[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: How many bowyers? #47371

If ya just say it kinda quick and muffled, you don’t really need to know how to pronounce it!

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: who was your mentor? #47369

I grew up in a rural, yet non hunting family. My inspirations are innate; born of a deep seated love for nature, self reliance and history. My mentors came from the pages of classic archery books. Men like Pope, Thompson, Seton, and Hill fanned that innate flicker to flame.

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: in need of council #28329

Well Ariel, if you ever find yourself in SE Idaho in the fall, we’ll go huntin.

What is it that you want to know? Are you looking for advice on building bows or how to get started hunting?

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Spot and stalk black bear? #27206

There’s always public land!

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: new bowyer needs help #26216

I’ve been building bows for about 10 years and I still learn something with every new one I make.

You could get a shooter on your first or second bow, but it’s probably not going to be the best one you’ll ever make. A fault, or blessing, depending on how you look at it, of all bowyers is that we’re never satisfied. In our own minds, we can always make the next one a little better. Once we get past just building a working bow, we’re always tinkering. Weather it be with different designs, woods, or whatever.

Good luck!

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Video for a buddy of shooting selfbows #24470

Nice work, on the bows and videos.

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: How well do you shoot #24445

i’ve never encountered a deer that would stand at 20 yards and let me fling 10 arrows at it.:D

Seriously though, I can’t maintain concentration for that many shots. I usually only shoot 1-3 arrows before retreaving them. When my concentration is on, I can hit a 6″ target at 20 yards every time.

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: grouse and squirrels #24437

I was refering to the grey squirrels down south. I grew up in Florida.:D

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: grouse and squirrels #22744

I’d stay away from the straight blunts for squirrels. I’ve knocked them compleatly off their branch with a 50# bow and 38 blunt. They just hit the ground runnin. Grey squirrels are pound for pound the toughest critters on earth. Grouse, on the other hand, are pushovers. A rubber blunt is all you need for even the biggest blue or ruffie.:wink:

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Some Eratic Flight #20503

R2 makes some good points. I sometimes have trouble shooting at inanimate objects shot after shot. I loose concentration. I shoot much better when I’m out stump shooting and every shot is different and challenging.

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Glad to land here. #20500

if this topic were posted anywhere but here, R2 and I would be labled “liberal tree huggers” and Jesse would be a “predator bashing redneck”.No offence to either party 😀

I’m glad we can have an intelligent conversation on the matter. Mutual respect means a lot.

ch

Oh, by the way, get ready to buy your tag, it looks like we might have a wolf season this year!

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Glad to land here. #52477

Predators always take the blame for depressed game numbers. It is easy to lay blame on predators that are obviously taking their share through direct predation. It’s not so easy to see how habitat loss and fragmentation, community succession, motorized access, human hunting, invasive plant species, loss of fire, and the lot play into the equation. It’s a lot more complex than just wolves.

I know that wolves make it harder to hunt elk, but I challenge everyone to consider the larger picture before forming their opinions.

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: Glad to land here. #51293

If it’s scientific literature you want, do a search on google scholar for wolves and elk. You’ll come up with quite a few citations out of Yellowstone.

First of all, F&G didn’t reintroduce wolves, the feds did. Second, F&G can’t manage wolves untill the feds hand over the reigns. That already happened last year but it was litigated and now they’re listed again.

With that being said, what people don’t take into consideration is the positive impacts of apex predators on game and game habitat. Read the Yellowstone articles and you’ll see what I mean. As an example, I pulled the following quote from one of these scientific articles.
“We found that aspen overstory recruitment ceased during the same years that wolves, a significant source of elk predation, were removed from YNP. Wolves may positively influence aspen overstory recruitment through a trophic cascades effect by reducing elk populations, modifying elk movement, and changing elk browsing patterns on aspen.” Ripple and Larsen 2000

Basicly they’re saying that when wolves were exterpated from Yellowstone, elk populations exploded. The elk browsed the aspen suckers so heavily that there was no regeneration of aspen while wolves were absent. Elk and deer can have devistating and long lasting effects on their habitat when populations are to high.

The number one argument I hear agains wolves is the very one Jesse brought up – these wolves are not native. Every time I hear that, I have to wonder; would these people be pro wolf if the feds were able to find enough “native” wolves to reintroduce? What do you think?

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: wood types in mn #39996

There are several different species of hickory, most of which grow pretty uniform. I’d find a Pignut or Mockernut(although any of them will work) hickory about 6-8 inches DBH (diameter at breast height) that is pretty straight and free of knots and branches up to about 7 ft. Cut’er down, split in half, seal the ends, put it in the barn, and forget about it for a year.

When selecting a tree, you need to look at the bark carefully. It can, with practice, tell you how the grain runs underneath. If the bark spirals around the trunk, no matter how straight the tree may be, the grain will also spiral.

ch

[Clay Hayes]

in reply to: wood types in mn #38531

Do you have any Hickory around?

ch

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