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in reply to: Hair-raising bear video #29212
On the question of shoot or don’t shoot in this case, I see no garbage pile, so not likely bear hunting (fair chase bear hunting requires being on the ground). Probably deer hunting. And it appears there are two yearling cubs (adult bears don’t run in packs) and in most states it’s illegal to kill a sow with cubs. But after having a bear so close in your face that you could smell its breath, killing it would be anticlimactic in any event. I had one sniff around a tree I was in some years ago (I spotted an old plywood platform stand and went up to eat my lunch and look around), but he didn’t come up. Indeed, climbing a tree to escape a black bear is like trying to outrun an arrow. Very cool little video.
in reply to: Emergency Kit? #28319The single most important item in any first aid or survival kit is essential personal meds. In my case it’s a vial of Adrenalin and a syringe, as I’m deathly allergic to wasp type vermin. Just an hour ago I stepped out the cabin door and was immediately ambushed by a single yellow jacket. Immediately I started into the predictable reactions, including crazy itching all over, swelling of the throat, numbness of lips, red blister-like blotches on the skin. Over the years I’ve been bitten so many times, closing in on a hundred I’d guess, that it’s now a life-death thing. I shoot myself up with Adrenalin and in a few minutes the symptoms start subsiding … leaving me with several hours of shaking hands and jitters, not please, but at least alive. I always say, in full truth, that I hardly give a thought to bears or lions, and we have no poisonous snakes at this altitude. But yellow jackets and falling trees (we have thousands of standing dead snags after a wildfire some years ago) scare me to death.
So, the short answer is that I carry a couple of lighters, two flashlights, a small first aid kit with Adrenalin kit and aspirin (for heart attack or stroke prevention), and if there’s even a remote chance of rain, some sort of rain gear. Oh, and one of the new blood-clotting pads in case I stab myself with a broadhead, as a nonresident compounder did here a few years ago while chasing a bull with an arrow on the string. He died peacefully and alone in the woods. But he’s still dead.
in reply to: woodies 101 #27932Clay — I just re-watched your bow-building videos. You are still a young man. How in the world did you acquire such detailed knowledge in building selfbows? Did you have a teacher? Very impressive, amigo.
in reply to: Fondest Memories #27923Paleo — I too get nostalgic for the mid-’70s, in many ways the best decade of my life. But alas, it has nothing to do with archery or bowhunting.
in reply to: Colorado High Country Shoot this Weekend #27921At that shoot, CO BHA is offering a raffle for new members — sign up and get a high-odds chance to win a custom longbow made by a member, plus a half-dozen gorgeous arrows and a very cool leather back quiver. Weather promises to be warm but dry and near perfect.
in reply to: Question for Clay, et al #23722Hey Tailfeather — Et Al here to plug up the silence until Clay and others more experienced than me return to chime in. I don’t think oil is the right stuff for skins. They need to be sealed with a hard finish. In my very limited experience I’ve used brush-on spar poly to very good effect … the same thing I finish all my wood bows with. You could use spray-on also. I have one of Clay’s Osage selfbows and the exposed wood is oil finished while the very large-scaled rattler skin has a hard clear finish, poly or something similar. With poly, the glossier it is the harder and tougher it is. I’ve found that satin poly doesn’t last very long (same is true for hardwood floors), but then gloss is … glossy. Good luck.
in reply to: New Java Man on the block #21125You got it right, Gary. I just heard from Gregg and he’s slam-dunked with his day job and family stuff and so far has preferred to use what time he has to build bows rather than update website. He reminded me that he had a Falcon at Kzoo. It’s the JavaMan version of the SuperShrew, with notable changes and improvements. I’m not at all surprised you are loving shooting it. Love those antler tips.
in reply to: New Java Man on the block #20297I didn’t know Java Man made a bow model named Falcon. It’s not on his website?
in reply to: First CO bowhunt – West Elk Wilderness advice #20293Ashford — I’m afraid I don’t know anything much about that area except it’s gorgeous, BHA and TU fought to keep it as roadless as possible, and Joe Cocker lives there. Since you live so nearby, consider a few brief backpacks or hikes between now and Sept. Damn cows ruin so much down low, then sheep hammer it high. You could check with the FS office for a map of authorized grazing areas and try to avoid those, as the elk certainly do. I’m rather envious of you hunting there. Don’t hear many bowhunters mention it. Best luck.
in reply to: woodies 101 #19063Thanks Clay … now more questions:
In the video you dip the shafts before cutting the nocks. Then you cut the nocks and wrap. You say you dye the sinew different colors, but that leaves the wood behind the wrap, the wings of the nock, unfinished??? When I’ve made self nocks before I always do them first, so that the wrap is on bare wood. Then after I dip the shafts and they are try, I dip the nock ends before applying fletching, so that both the wrap and the wood wings are protected (I currently use gasket liquor). As the nock-end dip is drying I simply wipe the insides of the slot lightly with a piece of cloth held tight between both hands. I don’t recall ever having any problem with this but curious if and how you finish the exposed wood of your nocks. Also, some folks use a triangle file to widen the end of the nock to facilitate nocking an arrow. Do you see any advantage or disadvantage to doing this? Opinions from others with self-nock experience are also most welcome, as I’m gearing up two make two dozen and want them to be perfecto. Thanks, Dave
in reply to: woodies 101 #18121Clay — I just watched all three segs again and have three questions:
1. It appears when you wrap the sinew on the glue-smeared wood, you don’t try to tie it off at the end but just depend on the glue to dry and hold it down? Did I see that correctly, and if so do you have any problem with the sinew wearing when shooting and eventually the threads trying to come off? I would be inclined to use Tite Bond3 rather than Elmer’s since TB is waterproof. Any problem there?
2. What brand taper took is that? Is adjustable for different shaft diameters?
3. Where can we get those great Woodsmanship long-sleeved T’s? I tried your website but nothing I could find there.
Thanks, Dave
in reply to: My Schulz! #18090Back to basics! How does it shoot?
in reply to: Feral cats #18082Ahh, the natural cure. Ironically, if they’re red foxes they are non-natives! But non-native wildlife is better than feral domestics, in more than one way.
Around here, over the years, what has kept the feral tabbys down is a combo of great horned owls (which make really short work of light-colored nocturnal cats; I got to watch it once, years ago), coyotes, bobcats, and best of all the local cat lady moved on to her reward in the big litter box in the sky. 😈
in reply to: Feral cats #17323Good point, Mike. Just because we deem an animal to be bad, and in this case feral cats are the baddest animals out there, imho, there should be no hatred or cruelty involved in killing them. Feral cats, including well-fed housecats allowed to run free, kill millions of songbirds in the U.S. daily and the same around the world, and who knows how much small game. They should not exist. But it’s not their fault they were born cats. So the killing should be done with regret rather than glee, and as always fast and clean as possible. Reminds me of a turning-point altercation I had with my father when I was 17. He had long been in the habit of saying, when he was angry at me, for which he had great and regular good reason, “As long as you’re living under my roof, boy, you’ll do as I say!” My response this time was: “I didn’t ask to be born in your house and I’ll be out of here the minute I turn 18.” It was the only time I can recall him being speechless. In that case, I was the feral cat.
in reply to: Bod-Kin Broadheads #17313Welcome here, Ontario! And you are absolutely correct, they were laminated. A friend guy who lives near here used to run the spot welder. In those days, with those heads, there was no copper melt fill, either, and I think “hardness” was in the low 40s. I don’t know anything about todays version (or about much of anything else these days:P). What I do know is that for big game, broadhead choice should not be made by price. It’s like taking a sandwich to a banquet, considering all the other expenses, ethics aside. Dave
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