When you’re daydreaming it never seems like it ought to be all that difficult to get an arrow into a decent mule deer, but the fact is very few animals are what you would call easy with a bow and arrow. I shot a decent one a couple of years ago, but I [...]
When hunting, I find that I need two types of lights: (1) a headlamp for light at your feet or arm’s length, and (2) a handheld flashlight to scan far in front for navigating through unfamiliar ground or searching for downed animals. These two lights should share the same battery type to make [...]
For hundreds and probably thousands of years, native people of the southeastern United States used river cane for many important material goods. It was used to make dwellings, it was split and woven into strong mats and baskets, it was shaved on one side to make razor-sharp knives, and made into blowguns, spears, [...]
I'd like to share how I made a sharpening block from bits and scraps I had in the shop. It is mobile, fits nicely in a pack, and keeps my sharpening items together. Materials: 1 bastard file (10" shown) 1 old leather belt 1 block of wood approximately 1 1/4" x 2" x [...]
Ethan Rodrigue is part of the Stickboys Podcast crew and was kind enough to join John on the latest episode of the Traditional Bowhunter's Journey, brought to you by Traditional Bowhunter Magazine and Food Afield Podcast Ethan is all about the trad bow and bowhunting. He is extremely knowledgeable about the issues surrounding [...]
When people think of bowfishing, the image most will conjure up in their heads involves a boat and spotlights, trolling along a lake or river in the dead of night. Yet, that wasn’t how I began bowfishing and to this day is not my preferred method of shooting fish. I started out bowfishing [...]
Chick, chick…chick, chick…chick, chick: the sound carried clearly through the dreary October morning air, closing quickly to within a few yards. With the beat of my heart the only other sound I could hear, the 10-inch aspen in front of me began quivering frantically as a grinding noise echoed through the woods. Focusing [...]
John Schneider of Food Afield Podcast spent an hour with Cody and had his mind changed on a bunch of traditional bowhunting issues. This is a must-listen if you're new to traditional archery or simply looking to up your game!
Listening, really listening, is an art form that takes practice. Some of the sounds we hear in the woods are nothing more than distracting noise that we sometimes try to ignore, some of the sounds are native to the environment and are enjoyable, even entertaining, and some are so subtle that we have [...]
Spring turkey season provides us with the opportunity to collect some of the best feathers for fletching. Everyone has his favorite technique for processing feathers, and recently I found a better way to do the first step: splitting the quill. I've tried hand and pliers stripping, and pulling against a knife blade stuck [...]
