Dudley's Latest Rants

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D
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I like him.
Met him twice and enjoyed the conversation both times.
I like John Dudley. Never met him in person, but strikes me as a humble guy.

I would place him somewhere near the top of the list with regards to expertise in Archery.

Yeah I met him briefly at TAC this year. He's extremely positive and patient with archers of all skill level.

If I had to peg him for a "type of person"/. He's the type that has to engage with everyone and there can't be a "lull" in conversation, which is perfect for an ambassador for a company or an industry
 
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Dudley seems like a good dude, but has not won an olympic medal. It's tough to find a firm bio, but it's not clear if he was even on the U.S. olympic team. Here's a bio on him from last year.

 

LostArra

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Dudley seems like a good dude, but has not won an olympic medal. It's tough to find a firm bio, but it's not clear if he was even on the U.S. olympic team. Here's a bio on him from last year.

Does he or did he in the past shoot competitive Olympic recurve?
There is no compound competition in the Olympics.
 

fatlander

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I don’t think he’s ever said he was on the Olympic team. He was on the US national team. Here are some of his accolades I found with a quick Google search.


APA Rookie of the Year
IBO National Champion
NABH National Champion
AZ International Gold Medallist
European Grand Prix Gold medallist
Arnold Classic Champion
US Open Silver Medallist
US Open Gold Medal Team
British National Indoor Champion
Australian Field Championship Gold Medallist
World Field Championship Sweden Bronze Medallist
World Field Championship Croatia Silver Medallist
Arnold Classic Champion
US World Games Team Member
45 Career Top 3 Professional finishes


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right, but look at any thread about him, including page 1 of this thread, and someone always says he's an olympic medalist. That's all I'm commenting on. people think he's one thing, even though he isn't/wasn't, and never claimed to be.
 
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Bios are usually present on World Archery.

He is a compound shooter, no Olympics for him (Olympics are currently only Recurve) that I'm aware of, don't know him to shoot Olympic Recurve, tho maybe he did early in his career.


I think anyone who shoots competitively has to have a mental attitude to some extent of I am the best. A lot of competition shooting is mental, you need to be able to shoot, but you need to have a really good mental game. So there's usually a certain amount border line arrogance that comes with the mindset of a top level shooter.

I think Dudley as a whole does a lot for archery, he has put out a whole lot of good information for new shooters, and makes himself accessible. I know of someone on this forum who had an issue and reached out to him in a DM and not only had a response from him in a timely matter, but he also was a big help in getting to a resolution as a middle man.


There's a lot of people trying to have a presence in this digital world, most of its pretty cutthroat. I think for the most part he is a good ambassador of the sport to the outside, and generally wants to see people enjoy the sport. If he can pay he was while helping people, great. He's my preference as a social media/YouTube presence to most any of the others out there.


But I don't do podcasts, so no idea what his rant was about, and I won't know. They just aren't my thing.
 
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Listen to most of his podcasts unless I’m not into the guest then simply move on then. Dud is the go to for me when I need a refresher on bow work his videos are great help and appreciated. My son lives in his area hope to find him in his shop someday. You can please some people some of the time but not all people all of the time.
 
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tdoublev

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I've seen a lot of people bash him on AT and I truly cannot understand why or where they are coming from. I think he is completely genuine in his efforts. His latest 'rant' was not really a rant but a series of educational posts on what things are going to impact your arrow flight, by how much, and the current state of compound bow efficiency. He's been very open about the reason he started this series of videos is because he obviously goes to multiple TAC events a year and he has seen people that he recognized from the prior year get WORSE than they were in the prior year and it is because they are buying in the latest topics that other social media hunters are pushing (primarily high FOC).

Most of what he posted should have been common sense, but based on what he observed he felt he needed to start telling people. And what he observed was, people were creating insanely heavy arrows with absurd FOC because they think it is necessary in order for them to ensure a clean kill, when in reality they are making their bows more inefficient and inaccurate for literally no reason at all. The reality is that bows are so fast and efficient today that you don't need an extremely heavy arrow or crazy FOC to kill animals cleanly (talking over 550 grains), but for some reason Ranch Fairy is getting more and more popular. The podcast with Troy (Ranch Fairy) was extremely eye opening. I never bought into his stuff, but the guy admits he is not a good archer and the Ashby Foundation's only study was for recurve bows used in African hunting. Somehow social media has taken that and applied it to compound bows in North America and deemed this guy to be a credible source. No idea how it has grown to what it is.

As for the other aspects of Dudley, he does push his own products which are definitely expensive and not necessary, but he has also been very transparent that this is how people can support him and his mission. I think truly believes his products are the best available to help people who are picking things off the shelf but he will also be the first to say they aren't necessary to become a good archer. He concluded his rant with, focus on good archery form, get a middle of the road setup, and spend more time practicing than looking up the most optimized gear because 90% of people out there will never be good enough to see the benefits of the time consuming optimization. Who can disagree with that?
 
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nphunter

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I really enjoyed all of those podcasts and have seen some diminishing effects from going with high FOC stiff arrows trying to play with tip weight. I added weight until AA showed my spine should be perfect, I can still tune and shoot very well but my setup just isn't as forgiving as it was a few years back when shooting regular arrows that were a similar weight but were just picked off of a spine chart and tuned. I will be ditching the RIP TKO's with 125gr of IW components on the front after this season and going back to a more regular arrow that is spined correctly for my bow. IMO when you start doing things like gluing 3" long HITs inside the arrow you really start affecting the function of the arrow. For myself I end up effectively with a 23" arrow with a 4" long tip because that much of the front of the arrow is epoxied solid with stainless steel.
 

SWOHTR

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I have no problem with the man.

Now that gaudy camper of his on the other hand…lol. To each their own!
 

Scorpion

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He brings a lot more to the sport/industry than many, and I find him to be genuine with his passion. He provides a lot more positives than negatives. His information and educational material has helped me to become a more proficient archer and bow tech, for that I am thankful.

Sure, he’s a little goofy and eccentric, might have ruffled a few feathers in the big time competition circles, but that’s fine. No one is perfect.

My few personal interactions with the guy have been nothing but positive. He once went out of his way to talk to me and a buddy who were fletching arrows in the dark while camping at a TAC event to see if we needed a hand or any supplies. I thought that was pretty cool of him.
 
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ncavi8tor

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I met JD at a TAC event last year and he was extremely approachable and friendly. He shot right along with the rest of us and seemed like the kind of guy you could drink a beer with and share a backcountry camp. I was really impressed with his down to earth personality. He earned my respect.

NC

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ncavi8tor

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I give the guy a lot of credit. He is one of a handful of guys that allowed me to quickly progress my shooting and bow tech abilities on my own over the years.

Everything he says doesn't have to be gospel, but it sure is a good reference point to compare to other resources.

He's up there with the guys who have been there and done it, ie: nuts&bolts, mfjj, Gillingham. All have done so much for the sport in free education. and a wealth of technical info you can beg barrow and steal from to make your own decisions.
Putting N&B in that group is laughable!

NC

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bat-cave

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Lots of good comments here. I would just add that I believe that John Dudley puts out more useful content on how to be a better archer than anyone else that I have seen. I've also had the chance to meet and shoot with him a few times at TAC events and he was super approachable, helpful and IMHO one of the best ambassadors of archery out there!

Yes, he has some expensive products, but it's easy enough to ignore if you are not interested and no worse than many others out there plugging their products. I will say that I love my Nock 2 It release!
 
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