The Endurance course is meant to challenge the competitors’ ability to perform a few moderately challenging, outdoor skills through a little fatigue. As long as safety and time are taken into consideration, sixteen poor souls have to weave their way through the best minefield that my below-average-IQ allows. In the last five years, competitors have had to bowfish, belly-crawl under a “thicket”, set snares...actually, it’s a really long list.

Just like the Skills course in Regionals, the competitors will not know what skills they are expected to perform. They do know they are going to put in just under ¼ of mile on their new Rocky boots and that the course is expected to average about 5-6 minutes.

For two bags of Eukanuba dog food, name the six skills the competitors are going to be asked to perform at the ’09 Finals. For obvious reasons, we won’t announce a winner until after the competition. Competitors, let’s spread the swag around, so y’all are out of this one.

— John Davis [ Read Full Post ]

Ryan Straley, 29 - Olathe, Kan.

Straley is fairly new to outdoor competitions, but he definitely knows how to execute when a challenge is presented to him. He fished his first bass tournament with his brother last year and won it in a 16-foot aluminum boat. As a firefighter and paramedic, Straley is routinely tossed into timed scenarios, often training to save lives. Needless to say, outdoor challenges can be less stressful for him. But that doesn’t mean it’s not exciting.

“I’ve noticed competing in the outdoors gives me more of an adrenaline rush,” Straley says. “I get excited like a kid before Christmas.”

When he was just an infant, Ryan’s father died in a car crash, leaving his mother, Rebecca, with the job of raising him. Her father and brothers helped out, and Uncle Claude was the one who took Ryan rabbit hunting for the first time. He grew to love hunting for varmints, prairie dogs, coyotes and predators. Instead of buying a class ring at the end of high school, he bought his second varmint rifle and a scope.

“When I was young,” he says, “everything I explored was something different.”

Now on the cusp of... [ Read Full Post ]

Tom Boatwright, 39 - Perdido, Ala.

Tom Boatwright is a sharpshooter with a bow. He finished second in the Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor World Championship last year, setting an example for his two sons, 15-year-old Tanner and 13-year-old Tucker. The eldest son has already started to follow his father’s footsteps: Tanner recently qualified for the Buckmasters competition.

Boatwright likes shooting bows on the water, too. “My boys and I love bows, but bowfishing has got our interest right now,” Boatwright says. “We like to shoot carp and alligator gars the best.”

The Alabama state angling record for an alligator gar is a 151-pound, 5-ounce monster caught in 2004. Boatwright says he and his boys caught what could have been a new state record this past summer, but it wouldn’t have counted since they caught it with a bow—not a rod and reel. “The ultimate is getting out there and shooting at night, filling up a 55-gallon drum,” Boatwright says. “It’s the best.”

The carpenter crew chief finished first in the Nashville Regional. His desire to win is what he says will put him above his competitors in the finals. That and his small size. “I’m real small.... [ Read Full Post ]

John Stanley, 31 - Bordias, Texas

Stanley is a little indecisive when you ask him what he likes to fish for best, because he really loves going after catfish, bass, and crappies. It’s more of the same when it comes to hunting: Ducks, deer, and hogs all fire him up. “I don’t really have a preference, as long as I’m out there doing it,” Stanley says.

The Independence Regional third-place finisher quickly passed the trait down to his sons, Brayden, 9, and Dylan, 7. Both killed their first deer when they were 5, and each boy has taken at least three total. But their dad isn’t just a guide in the field—he’s also their baseball and basketball coach. “My advice for any one young would be, listen and get advice from anybody that you can,” Stanley says. “Try everything that you can and take everything in.”

That’s what Stanley, currently a general electrician, learned from his uncle, Michael McLendon, when he was about 9 years old. McLendon took Stanley under his wing in the outdoors, which supplemented the traditional sports he played growing up.

Stanley would like to think he’s been preparing for the TOC for much... [ Read Full Post ]

The Lightning Mountain Pack from Yamaha is the really cool swag this week for the first correct answer. No shot angle or target placement this year. We have discussed that way too much. Let’s go bowfishing and see what you know.

Scenario: Bowfishing for carp from shore in accordance with all fish and game regulations. Very clear water. Little to no structure in the stream or on the bank. Shots are in the 15- to 25-foot range with the fish cruising about two feet deep. Very little pressure put on the fish. Bluebird skies, but the stream has a stronger current than normal. Water is a little choppy due to a constant breeze. Most of the fish are in the ballpark of five pounds, with a few bruisers for a stream this size.

Question: In reference to making the shot, what is the single most important tidbit of information did you get in the scenario, and why?

—John Davis [ Read Full Post ]

Scot Marcin, 35 - Cottontown, Tenn.

It’s hard to think there has been a champion of the Total Outdoorsman Challenge not named Paul Thompson, but Marcin won the TOC in 2005. Last year Thompson just edged Marcin for first place overall.

“The first one, we had no idea what was going to happen,” Marcin says. “Every year it grows expectation-wise. You know some of the competition and some of the skills, but they’re always changing. I think it makes it more challenging, and that’s what it’s all about.”

From the beginning, the shooting events have always been a strong point for Marcin, a regional director for Delta Waterfowl in Tennessee. His weaknesses in the past have been the flyfishing and archery events, but of course he’s been working on them for this year’s competition.

Most of Marcin’s outdoor experience growing up came from his father and grandfather, but he says he gets his competitive drive from his mother, Patricia. The combination of all family members taught him what the outdoors is all about: “It’s called hunting and fishing, it’s not killing and catching,” Marcin says. “It’s watching the sun rise and the world wake up.”

- Lance Madden

David “Smitty” Smith, 40, Roswell, Georgia

Plenty of outdoorsman entered the wild-card contest for the last remaining spot in the TOC finals. It wasn’t an easy decision, but in the end we chose David Smith. “I am humbled and excited [to compete],” Smith said. “The TOC is the most exciting opportunity that I have ever had, and I am extremely grateful to be given the chance to compete.”

Smith says he goes through phases when it comes to hunting and fishing. “For a while I was all about the bass fishing,” he says. “Then, in my twenties, I couldn’t flyfish for trout enough.” To satisfy that passion, Smith worked as a professional flyfishing guide for seven years.

As for hunting, Smith loves to hunt waterfowl with his Black Lab, Chica—who Smith trained. “My wife complains that my dog is more well travelled than she is,” he says. “Chica and I have hunted together in a dozen states, plus Canada.” These days, however, Smith is really focused on big-game hunting. “I am especially eager to do some of the more physically challenging hunts. I love that.”

Smith says his biggest advantage going into the TOC is his attitude.... [ Read Full Post ]

Randy Hendrix, 52, Clemmons, N.C.

Randy Hendrix knows a thing or two about competing on a large, outdoor stage, and he deals with it very well. After winning four archery gold medals in the “Eliminator” event at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, Hendrix has earned a nickname from fellow archers: The Quiet Intimidator.

Hendrix, the owner of a drywall company, has also competed in Buckmaster competitions, winning more than a dozen world titles. Maybe his participation in so many competitions is the reason he admittedly doesn’t practice much.

“I’m the kind of person that does best under pressure,” says Hendrix, who has shot competitive archery for the past 20 years. “I’ve been part of a lot of competitions. I don’t seem to get too nervous.”

While he’s comfortable with the TOC shooting events, Hendrix has been preparing more for the fishing side of the competition. He hasn’t had too much experience with a fly rod, but he says he’ll be ready in time. Hendrix, the third-place finisher in the Harrisburg Regional, credits his friends for helping to get him ready for all the competitions he’s done well in. “If we don’t help each other, we’re not going... [ Read Full Post ]

Thomas Cooprider, 41, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

If Thomas Cooprider wins this year’s Total Outdoorsman Challenge, he plans on putting some of the $25,000 in winnings into his 23-foot Wellcraft boat, paying some bills, and taking his nearly 16-year-old twins on a guided hunt in Texas.

Oh yeah, he just might get a tattoo of the Total Outdoor Challenge logo as a reminder. Cooprider, who skateboards and hunts alligators, says he is most confident about the bass fishing portion of the contest. But if one of his earliest fishing experiences was a sign of what was to come in the future, you’d probably guess he’d want nothing to do with fishing at all: When he was still in diapers he threw his father’s custom casting rod over the side of the boat. His father, Pat, still gives him a hard time about it today.

“Now, fishing is what I do,” says Cooprider, who took second in the Grapevine Regional. “You could put me in a puddle and I’d probably catch something.”

The HVAC Technician finished fourth in the TOC last year and third in 2007. He says he’s been working out to get through the endurance challenge, and... [ Read Full Post ]

Ya’ll did great giving detailed answers on the last quiz, so let’s keep it going. Same deal this week. I give you a scenario, and then you convince me that you know your stuff. If you pull it off, a cool $100 in the form of a Bass Pro Shops gift card will be headed your way.

Scenario: Bass fishing (black bass only) out of Big Cedar Marina on Missouri’s Table Rock Lake in the late summer, with water temps through the roof. Four hours, in the early morning, to fish in a tricked-out Nitro boat, full tank of gas, and a good map. No live bait or trolling allowed.

Questions: What type of structure and depth, and what gear and lure would you choose to start searching?

Good luck and remember to ask yourself: “What would Bill Heavey do in this situation?” That and a good GPS will get you out most jams you will find yourself in outdoors.

—John Davis [ Read Full Post ]

Justin Brown, 29
Memphis, Ind.

Less than 500 people call the other Memphis home, and Justin Brown is one of them. This small-town sportsman has big hopes for the Total Outdoorsman Challenge after placing third in the Nashville Regional.

"I feel that getting third—I’m capable of a lot more," says Brown, an elevator mechanic. "They had an obstacle course, and I had a high score. After that I just lost it."

Though Brown enjoys hunting and fishing equally, he spends a bit more time on the water. He’s spent countless hours on Indiana’s Patoka Lake fishing for bluegill and believes his strong point in this competition is bass fishing. "The best part about bass fishing is that feeling you get when you outsmart the fish. It’s not you against other fishermen. It’s you against the fish."

Fly fishing may present a problem, however, since Brown has never done it. But the way Brown sees it, he doesn’t need to be the best in any single event, so long as he’s near the top in all of them. And he’s not too worried about finding time to be more consistent: "I’m single, so I feel I... [ Read Full Post ]

Twelve have beaten the odds and have advanced through two stages of qualifying. Now what? Just for starters add three events, tougher competition courses, and the infinite pressure of knowing that those little red lights are documenting every move for deer camp buddies to critique. Throw in a four-day schedule that resembles Bill Heavey’s fall travel schedule (Promo hunts keep a man busy! Thanks, Scent-Lok!), and it would be easy to feel over-whelmed.

Take the average practice time these guys put in for the Regionals and add to it the endless list of skill and equipment modifications. A tree stand and a ground blind are added into the archery mix, along with some distance and significantly harder shot angles than at the qualifying stages. In order to get separation in this crowd of shooters, the course will be a monster.

Skills is now Endurance, and that’s pretty close to comparing a fence lizard to a gator—both are cold-blooded reptiles, but only one would eat you if given the chance. Fatigue can cause errors and more than one has flipped their chance at 25 g’s by a single, erratic move in a canoe. Trust me, there’s gators in Dogwood for one week a year.

Weekend... [ Read Full Post ]