Curtis Broadnax Wins Big with Elite Verdict at ASA Camp Minden
Curtis Broadnax recently had his first big win at the ASA Event in Camp Minden this past month. Here at Elite, we got a chance to chat with him about all that went into his first Men’s Known Pro Championship title.
HOW CURTIS GOT INTO ARCHERY
Curtis Broadnax got into archery when he was 6 years old and hasn’t stopped since. At the young age of 7, he killed his first deer. Then at 15, he decided he wanted to expand his archery skills and start competing. Curtis started participating in local tournaments, finding a new passion for the world of competitive archery and he has been shooting tournaments ever since 2015.
HIS BOW OF CHOICE: THE ELITE VERDICT
Curtis got his first Elite bow in 2014 and has been hooked on Elite ever since. He and his father would hunt with the Energy 32 & 35, so the choice was easy when he decided to shoot with an Elite bow for competitions. For the Camp Minden ASA competition, he chose to compete with the Elite Verdict — a bow that feels comfortable in your hands and dependable with its level of customizability, which plays a crucial role in prep.
“I shoot the Elite Verdict because the bow aims really well and it’s also very forgiving. When I say very forgiving, I mean when I make a bad shot, I am still able to hit the spot or very close that I’m aiming at, and that’s all I could ask for out of a bow.” - Curtis Broadnax
THE PREP
Curtis couldn’t sleep one night because he was tired of fighting his bow in past tournaments and decided that he needed go to a lighter weight by changing his stabilizers so he could just “let it happen as opposed to trying to force it.” Leading up to ASA, he shot every day and made sure he was shooting consistently, tweaking his set-up as needed. My competition bow build is a 70lbs Elite Verdict with 19.4 lbs of holding weight, 29 5/16in draw length, my knocking point is right at the top of the Berger button hole, and my center shot is at 13/16 from of the outer edge of the riser. I also ran a 10 degree down front bar that was 30in with 15oz on it. My back bar was a 12in in the bottom hole of the riser with 26oz on it. He also made sure to arrive to Camp Minden two days prior for ample time to practice and get acclimated for the competition.
THE BIG WIN
That first round on Friday, Curtis had a bunch of close misses. He realized the targets had bad shadowing and lighting from all the trees. When he got to full draw, he would aim on the safe side of the 12 ring and miss. On Saturday, he decided to be more aggressive and aim dead on - having the best round of 3D he ever shot. “I hate losing so much. Competing against the best guys in the world, you’re gonna lose. This was the 5th or 6th shootoff I’ve been in and I’ve finished 2nd place twice in these shootoffs and hadn’t won one yet. Going into it, I wasn’t shooting to lose, so I came up with a game plan and tried my best to execute.”
After qualifying with a final score of +52, it was time for the shootdown. In the Shootdown Round, the 1st target brought the most nerves of the tournament. To Curtis, that arrow meant everything, and he hit the 14! Now, with the first target out of the way Curtis was ready to settle in and go for it, but with careful strategy and anticipation of how his competitors might perform. “I started on antelope, next target was a havelena – 14 was way too small...target after that was a black buck, it was closer but you couldn’t see the 14. Target after that was a hyena – nobody was gonna shoot at that because it was the longest target out there.” - Curtis Broadnax
When it came down to the 6th and final arrow at the very end, his competitor hit a 14, which meant that Curtis had to hit a 12 to win. He called upper and ended up hitting it. The adrenaline rush after that was insane! “I’m practicing all the time...competing to win...and I finally did it. I won one! It’s just overwhelming" Congratulations on your win, Curtis Broadnax!
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