2008 Campbell Outdoor Challenge - Circuit
Presently, Team American Bowhunters Outdoor Adventures is participating in the Campbell Outdoor Challenge. 
The challenge consists of 4 events:
Indiana: Turkey - 4/22/08-4/25/08
Georgia: Wild Boar - 5/1/08-5/4/08
South Dakota: Antelope - 9/8/08-9/12/08
Illinois: Whitetail - 11/4/08-11/10/08
Kentucky: Bowfishing (extra event) - 6/5/08-6/8/08
The Campbell Outdoor Challenge features hunting and cameraman teams, matching their skills in the sport of filming hunts. The action captured is produced as a team, and then professionally edited for television and millions of viewers nationwide.
The objective of the Challenge is to produce good quality hunting footage. Eleven teams are competing in this year's event, under the same conditions and at the same time. The teams are awarded points for excellent camera work and quality of game.
Here is how American Bowhunters did: 
The Turkey Challenge was in Indiana in April. Kurt and Laura went to match their skills against 11 teams. The first day was action packed with gobblers all around.Two jakes came in and we filmed them. Kurt decided not to shoot them; he was waiting for the toms to come in. Soon two toms came up the hill but they turned around and never came into range. The next day the flu got the best of Kurt and he had to stay at the hotel. I went out with Adam, a cameraman, but no luck. The last day there was a gobble in the distance, we waited and then we stalked and sat down on the trail, a jake came up but again not in range. The other teams didn't have the best luck either, but Team Mill Creek and Klucky's Outdoor Adventures both got birds. Congrats!
The Wild Hog Challenge was in Georgia in May, hot! hot! hot! This challenge was a test of skill and patience because of the heat and the lack of boar sightings. Hunting wild hog in fair chase areas is very difficult. We luckily drew an area with a creek running through it where there was a lot of signs of hogs burring into the mud. The shade of the cypress trees was a blessing but the mosquitoes were a curse. We however were able to ward them off with the therma-cell. The first few times we were in the trees stands and then Kurt built this awesome ground blind and set up a shooting and camera window in the blind. We sat and waited and as the sunset the light went with it. We started packing up, then "crack" "crack" "get on the camera." Kurt exclaimed, "Boar, boar", He was drawn back and ready to shoot and I had no sight of it, I moved the camera to where I thought it was and only blackness...Don't shoot I can't see it....frustrated he put the bow down and the boar walked off....We went home... the boar won.... 
The 3rd Annual Campbell Bowfishing Challenge was in Gilberstville, Kentucky this past June. We had a blast! We fished from eight in the evening until eight the next morning. It lasted for three days. There were six teams in the competition. Each team was required to harvest 3 Big Head Carp (scored on combined total weight) and 1 Common Carp (scored on weight) each night; the last night we were given a choice of Common or Buffalo. Three of the best filmed bowfishing hunts were submitted for scoring. It was a close race to the end, we put up a good fight and only came in two hundred points behind the wining team -- last year that would have put us in second place. Our boat was the smallest and our hearts the biggest, we had a great time and plan on returning next year with a bigger boat...
The Campbell Antelope Challengewas held in South Dakota this year and hosted by Crooked Creek Outfitters.What a great hunt and what makes it better is that we took first place!!
The first day, Laura shot a doe that came into the water hole at about 20 yards, and Kurt got great footage. We maxed out on points.
The second day was action-packed. First we had an unsettling visit from a small herd of buffalo. They surrounded our blind and just got way too close to us and to the camera. Soon after they left, we were visited by four good-looking bucks, all of which were too small to shoot. Then the big guy came in, a nice pope and young buck. He stayed at the water hole for only a minute and when he turned to leave Kurt shot him. The camera was going and we got good footage. All this combined put us in second place, only eight points behind first. Can't wait for the whitetail challenge in November! 
Kurt and I were so excited to be in Illinois, home of the big bucks. We have nice whitetails at home but not many like they do out here. Most of our prize bucks at home would be "non shooters" here. On the first day we saw many does all out of range, and one white buck that snuck up on us. It wasn't till evening that a doe came close enough for a shot. She came in from behind us and went under us out to the field. Kurt bleated, she turned and he shot. The lumenok lit up as it hit the doe and she went down not more than 5 yards away. Doe down; time for the big buck...
Over the next few days we switched it up and went to our second spot. Kurt rattled in a huge 10-pointer—oh my god he was amazing! He was up in the field looking for the other bucks that he thought were fighting. Kurt rattled again; he came in running, looking, and ran right into the thicket; all we could see were his antlers moving as he searched the area. After fifteen minutes he was gone, leaving through the other side of the thicket. We didn't see him again.
The next day a 115-buck came in under our tree stand—he was nice but not what we were looking for, so we let him go. No other opportunities came along, so overall we placed fifth in the 2008 Challenge.
