07/21/2025
My first 3D archery challenge. What an amazing experience. I went to my first 3D archery challenge on Saturday. My wonderful wife and kids bought me my entry for my Father's Day gift. I drove uo to China Peak Resort for the Team Whiskey event.
I will say this was probably the most physically demanding and challenging thing I have ever done.
There are three courses to choose from.The beginner course is an easy walk down with a max of 40 yard targets. Then the Team course an Whiskey course. These are designed to stimulate real mountain hunting. I choose Team course.
First, I rode the ski lift from 7000' to 8300'. I paired up with 4 other archers. Then the first three targets were a hike up another 300 feet from the lift drop off. With a maximum 70 yards target distance. In the pics the arrows with 2 pink and 1 white fletching are mine.
Then. The decent. 23 more targets. The first few the hike down was not to bad. Then, it wasn't. Although absolutely beautiful, very difficult to traverse. Over rocks, and fallen burnt trees, under trees, muddy slippery creeks. Just incredible. It got more difficult after every target. The of course were the targets. Some shots were very difficult. For example, one was a Red Fox at 40 yards, down hill. Not too bad, right? Nope. You could only see about 5 inches of the target. You had to shoot thru a gap between two trees that was right in front of the target.
By the end, I was in extreme pain. I could hardly walk. Today isn't any better. Everything hurts. I took on a challenge that truly tested my endurance and archery abilities. So, how did I do? Well, I shot first place in my group. [Unofficial 1st place]. Not technically a competition. I shot the highest score and only lost 2 arrows. One guy was out after the 4th target. He lost all his arrows. Another guy lost all his but got a few from his son and was able to finish.
My take on the event. Damm,that was hard. The archery part was difficult ,but the hike was what was the hardest. Almost 5 miles. I thought i had good hiking boots b,t nope. Will I do this event again next year? Heck ya. It was one of the funniest experiences I have ever had. The crew at Team Whiske