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 get to hunt and fish a lot more."

— Lance Madden

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 practice sessions are reserved for what can’t be practiced in the backyard. Maybe work in a bass tournament, fish some crowded trout stream, or bust clays at a range shoot to get used to performing in front of crowds.

And one more little detail that the competitors didn’t face in qualifying…cameras. They capture everything: trigger punch, broken knots, running the wheeler into a tree, all for everyone to see on national TV. It’s hard to imitate that pressure in practice and I’ve seen it break a bunch of talented competitors over the years.

Making it to the Finals is like finally scoring a date with the Prom Queen. Some of your buds will be happy for you no matter what. Some are going to take their shots because they didn’t ask her out, and they are convinced they would be better fit. All of them will give you pointers, most of them awful, on how to date a Debutante.

You have your own ideas. Doing it up all fancy, but that seems foreign to you. Even after all the prep time, in the end, it’s still just you and the Prom Queen. It’s probably best just to be who you really are…but at least take the time to shower.

—John Davis

Three more new faces are heading to the Canyon to try and stop Paul Thompson’s “quad for the quad” quest. Out of the nine invitations handed out so far, seven have gone to rookies. This year’s Finals will be like a Jack Russell Terrier race: some going straight and fast, some will get stuck in the chute, and someone will wander off to munch on a lost corn dog under the bleachers without even realizing there is a race going on.

Will Bond won Independence with a steady performance. He didn’t win any discipline, but never finished lower than seventh in any of the four. Being consistent is a great quality in the Finals.

John Sappington finished second overall. He won two disciplines, Air Rifle and Bait Casting, but had a little bit of a struggle in Archery. John came back strong with a four in Skills to secure his spot.

John Stanley grabbed third place with a win in the Skills discipline. He will have some work to do in the shooting department to contend, but two months gives John the time he needs.

—John Davis

Through two Regionals there is one obvious fact: the talent level is up. Nashville was as deep as Grapevine, and all three tickets to Dogwood were collected by new blood. If the trend continues, September is gonna be fun.

Tom Boatwright loves him some outdoors and it shows by how he competes and interacts with fellow sportsmen. I got to spend about 10 minutes with Tom before the event, and he never asked for advice or rules clarification. He just wanted to tell me how good the bow-fishing is back home. Loves it, boy, loves it.

Chris Reed finished second and had his whole family there for the show. He was solid throughout the event and strikes me as a guy who will put in the time it takes to win the TOC. Plus, it’s real hard not to pull for someone when their boys are yelling, “Go daddy!”

Justin Brown picked up the third invitation and has the ability to compete in the finals.

—John Davis