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in reply to: Eagle Eye Champion-Ron Swartz #38636
I had talked to Ron prior to the event and he said he was going to enter. It was a “why the heck not,” sort of deal, with half the proceeds from shooter entry fees going to an organization for veterans. Then last night I talked to him and he told the whole story. Wish I could have been there to watch, and be among the happy “losers.”
At first glance, Ron looks like a guy you wouldn’t want to get into a bar fight with, and you probably wouldn’t because he’s likely to have something very sharp with him at all times. 😈 But in fact he’s a big old sweetie. Sorry, Ron. And congratulations for some great shooting. You deserve the limelight. Dave
in reply to: My Setup Adequate for Elk??? #37551Well danged,Scout, I haven’t even posted, until now, since I changed it earlier today. Had no idea that it apparently goes back and changes on every post I’ve made here. Yeah, I guess it is sort of out of season with the winter garb. But I thought we’d seen more than enough of Dave in war paint and time for the kinder, gentler me, ho-ho. I’d be the world’s skinniest Santa. And poor old Blitzo etc. or whatever Santa’s caribou are called … 8) I’d have to start practicing for aerial targets.
in reply to: My Setup Adequate for Elk??? #37059Handirifle — do you have a nearby WallyMart? Ours here has individual CE shafts year-round,from $4 to $7 and often on sale for less. That’s how I got started with carbons, buying a handful on sale. They use a different spine coding than normal, like 45-65 rather than 250. But it’s a bit of a hassle since they come with aluminum inserts and plastic vanes. I sliced off the vanes and replaced with feathers, and the shafts come long enough, 32″ I believe, to cut off the alum insert and replace with brass. Come to think of it, it’s probably not worth the hassle. I think Archery Past, Dave Doran, will sell single shafts, bare or with feathers. I recently bought a half dozen CE 250s from him, fletched with banana cut feathers and loaded up the front ends for the first UFOC arrows, and some of the best shooting, I’ve been able to build. I shoot mid-50s pound bows.
in reply to: Broadhead Targets #37050Pothunter — For years I too have used a similar target — a burlap bag crammed tight with heavy plastic sheeting I get free at the post office. Great for field points but unusable for broadheads, which tend to shoot through and if not, get hung up impossibly when trying to extract them. So I was forced to foam, which is excellent but very short-lived. so back to the dirt pile. Do you shoot broadheads into your rag bag?
in reply to: My Setup Adequate for Elk??? #36067Handirifle — Makes good sense to me. And I would never suggest that aluminum shafts aren’t up to snuff for elk. They certainly are, so long as they’re set up heavy with as much FOC as possible … which is one of their disadvantages. Another is that for most sizes only light aluminum inserts are available, which the Ashby study has show can break esp. with angled impact on heavy bone (the ultimate test for system integrity). But you have brass inserts which will solve both those weaknesses. Occassionally, I still find one of my old aluminum 2117s out in the woods where I hunt, lying there for decades (it’s been a long time since I shot them) of weather and a devastating wildfire. The feathers are long gone and the paint is gone or very faded but the plastic nocks generally remain, if not melted off, and the points still in place. I envision some future archaeologist finding one of my arrows and contemplating how us primitive folk used to live. 😛 Dave
in reply to: My Setup Adequate for Elk??? #35782This is not a criticism, but an honest question: I am increasingly curious why anyone still shoots aluminum shafts when carbons have so very many advantages and the price difference isn’t that significant. Even more curious, there seems to be more loyalty to aluminum shafts among trad shooters than among the compound crew. Our local hi-tech wheelie bow shop, for example, is phasing out alum shafts due to falling demand. I suspect habit and inertia is the primary cause of loyalty to aluminums, but if there are true advantages for aluminum over carbon I’d be interested to learn what they are. Trying to keep an open mind, thanks. Dave
in reply to: Big Rains in NW Illinois & Extreme Weather #34975WIcanner — not at all to make small of your drowning situation there, but we are so desperate for rain here in SW CO, and all my lesser efforts such as washing the truck, hanging out laundry, etc,. having failed — I made the ultimate sacrifice today and took a long scouting hike into the mountains purposely without rain gear and in just a think shirt and jeans. I’m a firm believer in Murphy’s law and by golly I fooled him again! Started raining as soon as I got a fair distance from the rig and rained hard the whole time I was out there, with strong wind and some soft hail, and now, back at home dry and warm. It’s still raining. I really don’t know what sort of things a feller might do to get it to quit raining, but I hope your basement doesn’t flood. I don’t have one. Dave
in reply to: LONG BOW LIMBS BENT #33682Welcome to tradbow.com,Tomma. You bow could go either way, but if you’re serious about getting into archery and bowhunting my recommendation would be to hang it on the wall and buy a glass-backed bow, which you can find new really cheap and top-end custom bows used at great prices if you shope around. it will be SO much easier to tune and get you to shooting well. Once you’ve climbed the learning curve, then you might want to go back and mess with it. At least that’s they way I’d go about it. Dave
in reply to: More wildlife pics #33681Thanks, Wayne, good to know not everyone hates me. 😀
Rick — Your pics beat mine to pieces because you, rather than a robot cam, took them. We haven’t had a pine marten here since the fires of ’01 (or was it ’02). They used to entertain me frequently when sitting on stand. Have you ever seen one run flat-out? Pure greased lightning and with such short legs. Love the muley fawns and the scenery where the elk are. I belive that boot-leather scouting before season, and to some extent game cams if we’re not just using them to advantage in hunting, really help us to open our eyes and minds to all the beauty and life going on out there.Because trad bowhunters usually spend more time in the field scouting and hunting, and have to be invisible, we see, thus experience and enjoy,more of undisturbed wild nature than anyone else. What a blessing. Davein reply to: Broadhead Targets #33672Scout — I have one of the big foam block targets — maybe 18×18″ — that’s square with the ends for target points, and the sides for broadheads. Got it on sale a year ago, cheap. I’m shooting my Tuffheads into it and they penetrate some 2/3 through and pull out easily — I’m yet to have one pull out in the target as I have with wider heads in the past. Only problem is that they’re tearing the target up pretty fast; just slicing it to shreds so that soon they’ll be passing plumb through. I’ve ordered some matching target points and if they shoot to the same place as the Tuffheads I’ll quit shooting the broadheads and touch them up for the season before they get dull. The only overall satisfactory target I’ve found for broadheads is a big pile of clean dirt or sand. It dulls heads fast and rubs paint and Teflon off, but I don’t mind sacrificing a couple of heads to the cause. I’m surprised your thinner targets stop those long skinny wicked heads at all.
in reply to: Tuffhead update #33333Mike — I use 100-grain brass inserts.
in reply to: My Setup Adequate for Elk??? #31618Mike, I’m just another Ashby student and now that Ed is among us again I trust he will stop by to correct and amplify my take on your question, but to get the thread rolling,like so: 650 total weight is the “heavy bone threshhold” in the Ashby studies, above which, assuming the broadhead is adequate to the task, you have a very good chance of getting lethal bone penetration on big tough animals, and below which your chances are not as good. Thus, 650 is the starting point that must be attained before FOC really kicks in. Beyond 650, in his recent study updates, Ed demonstrates that increases in FOC increase penetration faster than do increases in total weight. So, as you suggest, you’re great on total weight and mediocre on FOC. If you can easily experiment with more weight up front, why not do it? My own experience is that more weight up front, while increasing total weight, doesn’t seem to affect trajectory as much as more overall weight without increasing FOC (that is, heavier shafts). I don’t think you’ll have any problem from that 62# bow, if she’s reasonably fast, adding a bit more weight. On the other hand, I would be supremely confident with your setup as it is now. So I guess my bottom line answer is that from here on, go for accuracy first. If it decreases with more weight, fall back to where you are. So long as spine is sufficient, my accuracy increases with the more weight I add to the front and we’ve heard many others report the same. The Tusker Concord, while not among the celebrities of the new generation of single-bevels, is an absolutely solid head that I’ve tested on elk and otherwise with excellent results, and a relative bargain for the price. Enjoy, dave
in reply to: Tuffhead update #31096Ed — Indeed, Joe has glue-on brass heads in 225 and I hadn’t explored his website far enough to note that. I just ordered half a dozen, thanks. I’ll use the same 125 screw-on adapters as with the broadheads to get the 350 I need. An expensive and clunky way to get there, but it’s what we have to work with now. Steel field point makers need to continue upping the weights they offer, as the market continues to trend toward heavier broadheads, a good thing! Dave
in reply to: HEAVY SPINE/ GREAT FLIGHT??? #30132Hmmmmm … With ABS carbon shafts, which have a stronger and weaker side due to the unique way they’re made, you have to get the fletching position just right or they wobble. Excellent shafts except for this hassle which drove me away from them. With CE you just fletch ’em any old way and screw in the heads. I don’t know about other brands but someone here will as I’m still mostly a woody guy who just dabbles in carbons mostly for max FOC. But I have no problems with the CE’s and broadhead orientation and haven’t heard of such from anyone else. Awaiting more input from others …
in reply to: HEAVY SPINE/ GREAT FLIGHT??? #30005Perhaps I’m confused, but it seems you are talking apples and oranges here. There are heavy arrows with light spine, and vice versa. But of the three primary shaft materials, aluminum is the hardest to get heavy weight with, being light to start with and for most sizes, only lightweight aluminum inserts available. You might consider trying carbon, which offer a lot of advantages over alum. IMHO, including a very forgiving spine range. In other words, CE 250s shoot well from all four of my bows including a 54# K-Mag, and with points from 125 up to 320 (plus 100 grain inserts and 125 grain adapters). Neither alum nor wood offers that wide a spine range, and it sure makes life easier. Plus, most of the weight winds up at the front where it belongs. Dave
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