[David Petersen]

in reply to: using test weights #54615

Biscuit — I love your Dad’s quote! That’s what the “trad life” celebrates.

I use the clamp that came as part of my el cheapo Bohning fletching jig, so don’t fully understand your question. Clean parts with acetone or rubbing alcohol before gluing, including heat gluing. Thanks for keeping our suppliers precisely honest!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #54589

Preston–thank you! Your combo of presenting documented research and your own obviously extensive “pucker-factor” experiences, as opposed to mere opinion, really helps those of us who are seriously trying to find the best way to feel safe in bear (etc.) country, rather than merely gain support for what we intend to do anyhow (aka in psycho-speak, “decreasing cognitive dissonance”). Canada’s Stephen Herrero, the top N. American “bear attacks” expert, concurs with you and your sources re the high effectiveness of spray and the low effectiveness of firearms.

But that said, I openly admit that the only time I’m scared of bears is in a tent at night. In grizz country I rarely sleep at night. Thing is, no way in heck you can use bear spray in a tent, unless you want to commit suicide by pepper spray. And those few bears, so happily so very rare, who are intent on getting you (or most often your food or stinky clothing in the tent with you) don’t come through the front door but whack away at the side of the tent. In such cases it would be really nice to have a firearm under your pillow to whack back with. Just be sure it’s not a “friend” whacking your tent and growling in the dark as a “joke,” as once happened to me as a kid. To again quote Doug Peacock, his advise is to use the biggest tent you can pack, and sleep in the middle of it. He never carries a gun but keeps a big knife, unsheathed, under his pillow … “Not to stab at a bear with, but to slice open the tent on the side opposite of the bear in order to have a way out.” Doug also says sleeping in a tent is far safer than without a tent.

And one more thought: A few years ago, when I occasionally was working for the LA Times, I did a story on some good friends of mine, locals here and he’s a trad bowhunter, who were floating a wilderness river in ANWR, AK, and came upon the scene of an obvious recent bear attack. What a story! The same bear that had torn up a camp and killed both the residents, chased my friends 5 miles down the river and nearly got ’em. Turns out that a man and woman who were doing everything right re camping in bear country, nonetheless were attacked in their tent in the night by a big brown that ate the woman and was working on the man (or vice versa, I don’t recall) when my friends floated by. When the “rescue” people finally arrived, in the remains of the tent they found a lever-action rifle with the lever open, suggesting that the man had tried to lever a round into the rifle in self-defense during the attack but was too slow. This suggests that to be safest, to either have a round in the chamber (and a 12-bore with 00 buck is far superior to a rifle in such close-range situations), or perhaps better even yet, a heavy-caliber handgun, esp. a revolver, that you can use with one hand in a tight fix in the dark without thought about a safety, etc.

If I’m tent-camping in AK I do generally keep a firearm in my tent (I’ve enjoyed three such trips). When hunting or otherwise walking around in daylight there, I don’t need that heavy weight on my hip or shoulder and feel much safer with just bear spray and my bow and my natural senses. In none of those trips to bush AK, by the way, have I ever had a bear problem. In many, many camping trips to Yellowstone and Glacier country, always specifically deep into grizzly country in hopes of seeing and photographing bears, not a single bear problem. In 32 years of hunting and camping, often without even a tent, here in the Rockies, and with more close black bear encounters than I can recall, not a single problem. With close to three dozen elk and deer, all or part of which I had to leave out overnight, not an ounce has been lost to bears. That said, I did once have a young black bear slap at me through a screened bedroom window here at home. It was my fault, as such things usually are.

In the end, this recurring conversation is both practical and a beam of light into the human psychology … which is why it’s always interesting. I would consider it a blessing to die that way compared to other more usual ways … just no time soon. 😆

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Getting in shape #54539

R2 — No, I never switch hands when weight training with liquid-filled glass weights … I use one in each hand. 😆

Jim — Does that great Tim Flannery quote come from his “Here on Earth”? I’ve not read it yet, but it sounds closely parallel to the Sagan-Druyan classic “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.” My problem is I’d prefer to skip over the first 4.5b.y. or so, the green slime and all of that, and get right down to say 1.7mya and H. erectus, et al., the original trad hunters!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #54161

Justin — Maybe you can refresh my memory on this, but weren’t those killer coyotes found to have significant domestic dog genes? In a perhaps parallel situation, on Vancouver Island, where the wolf population is extremely high, in every case where a wolf has been aggressive toward humans and was killed, necropsy showed that it had a percentage of dog genes. It apparently doesn’t take much domestic input for a wild canid to lose its natural fear of humans. Long ago I lived for a while in the woods of N. Carolina, where an infamous pack of feral dogs roamed. Now that was scary.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #53487

Ah, amigos! What a pleasure and privilege to converse with and learn from folks who have been there and done that, and so realize that our best defense in worrisome unfamiliar situation is to not screw-up. We are our own worst predators.

Among my closest friends is a 32 years deep-bush AK subsistence hunter, trapper and fisher. More than 100 miles to the nearest village or road, and even bush plane access is limited. This guy’s real life far outreaches any “reality TV” or move or book faux adventure I’m aware of. Yet he “makes little of it.” And when I ask him to tell me about his most memorable near-death experiences, it’s never a bear or wolf or any such (though he has a great cow-calf moose story, and wolves took two of his sled dogs last winter, etc.), but rather always something he did wrong and the cold, falling through ice, always “I knew better!” and never anything to do with toothy animals. My theory is that we worry about dangerous animals in part because that’s our deep evolutionary past

–we evolved as prey as well as predators; thus it’s a residual in our genes. Also, as I stated in my first of too many posts on this interesting thread, because we fear what we don’t know, and thus don’t know how to deal with short of a gun. I think you city guys, and your wives and kids too, are far far far “braver” than me or Bruce or the others here who speak of our wild encounters, to live where and as you do, yet take it in stride. Everything is relative, eh? And good thing too. Otherwise what would we have that’s so much fun to talk about? As much time as I spend in the woods, and as little as I spend on the roads (compared to most folks today), I firmly believe the most dangerous thing I do is to get in the truck and head for town. If a wild animal kills me, it will far most likely be a deer crossing the road at night that I can’t swerve to miss.

But then, hey, it’s sure not a sin to have a firearm in your tent at night! Well, maybe it is, if you also have canned tuna in the tent! Or have just grilled stinky sausages for dinner in deep grizzly country.

Mea culpa, mea culpa maxima …

[David Petersen]

in reply to: New Limbs #53333

Yep, truly lovely. Now, if only we could break you of the Big Handle and Long Bow syndrome! 😆 Those limb tips are especially finely done.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #53330

Aw, come on now, Alex! That’s just the French half of you talking. 😛 Surely the Swiss half craves to explore the most pristine and gorgeous wilderness in the lower 48. Frankly, having spent many years trying to locate and watch grizzlies around Yellowstone and esp. Glacier, until you learn where and how to look, you’re damn lucky to ever get a glimpse of a grizz. Just don’t make the mistake I did one night up along the Canadian border and have a roast big greasy smelly sausages on a campfire. I was young and dumb then and assumed the fire would burn off all stench of grease, but it didn’t and we had to abandon that camp in the middle of the night. Now, being old and dumb, I know better. 😆

[David Petersen]

in reply to: My Elkheart has arrived!! #53223

Tex — You can find pics and details at http://www.twotracksbow.com/store/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=181

It’s Two Tracks Bow & Wool Co. The silencers are felted wool, top-end stuff at $12 for a 4-pack (for two bows). They don’t collect thorns or absorb water. I was hanging out at the Java Man booth at Kalamazoo when Gregg discovered them and wound up installing them on every bow he had there. Previously he’d used Cat Whiskers but got many complaints, like from me, that they just didn’t last any time with FF string. I was sufficiently impressed to buy a pack of Two Tracks and they’re fully up to expectations. With a well-tuned bow it’s all you need. They make some real pretty bows too, though I’ve not shot one.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Pack for elk #52342

That looks like a hard deal to beat for the price, Bruce. How hard is it to remove and replace the pack bag? Where’s the place to buy one? I’m fat on all camping gear for my duration, but this sure looks like a sensible rig and very cheap compared to almost anything else.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #52335

Jim — think of it this way: YOU are the biggest predator in your neighborhood. Truly a scary thought, and true.

Bruce, aka Smithhammer (that’s not just a wee bit German, is it?) lives and hunts in about as “threatening” a predator situation as you can find in the lower 48, with an abundance of the full spectrum of bit toothy things. His experience speaks well for his opinions. Frankly, when I’m slinking around in the few remaining places wild enough to host grizzlies, wolves and the rest, far and away the one animal I most fear walking up on and surprising is a moose, esp. cow moose with calf, or a bull moose in rut. Truly unpredictable creatures, which makes them far more dangerous than usually-predictable “dedicated predators.” I’ve twice been chased by moose, and never by a bear etc.

Gee, this conversation makes me itch to head north for some summer camping again!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #52269

In a related thought that may be of as much interest to bear hunters in calculating where to place as shot, as it is to folks concerned about bear attacked … they are mostly hair. Well, to be precise, some bears have short flat hair that doesn’t appreciably increase their apparent size. But many or most are mostly hair. If I can figure how to get two pictures into the same post, here’s a series of a dry bear going into water–normal looking adult bear–and that same bear coming out wet and looking more like a dog than a bear. Just fyi …

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Close encounters and backup #52245

The most experienced person I’ve known so far as repeated close encounters with grizzlies, is Doug Peacock, author of “The Grizzly Years.” Doug liked to say that he would feel both ridiculous and arrogant if he barged into grizz country, “the only place they have to live,” carrying a “piece,” and that if you took the time to study bears it wasn’t necessary anyhow. “Big cities,” Doug, a Vietnam Green Beret, would say, “that’s where I feel threatened enough to carry.” I will add that this was before pepper spray. Doug now carries spray.

I’m with Doug. I’ve had many close encounters with black bears, like just a few feet, and never once felt threatened though perhaps I should have. I sure hope I have some more. I had a mountain lion snarl at me once from close range, as did my wife, which is what they do if you come too close to a den with cubs and sometimes if you walk up on a fresh kill. It’s equivalent to Shane’s rattlesnake encounters–they are warning us, the only way they can, to stay clear. If they wanted to cause you trouble you’d never likely see or hear them coming. Neither my 94-pound wife nor I ever carry a firearm when hunting or in the woods, unless we’re camping somewhere that’s road accessible or in serious grizzly country like AK or around Glacier, when I keep a sawed-off 12 gauge double with rubber buckshot in the tent. I “make” her carry bear spray for her daily solo walks into the woods here, which will cover all problems except maybe rattlers, which we don’t have here in the mountains. She did once have a coyote try to nip her, but our Golden took care of that real fast. I absolutely do not fear bears, lions or any or mammal in N. America. I fear people, yellowjackets, and falling trees. Generally we fear what we don’t know much about, and are comfy with what we know. That’s why city folk fear bears and lions and I fear city folk. 😆

[David Petersen]

in reply to: My first "harvest"… #51333

That’s a white, or blond, morel. Delicious as they are, blacks are even better … but harder to spot. Here in the West morels seem to grow in numbers only the year or two after a forest fire. Elsewhere, apparently, they are abundant every year. Good hunting!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: QUESTION FOR CLAY #51248

John — While you’re waiting for a response from Clay, and maybe others here, go google “osage bow staves for sale” and you’ll get a bunch of sources, with prices all over the map. Comparing their offers is a good place to start. Shipping is a significant cost factor and often you can get multiple staves shipped for little more than the price of one. Since a majority, if not all beginning selfbow makers “over tiller” and come out with low-poundage kids bows the first few times, you may be better off financially ordering at least two staves. Besides, it’s addictive.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Getting in shape #50816

Well, long ago I was a trainer in an iron gym and can tell you that there are two basic approaches to strength training: low repetitions with high weight for bulking up … and high repetitions with lower weights for endurance. At my age I’ve shifted to the endurance routine. Plus of course we have to calculate the weight of the container. A good sturdy mug of Kolsch, alternating lifting arms, seems to be about right. In a pinch XX lager will do. And of course, every now and again, you have to lift the pitcher to refill the mug … that’s the extreme part of the workout.

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