[David Petersen]

in reply to: Technical question plz #11815

Deaddrift — Welcome aboard! This won’t be the advice you’re seeking, but I recommend forgetting about the screw-mount quiver and buying one with rubber straps. They are quick and quiet to put on and off and you won’t need to risk scratching your bow. Otherwise, I’d phone the manufacturer and ask advice. Good luck, dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: good old mushroom #11813

Dead — these are open forums and nobody ever “breaks in.” You contribute to the discussion! Indeed there is a false morel, and I wish I had a photo so we could show them side by side. But aside from the name this “falsie” is far more easily identifiable than any other immitators I know. Rather than being conical and with a patterened crenulation, the false morel is rounded and really ugly, convoluted, like an exposed brain. But you are absolutely right that everyone should check a book before they pick and eat. But compared to other ‘shrooms once you see the two compared, I don’t see any way even a blind person picking by brail could mistake them. Chanterelles, for an “on the other hand” example, can be deeply confusing and difficult to tell from nasty fakes. Alas, thanks to a late winter followed immediately by drought, our morel take here in SW CO this year was — zero.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Classified Section #11805

Steve — Yes, Fenton to be exact. Aside from Shrew, Gregg has his own line of bows, JavaMan, which are significantly different and have a sort of Eastern or Asian look about them. dp

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Classified Section #11109

Thanks for the plug, Patrick. I’ve often wondered why other trad sites have well-established and oft-posting “Shrew cults,” while here I seem to be alone. Of course we remain young. We definitely have a Black Widow cult among us (of which I was once an enthusiastic part, for sure). But no others. Too bad as cults are fun! 🙂 Shrew is odd insofar as they have made the wise decision to stay small with just one bowyer, the world’s best bowyer in my opinionated opinion, among many excellent bowyers, Gregg Coffey, aka Java Man, who does all the building work. Gregg won’t even farm out the “low-tech prep” work like lam grinding to anyone else and builds just a few dozen bows a year in his home shop, refusing to rush the pleasure of building a few into the stress of building too many. And Shrew’s owner and founder, Ron LeClair, shares that “quality over quantity” approach and never urges Gregg to take on a helper. With a waiting list now at 14 months, they don’t need to advertise and they don’t need Shrew nerds like me raving about their artful products. So no wonder it’s such a well-kept secret. I mean, it took me decades to discover Shrew myself (though I’m only interested in Gregg-built models). Trad archers today are blessed with a wealth of superb custom bowyers and bows. So the idea of “best” is absolutely inappropriate and I’m not saying that at all. What it is, is “best for me and best for you, personal choice.”

But oops, back to Patrick’s original theme — indeed, there must be hundreds if not thousands of folks wanting to sell excellent bows at a bargain at any given time. And an equal number looking to buy on a deal. A bow ain’t a car and if I can get what I want cheap used rather than expensive new, I’ll go that route every time. So, as Mr. P advises, let’s take more advantage of these free class ads. Not necessarily mine at the moment as I’m just as happy to keep as to sell (but don’t tell my wife I said that, as I have three Shrews and it’s hard enough to respond cleverly when she points out that “But you can only shoot one at a time!” I’m working on it. :oops::wink:

[David Petersen]

in reply to: A few things I've learned #11085

“Whats the best daypack?”
Hiram, are you trying to hijack your own thread! :lol::wink:
Ain’t we done that one before?
Just a side note — hijinxing the attempted hijack — on all hunter’s sites I’ve visited, gear discussions far outnumber all others. Magazines of course, and of necessity to a point, pay lots of attention to gear since gear ads for the most part pay the bills. But why are we so obsessed with stuff we can just flash the plastic and buy? Just curious here — why the apparent majority fixation on gear rather than woodsmanship, technique, places, feelings, stories and all the rest that makes up real hunting? I see hunting as a mini-culture under the wing of Big Momma Culture. And BM tells us we can buy happiness and success. Again, no criticism or lecturing or anything else involved here other than curiosity. I’ll never understand the human animal. Esp. my wife! 😛 Of course, she says the same for men/me. dp

[David Petersen]

in reply to: EFoc and Carbon Arrows #10905

Mike — You’re way over my technical level with all of this, so not much I can offer. Except to say that I have some of the same shafts and simply keep loading on weight up front and see how far I can get away with it. With shafts cut to 29″ bop for my 28″ draw, so far I’ve never exceeded spine and the more weight up front, the better they shoot. I’ve settled on a setup that provides 680 grains total with 26+ FoC.

Down at my low-tech level of experimentation, while Ashby’s data can be made to argue that FoC is even more important than minimal bone penetration arrow weight, which he puts at 650 grains, I don’t see it that way in my experience with elk. I say get that 650 first and foremost even if it means going to a heavier shaft that reduced FoC. But there’s really no reason we can have both with carbons. It’s all fun. dp

[David Petersen]

in reply to: DO I NEED LESSONS? #10070

Robin — Ah, with my wife gone to England, it’s so good to have another woman to keep me in line! 😉 (“If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?”) Seriously, thanks. I rarely drink or smoke before breakfast, so I have no excuse! :shock::oops: dummydave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: The Bama Bow, it only gets better #10065

Cottonwood — did you already post pics that I missed? dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Got another one addicted to tradbows! #10051

Indeed, “awesome.” I think often about how many folks are out there who would instantly become converts if only they had an introduction like you provided for your friend. I mean, what’s a more fun social hobby than range and league archery? Bowling? Golf? You name it, and by comparison trad archery is more fun and less expensive to get into.

Where I draw the line when talking to people — generally compound device shooters — about the potential lifelong joys of trad archery and bowhunting, is when they say (as the pulley folks so often do) “I just don’t have time to practice enough. I can set up the sights on my XXXSuperWhatEverDartDeliverySuperHero, and never have to practice at all!” To which I honestly respond, “Best stay where you are then, as traditional archery and bowhunting are for those who see practice as a pleasure in itself, not some obnoxious requirement to be minimized.” Indeed, I was a trad archer before I was old enough to be a bowhunter, and when I can no longer pull a longbow or recurve heavy enough to ethically take game, I’ll still be a backyard archer, even if I can only pull 25 pounds. Because it’s fun! Because it’s good for the body, the mind and the soul! Traditional is not a “practical” thing. Traditional is a spiritual thing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Trad archery isn’t something we suffer through so we can hunt with a stickbow and feel elite. Trad archery is a visceral deep-time what-it-means-to-be-human joy in and of itself. You’ve heard the phrase (and book title) “the Zen of archery.” Excuse me, but Zen is of archery, not archery is of Zen. Traditional archery is Zen! Dave (Please excuse any excesses in my posts this evening, but I tend to get a bit — over-excited — when my wife is gone. And this time she’s been gone too long, and too far away. I’m the one who’s “supposed” to go away and leave her home alone, not the other way around! 🙄

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Bow Season vs. Crossbows #10033

Bravo Barn Owl — are you perhaps a college English professor? That’s sure creatively well-writ! and Cottonwood, and all us others who don’t mind that other persuasions “get their fair share” so long as they don’t get theirs and a piece of ours too! It’s not about “a guy should be able to hunt with his weapon of choice.” It’s about protecting our nominally “primitive weapons” archery seasons (so called here in CO at least) from constant, well-funded pressure to open it up to … well, just about everything! Our shrinking hunting areas already are FAR too crowded (unless you have access to lots of private land). We don’t need more hunters at the cost of pretend-archery weapons that dumb everything down and attract the lowest denominator of “sportsmen.” We need more Real Hunters who want a personal challenge, not a store-bought easy way out. Forgive my echo sound, but “Crossguns and (what do we call them now since so many don’t load from the muzzle and don’t use black powder?) fake “primitive” rifles belong in rifle season. Not in archery season! Not in elk rut! As Don Thomas has so wisely said, “To hell with the ‘Big Tent’ theory!” dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: DO I NEED LESSONS? #9562

Wade — There are many good sharpeners on the market but for two blades it seems everyone who has tried it is really happy with the KME knife sharpener (yes, it works equally well on knives and broadheads). It has an adjustable angle device to put you where you want and prevent rounding-off of edges which is common to freehand sharpening. Works on both double- and single-bevels. Google KMI Sharpeners and you’ll find some really helpful how-to videos there. I was in your boat on sharpening until I found the KME. No, I don’t own stock in the company. 😉 I just really like the product and respect the owner, Ron “Sharpster” Swartz (though I’d like to see him post here more often). Worth checking out. DP

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Technology Kills Tradition? #8961

What part of the antler is that, VD? Basal portion of main beam? I have mammoth ivory tips on one of my Shrews, and antler tips and handle inlays from an elk I killed on another of my Shrews (I now have three of the lovely little artworks but don’t tell the wife, please). The only place in life I’m superstitious is hunting, and for that reason I feel good about having a personal touch of some sort on all my bows, even those I don’t build myself. The best of course would be to grow your own osage (or whatever) tree to build the bow from then trim it with antler you either killed or picked up (sheds) yourself. And, as Patrick might add/ask, a bowstring made from dental floss used long ago by the highschool girlfriend you still fantasize about? 😛 Beat you to that one, eh P?) But seriously, I’d love to have a closer look and feel the heft of this unique antler handle. dp

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Fawn Creek Campground, Libby MT #8526

I think the Longbow Safari and the Primitive events are joined there for the same weekend. Chad Sivertsen knows.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: broadheads #61886

Cottonwood — what you doing up at 4:13 a.m. when there’s no hunting seasons on? Going fishing? :P:lol::P

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Footed Shafts #61882

Steve — I have a dozen gorgeous footed pine hex shafts from Whispering Wind Arrows in MT. I fleteched and finished them myself. They fly beautifully and all are straight. A friend bought basically the same shafts from the same place a year before and several were bent and he can’t get ’em straight. But forget about footed shafts adding much to FoC unless they’re built expressly for that purpose, which involves exotic woods and more $$$. I’d check The Feathered Shaft, which is Fletcher, who posts here and is a master arrowsmith. dp

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