Video | Realtree’s 40th Anniversary Archery Competition

Twelve Realtree pros recently converged at Realtree Farms near Columbus, Georgia, for an archery competition. The purpose? To unite Realtree’s staff, friends, and partners, and celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary with an action-packed bow tournament.

Besides flinging arrows and having a great time, the event was for another great cause: six Georgia youths would receive lifetime hunting and fishing licenses a few weeks after the bow shoot at the Atlanta Braves Hunting and Fishing Night on Aug. 29, through a partnership with the Georgia DNR. The winning team would present the certificates.

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“Our team enjoyed putting this archery tournament together,” Realtree’s Tyler Jordan said. “It rekindled great memories and cultivated new ones. The aim was to celebrate the relationships we’ve built over the past four decades. We’ve enjoyed many laughs and stories this year with the cast of characters we’re lucky enough to call friends. With 2026 being our 40th anniversary, we’ve really emphasized spending as much time as possible with our friends, partners and families. This archery event tied in perfectly with the upcoming season while reminding us what built this brand in the first place — relationships.”

Pro-staffers spent the afternoon before the competition warming up on the practice range.

Realtree’s staff set up a challenging Delta McKenzie 3-D course using various targets placed at a variety of stations. Shot distances ranged from 25 yards out to 100, and competitors would be shooting from setups that included box blinds, ground blinds, tree stands, and even a saddle. A few stations even incorporated crossbows. Participating partners included brands like Millennium, Elevate, Rhino Blinds, Harvest Blinds, Grizzly Blinds, Tethered, Summit, Excalibur, Barnett, Mountain Dew, Sun South John Deere, Hoyt, Darton, Mathews and ScentLok.

Georgia DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon (right) addressed the crowd before teams were divided up. Duck Commander’s Justin Martin was the event’s emcee.

After dinner on the first evening, Justin Martin of Duck Commander kicked things off by welcoming everyone to the event and inviting Georgia State DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon to address the crowd. After Rabon’s brief speech, Martin named archery team captains: Michael Pitts, captain of Team APX; and Lee Ellis, captain of Team Original.

Team APX included Rusty Creasey, Drew Carroll, Alyssa Hall, David Blanton, and Randy Birdsong. Team Original included Nate Hosie, Melissa Bachman Bearshield, Josh Sparks, Joel Burham, and Larry McCoy.

Then, each participant was selected as an opponent to a specific participant of the opposing team. During the competition, the opponents would shoot against one another, and then the arrows would be scored to determine the winner and pulled from the target before the next two opponents shot.

Melissa Bachman Bearshield aims at the first target of the course.

The competition began soon after dawn the next morning with a 45-yard shot across a lake at a foam alligator. Things got more interesting and challenging deeper into the course, with tree stand and ground-blind setups. Two wild-card stations provided competitors with the option of shooting at a closer target with a compound or a more distant one with a crossbow.

Shots were designed to be challenging and hunting-realistic, as David Blanton shows here.

Although most of the competitors were straight-faced and serious throughout the event, there were plenty of laughs happening behind the scenes —particularly when Bill Jordan worked with the DNR to stage phony arrests of team captains Michael Pitts and Lee Ellis (who shocked the crowd by outrunning the officers).

Georgia game wardens put Pitts in handcuffs, thanks to a call from Bill Jordan.

“Yes, this was a competition, and the competitiveness from the guys and gals made it a lot of fun to watch,” Tyler Jordan said. “But at the end of the day, what it really underscored was the camaraderie and community that defines this industry. We are honored to be part of it.”

Travis “T-Bone” Turner snaps a selfie with Melissa Bachman Bearshield and Alyssa Hall. T-Bone quietly helped coach shooters from both teams when nerves were running high.

The event wrapped up about 1 p.m. and Team APX won, earning bragging rights, a large trophy, and the opportunity to present those six Georgia kids with lifetime licenses at the Atlanta Braves Hunting and Fishing Night.

Bill Jordan awards the trophy to Team APX.

“One thing that came up consistently in our conversations throughout the tournament was how important it is to educate and inspire those who may not have had the opportunity to hunt or fish, or those who may have misconceptions about this industry,” Tyler Jordan said. “My dad would always close Realtree Outdoors with a reminder to take a child hunting and fishing. As a father myself now, that suggestion means more to me today than it did even just five years ago.

“Our Legacy pattern is a story in and of itself, and one of our goals at Realtree is to make sure that leaving a legacy also means leading from the front in terms of how we educate, inform and inspire others to get outdoors,” Tyler continued. “Our relationship with the Georgia DNR is incredibly important to us, and having it participate and continue to support and protect the industry we operate in is beyond meaningful. Locking arms with the Georgia DNR across multiple displays and activations geared toward promoting the outdoors, protecting our local wildlife, and encouraging people to take a child hunting and fishing is so dear to us. Having our entire Realtree team and several pro staffers award and present six Georgia youths with lifetime hunting and fishing licenses at Truist Park highlights what our company stands for.”

Team APX reigned victorious. From left are members Alyssa Hall, Randy Birdsong, Michael Pitts, Drew Carroll, David Blanton and Rusty Creasey.

Realtree and the Georgia DNR partnered to present six youths lifetime hunting and fishing licenses at the Atlanta Braves Hunting and Fishing Night, Aug. 29, at Truist Park.