BowCast.com Archery Podcast - At Home on the Range

At Home on the Range

Utah’s Pioneer Day, known for many years as the Day of Deliverance, falls each year on July 24 to commemorate the arrival of Brigham Young and his fellow Mormons into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Today, festivities include everything from sunrise religious services on the city’s Temple Square, to a reenactment walk, replete with handcarts, that traces the pioneers’ path as they entered the valley, to a weeklong professional rodeo, as well as numerous parades, pageants, concerts, races, and carnivals. This year Pioneer Day was a Thursday, which more or less rolled into a holiday weekend. To an uninitiated observer, it felt about two parts Fourth of July and one part Easter—lots of things to do outside with a measure of religious seriousness.

As it happened, amid all the hubbub—and apropos to none of it—archery hunting aficionados from North America convened in the city over the weekend for a day of range shooting, lectures and demonstrations sponsored by industry heavyweights like Hoyt, Nikon, and Evolved Habitats, plus much general talking of shop and the usual spinning of hunting yarns over a couple of beers. All these events led up to the world premiere of Proof, the third feature-length extreme bow hunting film from Salt Lake City-based Full Moon Productions.

FMP, as its crew and fans like to call Full Moon Productions, has already conducted movie launches with considerable fanfare for its two previous releases, 360 and The Ride. But this year, BowCast’s Anthony Dixon, who co-stars in and directs Proof, along with co-host Aneal Roney, decided to up the ante by inviting their national podcast audience to Salt Lake City to make a day out of the premiere.

But why Utah?

Hunting is definitely big in Utah, but the sport flies a bit below the radar there. For instance, skiing and the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints have many more followers. But this underground sensibility adds to the sport’s appeal for many.

Dixon summed up the sport’s ethos in Utah with the following: animals are plentiful, the terrain is challenging and vast, and demand for tags is relatively low (despite the first, and perhaps because of the second). As a result, Utah attracts many hard-core hunters from outside its borders, many of whom, like Dixon, chose to relocate here to more actively pursue the sport. The state also cultivates its share of natives whose hunting participation traces through generations from father—and sometimes mother—to sons and daughters.

BowCast co-hosts Anthony and Aneal

Preparation for the event began in earnest earlier that week.

Dixon spent what might be called Pioneer Day Eve setting up 3-D mule deer, mountain lion, antelope, elk, boar, and sheep targets with the other FMP guys in the sage-brush hills of the 9,600-acre East Canyon Resort, an hour outside the city, high up in the Wasatch Range, near the town of Henefer.

Roney arrived late Thursday night from Denver with his web designer Troy Popplewell, Troy’s wife Sara, and friends Joe and Sady Mounts. BowCast regular Matt Hogue, the archery guru from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Denver, flew in early as well to help out with logistics. The next day the ladies toured the city, did a little shopping, and hit up a spa. Meanwhile, the men shuttled between the theater, the adjacent restaurant where the after-party would be, and the range to hang banners, tie up loose ends for the next day with the range and restaurant staff, and stuff goodie bags with G5 Outdoors hats and striker broadheads, Dead Down Wind scent wipes and odor eliminating powder, copies of Trophy Hunter and Western Hunter magazines, Realtree (Max 1) license plates, and Zotes Sunflower Seeds.

Over the next day and a half, BowCast bloggers Dan Staton, who writes about fitness from Spokane, Jason Amaro, a long-time hunting and fishing guide from Silver City, N.M., and California-based backcountry specialist South Cox arrived to join in the shoot.

For the premieres of 360 and The Ride, FMP had no problem attracting paying Salt Lakers to Brewvies Cinema Pub in downtown Salt Lake. They sold about 200 tickets for 360 and a little more than double that for The Ride. For Proof, though, they rented out both of the pub’s 160-seat theaters and stepped up the activities surrounding the premiere. By the weekend, they had commitments from about 100 pre-registered BowCast VIPs, some coming from as far as Arizona, Oregon, and Vancouver, but neither Dixon nor Roney were sure whether they would build on the success of the previous films.

“Before 360, nobody heard of these guys,” said Roney recently. “By the time The Ride came out, though, word had gotten around, and a couple of hundred people showed up for the premiere. We only hoped to build on that.”

East Canyon Resort - 9,600 acres

So how many people actually showed up?

“I know I didn’t have a seat,” said Roney after the show. “We think about 600.”

The day of the premiere started 13 hours earlier for the 100 BowCast VIPs, the FMP team, and the BowCast crew, who all seemed in fine spirits despite the 6 a.m. call. Attendees grabbed breakfast at East Canyon Resort then rode a shuttle a few miles up into the resort’s hills to try out Dixon and Co.’s 3-D range.

As the attendees arrived at the range, FMP and BowCast members accompanied small groups of six to 10 through the range. The groups departed every 20 minutes or so, disappearing into the hills. The excitement among the attendees was unmistakable, as was a little bit of nerves. For many, the experience of shooting with an FMP team member was akin to tossing a football with Tom Brady or taking batting practice from Johan Santana.

Dixon led the second group, which had two guys from Colorado and five from Utah, through the course. As they climbed hill at base camp, after warming up at 40 yards on the first target, the vibe was a mix of anticipation and nervous excitement.

BowCasters shoot with the FMP team.

The first couple of targets allowed everyone to loosen up, to get reacquainted with their range finders, and to adjust to the light breezes on an otherwise cloudless day. Everyone was shooting a little tight. Sensing this, Dixon, in a sort of icebreaker, lined up a 122-yard shot at a 3-D mule deer on the fourth target, pulled back, and let it rip. He missed just beneath the neck on his first shot, but the attempt seemed to lighten the mood and put the other shooters at ease. Slightly annoyed, maybe a bit for show, Dixon mumbled to himself about forgetting to adjust his crosshairs for a slight western wind. He adjusted for the second shot, but the wind stopped all of a sudden, and the arrow sailed into the target’s hindquarters. He laughed that one off and fired a third shot into the chest cavity.

From there, the shooters all began to improve. Shots from 30 and 40 yards were givens, as were most shot from 40 to 70 yards. For some longer distances, differences in equipment and ability began to emerge from among the

Archers arrive via the East Canyon shuttle.

shooters. But everyone was clearly having a great time. Some even blew off prior commitments.

Darren Wack, who runs a hockey supply store in Salt Lake, was having such a time that he called the store to say he’d be in late.

“We’re up here shooting, and Mitch shot himself,” he announced gravely to the employee who picked up the phone. “So I’m not coming in just now. We have to work on stopping the bleeding.” The group was in stitches, as Wack paused to dramatic effect. The clerk was speechless. Wack eventually let him in on the joke, but not before he’d had some fun with him.

Everyone availed themselves of the opportunity to pick Dixon’s brain on equipment and technique. He talked about different vanes and arrows, as he ranged for the group. He offered some eloquent advice on the value of practice, explaining how one needs to “shoot out of mind,” a state of mental preparedness, muscle training, and fluidity of movement, achieved by hundreds of technically sound repetitions on the range, that allows the shooter to understand and ultimately erase all the mechanics from his or her consciousness.

Anthony and Launch provide tips at the shooting seminar.

After all the groups went through the course, everyone gathered back at base camp for a FMP shooting seminar, led by Dixon, who fielded other equipment questions and solicited input from the Nikon and Hoyt representatives about the products they offered for demo.

“I sold a lot of equipment that FMP uses at the archery shop I used to work at,” said Kevin Wilkey, who now works in Hoyt’s marketing department, recently in an email. “I would get asked a lot about what bows and equipment the FMP team was using.”

Wilkey, 29, of Tooele, Utah, has worked for the company for the last three years, but has been shooting Hoyt products for the last 20 years and has either sold or tested their products all of his working life. At the shooting seminar, he took a number of technical questions about draw weights, vane sizes, and the physical advantages of various bows. Afterwards, he had some insight on the state of archery technology, about responsible shots, and how the huge advances in equipment have altered the way many hunt.

“The archery equipment we use is the only thing in the equation that is remotely constant,” he wrote. “You have to deal with your emotions, terrain, wind, and the reactions of the animal. And the four are very unpredictable. Are hunters going to take longer shots? Yes. But is it ethical? That’s a hard one to answer. I will not shoot unless I truly know I am going to hit him where it counts. Like Anthony Dixon said, ‘It’s a lot harder than what you think.’”

After the shooting seminar, the group returned to East Canyon’s lodge for lunch and a brief talk on herd management by Shane Michelli, chief operating officer of Evolved Habitats, a Baton Rouge-based producer of wildlife nutritional supplements. Michelli took questions and raffled off a hefty package of his company’s products.

By early afternoon, the BowCast VIPs began to disperse and returned to homes and hotels in Salt Lake for some downtime before the Proof premiere that evening.

The curtain was set to go up at 7 p.m. at Brewvies. Film goers began turning up an hour or so before and wandered through the lobby that FMP decorated with head mounts from various hunts, including a tremendous, 310-inch, six-by Utah bull elk Dixon shot on public land a couple of years ago and FMP teammate Shawn “Launch” Monson’s 212-inch mule deer, still in velvet, which he also shot on Utah public land. Many grabbed a beer and caught up with friends before entering the pub’s theaters.

Brewvies packs the house for the premiere of Proof.

In 360 and The Ride, Dixon, who directed both, and his FMP compatriots showcased their brand of high-octane bow hunting for various big-game animals throughout the Rockies. The initial sequence of Proof follows in the footsteps of its predecessors. It opens with the usual adrenalin surge as Monson, in stocking feet, bow in hand, stalks within range of a gorgeous Utah mule deer, sets up on the animal, and then sends an arrow into its chest. After the shot, the buck rolls, and the footage cuts to the broad grin on Launch’s face.

But after this first scene of bow hunting pornography, FMP’s new theme begins to unfold—namely, that the ‘proof’ is in the pudding. The movie is a reaction to critics who have long harped that the long shots FMP has become famous for have no place in the sport. As their response, the FMP team takes us on a yearlong odyssey of preparation for a fall archery season. We get an insider’s view of the secret 3-D range where all the training goes down. We see 100-yard shots at six-inch balloons and 80-yard shots with 30-degree downward angles from a tree stand. Proof is definitely a hunting video, but rarely does one offer, as Proof does, evidence that what you’re watching is not a smoke-and-mirror show.

Don Sabatino from Altoona, PA won a dozen Easton arrows at the after-movie raffle.

The entire movie is packed with great hunting footage and signature FMP-style shots on animals. In Proof, FMP shed its high-alpine-mule-deer shell and brings us along for a few different species and geographical locations. Both Dixon and newcomer Robbie Anderson each kill a pronghorn antelope (firsts for each) in Montana by closing the distance from afar and making impressive shots. Launch and Jeff Payne join the action—something never before seen in previous FMP projects—and kill their own antelope. It was also a treat to watch the team venture north, far from home in the Wasatch Range, for some mule deer in Alberta, Canada.

Launch signs autographs.

In another segment, Don Dixon, Anthony Dixon’s father, joins his son on a hunt in Wyoming. Don’s excitement for hunting, particularly with his son, is palpable, and his presence in the film reminds us how often hunting underpins the subtle emotional relationships between fathers and sons. That the elder Dixon is able to harvest a beautiful mule deer amounts to little more than icing on the cake.

FMP has shown a willingness to avoid the status quo, even if, compared to its previous efforts, Proof tends to conform a bit more to a typical bow-hunting movie. The cinematography is stepped way up in Proof compared to the previous work. It is clear Dixon has invested in better equipment and has learned more about the business of making movies. Following the heart-throbbing visual style showcased on 360 and the dramatic tension of The Ride, FMP still manages to break into new ground with Proof by offering us, in almost documentary style, insights through a number of interviews into the wealth of experience each team member has.

BowCast VIP members enjoyed the after-party and another raffle.

After the premiere, everyone poured into the street, abuzz about the film and the upcoming season. The BowCast VIPs were invited to an after-party next door at Jersey’s Sports Bar for a bite to eat, drinks, and another raffle, which included two Florida hog hunts sponsored by Evolved Habitats, a new Quest bow donated by G5 Outdoors, an Optix XR site and Expert II rest, cases of Zotes Sunflower Seeds, plus dozens of Realtree and Hoyt duffle bags, t-shirts, hoodies, and fleeces. The party went on into the early morning hours and wrapped up suddenly and reluctantly a little while after Jersey’s made last call.

—Salvatore Deluca

Sponsors of the Event

Sal's Bio:

Born in Danville, Pa., in 1975, Salvatore Deluca grew up in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, far from both Philadelphia and New York City. He had tried numerous times to use those places as settings for his fiction, but without success. In 1993, he went to Penn State University, where he managed to pass all his courses and graduate four years later. During the next eight years, he floated from one dead-end job to the next, some of them involving writing or serving people food and alcohol, while committing very little of substance to paper. After marriage, he tricked his wife into buying a house in the heart of Pennsylvania's anthracite coal belt where he grew up. He spends a lot of time thinking about writing, waiting for white tail season, and generally hoping for better days (often while playing "The-Price-is-Right" slots at the recently opened Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs with the proceeds from his weekly unemployment check).

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