[Etter1]

in reply to: Preserving Snake Skin for Bow Backing? #59853

jpcarlson wrote: Troy,

A buddy shot a prairie ratteler sitting just outside the truck door while antelope hunting a few weeks ago. I skinned it and stretched/pinned it to a 2×4, flesh side down about 3 weeks ago. It is dry now, but is it still good for using since I didn’t use Borax?

Can skins be glued on glass limbs on an existing recurve? How?

Jans

I can answer yes to all of your questions. Check it out on youtube and use titebond as was mentioned. Nothing to it.

[Etter1]

in reply to: Back to the Mountains! #59039

Steve Graf wrote: Nice Story! Fix your nocks. Changed nocks a “couple of days before” and hadn’t target practiced at all since then???? Better hit the bails more. Saves all kinds of trouble…

Believe me, Ive shot plenty

[Etter1]

in reply to: FIRST TRADITIONAL HARVEST !! #58465

archer38 wrote: Ok, I guess it isn’t my first trad kill. I’ve taken a few squirrels, a rabbit and a grouse but this was my first big game animal with my recurve !

I practiced all spring and summer for this hunt. I had 5 different bears hitting the bait. All I had to do was get in undetected, wait for my opportunity, and make one good kill shot. After watching a smaller bear for about 15 minutes, and coming to full draw 3 times just to see if he’d catch my draw. I let him walk. 20 minutes later, a rabbit came bolting through the opening past the bait as if his tail was on fire. At first, I wondered what spooked him, but moments later my question was answered as a nice 250 pound bear walked in.

After watching, and trying to calm down, for about 10-15 minutes, the bear turned away from me and walked toward the barrel. I stood and waited for him to turn a bit. He was quartering away a bit but i needed him to take a step to expose vitals. As the bear lifted his front foot, I drew, anchored, aimed and released an almost perfect shot entering mid ribs and exiting just under the opposite front leg.

I’ve had some pretty exciting hunts over the last 25 years but this one will be hard to top.

Congratulations! Bears are my favorite game animal

[Etter1]

in reply to: Back to the Mountains! #58161

Wow! What another great morning in the hills! It started out a little hairy. I deal with insomnia quite a bit and last night I never fell asleep. Well, I got dressed at 3am and did the 2 hr drive to our logging road. Well, the dnr decided they wanted to open the gates so that fat, lazy types could drive all the way into our area. I was bummed.

Our area that we hunt is 3.5 miles in and after a quick deliberation, I decided that gate or no, I was walking. It’s not the best road and probably wouldn’t be the same if I could just drive in there.

So, after 1.25 hours of climbing, I stopped on a small bend in the trail to wait out daylight that was coming on very slowly. It was super foggy this morning so daylight was about half an hour late. I was sitting there waiting, when suddenly a bear (directly downwind and 30 yards) coughed like I’ve heard them do when an arrow hits them and then started growling. He sat there growling for ten minutes. All I could think of was that it was the bear I shot in the shoulder two weeks ago and he was not happy to smell me again. Thankfully, he soon moved off.

So, I started slipping along right at daylight. I was moving along the edge of a 3 year old clearcut with some oaks mixed into it, when I started to hear acorns raining from a tree just off the trail. They were not raining like from a squirrel either, so I snuck up and found the bear in the tree. He was a good one too. At least 200-250. He was about 40-50 feet up and was just chowing down on white oak acorns. I slipped up to the tree and found that it was angled towards the trail so I knew when the bear came down, he would be on the backside. It took me about fifteen minutes to slip the 15 yards into the perfect spot for a good shot. I was sitting 6 yards from the base of the tree with a good angle where he would be broadside when he backed down.

I watched him for 20 minutes or so just mesmerized by him. He would reach up and rip a full branch off and eat the acorns off like an ice cream cone. It was fabulous! After a while, I guess he had had his fill and began backing down the tree. It was going to be perfect! I let him get to about 15 feet off the ground when I drew back. And that’s when it all went bad. Half way to full draw, my arrow just fell off the string. I fumbled to grab another and the big boy saw it and droppped straight to the ground. He sat 6 yards from me in the clearcut for several minutes trying to decide what to do and eventually made up his mind to head deeper in.

I tried to get around on him, but he got my wind and blew off the mountain. He looked huge when he crossed the trail in front of me.

I had changed the nocks on my arrows a couple days before and didn’t realize that they were the nocks for my heavier bow which has a thicker string. I tried them all and they just fell right off. I shoot a tab so I don’t really hold the arrow at all and that little oversight cost me a beauty.

Either way, it was just awesome to watch him up in that tree and get a chance to see them climb was all I could ask for.

I found one more bear in a tree on the way out about 2 miles back but by the time I started to get close enough for a stalk, he had come down and left to parts unknown.

But, that’s nine bears I have seen in three hunts, and gotten shots twice now. Not a bad start to this ga bear hunting!

[Etter1]

in reply to: Back to the Mountains! #57392

cyberscout wrote: etter1

My sentiments exactly and good luck! I think you mentioned you were going to a Flintlock for MZ -well done. I hunted many yrs with the flintlock, As trad as you can get with Fire arms.

Scout

Thanks. Killed my first deer with one and am pumped to get back to it

[Etter1]

in reply to: easterners make good on DIY CO elk hunt #56229

two4hooking wrote: Thanks for all the kind words. I do not think we could have had a more difficult hunt, but we prevailed on the last day.

It was very dry there compared to the previous year.

If the trophy is reflective of the effort puit in….That little cow is a trophy of immense proportions 🙂

Very tasty too! Keep at it everyone!

That looks amazing!

[Etter1]

in reply to: Book Recommendation #56221

David Petersen wrote: Etter — A title of the book would help us. 😛

😀

That would help. It’s called “In Search of Captain Zero” by Allan Weisbecker

[Etter1]

in reply to: Preserving Snake Skin for Bow Backing? #56220

Here’s the finished product. Thanks to everybody on here with all the help.

[Etter1]

in reply to: Preserving Snake Skin for Bow Backing? #56216

BuckyT wrote: You just have to have your copperhead skins………:D

You could have had a fine Eastern Diamondback skin….. It would have pained me deeply to kill such a beautiful creature, but for you and your cause, I would have deemed it worthy and honorable.:D

Usually see quite a few copperheads, but you’ve jinxed my usual encounters with this beautiful snake with your request for me to kill one for you..:D:D

I’m still looking….:wink: and your time window for this year is dwindling.

I know it. It sure seems unlikely at this point that I’ll come across one. I can’t believe this. I’ve had 7 people with instructions to kill one if it’s big enough looking all summer and only the one I killed in the mtns has been spotted.

I saw several last year.

BTW- on the diamondback, I don’t want to see those big ones getting killed. That snake is probably 20+ years old and because most all hunters are terrified of the woods, they get killed onsite. It’s sad to me.

There’s plenty of copperheads still to go around, just apparently not for me.:D

[Etter1]

in reply to: Book Recommendation #56188

I have another outdoor (sort of) book to recommend.

It’s the story of an aging surfer/ex drug smuggler/sailor/veteran, who sells his home, buys a camper top for his truck and goes on a search for his best friend who he’s fallen out of touch with. He basically drives from NY to southern california and from there follows the coast south to Costa Rica in search of great surfing and his best friend.

I’m only half way through it but just started it about three days ago. Great Read.

Bunyan, this one’s right up your alley

[Etter1]

in reply to: Book Recommendation #55810

broadhead wrote: Etter1, I just downloaded Coyote Soul on the Kindle. It is next in line on the reading list.

I recently read A Season on the Allegheney by Robert Hilliard. It is an interesting read on the history of the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Along with the history, the author hunorously tells of his season hunting the forest land with his daughter, friends and alone.

I’ll have to check that out. You’ll love “coyote”. Best book I’ve read in a long long time

[Etter1]

in reply to: Good Friend Gets His First! #55182

BuckyT wrote: I misspelled a couple of words.. auto spell check isn’t working…

I just ordered a traditional flintlock too and all the fixins. Maybe you’ll follow me there too:D

Congrats again Tommy!

[Etter1]

in reply to: hog hunting #53696

bobby wrote: i’m relatively new to traditional bow…and i’m sure that the subject of hog hunting has been discussed many times in this forum (so please bear with me). my ultimate goal is to hunt wild boar with my bow. i have no desire to hunt or kill anything in the northeast (where i live)…is there anyone with some info or hints on where i may hunt this “scourge” of the south? any help would be much appreciated…thanks

There’s tons of public land down here in GA that’s loaded with them. I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t want to hunt anything up there but if you like pigs, we got em. We hate em down here. I’m sure if you pm Tailfeather, he can point you to some awesome public land spots in s ga where you could come down and camp and do it for free.

[Etter1]

in reply to: Close Calls, etc. #53690

paleoman wrote: What close calls have you had out there in the bushes? Off the top of my head I think way back to the days of the first climbing tree stands. The ones where you used the seat to pull yourself up . The platform slipped down the tree and I got hyperextended so I couldn’t move 20′ up the tree. I just hung there for about 15 minutes or so and I guess enough adrenalin kicked in to worm out of it!

I’ve had two but only one should have taken my life. I used to rock climb A LOT. I was climbing one day at tallulah gorge in north ga. The base of the climb was up a forested rock ramp, about 100 feet up. After climbing the wall and rapelling back down, I was hiking back down with all my gear and a 165 foot rope on my back, when I tripped and just went to tumbling head over heels. I rolled like that for about 40 yards or so and a root caught my leg. When I looked behind me, my head was about 1 foot from the drop, 100 feet straight to river bedrock. I can’t believe I got so lucky. Almost turned me to religion…..almost:D

Another time, I was about 20 feet up in a buddy’s loc on. I had been sitting for about 2 hrs when the set just ripped and gave out on me. When my safety harness caught me, my toes were still on the platform but I was completely horizontal looking straight down. Would have certainly landed right on my head if not for the harness.

[Etter1]

in reply to: Good Friend Gets His First! #52764

Definitely in the top couple of the best hunters all around that I know, and he’s better with a recurve or (sadly) a compound arrow launcher than anyone I know.

[Author]

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