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in reply to: Arrow Weights #59550
Welcome here, letitgo! If you’ll allow a bit of latitude from your question, and to take Doc Nock’s lead … while I’ve loved archery since before I was old enough to hunt, and hope to still enjoy it after I’m too old to hunt, and while I appreciate friendly competition except when it comes to killing living things … practice of any sort is all about hunting for me. That’s to say: it’s just practice. I have very limited 3d experience and never in a seriously competitive situation … so I may not have the background to speak helpfully if your goal is serious 3d competitive shooting. That said, and speaking for myself only, I’ve not had any good luck at all switching arrows and arrow weights for various purposes. So while yes I’d think you could definitely do better at 3D with lighter arrows–especially since it often goes to ranges far beyond ethical hunting distance and you’re not out for max penetration–I can’t switch around like that. I have found out through hard experience that I need to stick with one arrow setup for everything in order to assure max accuracy when the pressure is on. And for hunting, the arrow needs to be at least 650 grains with as much of that weight as possible up front, in order to feel confident that “luck” is not in control. So, back to the beginning–it all depends on what’s most important to you, along with your ability to switch arrow weight, FOC and even bows without losing accuracy no matter the pressure (as some can do but I can not). I do best with “one bow, one arrow” for everything. And in “everything,” a clean compassionate kill easily comes first. But I was always a one-woman man as well. Best luck in sorting it all out.
in reply to: best ATV ever? #58424Doc — Is that really you? I rather hope not, but am coming increasingly to accept the sour wisdom of “It is what it is.”
“Too old to fight, so we just KILL!” Now THAT’s more like it! Not re hunting, of course.
Alex–Now we’re talkin’. Leave it to the Swiss to outclass us Yanks every time. If you have a higher resolution of that pic, can you please send my way. And this fall, first time in many years, Pond Spring had water in it, and lots of elk … alas, I discovered this good news too late to do me any good.
in reply to: Good Reads #54010Thanks for the website link … now we finally know what the mysterious BS looks like. I’m betting you regularly get carded at the liquor store, eh Bruce? 😆 Somehow I had you pictured as older, like most of the rest of the world it seems. Misery loves company.
in reply to: The Trad Knife Thread #52938Bruce– I love your Chan quote! Can you offer a citation so I can further explore it/him? Thanks, dp
in reply to: Forrester Wood Shafts #52933Indeed, Kevin is an arrow-shaft artist. I have examined, handled and shot a variety of his shafts. Alas, if I’m going to shoot woods, they must be tapered, and at this point, last I checked, he sells only parallel. That’s the only thing keeping me away, and it’s a purely personal preference. I’ve been hoping he would add tapers to his offerings, at which point I’ll be on board.
So far as the carbon-vs.-wood argument … it’s an analogy for human intelligence, of which there are also two basic types or categories: technical intellect, aka “cleverness,” which has provided the world of comforts and computers we now live in; cleverness puts people on the moon and brings them home alive. The other type of intellect can be called “wisdom,” which carries our humility and self-restraint and “heart.” Tragically, our cleverness has so far outstripped our wisdom that the future isn’t looking bright.
Take this back around to arrows shafts, and it comes down to carbons being “clever” and functionally unbeatable. Yet carbons lack the wisdom of wood, that is, they have no soul. Yet when it comes to killing animals I respect and love, I want lethality, which equates to humanity, aka heart and soul.
I doubt this argument will ever go away, nor should it.
Sorry to get so far away from your appreciation of Kevin as a businessman, with which in my experience I absolutely agree. He also assures me that all his “exotic” woods are commercially grown and no rain forest deforestation is involved. That’s a crucial issue.
in reply to: NJ Winter Bow #50719Alex — A bunch of trad bowhunters getting together in the woods is always fun. But isn’t it tough to get a high-odds ethical shot on driven running deer? And doesn’t their adrenaline being pumped-up affect the flavor of the meat? “I haven’t said enough; I’ve already said too much.”
Don’t have to worry about that here, as it’s illegal.
My own favorite among tailfeather’s list comes at the bottom, in his sign-off quote from The Big Sky. I was greatly privileged to know and even work with Bud Guthrie during the last decade of his life. I (and many others, including the Pulitzer judges in 1951) rank Guthrie as high among the greatest writers America has ever produced. Start with The Big Sky and you’ll be hooked for all the others to follow … as happened to me in my early teens. It’s the nature of our culture that even the greatest among us, as time goes on, will be forgotten in favor of contemporary mediocrity. Reading Guthrie is an antidote to that sad short-sightedness.
in reply to: Custom Bow Makers #45911The bows you are currently considering, plus all the others mentioned above that I have any experience with, are good choices. But after years of “shooting around” I settled on Java Man (Gregg Coffey, in MI). Last time I checked, a standard bow, most models, is under $700. He builds each one totally by himself, and specializes in short bows that perform like longer bows. The long wait is understandably a put-off for anyone with the need, or the hots, for a new bow.
in reply to: Free Class on Land Ethics #44917I just signed up. For those of you who haven’t before read Sand County Almanac, you’re in for a treat. For me and many others for who hunting and the outdoors is a way of life, not just a seasonal pastime, Leopold is the beginning and the end. He saw it all clearly back then, and said it more precisely and memorably than anyone has since, and his ideas and dictums remain unimpeachable today. I can never have too many refresher courses on this remarkable man’s conservation and personal epiphanies and how they will always influence us going forward. Also Leopold was the Stephen Hawking of sporting conservation. Plus he’s easy and fun to read, the wisdom of his ideas being self-evident.
in reply to: Carbon vs. Hardwood #44897I’ve had great luck with both carbons and hardwoods re not breaking behind the head, which is something I’ve had all softwoods I’ve tested do on a regular basis. If you just want a good solid heavy arrow, hardwoods are generally reliable. But if you want most of that heavy-arrow weight up front for good EFOC, carbons are your only choice. I shot Grizzly STicks years ago and did have some breakage up front. Since then I’ve used nothing but good old cheap reliable Carbon Express Heritage (250 shafts behind 450 up front) with no breakage in testing and only one breakage on an elk, years ago, where about half the shaft was protruding from the off-side after hitting ribs in and out and it broke mid-shaft when the animal ran close to a tree. I recovered both arrow halves and elk. My first two pass-through shots ever on elk were with a compressed hickory shaft and a 125-grain two-blade head (killed both elk with the same arrow and head), weighing 843 grains total if I recall. The third elk I shot with that arrow, hit the scapula and the head broke in half, the arrow fell out with on an inch or so penetration, and I never saw that bull again. That was when I learned to used a heavy sturdy head as well as a sturdy shaft. Like a spacecraft launch, if a single element of the system fails, the system and mission will also fail. For now, I’m shooting only carbons for elk, much as I would prefer to shoot wood.
in reply to: Free Class on Land Ethics #38731Thanks, Steve. For obvious reasons, that’s my favorite picture of Leopold. I too will give it a try.
Of course, like everything else, those who could benefit the most won’t be interested.
in reply to: A celebrity talking about hunting… #36359I wondered the same thing, Mike. Just figured it’s another TV personality. I haven’t watched TV in 48 years, so thousands have come and gone, all to my ignorance. Still, it’s good he can talk about hunting at the other extreme from the Nuge.
White Xmas here, picture-book perfect.
in reply to: Neck Knife #32941Well shucks, I guess I’ll say what I’ve thought forever about neck knives: they are jewelry, not utility. Nothing wrong with jewelry, mind you, but I hate anything hanging around my neck (reminds me too much, perhaps, of a hangman’s noose) and when I try to picture myself going for a knife in a split-second emergency, I never reach for my neck. I do love the little knives, but would rather wear them on my belt or an arm guard. Differing tastes–that’s what makes the world go round. Well, in fact our tastes, or anything about us, has zip to do with why the world “goes round,” which itself is a sloppy statement. Anyhow, life is short, toys are fun and artful toys even more fun, so why not stick you neck out for what you enjoy? 😛
in reply to: Storing and/or Displaying Your Bows #32936Patrick — Not in the least to diminish your good question, but in truth, I have so very few people here, that I’ve never given display a thought. I just hang ’em on all the empty places on the gun rack. If I had more bows and more friends, it would be different. May you be blessed with infinite numbers of both.
I’ll resist the urge to make a “hat display rack” joke. 😛
in reply to: What ya got goin? #32933Ralph … old dogs rule! I’m down to one now, having lost my beloved pal Homer, a spaniel mix who stepped in boldly to keep me alive after we both lost Caroline, to sudden death a week ago. I am still trying to catch my breath after that one. I am currently struggling inside whether to let my lovely old Golden pass on (12+ old), which I fear won’t be too long, and then do some serious long-term travel I can’t do when I have dogs (can’t afford boarding and view it as low-key cruelty, like permanent kenneling, my primary grind against bird hunters) … or saying I’ve had enough travel for one life and start taking in every fellow needy old dog I encounter. I’m leaning toward the dogs. By the way, that’s a cool looking bow.
Joe Cocker, RIP
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