CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A nationally known archery event will make a stop in 2025 in West Virginia. Utah based Total Archery Challenge announced in recent days plans to stage an event at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Fayette County May 16-18.

“The location is a big piece of ground with a lot of good topography and a good area for our Mountain Festival, where we’ll have a bunch of manufacturers set up and showing their wares in the archery industry,” said Sean DeGrey, Director of Total Archery Challenge.

The organization hosts events across the country during the summer months. Often the event is situated on a ski resort to offer challenging opportunities for shooters to hone their skills on rough terrain. According to DeGrey there are other venues they visit which are not ski slopes, but they always try to have terrain which will offer the challenge. The Summit fit the bill.

The targets are also a challenge set anywhere from 20 yards out to the furthest at 111 yards.

DeGrey added it’s important to understand this isn’t a competition, it’s a challenge to test and improve a hunter’s archery skills.

“It is not a competition. We have some fun, novelty style shoots, but for the event itself, it is 100 percent about coming and having a great time,” he said.

He also encouraged everyone to take part and not be intimidated by the course or by other shooters.

“If you’re an expert, great show up. If you’re a novice, great show up. Regardless of how far the shot is, it’s a non-competitive event because we want everyone to attend. The objective of the event is to get together with buddies. Nobody is watching or judging you. You’re just there to have a great time and make yourself better,” DeGrey explained on West Virginia Outdoors.

He suggested it’s best to pre-register at the company’s website and the registration will open up later this month. Pricing will vary depending on what you’d like to do. The inaugural year for West Virginia will feature five different courses throughout the Summit and shooting assignments will be based largely like a golf course with a tee time.

DeGrey anticipated the West Virginia event will be very popular and expected it would grow in years to come. He said that was why the Summit Bechtel Reserve was so attractive.

“We had a few on the list and it had the most potential to grow. I picture West Virginia being a very large event and I think they had the most potential to grow out of the other venues we were looking at,” he explained.