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Anonymous
September 11, 2015 at 11:54 amPost count: 124I regret to say the only thing that has gotten less attention from me over the past several months than checking in here and keeping up with some friends via this forum has been my archery at all. The bows will remain on the wall this fall.
What’s been keeping me so busy?
Hmmm…
New(ish) job (first year under my belt now) that I absolutely love and that keeps me busy and engaged. Back in the conservation non-profit world and could not be happier; fantastic organization with incredible people.
New developments with BHA (stay tuned).
Working with yet-another conservation non-profit (start up phase, essentially); think “mini elk” (even though David P will be along to correct that shortly 😉 ).
Trying to get somewhat in shape and ready for a CO elk hunt next month (rifle season; going with two friends that have never been to CO or hunted elk before; going into a fantastically beautiful, high, deep, and rugged wilderness area; backpacking in and out; 10 days total with the season being five of that – it should be a blast).
Staring down the barrels of having a teen aged daughter… 😯
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, my wife and I are expecting a child the end of March 2016. So much for my trip to Missoula for the BHA Rendezvous, huh? 😎
NEXT year, the bows come back down and I start working on being at least proficient again.
Though, I do have to admit, I am trying to get my neighbor (good guy all around) hooked on archery. He, like many, wanted to start out with a compound, so I loaned him mine. It’s a start, and if the bug bites…. 😈
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February 23, 2016 at 7:35 pmPost count: 124
Forager wrote: I regret to say the only thing that has gotten less attention from me over the past several months than checking in here and keeping up with some friends via this forum has been my archery at all. The bows will remain on the wall this fall.
What’s been keeping me so busy?
Hmmm…
New(ish) job (first year under my belt now) that I absolutely love and that keeps me busy and engaged. Back in the conservation non-profit world and could not be happier; fantastic organization with incredible people.
New developments with BHA (stay tuned).
Working with yet-another conservation non-profit (start up phase, essentially); think “mini elk” (even though David P will be along to correct that shortly 😉 ).
Trying to get somewhat in shape and ready for a CO elk hunt next month (rifle season; going with two friends that have never been to CO or hunted elk before; going into a fantastically beautiful, high, deep, and rugged wilderness area; backpacking in and out; 10 days total with the season being five of that – it should be a blast).
Staring down the barrels of having a teen aged daughter… 😯
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, my wife and I are expecting a child the end of March 2016. So much for my trip to Missoula for the BHA Rendezvous, huh? 😎
NEXT year, the bows come back down and I start working on being at least proficient again.
Though, I do have to admit, I am trying to get my neighbor (good guy all around) hooked on archery. He, like many, wanted to start out with a compound, so I loaned him mine. It’s a start, and if the bug bites…. 😈
Back in again.
Still LOVING the job; fantastic people and a great organization.
BHA IS expanding; stay tuned.
Start up non-profits have lots of growing pains.
No elk were harmed in CO this past fall, but MAN, what a hunt! Loved it.
Still staring down the barrels of a teen-aged daughter. BUT, she wants a bow for her birthday. 8)
Baby still due end of March, both baby and Mama doing great.
The neighbor did get bit by the bug. He bought that compound off of me, and my old Block target. 😈
The bows have come back down and I’ve started working with them again. I started out with the old Hoyt compound because somewhere in the last three years I broke my wrist (never knew it or felt it) and it healed wrong. Shooting traditional just hurt too bad to keep going. So, the compound came out with the release and wrist strap. That has helped, a lot. A friend gave me another old compound, and that one is a beast (goes all the way to 90# draw weight), so I’m working out the muscles well now and an up to about 70# draw on both of those. I may hunt with at least one of them this fall.
I took the recurves out for a few shots today and the wrist feels pretty good. The aim is WAY off and I’ll have to get that dialed back in, but I was even shooting the heavy Martin take-down (60# @ 28″) pretty well with no problems coming to an anchor point. This is GREAT! After shooting compounds again for a while with all the releases and sights and peeps and quivers and stabilizers and … STUFF… having just a bow and an arrow and the target is liberating.
Even though colmike is trying to get me to use an atlatl this year, I think I’ll stick to taking the recurve(s) “for a walk” in the fall. By then, I should be proficient again out to maybe 100′, and that’s plenty for me to be slinging an arrow that will take over 1/2 second to reach an animal that reacts in under 1/3 of a second.
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Great to hear all the good news and more to come. Best wishes to momma and the baby to come. Best, dwc
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June 16, 2017 at 7:15 pmPost count: 124
Back again. Whew.
The kid is wonderful. New house; THAT has taken some time, and is still consuming weekends (it is simply unbelievable how much time, money, sweat, and cussing goes into a bathroom gut remodel).
Helped launch another BHA chapter encompassing DC, MD, and VA that will eventually (next spring) split off VA and the DC/MD folks may bring in DE on their end. Working on helping to get another off the ground. Working on some other conservation angles, too.
Trad bow related – okay, this could have sucked worse. So, I was working with the wheelie bows last year. Had the old Hoyt and a new Prime bottomed out at 72 and 70 respectively. Planned to hunt them in the mid-60s. Ran up on an old Oregon and remembered how much I LOVE those when I was a kid (could never afford what was in 25 years ago a $500 bow), and the price was CHEAP and condition great. Sticker said 65-80#. I thought “work-out bow”. So, a week or so after I got it, I thought “yeah, I’ll just bottom it to 80# and see if I can draw it, then back it down and work up”. No draw scale; big mistake. Bottomed it out; went to draw. Nada. Hmmm…. must not have gotten into it right, I thought. Got set, cranked into it, pulled it back, and at the break over point, the right shoulder sounded like a chicken wing. Got to full draw instantly after that, sighted, let it go, and then thought “yeah, that probably wasn’t good”. Did not really even bow hunt last fall because of the soreness (which was getting better). Moving and remodeling set off the shoulder and get the elbow into it.
Good news? Doc said no significant injury; just a strain/sprain of several tendons in the shoulder and “tennis elbow” in the elbow. Cortisone shot, stretching, no archery or silly stuff for a month and come back in. Whew!
Better news? On the way home from that appointment today, I popped into a pawn shop. There sat a 1973-75 vintage green Grayling Bear Kodiak Magnum, 52″, 50# in fine condition. A Benjamin later, and it’s mine (figured I deserved it, right?). It will be the “twin” to my 1970-72 vintage brown Graying Bear Kodiak Magnum, 52″ 50#. Need a back-up, right?
Best news? An eastern red cedar tree in the backyard had to go. It came down, and made incredible staves. They are seasoning now. They are going to turn into some sinew-backed selfbows.
Even bestest news? 30 yard range in the backyard, and a fantastic archery range at a local Izaak Walton less than 10 minutes from the house with two high-level coaches who also shoot traditional. Here we go, and maybe even doing it right this time!
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