Discover Humble Bow Hunter with Bo Hutchison

A shoulder injury made Bo Hutchison decide to stopped hunting and focus more on family and career. Then in 2016, he decided to focus on his health and rediscovered his passion for archery. Bo is the creator of Humble Bow Hunter, a community of hunter exploring personal growth through archery and bow hunting. Bo wanted a place for like-minded people to talk freely about the subjects they are passionate about. With the community, he has assembled a great team of hunters and genuine people to discuss a myriad of topics in a place where real life, passion, and life experiences are welcome. Bo shares how the community is not about the number of harvests or the size of the rack, but a place to talk about the journey and the part of the hunting lifestyle that people may not understand.

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Discover Humble Bow Hunter with Bo Hutchison

We’re going to Kentucky. We’re meeting up with Bo Hutchison. Bo, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate you having me.

Bo, you’ve got something going on with Humble Bow Hunter. Let’s start the show right there and tell people what you’re doing, what your vision is and where things are going.

It’s a long story. My father was a single parent. My mother passed away when I was a child. If he wanted to hunt or fish, he took my sister and me with him. We got ingrained in the lifestyle because it was something that he was interested in. Over time as I got older, I spent more time alone in the woods by myself. In 2005, I was already exclusively a bow hunter. I booked a trip for my best friend and my father. We went on a feral hog hunt. Everybody said the same thing, “You’ve got to make sure you make a great shot on those. You’ve got to shoot high poundage. They’re vicious.” I’m sure you’ve heard all that.

I had a Mathews Switchback at the time, 70 pounds. I bought a 3D hold target from a local sporting goods store. I spent every night pounding that thing from every different angle I could think of. I wanted to make sure I make a quick ethical shot. I don’t want to get eaten by a pig. The night before the trip out in the yard, like every other night before it for probably two months, I drew back, got almost a full draw and something popped in my left shoulder. I didn’t tell anybody. I gathered my equipment, packed all my gear. I paid for the hunt. I’m going on the hunt.

We packed up that night. We drove through the night and got to where we were hunting the next day. We checked into the hotel. I was the youngest of the three, so two queen beds. I got the cot. I couldn’t sleep because my shoulder was throbbing. I was up absolutely all night. The next morning, we loaded out before daylight and got to the woods. The guy put me in a ground one where I was hunting with a bow. About 8:00, I finally got good and warm and my shoulder was resting on the chair and it was not hurting. I got a day and a half I hadn’t slept. I got good and warm and I nodded off.

I woke up with sweat pouring off of me. I looked at my watch and it was 10:00 AM. I had slept for two hours. I had missed all the good hunting. I was kicking rocks in the ground one, getting aggravated at myself. No sooner than I looked up, it sounded like a semi-truck coming through the woods. A big group of hogs came running right out. I spotted hogs and it stopped 30 yards broadside to me. I don’t remember pulling the bow back. Pure adrenalin took over, but I made that shot off the torn rotator cuff. I got my hog. Everybody else got one. I came home. I put my bow in the garage back in its case. I didn’t touch it again until February 1st of 2016. From 2005 to 2016, I didn’t touch it. I didn’t go hunting. I focused on my career and family.

Did you get your shoulder repaired?

No. I didn’t go to the doctor. I let it heal. It still pops and cracks and it’s a nightmare. From 2005 to 2016, I got very complacent and a little hard on myself, maybe even a little depressed. I gained about 100 pounds from where I was in 2005.

How big a guy are you normally?

I’m 6’3. I like to be between 185 and 190. I’m not a very big guy. I like to stay lean. I’ve gotten to be a pretty substantial boy. I was listening to a podcast on the last day of January in 2016. One of the guys that were on the podcast was Cameron Hanes. On this podcast, he was talking about his fitness routine, the lift, run and shoot. I went home that night thinking, “I used to love shooting my bow. I lived for it.” My middle name is Bowen, which is Celtic for the archer. It’s in my blood at this point. I got my first Fred Bear Panda when I was four. I’ve been around archery for a long time. I got thinking about Cam’s idea. I thought, “Maybe I should get in shape. I want to get back into bow hunting. I’m going to deer hunt this fall.” I made a goal that by September, I wanted to lose 70 pounds. I wanted to get proficient with a bow again. I went at it really hardcore. I lost that 70 pounds I was after in 114 days. It was too quick. It wasn’t healthy. I ended up doing a 40-day juice fast. I didn’t eat solid food for 40 days. It was not the brightest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

That’s intense on your body.

My vision went bad, my hair thinned. It was not a good plan. I made the goal weight that I wanted and felt good that I could walk around. Through the exercise, it got me out of that depression. Archery and the workouts helped with mental health on that. It gave me something else to focus on instead of the sky is falling. That changed a lot for me.

You’re not the first person that I’ve talked to on the show. People, we talked to them. They’ve been through some stuff. Why do you think hunting and specifically archery hunting helps to get out some of the dark spots you end up within our lives? Why do you think that happens?

I still find this every day because I shoot every single solitary day from when I picked my bow back up on February 1st of 2016, I’ve missed eighteen days where I haven’t shot a bow. That’s because I was in a place where I couldn’t.

You’ve got an archery range in your basement.

Yes. I built a full range in my basement. I have a 3D range in the backyard. I’m addicted.

How big is your range in the basement?

It’s twenty yards. For me, the moment that arrow releases, you’re not thinking about anything else. You’re not even thinking about the shot. For that brief moment, your mind goes completely blank. You’re in a full draw, you’re relaxed and you work the shot. For me, when I felt a good shot, my mind is calm. There’s no chaos. There’s no darkness. It’s quiet. For me, I like this feeling. I can repeat this feeling by shooting another arrow. As I’ve built up stamina and proficiency, I need to get back into the woods. Being able to be outside and watch the world wake up, it’s one of the most amazing things you can see.

WR 570 | Humble Bow Hunter — Humble Bow Hunter: The moment that arrow releases, you’re not thinking about anything else, not even the shot. Just for that brief moment, your mind goes completely blank.

Going back to replication, I don’t shoot a compound anymore. I have two pins in my right shoulder, so that’s not going to happen. Could I shoot a 30-pound bow? Probably, but I don’t want to. I’d have to restrict myself to twenty yards traditional bow. The traditional bow doesn’t let up. The doctor doesn’t recommend them. I shoot a crossbow though. I moved out to Colorado in ’85. I had a twenty-yard range in my backyard. Every day I would work when I was home, every hour I would go out and shoot one arrow. I got to the point where I would shut my eyes. I’d get to my point, I’d get to my anchor position, shut my eyes and release the arrow. That’s where I got to. People would watch me. It’s all muscle memory. It’s not hard to do. You need to do it for hundreds of arrows. I do that and I don’t shoot a release. I shot fingers.

What I’m trying to get at is it’s all into that Zen and the mind. You can read books and listen to YouTube. You get to the place that some guys call the zone. You’re there where everything else is gone. When I take a shot, even now, everything else stops. It’s me focusing on pulling that trigger. I have a red dot on my crossbow. I keep the red dot where it needs to be, taking a breath and letting go. I shoot my rifle the same way. I shut my eyes, take a deep breath, let half it out, get my heart rate where I want, open my eyes and pull the trigger. It’s pure peace. It’s not even peace. I can’t even say that because nothing else exists. I don’t know if I’m articulating effectively. No matter where you are if you can get to that place, it will help you in so many areas of your life. What are your thoughts on that, Bo?

I say a moment of peace or Zen when that shot breaks. It’s just nothingness. It’s the ability to shut off all the thoughts, be focused on the moment and live for a second. No matter what you do, if you find a hobby, if it’s rifle hunting or target practice, if you can get yourself to a point where you can enjoy that moment and you crave more of it, it almost becomes an addiction. You could say with me, archery has become an addiction.

You put a range in your house and you’ve been shooting straight for a number of years. You got yourself into a good place as opposed to a place that was dark.

Writing can be used as a method of therapy Share on X

My mental health, thanks to archery, is totally different. I am a much happier human being because of that. That’s what got the idea of Humble Bow Hunter started. I started documenting my weight loss journey as something more for me via Instagram. One of my friends said, “You’re losing weight pretty quick. You should take progress pictures.” I did and that’s how it started. As I would write about my workout or what I did or the progress I’d made, they started to get a little bit longer. I started to get more people following and more messages like, “Maybe you should write a little longer form.”

The idea of writing a blog had been in my mind for a while. I have a journal that I take with me to the woods. If I’m sitting there and it’s quiet, I can write when I’m out. I’d always liked the idea of writing as a method of therapy. I started writing a little bit. I started a blog on my personal website, BoHutchison.com. The purpose I wanted to do with this is I wanted to show people we can talk about hunting and it not be about the score. It’s not about who killed the biggest deer or who has the best equipment. It’s about enjoying the sport of hunting. You talk to enough people in the industry. Not only do we get hate from anti-hunters, but there is also a lot of hatred and jealousy in the hunting community as a whole.

Hunting isn't about who killed the biggest deer or who has the best equipment. It's about enjoying the sport of planning. Share on X

We’re not our best friends.

Rifle hunters, they talk bad about bow hunters. Even in archery, traditional bow hunting, there are guys that will go, “You’re using the compound. You’re not doing it right.”

I’m using a crossbow. Where does that put me?

You’re getting bashed from rifle hunters and bow hunters. I don’t care if you kill a spike. If that deer is a trophy to you, if you eat the meat, you make an ethical harvest. If you’re happy with it, I’m happy with it because you’re outside. You’re in enjoying this environment that I love so much, that I strive to be in every single solitary day.

One of my first guests was Brenda Valentine. She was a friend of Judd Cooney’s. She got on the show. One of the things she said was, “Bruce, it doesn’t matter where you hunt, how you hunt, how much your hunt cost or didn’t cost. If you’re out hunting and you take a game ethically, legally, then be proud of it. It’s your hunt. It’s nobody else’s hunt. You don’t have to say, ‘It’s not the biggest.’ It is that. You pulled the trigger. You harvested it. Be proud of what you’ve done because a lot of people will never hunt. They will never harvest their own meat.”

I’ve got a couple of trophies on the wall and they’re special trophies to me. They always will be. All the things that I’ve shot are on the wall. Most of them I moved into my condo. I had to sell them because I didn’t have the room. I sold them all off. I kept some that are definitely special to me. I didn’t mount that many games. I had some European mounts. The biggest thing about hunting to me and why I hunt and looking back over the years I’ve been hunting is simply the memories and the people I meet. I’ve extended that into the podcast. I’ve met over 600 people that I wouldn’t have known prior to this who are like you, Bo, who are hunters and are interested in helping other people in expanding the hunting community. What a wonderful thing.

That’s what our hunting community needs to be. It needs to be people that have an outreach to introduce people, women, children, even men into this lifestyle to show how great it can be and what it can do for you mentally, physically, the whole deal.

I have a cohost, Meadow Kouffeld. She talks about adult onset hunting. That’s going to be in my book. I might as well announce it now because it is coming soon. Deer Hunting Institute is going to be the name of it. I already own the URL for that, so don’t go out and steal it. I have the Gmail account so you can’t get that either. My logo will be trademarked soon. It is coming. Seeing all of that, Meadow talks about that. She talks about the three R’s: Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation. There are a lot of DNR organizations throughout the country that are looking at the three R’s and how can they do it better because everybody realizes that hunting numbers are declining. Hunting age is growing higher. It’s guys like you that I look forward to helping promote what you’re doing because that in itself help promote hunting.

That’s the idea behind Humble Bow Hunter. When I started my personal blog, there were three things that I aspire to in life. They’re on my logo, “Be happy, be humble and bow hunt.” I want to make an impression on at least one person every single solitary day that makes their day better. I remember reading a quote years ago that said, “Go a day without complaining and see how it changes the world.” That stuck with me. I am a pretty happy guy. Life has been good to me. I’ve worked hard. I’ve had more success in my business than I have in my hunting career. I want to be humble and be thankful for the gifts that I’ve been given and the ability to go out and enjoy nature. More than anything, I want to shoot a bow. I want to bow hunt. That was something that came out when I started writing my blog. This year at the ATA, the Archery Trade Association show is where the idea of Humble Bow Hunter came from.

Go a day without complaining and see how it changes the world. Share on X

Did it really?

It did. It hit me while I was there because you’ve been there. There are so many people there that are only looking to self-promote, “We want to get a pro-staff deal. What will a certain company give us for free?” That’s not what this industry is about or it should be. I got thinking about it. I want to develop a platform where I can bring people in that I trust, who I know have good hearts, that they’re in this for the right reasons. I reached out to several people that I knew half through social media, the other half that I knew personally and said, “Here’s what I want to do. I want to start a site that’s all about positive experiences in hunting. You don’t have to show a picture of your harvest. If you never put a picture of a dead deer on there, I don’t care.

I don’t care how often you write. I want you to share recipes that you use for the wild game, family recipes, hunting stories, life lessons that you think that may help somebody that’s in a bad situation or having a bad day to lighten their mood a little bit.” I’ve been lucky to have some good friends on this. You had mentioned Casey and Hope Hutchison. They are absolutely amazing people. Even though we are not related, I will claim them as family any day. They’re super amazing. I’ve got a lady, a mother and a hunter from Canada on the team, Holly Heier. She’s a personal trainer. We’re working on doing some fitness routines, some workouts on there to keep people motivated. Melissa Blair, she’s with an organization called Wildlife Women of Kentucky.

She’s going to be on the show as well.

I love Melissa. She is one of my best friends. She is a pure soul. She’s one of the nicest human beings you’ll ever meet. She’s got a great life story to tell. This girl has no quit in her. She’s phenomenal. There’s another married couple on the team, Brian and Brenda McFaddin. I met Brian on my way to yell at him. I was very irate with this man that I’d never met. I had gone to a 3D archery tournament. It poured rain all weekend. The very last target was a turkey. It was about 25 yards away. I made a reasonably decent shot. I shot at ten on it, so I wasn’t terribly mad. I went to pull my arrow.

As I was walking back the course, something caught the toe of my boot. The course had been set up. You had to cross a stomp down the woven wire fence. I didn’t see it on the way up and I definitely didn’t see it on the way down. The toe of my boot caught and I got into over the end into a small creek completely soaked and covered in mud. The course wasn’t properly marked, so I walked for hours trying to find targets. I was upset about having a bad day. As I got closer to the clubhouse, I saw this fellow and one of his friends, who I have now become friends with. They were sitting on a coffee table.

I was like, “I’m going to get this guy a piece of my mind. You need to learn how to mark a course.” As I got closer, I heard him start laughing. The closer I got, the more I started laughing because I realized how ridiculous I looked. I looked like a pig. I was completely covered in mud. As soon as I talked to that guy, I realized he is somebody that I have to associate with because he’s a great human being. Brian McFaddin, he’s the President of the club here in Central Kentucky called Christian Archers of Kentucky. He’s a good Christian man. His wife is a super strong Christian, so they bring another side.

Brian loves to hunt as well as Brenda. She doesn’t take archery as seriously as Brian. He loves to shoot all the time. He’s like me, he shoots every day. She incorporates the aspect of, “I like archery. I like hunting, but here’s what I have to deal with a husband that’s addicted.” I’ve got a good team of people to share life stories and encourage people. That’s what the goal is going forward. I want to be in a place where people can come. If you want to read something to make your day better, realize that hunting isn’t about how many deer you killed or how big they are, any of that. It’s a place for the community to come together without jealousy and people hating on you.

How can somebody find you on the web?

The new site is HumbleBowHunter.com. We also have an Instagram account, @HumbleBowHunter. I’m more of an Instagram guy. Most of the people on our team are. The website has links to all our personal Instagrams. There is a Facebook page, @HumbleBowHunterDotCom. If somebody wants to get ahold of us, the website, you can subscribe to the blog, so you’ll get updates when new stuff is posted. It also has all our personal links. If somebody writes a story and you want to know more about it, you’re more than welcome to feel free to reach out and discuss that topic with the author.

A lot of people talk about all the things that you have. Talking to Casey and Hope about what you get going, Bo, it seems like you’ve got it headed in the right direction. I’m happy to have you on to meet you and to talk about Humble Bow Hunter and the people that you have, and also to find out how you’re shooting with your shoulder. What’s that look like now?

The one aspect that I should have been more focused on years ago was the actual physical limitations I had when I was preparing for that hunt. I work out, I won’t say every single solitary day but six out of seven days. I primarily focus on building my shoulders for archery. Most nights I shoot 50 to 100 arrows every single night. I’m getting plenty of work done there. My injury came from me not being prepared for what I was trying to do, my own limitations. I take that into consideration and try to build myself, so I’ll have more stamina when I’m in the woods. I’m going to go out and shoot the Total Archery Challenge in Salt Lake in 2019. You know the terrain being a Western hunter. I haven’t gotten to experience it.

Get on your roof and start slinging arrows.

That is part of my plan. I am preparing myself physically for that. I’ve been doing a lot of elevation training on a treadmill. I raise it up, use a weighted backpack and use a breathing restrictor mask to get used to the elevation. I want to be in peak physical shape for anything that I do now.

Are you going to drive to Salt Lake City?

No, I’m flying out.

I was going to say if you’re driving, come by here and we’ll do the Manitou Incline. It’s only a mile. That’s all it is.

What’s the elevation?

It goes up 2,000 feet in elevation. It’s over 40 degrees. Google Manitou Incline. The Olympic athletes train on that. World class people train on it. I’ve done it once. I made a deal when I got my hip replaced that in twelve weeks, so three months after my surgery, I would climb the incline. I did it. That was absolutely nuts because from the top you can see the bottom. That’s how steep it is.

I was once described as obsessive. I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse. When I set my mind to a goal, I want to crush it. I want to be the absolute best at anything I try. I’ve never been great at anything. I’m fair to midland at most things. I like to think that if I have a goal in mind, nobody’s going to outwork me to reach that goal. How long ago was your hip replacement?

It was in 2016. I made a deal with this doctor. He’s a world-class doctor. The first time I went to see him, I went, “Oh right,” because my adopted son, he’s a parts guy. He sells screws, plates and stuff for orthopedic surgeons. He sells parts, real expensive titanium screws and stuff. He said, “You have to go see Dr. Meyers.” He happened to live in Colorado Springs. He says, “It’s going to take you six months to see him and another six months to get scheduled for surgery.” He’s the best guy to work, knowing the things that I do and will continue to do, so I did that. I saw him and I said, “What’s it going to take to get on your wall?” He’d thought about it. I said, “Here’s what I’ll do. Twelve weeks, and I’ll climb the incline.” He looked at me and go, “That will do it.” That’s how that worked out. That gets the goals and being focused. That’s why I brought it up here on the show because it’s so important to do the things that you’re doing because you decided, “I’m going to lose 70 pounds. It’s not the smartest way, but I’ll do it in 100 days.” You did it. What are you shooting your bow now at? What poundage?

My hunting bows I do at 70 and my target bows are 54.

Speed is important. I get that. You don’t need all the poundage to get to kinetic energy. It’s the weight forward of the broadhead and all those other calculations that you don’t have to shoot 70 pounds anymore. You’d get less torque and everything. I don’t know if you use a muscle pull release. What kind of release do you use?

I have a thumb release. I shoot it very similar to a back tension. I try to work at the shot. The weight at this point doesn’t bother me because I have spent the last two solid years trying to build that back up. I do it every day. For me, I’m not terribly concerned with another catastrophic injury. I’m still relatively young even though the grey in my beard seems to show otherwise.

For what it’s worth, as you do get older, you’re not going to lose anything. I used to shoot 70 pounds. As I get older, I kept dropping it.

I’ve got some friends that I shoot with occasionally that they started in 3D archery with 90-pound bows with no speed limits. You’re asking for trouble. You’re asking to destroy yourself. For me, for what I primarily hunt here, whitetail deer.

It’s 30 pounds at twenty yards, it will kill them.

They’re a fragile animal, all things considered. I don’t need 70 pounds for that. I’m in advantage because of my draw length. I’m a pretty big boy. My draw length is 31.25. I gained some extra speed there, which is why typically with the weight of my indoor areas, I like to stay about 54 pounds. That will keep me under the ASA speed limit for 3D archery.

On your hunting bow, what’s your set up now?

I have bounced back and forth over the last few years. I’ve been completely in love with the carbon riser bows from Hoyt. I harvest my deer with an RX-1 Ultra, the 34-inch axle to axle bow. It’s the Cam Haynes edition. Hoyt sent that to me. That’s pretty cool. Now for hunting set up, I’m going to be running the new Traverse. It’s 70 pounds, 31.25 draw.

What kind of release? Who makes your release?

It’s a knock to it by my buddy, John Dudley, from Carter. I’ve tried everything in the world. There is nothing that fits me better than that release.

How about your arrows and your broadhead?

Easton as far as arrows. I haven’t decided if I’m going to run a four-millimeter axis or five-millimeter FMJs out of my hunting setup. I haven’t looked into it. I haven’t done any testing on the new T64. If Easton wants to send me a couple of those arrows, I’m not going to complain. The new T64s look interesting. We talked about the FOC to get that where it needs to be. As far as broadheads, Thorn broadheads. It’s a mechanical broadhead that’s completely self-contained.

Why mechanicals? I’ve never been a mechanical hunter, so I have to ask the question.

After I tested several, I grew up in shooting fixed blades. A field tip accuracy that they can get with some of these broadheads. The Thorns, I know when I set my hunting bows up with field tips, I can screw in a thorn broadhead and I can shoot it at a hundred yards. It will hit exactly where I wanted to hit.

Isn’t it amazing?

Yeah, the science and technology behind it.

A hundred yards and you’re worried about knocking knocks off.

We talked about my indoor range at twenty yards. My backyard is a 3D range. I could probably shoot 150, 200 yards in the front yard. I maxed it out at 100. In the summertime, I practice every single solitary day at 100 yards.

Do you stack at them at 100?

I’m not going to say that. I’m going to say I can keep them in a five-inch group for half a dozen arrows.

Where do you have to be careful shooting the same target? At what range?

Obviously, indoor I would never do it. I shot my personal record indoor on a Vegas face, 324X. With indoor, you’re shooting at something the size of a penny at twenty yards. You’re cramming an arrow that’s half that diameter into it. You don’t want to risk it. On 3D stuff, I’ll risk it at 30 yards. Anything closer than that, I’m going to shoot for an upper twelve or go for a different target. What’s amazing with the longer distance practice for me, especially when spring hits, I’m going to go back out. I’m going to be incredibly sloppy. If I can keep it on an eighteen-inch block at 100 yards, I’m going to be happy. By the end of summer, I want to be able to have it in that five or six-inch group at 100 yards because as soon as you draw it back to twenty yards, you are right on top of it. It’s a chip shot once you get used to shooting longer distances.

Do you shoot in bean fields or open territory at 100 yards? Would you shoot a deer at 100 yards?

No, absolutely not. I like the idea of no more than half of what I practice. I’ve got pins set to 50. I’m not saying that if a pope and young walks out at 51 yards that I’m not going to take that shot. Realistically anything over 40, for ethical purposes, I’m going to be a little iffy on taking that shot.

My crossbow I have it set up at 52. I can shoot it 80 yards all day long. It’s still at 52. My other bow when I’m shooting compound, I had four pins. It was a 40-yard pin. I shot a bull at 44 yards.

That’s a long shot on an elk from what I understand about Western hunting.

It is, but it isn’t. I know guys that will shoot a lot further than that. That’s my own eight-inch on the elk because their lung is of the size of a basketball if you want to think about it that way. You’ve got a lot of room and train up down, wind sometimes. That was mine. My first bow, I never shot over 30 yards. It was a 55-pound, 50% bled off. My first whitetail was at probably 26. It was under 30 yards. I shot him out of a pine tree, no stand or anything. I climbed up into a white pine. He came right underneath me. I could’ve dropped on him like a cat. He walked out and it’s a perfect broadside shot. He never knew I was there. It was like I was a ninja.

Another thing that’s helped my shooting, I met a guy at a trade show, Titanium Archery Products selling stabilizers. What science can there possibly be in a stabilizer? You put weight on it, you figure out how long you want it. It makes your shots steady. I’d run target bars on my target stuff, short bars. Sam is insanely intelligent. I don’t like to think of myself as a terribly bright guy. I feel so incredibly stupid talking to him. The science behind it is amazing. I met him at a trade show. He said, “Shoot my product.” We went to the shooting lane. I had my bows there for display purposes.

I took all my junk off of it, put his stuff on. My first shot and I knew this guy was onto something. The noise reduction, the hand shock reduction of these products, and he introduced a new line for target archery of the hybrid series. It’s part titanium and it’s part carbon fibers. It cuts the weight down. That has been absolutely amazing. I’m not the best target archery, a 300 is a very rare thing for me. I discovered target archery in the fall of 2016 right after I got started back. I went into a bow shop and was talking to the guy after a day in the woods. He said, “Do you shoot target archery?” I said, “I shoot at a target. What’s target archery?”

He takes me into the back. He shows me they’ve got a twenty-yard indoor range, which Vegas set up. I can hit that little thing 30 times in a row. That was a very humbling experience. I’m in my office now. I still had that target. My first Vegas face was a 276. It was not a pleasant experience. I knew it was something that as soon as did that, this will make you a better hunter. As I took the deep dive down the rabbit hole of target archery, that’s when I figured out about stabilization and side stabilizers and letting your equipment do most of the work. When I met Sam and the guys at TAP and tried that product, I knew this is a totally different level. Since September of 2016, when I started target archery, I’ve shot four 300s. It’s not great. Three of them have been since Christmas. The last three have been with TAP stabilizers and the last two have been with the new target stabilizers.

Can you use a glove? Are the gloves allowed?

I think so, yeah. I never have. I’d never looked into the rule book.

Here are the glove and Pro-X handgun. He sent me one and he qualified for the US team. He never went to the Olympics. He’s out of Utah. He started talking about torque and how that glove helps with torque and I get lost. Shooters Edge is the name of it. Check that out. Nothing that we can say. That’s the way it is. That’s what we’re doing.

Also, if any of these companies want to send me free stuff, I will gladly take it.

I’m with you on that.

Target bow is getting expensive.

Having said that, we talked about Humble Bow Hunters. We talked about your team. We talked about the journey. You shared a little bit about the mission of Humble Bow Hunter. Let’s talk about what you think the future holds.

I’ve never planned anything in my entire life. I’ve been one of those guys. I work hard and I’ve gotten lucky quite a bit. For Humble Bow Hunter, I want it to take that same approach. I want it to be a bunch of good people sharing ideas, growing a community and it will become what it’s going to become. I don’t think that it will ever be an online magazine or as well-known as you are in the industry. I want it to be something that we as a team use as therapy. It helps other people. I have no major goals for this other than to help people.

That’s pretty good in and of itself, that simple thing. You said something about going through a day and not complaining. I read something that said, “Gratitude.” How many times am I not grateful for all of sunrises and sunsets that I’ve been able to see and the places I’ve gone, people I’ve met? That alone, it’s like, “My goodness.” Sometimes I’m not grateful. If I would go, “Give it a rest,” your quiver is full. You’ve got a lot to be grateful for. That’s what I’m trying to work on. Humility, sometimes I get often, but I’ve never been a bag of chips and all that or I wouldn’t be able to do what I did with Whitetail Rendezvous because they see that right away. It’s not going to work.

Hopefully, people will share it and spread that positivity. If it never makes me a cent, I’m okay with that. It probably never will. I have been very fortunate in my career. I love what I do, which makes it even better. This is a hobby that has turned into a passion for helping people and the archery because I have been fortunate. I’m not ashamed to admit that I worked hard to get where I’m at. I’m also not ashamed to say that I can do better as a person, as a human being. I can love harder. I can dig deeper. I can try harder. I want other people to do that. Life is not as bad as you think it is.

One of my blogs I wrote about my dad and I took another trip to Texas. The first morning, he sees thirteen hogs. He takes a picture of them with his cell phone. He doesn’t shoot one. He just takes a picture of them. We paid money to go down there and hunt. I didn’t see or smell or hear a hog for four solid days in Texas. I was pretty upset on the ride home that I didn’t harvest anything. On the website, there’s a blog called The Wrinkles Show You’ve Laughed. My dad says something pathetic and he’s not a very profound man. I love him absolutely. It was very out of character for him.

The three sentences he said to me made me realize it’s not about whether I killed a hog or not or whether I paid for his hunt and he took a picture of a hog that I can take home and eat. That’s what makes me think is it’s the memories that were made, as you said with the trophies. I’ve got some antlers on my wall. I’ve got a turkey tail, I’m okay with that. It’s the journey I’ve taken with my friends that have gone hunting with me or the lessons I’ve learned as a solo hunter. 99% of the time I hunt completely alone. Being able to share that aspect and share my memories and positivity is all I’m going for.

With that, we’re going to end this session with Bo Hutchison of Humble Bow Hunter. Bo, it’s been great. It won’t be the last time because I look forward to interviewing all of your team in the months ahead. Let’s get that set up. I want over the next months to make sure we’ve got your whole team on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

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About Bo Hutchison

I grew up in a small town in central KY, filling the pretty days of my childhood with hunting, fishing, exploring and basically any excuse to be outside. The older I got, the more life took over and after a shoulder injury in 2005 I stopped hunting all together. I spent the next decade focused on family and career. I decided to focus on my health and return to my roots in 2016 and completely changed my lifestyle and rediscovered my passion for archery. I lost 70lbs in 114 days and began to write about my process. It started small with Instagram posts that led to longer form writing that eventually became a blog. My writing has been something that I’ve used as a way to free my mind and grow mentally as I grow as a hunter. I am a bow hunter first and foremost, but my love for target archery has helped improve my skill and given me more passion for archery and the hunting community.