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in reply to: Broadheads #17046
Longbow4 — a traditional welcome to you here. You would do very well to start by reading T.J. Conrad’s “The Traditional Bowhunter’s Handbook.” I’d been doing it for decades when I first read it, and still I learned a lot. A bit of a learning curve, you bet, but that’s a big part of the fun. It’s all about welcoming personal challenge, as opposed to taking the easy way out and pretending. IMHO. dave
in reply to: December 24th, 1958 #15550Jim — Ed Abbey was a close friend and the most influential person in my life. You’re aware I’m sure of him writing about he and his brother Hoots, when they were quite young, holding the spotlight while dad shot a deer from the field once in a while. This would have been not long after the Depression and the meat was truly needed. I hope economic times are better there now. Interesting and fortunate for me that now another Ed A. has become significant in my life. 😀 dave
in reply to: help w/hog hunt #14610TX has several ranches where you can hunt feral pigs and javalina. All charge a fee unless you know someone. There have been articles in TBM about these hunts in the past, with at least one big ranch catering to trad bowhunters. You should be able to choose from full service down to just paying a tresspass fee for a diy. Surely someone here has info. In the west I think TX is your only choice. Good luck, dave
in reply to: Grunting 101 #14605Just back from the (first of two) AZ hunt, and I did try some grunting, etc. It’s pre-rut now for those Sonoran whitetails with full rut not until mid-Jan. I grunted in one buck right to my stand, and he was an entirely different animal than the relaxed Coues I saw otherwise. Never saw anything like it and that was the end of my brief grunting career, at least pre-rut. Rattling produced nothing, though I watch a couple of bucks sparring so the timing was good. The “can” doe in heat call works pretty well — for calling in curious does. A rifle hunter friend said he uses the grunter to get deer to stand from their day beds when he’s glassing for something to stalk. On windy days they stay bedded all day, so that’s a good trick that could work for bowhunters too. I’m anxious to see if and how any of this changes during the rut-prime hunt next month. Thanks for all the good input, dave
in reply to: pop-up ground blinds #14598Well, the hunt in question is over. I hauled the new blind down to AZ but never got it out of the truck. Sat in ground blinds and a tree stand instead. I’ve never liked tree stands and rarely ever used them, but I became quite fond of this setup and sat it out about 20′ up 8 hours a day, 6 days running and wish I were still down there sitting in it now. Maybe if they built a pop-up blind that was only 2′ high all around and topless, I could go for it. Anyone want a screaming deal on a NRE Primos blind, never used? I’m serious. As several of you have noted, claustrophobia is the key word. And I just enjoy building and using brush blinds. Oh well, a bold experiment into modernity. Thanks for all the very good advice along the way. dave
in reply to: December 24th, 1958 #14594Ed — My first was also a whitetail doe, at age 18 in ’62. (Me, not the doe.) You beat me to the punch then as now. 😛 Wishing you a wholly healthy and hunt-filled new year. dave
in reply to: Beginner Basics #5445310 — I agree with John’s advice in general, assuming you plan to spend a fair amount of time target shooting before you start hunting. Lots of folks who can afford it have more than one bow, one or some for target archery, and one or more for hunting. Few would argue that longer bows make better target bows, while shorter bows, within limits, are far better for hunting. If you want to compromise, most bowyers I’ve talked to would recommend 62″ whether recurve or longbow. “The Traditional Bowhunter’s Handbook,” by T.J. Conrads, comes highly recommended and I suggest buying and reading it before you buy a bow. And the best advice of all is to try to work a way to shoot a bow before you buy it, and to shoot several before you buy any. If you can arrange to attend any of the big trad events, held mostly in the East in late winter, like Kalamazoo, MI to name but one good one, you can shoot dozens of great bows and talk with the folks who make them. Anticipation is always a big part of the fun, so it’s counterproductive to rush it. Best luck, dave p
in reply to: Where do we send our field study forms #54438Jason — Unless Dr. Ashby comes on to counter this with an update, he continues to be mobile, staying with friends while he heals from serial surgeries, but really wants to receive these written reports. Until he’s up to snuff to rejoin us here and speak for himself, you can send your forms to me at POB 2466, Durango, CO 81302 and I will forward to the Doc when I get his current address. Thanks for contributing to the study. Dave p
in reply to: Too old to hunt? #48494Welcome aboard, Kansas! In my books, anyone of any age who bowhunts with traditional gear and values, is young. Anyone of any age who hunts with all the crutches they can legally use to make things easier on them physically, has already given up and might as well be old.
in reply to: Nock left? #47406Ray — thanks for this link. On first glance-through it looks very interesting. I have printed the entire thing out for study and future reference. Who is the author? dave p
in reply to: Appropriate discussion? #462112blade — The Doc is staying with a friend down in NM while recovering from his second knee replacement. The friend’s computer crashed (apparently Ed doesn’t have one with him) and that cost some down time. So first the host had to catch up with his own backlog, then Ed had nearly 300 emails to work through. In short, he doesn’t have all that much online time available right now and feels he needs to handle personal mail before going back “public” here. He WILL be back but I wanted to explain the long absence. So far as your question, a study of the Ashby research will clearly show that compared to overall arrow weight, speed means comparatively little. It’s the old energy vs. momentum argument that was long ago settled for most trad shooters who are dealing with slower bows. Even some of the wheelie community are starting to come around. To paraphrase Doc, speed stops the moment of impact and the lighter the arrow the faster it slows and stops. Think of a very fast dart and a relatively slow spear. So the short answer to your question — in my interpretation as a student, not an expert, is that the first setup will penetrate far better, particularly in the event of a heavy bone strike. Others here may differ or agree, and may be able to point you to the best place to start reading in the Ashby Library. dp
in reply to: Too old to hunt? #46202T — Only 10 more years of active hunting for me? 😕 Oh, that’s sobering! May I please have 15? 😛 I smoke (not a lot, but daily), I drink (not a lot, but daily) and I love rich chocolate ice cream. Yes, I stay very physically active and have most of my life. But bottom line, I’m just lucky to have inherited “good” genes. All of my father’s side of the family lived forever — crazy as loons, but long-lived. 😆 dave2old
in reply to: pop-up ground blinds #45023Lloyd — thanks for posting and welcome to the tradbow campfire circle. 😀 Dave P.
in reply to: Wet wool smell #45019To my nose (such as it is), the new generation of merino wool/nylon (usually a n 80/20) blend clothing (doesn’t itch and doesn’t shrink) lacks the distinctive wool smell, for better or worse. It’s the only wool I wear any more and I love it in pants, shirts and jackets, and sock caps.
in reply to: Too old to hunt? #45015Bravo, Gary! I’m 64 and going strong as ever, except I need more sleep; can go a couple of nights way short (night before a season opening in hunting camp is always a party :D), but then it catches up with me. As we age and have to deal with cumulative insults to our bodies — for most folks it’s overweight and longterm lack of regular exercise, or in my case old athletic injuries) we have to adjust our attitude toward pain. Easy to say, much harder to do, but possible. I think of the pain I feel when exercising as weakness and “unhealth” exiting my body. It helps some.
When I get too old to hunt the way I’ve always believed hunting should be done — on foot, on my own power — I’ll get a low-poundage bow and continue backyard shooting while making up for all the years I’ve neglected fly fishing in favor of bowhunting. It’s all fun and we are all so lucky in so many ways. dave
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