[Champno6]

in reply to: How do you hang your bow? #31312

I spend nearly 60-70 days bowhunting mostly twice a day 3-5 hrs per sitting. Spend all my time in a tree either on portable or small ready built stands. Use mostly all the smallest screw in bow hook I can and use these about 99% of the time. Seldom ever hold my bow or even pick it up until time to shoot, otherwise it’d be too darn hard to hold my book! My whole premis is comfort first. If I’m not comfortable I can’t sit still for very long and the longer I’m in the woods I figure the better my chances are. Can’t even imagine not hanging my bow up or trying to hold it for very long.

[Champno6]

in reply to: For those of you that hunt with wood arrows #31306

It simply amazes me all the folks who have quit shooting their compounds and gone back to longbows and recurves to be more “traditional” and then go and shoot carbon arrows or even aluminum. I’m pretty much with Don Thomas on this one and have been shooting wood arrows for over 45 years with no problems I can determine. And this from mostly 45 to 50# bows. Yes, all this mostly on deer but plenty of them. I don’t think it’s hard to find good cedar shafts these days, they’re just about 10 times more expensive than they ought to be because they can be. IMO very very few archers today could tell any difference in accuracy between well made wood arrows and aluminum or carbon shot out of hunting bows.

[Champno6]

in reply to: Ideal Broadhead weight #31272

Not sure what my “ideal” weight is but I’ve been shooting Bear Razorheads with bleeders glued on cedar shafts for about 45 years and they weigh about 145 gr with the bleeders. Have only shot deer mainly with them and moderately light cedar shafts. Never remember an arrow not flying fairly good but I do spend alot of time getting the broadhead on true and the nock on true and shoot 3 full 5″ feathers from 45 to 50 # bows. When I miss, and I certainly do, it’s my fault and not my equipment. Never heard of FOC or EFOC or single bevel broadheads until recently and doubt I’ll start worrying about it now. I believe more animals have still been harvested with a bear razorhead then all the rest put together including elephants, buffalo and other thick skin big game. Never seemed to bother Fred Bear too much.

[Champno6]

in reply to: This one really takes the cake! #16888

Well, this just goes to show there really is a sucker born every minute. This is right up there with buying bottles of water and pet rocks. If P.T. Barnum were around today he’d be selling both of these along with bottles of air and sure as shooting, somebody would actually pay for a bottle of air!

[Champno6]

in reply to: Wood Arrows???? #58836

There is nothing and I mean absolutely nothing even remotely traditional about shooting a carbon arrow. Why go to all the trouble to shoot a recurve or longbow, claim to be a traditional archer, and then shoot a carbon arrow?

[Champno6]

in reply to: taking off nocks #58831

Traditional nocks were not built to snap on the string. Modern snap nocks completely detract from a good set of wood arrows. If you want your nock to hold on the string yet still look like a traditional nock, simply hold the nock in front of a hot tea kettle or dip it in boiling water for a few seconds and simply pinch it a bit. Best way to remove a nock from a wood arrow is with a knife and carefully and slowly cut it off. Be careful not to slice too much into the shaft.

[Champno6]

in reply to: To burn or cut is the question? #58808

No difference in flight whether feathers are burnt or chopped. Burnt feathers are exactly the same, every time, every feather while chopped feathers can be a bit different depending how you hold them in the chopper. However, even if your feathers are quite a bit different you won’t likely notice any difference in how they fly from those arrows fletched with all perfectly the same feathers. A feather burner will cost you more money but wires don’t cost much and you can have a wire shaped for every shape and length feather you want. You can adjust the length of feathers in a chopper about 1/2 “. Much more or less or different shapes and you’ll need to buy another chopper. If you’re an old timer and can remember what a real archery shop smelled like when you walked into it and smelled the cedar shafts and the burnt feathers you’ll burn your feathers, much more nostalgic. Chopped feathers are ready to go soon as they’re fletched. Burnt feathers need to be cleaned up a bit then tapered down smooth at the front end, probably with a really sharp knnife or sandpaper on a dowel. Be sure to add one small drop of fletching cement to that tapered front of each feather to help smooth it even more and secure it to the shaft. Burning feathers is smokey and can really smell so be warned, it may be best to do this out in the garage. If you’re going to all the trouble to make your own arrows and want to put all you can into them, then dip and crest and burn the feathers. Like TJ said, you’ll enjoy and appreciate them all that much more.

[Champno6]

in reply to: Hunting Binoculars #58355

I have a pair of Bushnell 7X26 custom compacs that I’ve had for over 25 years and they’re great and very high quality. Weigh 10 or 11 oz I believe and are very convenient and compact to carry. They fold in the middle and are much more convenient to use than those compacts that fold at each side. Bought a pair of Zeiss Diafun 8X30 a couple years ago and they are very nice too. These weigh 16 oz. As far as I can see these Zeiss Diafun are about the only roof prism glasses that weigh anywhere near only 1 lb., the max wt I’d consider as a lightweight binocular Both binoculars are good quality and reasonably affordable for most of us. No idea how much better the Swarovski’s, Leitz, or much more expensive binos are as can’t afford these anyway.

[Champno6]

in reply to: For those of you that hunt with wood arrows #58343

Been shooting wood arrows for over 40 years. Never even heard of FOC or the Dr. Ashby ‘best broadhead/best penetration’ designs until recently. And never shot much of anything but Bear razorheads with and w/o the inserts with pretty good results. Starting to wonder now how I ever killed anything without all this crucial knowledge. Didn’t seem to bother Fred Bear much or Howard Hill. I see all the ads today for this or that ‘best’ broadhead and still bet more game has been brought down with a bear razorhead than all the rest put together. Very sad Bear archery doesn’t offer the old glue on Bear razorhead anymore. Very much agree with Don Thomas’ assessment recently in Traditional Archery that for the most part hitting them where you’re supposed to is the best assurance of a clean kill. I think most of us need “bone-splitting” penetration and special FOC arrows like we need a hole in the head. A cedar arrow with a Bear razorhead (145 gr w bleeder) will work well on about anything most of us hunt.

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