The only thing hotter than the temperature and high humidity at the WFHC (West Fork Hunting Club) on July 24^th 2010 in Southwest Mississippi town of Liberty was the Archery competition. Many of the archery competitors got their equipment setup on late Friday July 23^rd in the afternoon at the camp site of WFHC for a little practice before darkness fell.

 After a good night’s rest we where awakened by the smell of bacon, fried eggs and blackened Cajun Biscuits prepared by Ken (Bubbabrown) and Chipper, both members of WFHC and our Host of this year’s event. Around 8:30 am Robert (Huntmaster) called a meeting to go over safety rules and guidelines for the archery shoot. The archery shooters where divided into four groups of four. Almost everyone in camp proceeded to the archery course laid out on Thursday and Friday in the hunting area of WFHC. The course was made up of various block style and various 3D targets embedded in the wooded area of the club. The targets setup ranged from easy 15 yard open shots to 40 yard difficult shots between trees. It was easy to tell from the scores that the shooters were nervous performing in front of a crowd of onlookers and competitors.

The first round of 5 targets had Robert (Huntmaster), Danny (Gunseller), Justin (Thwack) tied for second with Frank (Fellis27) having a slight lead. The second round of 5 targets saw Robert (Huntmaster) surge ahead of the completion after scoring 4 out of 5 perfect shots, followed by Frank (Fellis27), Justin (Thwack), and Denny (Bugfixer) sneaking into 4^th place. The final 4 out of 5 targets found that Robert (Huntmaster) maintained his lead ahead of Frank (Fellis27) in second, Denny (Bugfixer) third and Justin (Thwack) held onto four place. The final target was a dartboard type target with the shooters shooting downhill which made the target even more challenging. The Bonus part of the target was a make or break the shooter with Chipper hitting a double 8 for an additional 16 added to his score on his final shot. Robert (Huntmaster) managed a double 2 to add 4 more points. I was not sure if the heat and fatigue had set in on the rest of the shooters until “Big” Denny (Bugfixer) pulled the upset shot of the day by hitting a double 20 to add 40 more points to his final score to win his second TalkHunting archery competition of the year. His first win was also a final shot at the TalkHunting Campout 2010 in Kentucky. The heat was bad enough that everyone was taking frequent water breaks from the Mississippi heat and humidity.

The final results were Denny (Bugfixer) first with a score of 81. Robert (Huntmaster), our great leader of TalkHunting, relinquished his second place finish of 54 to Chipper, who shot a competition recurve bow setup for long range shots of 50 yards or more. Chipper's score was 43 followed by Frank (Fellis27) 42, Justin (Thwack) 39, Tom (Flbuckhunter) 32, Mike (Wvwhitetail) 31, Brian (Bcotton) 30, Danny (Gunseller) 29, Nick (Tncowboy) 29, Brent (Cobrican) 28,  John (Cookin) 21. Lou Ann (Tncowgirl) led our group of lady shooters with a 27, followed by Tommie (Pearls and Camo aka Fatpine) 20, Ashley 19, and Annette 18.

After the Bow shoot was over, TalkHunting members and guests where introduced to TalkHunting’s newest sponsor “NeverWear Archery”. The folks from NeverWear Archery drove up early to walk the course, talk to everyone and observe the shooting at various other branded targets with many that were on their last leg. NeverWear Archery hung around in the heat to allow anyone who wanted to sling a few arrows to try their target’s innovative special clay core that lasts a very long time. With a few taps of a mallet hammer, you are as good as new and ready for the next round of broadheads. I was very impressed with these premium high quality targets. We really appreciated NeverWear Archery coming up and spending hours in the hot sun to talk and demonstrate their targets. They are very passionate about the targets, and I feel everyone should look them up and give them a try. I'd like to add a very special thanks for the food they brought us (You know TalkHunting members love to eat.).

By Dennis Parker

Dennis was introduced to Hunting, Fishing & Trapping at around the age of 6 by his father, not as a hobby but by need of survival because his Dad was often laid off as Steel worker. Dennis would help bait the traps and run them with his Dad. He learned to shoot with a 22 single shot rifle then moved up to a 16 gage Double Barrel Shotgun.

Dennis has been married for the last 35 Years and has one Daughter, age 30, and two wonderful grand children that he is bringing up to enjoy Hunting, Fishing and the outdoors. He says he often times has Deer in his yard and his 2 year old grandson will watch for the Deer outside the window with his toy gun aiming and shouting Boom at the Deer.

Dennis attended Jefferson State, University of Alabama, University Alabama Birmingham and Walker State (Now Bevill State) where he have a degree in Coal mine design/Technology.

He has worked in the IT Industries for the past 38 years 28 of those years are with his current employer ALTEC Industries, Inc (Maker of Utility Equipment like Bucket Trucks etc.) where he is a Network Analyst II/Senior IT Buyer.

When not working you will catch him at his Hunting Club, Shoal Creek Hunting Club, just outside of Montevallo Alabama in Shelby County, moving and Placing Hunting Blinds, Ladder stands and putting in Food Plots. You will also catch him hunting in Clio Alabama (South Alabama) where he will be throwing lead at hog’s or catching catfish.

Dennis is also a volunteer for Honor Flight Birmingham where they fly WWII Veterans to Washington DC to visit the WW II Memorial