The Bowtech Air Raid

     The day started off quickly starting at the Bowtech booth.  We were informed on the new products that will be in the woods for the ’09 season.  They have a new big game bow this year called the “Air Raid”  which is meant for safari hunting.  Another new product for ’09 is from their youth line, a bow called “Nuclear Ice”.  It is by far the smallest bow I have ever seen, when talking with Pat Dinan from Bowtech he said, ” We should have called it the Holy Cow because that is what everyone says when they see it.”

The PSE Omen

The PSE TEC 15

 Not to be outdone, PSE has two new products that were debuted at the ATA show.  The first is a radical and I do mean radical crossbow called the “TEC15″.  This thing is on steroids, it is a crossbow built on a AR-15 lower!  You supply the stock and lower and PSE supplies the rest of the crossbow that fits right to the lower, this is truly a piece of work!  They also have a new bow for the upcoming season, it is the “Omen”  which means “things to come.”  This is another nice piece of work by PSE, it has been clocked at over 360 fps!  It is a thin, lean and mean machine. 

Shooting The Bowtech Strike Force

Me Shooting The Bear Truth 2

     We also shot a few of the new compounds along with a few of the new crossbows.  We did shoot the PSE Tec15 along with the Bowtech Strike Force and Striker crossbows.  We also shot the Hoyt Alphamax, Bowtech Air Raid, and the Bear Truth 2.  I wished I had shot the PSE Omen, but for some strange reason we managed to walk out of the show without shooting it.  I honestly don’t know how I could have forgot to shoot that model, but that will give us something to look forward to later this spring!

The PSE TEC 15

Shooting The Hoyt Alphamax

Terry Drury and the Drury Motorcycle

     While walking the floor we ran into a very interesting individual.  It was a lady who owns Grayling Outdoor Products, that has a very strong connection to Fred Bear!  This woman used to work for Fred Bear at his shop years ago.  She told us some interesting stories about Fred and how she got her company started and how she got the company to where it is today.  That story I will save for the Podcast this week!  So be sure to stop in monday morning to listen for that interview along with other interesting interviews with Terry Drury and Lee & Tiffany Lakosky!  You can find the Up North Journal Podcast at this link. 

Up North Journal Meets Bowcast (The best 2 Podcasts on the Net!)

     The rest of the day we spent catching up with a few contacts and I finally met Jason Amaro from the New Mexico Sportsman and Bowcast along with Matt Houge and Aneal Roney both from Bowcast.  I think they were both a little angry with me that I didn’t bring my co-host and son Mikey along for the trip!  He will definitely make the show next year in Columbus!

Me With Tom Nelson

     All in all, I learned a lot and had a great time.  I’m extremely tired but the trip was well worth it and I would like to extend my thanks to Skinny Moose Media for making this all possible this week.  Thanks to John Stabley of Stabley Outdoors for guiding me in the right direction and giving me a few pointers.  It was also nice to meet fellow Skinny Moose Writer Sarah Knapp from Her Outdoors, I just wished we had more time to talk and compare notes.  Be sure to stop by her site as well as Lisa Metheny’s web site Outdoor Inspirations to check out what they found at ATA this week.  I will be posting all the interesting information that I found these last two days as soon as I can gather my thoughts and compile the info, so keep checking in to find out the “Skinny” on all the new gear.