't because I knew that this registration process was going to be a nightmare like it always is. And I was worried that we weren't going to get it and I was going to have to go through the cancellation process and blah, blah. So I waited until you gave me the thumbs up that we got in the second we did that, I went on my app and within that 10 minute period, it was going like someone else had already booked it, which is obvious because
Antler Up Podcast (18:10.662)
Yeah.
Jim (18:21.2)
When people are looking up Airbnb's in that area, I mean, that's going to be one of the ones that pop up. And luckily we're able to find a good secondary option that ended up being a few dollars cheaper, but it's just, it's insane what it's actually become. I mean, it's great for the archery community, I think, but I think there's a lot of people that are kind of disgusted with how this goes down, both from
Antler Up Podcast (18:38.59)
Yeah.
Jim (18:50.895)
you know, a registration standpoint to how the event is run and organized and the timeframes and how long the shoots take and how long it bottlenecks in between certain shots all the way down to like, know, getting an Airbnb. I mean, this is everybody here works hard for the money and like wants to be able to enjoy things and, but they're making it really difficult.
Antler Up Podcast (19:03.456)
Well, that's like, man, that time when we went and we shot that knock on course and we got to that cliff shot, it's like we waited an hour.
Jim (19:21.571)
Yeah, to shoot 30 targets and have it take five hours is insane. There's just got to be a better way.
Antler Up Podcast (19:29.032)
I think like at that point, it's like, you are, if you have a, a 3d archery stool, you better bring it because you might be sitting. no, man, like we said, we were, hopefully there could be something down the line that they, they change, but I'm excited to get back. Like once you get through that initial of like, man, that sucked. And you know, the process is annoying and you know, all that type of stuff. It's like the, the excitement then like came back, right? Like then you're like,
Jim (19:35.909)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (19:49.725)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (19:56.486)
Yeah, I mean it sounds like I'm shitting on it and I guess I kind of am a little bit but at the end of the day we're still, we still wanted it, we still paid whatever fees they told us to, we still registered and we're still going because it is that great of an event.
Antler Up Podcast (20:04.764)
Yep,
Yeah. The one, one last thing that I will say about the registration thing that took me by surprise. And this could be totally new. Like they may have been doing this now last year. I don't know, just because again, we didn't try to register last year, the year prior you did not get us in that type of ordeal. but it was new to me this year was like, obviously for a one day shoot, which is all we're doing, we're just doing Saturday. were like, all right, 60 bucks. Wow. They haven't changed that update. Like that's pretty cool. Like that's good.
Jim (20:37.212)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (20:37.92)
And then you go in and it's like, if you want a morning, it's a $10 fee. If you want like a later morning, it's a $5 fee, which is like, it's 10 bucks. It's five bucks. Like it is what it is, but it's, I've just found that interesting. Like just, why don't you just raise it to 70 bucks and then.
Jim (20:54.428)
Yeah, they're trying to make people pay for it everybody wants the early time slot. So they're like, well, people are going to pay it they want to do it anyway. So it's just a money grab.
Antler Up Podcast (21:01.63)
And we yeah, and the last time we actually shot remember we did the last we did that last. Do we do we end up shooting another course that day or no. So we just shot knock on and we called it a day.
Jim (21:07.26)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (21:12.718)
No, Yeah, yes. And by the well, by the time we got out there, I mean, we got by the time we got completed, I think we started at like noon or or 11 o'clock. It wasn't we didn't start that late and we got done at the we were the last crew to get done because it took five hours. So.
Antler Up Podcast (21:22.624)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (21:29.086)
Yeah. Right. Yeah, that was that. Yeah. So with that, though, we are excited. We got the Airbnb. We're good to go. Now we have something to look forward to. That's the last weekend of May that bleeds into June. So leading up to to tack will be going over some things. And what's nice is we are pretty I wouldn't say settled. But, you know, let's talk a little bit about arrows, man, because
Last year for 3D, I shot 23. So if you're listening to this, the video aspect of the podcast, I am going to show just the arrows and you know, if you're interested, tune in on that on, on YouTube, this will be up on there. Um, but my 3D arrow, as far as like local ASA events, I shot the 23s of ultra and I ran a, uh, 120 grain tip. ran the tack driver.
Shorty, Vane, I ran a four-fletch and I liked the pin knocks. I know some people maybe don't like them, but I don't know. I never ran them before and I thought they were kind of cool. So I did that. And the ultra arrow performed well for me. This was the limited version, which is the, I think the cheaper one, like the 0.03. What's that? What am I trying to say here? Straightness.
Jim (22:57.154)
the straightness, yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (22:58.848)
Yeah, so straightness there. And then for hunting, though, this year, I stuck with ultra. And I've talked about it on the podcast before, but I ran the point one sixes. So like the ultra skinnies and I kept the components on the same. Like I ran their house components with the insert collar, which is a total of 53 grains here.
As you can see, I'm running that slick trick torch broadhead. But dude, I kept everything simple. I just ran there. I bought like the half dozen of their already prefletched arrows because during that time of year towards the as we get and the way my life was at the time I was like, I wanted simple and easy and coming from
Last, the previous year I shot those Exodus arrows. They fledged them up. did everything. So was like, I kind of enjoyed that. kind of enjoyed, even though I love tinkering and doing the arrows once the baby was born last year, it was like, it turned into like, I, I have other shit that I need to do type of ordeal. And that's one less thing for me to worry about. And then I threw on that little Amazon light and knock, which it's kind of funny now that,
elk shape is did a video on those. And so I've been there done that dude. But no, that's that's cool. I mean, because they're great. They're great little cheap option. So that was my hunting arrow. And this came in at at 460. And my I didn't talk about it. But my, 3d arrow last year was like, I don't know, 400, like 405, I think, or maybe a little less something along those lines, I totally forget. But like for 460 with my hunting arrow.
Jim (24:23.999)
Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (24:50.936)
And with my artists being in the performance mods, 70 pounds, 27 and a half inch draw. Like I was, I couldn't be happier with how this sucker penetrated on that buck for the type of shot that it was. I will for sure be running these for hunting season. but I'm not going to shoot those for tack because even though four 60 still, I would say middle ground, like that's a great all around arrow. And I think if you are
Jim (25:14.131)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (25:17.384)
just you want one arrow to do total archery challenge and you want an one arrow to like to do hunting with both same thing. I would say that 460 would be a good sweet spot. But this year, here's what we're going to do. We are going to run 204s from ultra. So I'm going to do a little testing. You and I were talking about this. This is the half out which I used to run on all my Eastons.
Jim (25:41.311)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (25:45.524)
but this half out is from ultra. It's only 25 grains with a hundred grain tip. I am having a wrap on this, from the boutique. So Mike made these, which are pretty cool. They're like gray with Topo. Then on the bottom, it has like a mountain with the skull, with the arrow and a knife through the top skull. That's, know, killer idols thing that I came up with last year. And so that will be with a
What do we say? I'm to go for Fletch on these ones with a what? Yep. For Fletch, a e hybrids, keeping the stock knock that is going to come out after I weighed. Waited. I know there's no veins on here, but I want to put it on the scale. It came out to 421 and I was like primo, right? But I already was like when I was tinkering around at the end of the summer.
Jim (26:19.028)
Mm-hmm, hybrids.
Antler Up Podcast (26:42.928)
I have a rip TKO, which is their 204 diameter with a half out, but a 50 grain half out. These are from podium Archer. So this is from MFJJ with a hundred grain tip. This has a wrap on it and this has the tack driver shorty. What is that? Like two, two, five. I think it is, three Fletch and this weighs two for 21. However,
This is what we're going to do. We're going to run this arrow, the TKO, but instead of doing a wrap and doing the three vein, driver vein, we are going to run no wrap. We're going to throw three. Fletch AAE vein. And because of how all the weight is and all that type of stuff, that arrow will come out to be the exact same 421. So that just shows you how heavy.
those veins are like that, like three AAE hybrid vein weigh the same amount as a wrap and three tack veins. Isn't that nuts? Like it's kind of, yeah. So, so they're, going to be.
Jim (27:43.691)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (27:50.205)
Mm-hmm. It is nuts. Yep.
And there was a difference in GPI with the two arrows you have too, which countered one another. So now that's how you ended up with the same weight.
Antler Up Podcast (27:59.86)
Yep.
Yep. So they're going to be the same weight, same diameter, all that stuff. But I want to just tinker around and, I'm going to shoot the ultras at tack, no doubt about it, but I'm, I also want to just see how they perform kind of head to head, like four, four Fletch versus the three Fletch wrap, no wrap brand of the arrow, all that type of stuff. but like, again, still both are going to have the half half out, right? They're kind of, they're,
Jim (28:08.065)
you
Antler Up Podcast (28:31.028)
the MFJJ one's a little bit longer, but not by much. So that's going to be my setup is 421 arrow. I'm not a big, big proponent of how like a caller for long distance. That's just my personal opinion and view. I just don't think they fly very accurate at long distance.
I'm not getting into tuning a bow and all that type of crap. I'm just, I don't know. I just, I could have my bowed nice and tuned and it just seems like a collar will have some wobble to them. That's just always been what I've noticed. but for hunting, since I'm only going to shoot 35 and in basically, like I was even saying, if I was going out West, I probably would run something different. I would, I wouldn't run, I wouldn't run a collar, but yeah, dude, I'm, I'm excited to.
Jim (29:10.432)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (29:22.818)
You
Antler Up Podcast (29:28.864)
doctor up these arrows and get a new sight tape on the artist and start getting ready for, for, uh, the bombs. then dude, then next to me, I got 25s that I'm going to trick out for ASA this year. So I'm going to try another different target arrow, ultras, 25s. Those were new towards the end of the summer. So I'm going to doctor those up. And I think with the weight,
that I'm going to have on that is going to be roughly like 395. So yeah.
Jim (30:01.772)
I like it. like it. Yeah, my my 3D setup last year, I was running the Easton Sonics in the 300 spine and those are 8.8 GPI. I'm a 28 and a half inch draw and I cut my my arrows down like 27, maybe 27 and an eighth carbon to carbon. And I was running a this is standard wrap with the four fletch configuration, the AEMax Stealths.
Antler Up Podcast (30:05.056)
That's where I'm at,
Antler Up Podcast (30:14.878)
Okay.
Antler Up Podcast (30:24.063)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (30:31.745)
And my whole setup there with a 100 grain tip and the standard insert was like right at 400 grains, 405. Cause I wanted something fast, flat, especially when we were doing montage, tack type style stuff. Fast flat shooting forgiving, especially when we were doing some of the tournament stuff for, if I misjudge a yardage a little bit or get a bad reading on my rangefinder due to lighting situations or whatever, I wanted to have a little bit of forgiveness, right? So the faster flatter you can.
Antler Up Podcast (30:34.223)
I wanted something fast and Especially when you're doing montage, tax type style stuff. Fast and flat shooting for giving. Especially when you're doing some of the tournament stuff. If I misjudge a yardage a little bit or get a bad reading on my rangefinder.
Right
Jim (31:01.763)
a more forgiving of a setup you have. So, and then with that, I was also curious to see, you know, I want to be able to prove to people that a 400 green arrow, fast flat shooting is still going to kill a whitetail. No problem. Even with a mechanical head and was fortunate enough to do that several times this year, specifically on a buck where I took a, I was on the ground and took a frontal shot and you guys have heard that story on the podcast before and I had a full pass through on that with mechanical broadhead and that same light arrow.
Antler Up Podcast (31:13.632)
And you're only shooting 70 pounds. It's not like you're drawing 80, you know, something crazy.
Jim (31:30.981)
So it can be done and it's definitely an effective lethal setup for 3D and for hunting. Correct, 70 pounds. Yeah, that's right. Yep, and my draw length is what is considered a pretty standard average draw length, 20 and a half. So I'm not getting the super lightning speeds, but I'm getting a good speed with the light setup, right? But this year, because I like to change things up and tinker a little bit, I'm going to run the
Ultra 204s. And what's interesting that we found out is that it being a 204 and like the wall thicknesses pretty much exactly the same as the Easton Axis, I'm going to run some of my Axis components. So I'm thinking about running the brass insert upfront just to get a little bit more FOC. Kicking that idea around, I'm probably going to a four-fletch configuration but in a smaller vein. I don't know if I'm going to do
Antler Up Podcast (32:20.736)
Yeah, keep talking about that because I'm gonna grab on so go ahead keep keep chatting about it
Jim (32:28.484)
a hybrid or if I'm going to do a comparison to my max stealth I might do a hybrid or I might do one of those hunters I might do one of the you know those little streamline like max hunter bans
Jim (32:42.626)
Yeah, yeah, so I'm thinking about making my veins a little bit smaller just because I'm going to be reaching out and I'm only shooting a field point so I don't really need to focus on navigating a broadhead so anything where I can knock down some windage and keep it light and it's going to be key. So with that said, I was also in the process of helping our buddy Josh
Build some arrows and said I set up his new exalt 35 He's a 30 inch draw guy. He's got that bow in 75 pounds because he's a big fella and He's gonna be running the 204s or I'm sure yeah, he's gonna be hunting with the 166 is but he's me running the 204s also for tac 3d and Right now in front of me he has
Antler Up Podcast (33:29.248)
Yeah, he's gonna be hunting with the 166, but he's gonna be running with 204s also for tax free heat. Right now in front of me, he's had three buildups of 250.
Jim (33:38.245)
pre-built up some 250 spines based off of his draw length, poundage, weights and things that he wants to run. I was able to crunch some numbers and I think I'm going to get him out of the 250 spine and get him in a 300 spine because he's right on that threshold. And as long as he switches out, you know, the in the outsert system that comes with the those arrows, which we came up with way a total of what, 53 grains or 55 grains total between the insert
Antler Up Podcast (33:42.08)
like how this waste of things that he wants to run and up.
Okay Yeah 53
Jim (34:07.494)
threaded part and the whole outstir system. We're able to use one of his Easton Axis standard aluminum inserts which only weighs 16 grains and with the 100 grain tip so it's not going to knock the... it's going to keep his spine stiffness in that category where he's going to be okay and he's going to get a much lighter overall arrow with a 300 spine in the Ultras 204s
Those are 9.1 grains in comparison to the arm. Excuse me, 9.6 grains in comparison to the 10.7 GPI in the two fifties. So right off the rip, just in his 29 inch area, he's going to save about 30 grains right off the rip, just in cutting his arrow in a different spine. And then again, with what he's going to save up front about another 30 grains. So they're going to put his arrows right down in the low 400s, which at his draw length and draw weight that he's shooting, it's going to be laser beams. So.
for tack it's like gonna be a really nice setup for him.
Antler Up Podcast (35:07.596)
Yeah, when you look at these veins dude like cuz didn't he want to throw those new air razor pros on like the hunt like dude look how small they are
Jim (35:16.196)
Yeah, yep, that's, yep. I had said Max Hunters, but that's what, I get those confused because they look similar.
Antler Up Podcast (35:17.933)
And like it.
Antler Up Podcast (35:22.044)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's the same thing. But yeah, dude, like when you look at that, like compared to just the I think the ones that are already prefletched on the like my honey one here, those are those Raptor QT like they look like the boning ones. But like you could kind of see that profile. I mean, they're tiny.
Jim (35:44.134)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (35:48.046)
When you stepped away there, had mentioned about, know, because we're only steering field points. We're not steering broadheads. So running something a little bit more streamlined is going to be good for like wind drift and keeping that the back end of the arrow light and the front of the arrow a little bit more FOC for holding that trajectory at long range.
Antler Up Podcast (35:51.616)
Right.
Antler Up Podcast (36:07.754)
I want to see, haven't weighed those. So I'm anxious to see what those may be weighing, because maybe I'll even tinker, tinker, I'll always be tinkering. Yeah, it's always fun to play with yourself or something. But yeah, so I don't know, man. think, where do you think you're going to, like, what's your goal with your
Jim (36:16.61)
Mm-hmm. It's always fun to play with arrows,
Antler Up Podcast (36:34.9)
with your arrow setup as far as like for tack. So like kind of go back to about that flat shooting type stuff.
Jim (36:38.085)
Yeah, so.
Jim (36:42.972)
Yeah, I know I kind of spit out a lot of information there before, but I want to keep it light again. But I want to add just a little bit more weight, but keep it more in the front because I did notice with my super light setup, but I had before my weight was more balanced over overall in the arrow, which once I got out out past 60 yards, my group to open up a little bit further than I would like. And I think that's due to the fact that I'm getting a little bit of a.
Antler Up Podcast (36:50.079)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (37:11.427)
a little bit of that tailspin that you get from like, you know, having a hard helical and not having enough weight up front to kind of steer it and hold that trajectory. So I think by adding a little bit more weight up front, and I think that's going to help me overall because you still need to find that magical balance between speed and weight in order to have an accurate projectile through like wind and things like that at long range.
Antler Up Podcast (37:17.6)
hold that trajectory. So I think I had a little bit more weight on the front. And I think that's gonna help me overall. you still need to find that magical balance between speed and weight in order to have an accurate trajectory. Yeah, because dude, that's the beauty of archery. Like if you
If you are able to mess around and tinker around and do all that stuff. I mean, we've spent so much money on arrows and it's like, just because we want to just see what we could do with them. Right? Like when you think about it, like how we were saying about, like I think when we went to Maryland, when we shot at big truck farms and there was that bomb, what was that on? Like a moose or a buffalo. Yeah. It was that Buffalo and we both, all of us hit it.
Jim (37:55.494)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (38:06.309)
Buffalo.
Antler Up Podcast (38:12.02)
but we, we weren't really where we wanted to be. Like I had, think I had a decent shot, but like you hit it, but you were like, let me shoot that again. And didn't you like really get a good shot on your second one, I think, or something along.
Jim (38:12.284)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (38:24.134)
Yeah, once you can make, yeah, when you make an adjustment. Even though was holding, I was holding right on on the first shot and I ended up hitting like six or seven inches high. Yeah. And it was like, it didn't make any sense to me. And then I just held differently. I just, yeah. And I think a lot of that has to do with, you know, when you're shooting out over a hundred yards, wind is a major factor. I mean, your stable, your stability and things like that, pin float, that's a big one. You know, all those factors come into play, but that.
Antler Up Podcast (38:32.458)
high. Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (38:46.624)
grip.
Jim (38:52.86)
That's what makes this part fun. Like we've proven now that we can kill whitetails with every single setup that we've built. So hunting wise, I'm not really worried about it. I'm completely confident with strapping on any sort of broadhead on the end and killing something with it. But now when you're coming into this long range, technical shooting, super accuracy stuff, like you got to really fine tune those and we're getting there. We're going to, like I said, we're going to try these 204s. I think that's going to be the money when we,
swap out some of the stock components for components of other manufacturers and kind of make that beautiful combination of lightweight but good front of center and stability.
Antler Up Podcast (39:35.847)
Yeah, you think we're we're definitely gonna play our challenge game that day, right
like our closest to center, because those are going to be all Reinhardt targets. So we're not going to have the ASA scoring. So they're all going to be that. Yeah.
Jim (39:42.34)
Yeah, closest to...
Jim (39:50.603)
IBO style. Yeah, cool. Yeah, that's that's I like that. That keeps it fair. It keeps everybody in the game, I think. And when you play close to the center, because everybody could be in the 10 ring, you know what I mean? And you start racking up some scores and then all of a sudden you have a guy that just maybe has a bad shot or gets the hips or whatever. And then all of a sudden he's way out of the running when you're just based off of points. Right. But when you're playing close to center, it's like you could be anybody at any time. It's fun.
Antler Up Podcast (39:57.62)
Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (40:11.744)
Right.
Right? Yeah. And I don't know, man. I just love it. Hopefully I could shoot my ass off again and take it home. It's so funny. It was funny because I was talking to you'll get a kick out of this individual that does my taxes. He he's a big golfer. And he's retired and all that stuff from work. We're he's like, So how was your summer and everything? And I said, wasn't bad. And
Jim (40:25.239)
Yeah, hopefully.
Antler Up Podcast (40:42.43)
So how about you? know, we'd only talked at one time. So like you're catching up from the full year. And he, he goes, I played golf three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, me and the crew, go here and we were playing and, he's, he's a good golfer. Like he he'll shoot in his eighties and all that stuff like that, like for a score. And he was, he was mentioning, just like all the different ways they play. I said, my buddy came up and,
like you and Tim and we're just talking about how we were playing it that day and how much fun we had. And I don't know. It's just cool to hear like how guys get together and you you got into golf real back again, like this past summer. And I don't know. I think it's fun to, to, do shit with your buddies. Like it's good for your health. And that's a, you know what I mean? Like that's where this world is. you go through so much shit and you deal with a lot and you're providing and
Jim (41:22.901)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (41:38.816)
You know, there's so much that we don't know about what other people are going through. And in those moments, man, like when we know we booked. Total Archer challenge. know it got all settled. Maybe it wasn't the first course we really wanted and all that stuff. It's like, dude, we get a chance to go down Friday. Bullshit eat, hang out, get up early, shoot all day. Then we don't have to worry about anything.
get dinner, go back to our place, and then we could get up, go get breakfast and leave. You know what I mean? Like that is going to be such a awesome time. but just hearing like the fun that he was saying about that he has with his buddies and just like, man, that's what we need more in this world is just like, you know, I'm pumped because like my wife is going to go down, with another trip down with her girlfriends here soon. And it's like, good, go down, have fun. You know I mean? Like you get
Jim (42:09.067)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. Yep.
Antler Up Podcast (42:35.944)
you know, your juice back, whatever it is and come home and all that type of stuff. It's just, it's important that we have something in archery as a hunter. It just, you know, it's more than just a hobby, I think for some of us. Yeah.
Jim (42:50.477)
It's therapy, It's therapeutic, yeah. Shooting your bow every day like we do, it's like zen. And to round out the whole conversation, all the bitching we did about the registrations and whatever with TAC, mean, obviously we still love that event and it's an excuse for the buddies to get together and shoot bows and do the things that we love. And at the end of the day, we're gonna pay whatever it is and we're gonna go to wherever we have to in order to get together and do that kind of stuff.
and that community there, there's nothing like it. mean, the archery community has exploded specifically on those platforms and it's awesome to meet people that maybe follow us a little bit or people that don't and just people from different walks of life from all over the state and all over the country. just kind of, it's a couple thousand guys that love the same things we love and it's a hell of a weekend.
Antler Up Podcast (43:19.392)
in that community there, there's nothing like it. The archie community's exploded specifically on those platforms. It's awesome to meet people that maybe follow us a little bit or people that go, just people from different walks of life all over the state, all over the country. And just kind of, it's a couple thousand guys that love the same things we love. It's a hell of a thing. Dude, it's crazy, because when you think about it,
Total Archery Challenge to me still has a little sweet spot in my heart just because that's kind of like where I got the initial push to do this. Like when you think about it, you know, Mike was it was a inaugural role into that of me going up, I shot Total Archery Challenge by myself. You went up by yourself, didn't you? And like,
Jim (43:59.008)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (44:11.487)
Mm-hmm, yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (44:13.192)
You met Billy and those guys that year. I met Mike and his dad and I just shot with him and another Mike individual was out in Delaware who I still, you know, he's not as active on social media as he once was and stuff like that. But he, know he and his buddies, they go every year, like still to this day, dude, they go every day. They shoot every day. Like they're, they're dude. Like that's how awesome, like, that's what I mean. Like again,
Jim (44:31.734)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (44:35.734)
The whole week, yeah.
Antler Up Podcast (44:40.488)
we could bitch and complain and not people have the right to about that because of how frustrating that could be. And we were fortunate enough two years ago, we didn't get in this year. We did get in. So it's like, that whole thing, but yeah, dude, like that's where like Mike was like, yeah, that sounds cool. Like what you want to do, like let it rip, man. And then like Dmitri and I, did it and, you know, started it and it's just evolved into where it is now. And you know, it's just, it's just amazing to see the relationships and the things that have come about because of TAP.
Jim (44:57.378)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (45:08.877)
Dude, my best buds right now and my best hunting buddies I've met through Total Archery Challenge. Like you said, all the boys up north, you, even Tim through you. Josh is the only guy that I didn't meet at a Total Archery Challenge, but here we are. Look, we're full coming, full circle. We're bringing them in. He'll probably meet some more people over there. It's just, they're constantly growing and evolving and yeah, archery communities is the best.
Antler Up Podcast (45:15.68)
all the boys up north. Yeah. Yep. love it, man. Next week, what do want to talk about? What piece of gear we want to go releases? Do we want to go? Do we want?
Jim (45:41.997)
Well, since we're it's still tack 3d season we should stay on that trend. mean we talked about how we're gonna build our arrows so I guess I guess Either we could either do rests because we did we are switching that up a little bit We can do rests or we do multiple we can do rests and releases and kind of work our way up through the whole platform which is kind of
Antler Up Podcast (45:49.533)
Yep. We'll do we'll do a double R. We'll go rest and releases I think next week. Yeah. Yeah, we'll talk. We'll talk about wait, wait, maybe we'll tell that story. Yeah.
Jim (46:06.231)
I like it. Stabilizers should be on the list at some point too. That people are always tinkering with that kind of stuff about weight. We should probably, we should fill people in on that. Yeah, we'll tell that story. We say that a lot on here and it's an inside joke and people are probably like, what the hell's wrong with these guys? But yeah, we'll save that for the next one.
Antler Up Podcast (46:20.266)
They're probably those fucking idiots. But yeah, yeah, we'll save that. Yeah, maybe we'll if we have time, we'll get into stabilizers with the rest and releases and then then we'll then we'll do an episode of of sites and we'll talk about cams and then we're going to get into also like our mobile gear. We'll do an episode on that type of stuff. We'll break down each pieces. So, yeah, man, like like I said, we're
Jim (46:32.547)
Mm-hmm.
Jim (46:44.45)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (46:47.824)
you're going to hear a lot of Jim or you're going to hear a lot of Josh and Tim and Tom. And just like I said, some of some of our good friends and then, certain situations might come about. We might have, maybe individuals on from a certain company and talking about certain products again, keep them short and sweet. And that's the, that's the goal. And that's why we're going to end it right now. Swolebird appreciate it, man. Get after it this week. We're finally feeling good, feeling healthy. There is some decent
Jim (47:03.394)
Mm-hmm.
Antler Up Podcast (47:16.832)
uh, weather on the horizon, nothing too crazy, nothing too warm, but enough to get outside, shoot your bow, go tinker, uh, get your, get, get your shit together. People that's a, you know, I keep telling myself, get your shit together. So I'm going to tell other people, get your shit together.
Jim (47:28.034)
Hmm.
Yeah, spend time with your buddies, spend time with your families. Have fun, shoot bows, and hunting season will come.
Antler Up Podcast (47:35.348)
Yeah. Don't take life too serious. Enjoy it, man. All right. Always be there for another individual. Pick them up. All right, everybody. Thanks for tuning in this week. We'll see you next week, everybody. Antler up.
