What a wonderful weekend in Pendleton! The vendors rolled in on Friday and set up their displays in the low ceilinged Let ‘er Buck rooms, creating a corridor of tables laden with countless beautiful bows, shining knives, exquisitely fletched arrows, quivers, leather and Gortex goods, and a variety of traditional equipment, clothing and decor. The rooms were humming with the sounds of men and women talking Trad Archery and socializing with folks they hadn’t seen for months! It was truly a beautiful scene! Thanks to all the vendors who made the journey to the Expo and helped make the event really special.
Mike Porter and Bob Draper faithfully manned the registration table and handled the distribution of tickets and money for the entire weekend. Big thanks to them! Bob Bourland, Riley Savage, Jim Akenson, Jeremy Depiero, Bill and Janet Houlihan, Adam Floyd, John Warford, Mike Schlegel, Dennis Michael, as well as countless other willing volunteers (sorry I didn’t name all of you!) stepped up to get the venue set up, signed and ready for action. The weather was beautiful, with blue skies, mostly gentle breezes and temperatures in the mid fifties.
Dave and Lisa Hall arrived with the target curtain and we got it installed so we could have a bow testing area that was safe and functional, as well as shooting in the grassy field of the arena for 3D targets and automated bowbirds. Lisa and I manned the ITB table and sold a few memberships and “swag”.
The seminars started Friday afternoon with Compton’s representative Chris Jasmine talking about hunting mule deer. That talk was followed by the usual evening drinking and story telling that we all love! The rooms were locked and Chad and Larry Harsin took shifts during the night to watch over the vendor tables.
On Saturday a steller array of speakers presented on topics of Public Land Elk by Trent Wengerd; Instinctive Elk Calling by Joel Turner; followed by the Elk Calling contest, and a Mule Packing seminar with pictures (no live mules) by Jim Akenson. The evening keynote speaker was Paul Forward, a young Alaska MD who spoke and showed pictures of his crazy-breathtaking-rocky-icy-steep cliff camping and hunting for bighorn sheep and other large mammals. He showed slides of his lovely wife after she harvested a massive bull caribou and their blond curly haired young son enjoying the exciting life of Alaska backcountry hunting and family camping. Each speaker was exceptional in their presentations.
About 200 people packed into the banquet hall on Saturday evening for a simple tasty meal of barbeque beef or chicken sandwiches, salad, beans, and dessert. Unfortunately, some folks had to wait in line for quite a while for their food, but eventually everyone was served, and no fights broke out while we were waiting. The raffle and photo contest prizes were distributed at the close of the meal, and the lucky winners left with smiles!
On Sunday we heard again from Joel Turner, this time on “Shot IQ“, a fascinating discussion of the mental principles behind shooting a controlled shot and techniques for overcoming the mental and physical blockages that so often arise in traditional archery. Joel offers an online course on this topic that has attracted the attention of high level sport coaches at an international level. His talk was amazing!The vendors packed up their wares and we cleaned the grounds and left the area by mid-afternoon on Sunday.
There is a consensus that the event went very well and talk was made about doing it again next year, hopefully bringing Washington Archers onboard. I was impressed by how congenial the Oregon club was and such a pleasure to work with in putting on the event. Bob Bourland and the TradQuest Podcast folks really helped to get the word out and were instrumental in getting Compton’s onboard. Our VP, Shawn Carman was fully engaged in creating very beautiful professional flyers that really boost the legitimacy of the event and give respect to the sport of traditional archery and bowhunting. Nice work, Shawn!
The Pendleton Round Up venue has a folksy cowboy vibe that really resonates with the traditional archery group. It was definitely well worth the trip.
I personally loved the Expo and thought it was a wonderful, encouraging and inspiring experience. The finances are not completed yet, but it seems like we’ll get the money back that we invested ($1500) and maybe if we’re lucky, a little extra. To quote Thom Tash: “I’m still buzzing from this awesome event! I really enjoyed every moment of the weekend”. Thom won a Great Northern quiver in the raffle and it had the logo that Shawn designed for the event laser etched into the leather. He said of the quiver, “It will remain with me as a constant reminder of this awesome event.”
Thanks to the creative and visionary minds and hearts that took the steps to make this combined gathering happen… Traditional Archers of Oregon, Idaho Traditional Bowhunters, and Compton’s Traditional Bowhunters.
Let ‘er Fly!
Janet Houlihan
