[David Petersen]

in reply to: Helle Knives #46376

This is my second Helle Fire. I love the knife so much that I gave it away to a good friend. I think I paid less than a hundred for the first Fire … and a thousand for the second! It came “free” with a life membership to BHA. 😆 While the special qualities of Helle’s unique three-layer blade sandwich are often lauded here, I like the Fire in particular for it’s looks and mostly because it has a big nice handle that provides great leverage in combo with the smallish blade. For other purposes I might want another design. But for taking an elk apart, from the delicate work of skinning to the brutish effort of separating leg joints, the Fire is hands down my favorite.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Armguards #45272

I’m fond of my American Leathers guard, with scabbard and small backup knife. As an old man who twice in recent years has forgotten to bring his belt knife on the day he made a kill (one bull elk and one whitetail buck), I need a backup and don’t care for neck knives. So the armguard with knife is perfect for me. But it was pricey, you bet. And the leather is so thick that it took forever to break in. Finally I took the knife out and soaked the leather in water until it was good and soft, then tighted the bands so that when I hooked them together the guard was forced into a cylinder. A couple of days later it was permanently molded in the shape it needed it in. A good treatment with Montana Pitch Blend and it’s ready for … well, more years than I’ll likely need it. But it’s heavy and its hot. Not for everyone or every situation. Since my bows don’t slap my wrist I use guards only when wearing layers of clothes. I’ll attach a pic later if I can find one.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: What are your favorite trad pictures? #44157

The ones that got away …

[David Petersen]

in reply to: What are your favorite trad pictures? #43918

Why not? …

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Longbow Turkey #43911

Tail — I too am deeply impressed. Hunting just doesn’t get any more real, or difficult, or rewarding, than from the ground without a blind or dekes (though in my experience dekes often as not spook more birds then they bring within bow range). I am not putting down using dekes, which I sometimes do, or a tent blind, which I never do. But there are degrees to every accomplishment and this ranks at the top. Assuming of course you weren’t baiting. 😛 I much prefer jakes as they are actually edible without deep frying. Now go get another!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Ohio making a big mistake,possibly… #43821

If managers and insurance companies want to cull excess deer, a stinking muzzleloader season in the rut/archery timeframe is a piss-poor way of going about it. Just make more permits available, cheap as possible, during rifle seasons. Add more rifle season as necessary, but not during rut. I believe some states have it set up where you have to kill X number of does before you can get a buck tag.

Of course the best solution of all is to open traditional archery deer does season year-round. 😀

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Ohio making a big mistake,possibly… #42984

Wayne — If I were you I would fight it with all my might. If you had a BHA chapter there, you’d have allies in this. You are right that having muzzleloader in mid-rut for elk in CO, which is also mid-archery season, really screws things up, for the elk as well as the hunters. IMHO there should never be any sort of firearms season during the elk rut because it makes them shut up and the messes up the natural order of the rut, archer’s interests aside. But you’re mistaken that the goal here is to preserve elk — we have way too many (for the shrinking winter habitat, which is mostly on private land) and for years now cow tags, in addition to bull tags, are easy to come by via draw. I have no idea whether a gun season will screw with the whitetail rut, but it sure as hell screws with archery season! And you can bet NRA will be all for it, overtly or behind the scenes, just as they have come to bat for X-guns in archery seasons … they are jealous of our longer seasons. Geeze, all I ever wanted was just to hunt … but increasingly to “just hunt” without becoming active in the politics of hunting is a loser’s game. And by that standard a solid majority of us are losers. Such a world …

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Which jig to buy #42844

I’ve had one for more than 20 years and it has never failed me. Only real diff between the Bohning and Blitz is one is metal, the other ballistics plastic. Both are great. If I ever need another jig it will be another Bohning, as I appreciate long-lasting quality at a good price.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: What Kind if Winter Have You Had? #41914

At this point I’d call it “tenacious.” Just three weeks to turkey season and the forecast low for tonight is 7. While my daily walks are increasing in length and altitude as the snow slowly goes out, I haven’t been far enough yet for a good survey, but it seems the animals are OK. Mountain critters are tough or they die. A majority of winterkill for all hooved species and turkey is a combo of deep cold and deep snow in late-winter, Feb and March, when they’re already way down on body fat and energy reserves from prolonged slow winter starvation. One or the other they can handle, but both together is bad. I personally would welcome more snow, as it’s been a drought winter after a record drought summer. When we can no longer depend even on the seasons to be more or less seasonal …? I’ve been noting the increasing weather weirdness here in the southern Rockies since the mid-1990s. Prior to that it was like clockwork. Now the clock seems busted and all dried out.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: What broadheads do you like? #40606

I’m impressed by the wide variety of preferences in broadheads evidenced here so far, with no clear preference for even a brand, much less a specific head. It would make for an interesting sociological and marketing study to investigate the reasons for this. 😀

Mine is another vote for Tuffheads. The new 190 glue-on Meatheads are down in a weight range that’s more acceptable to folks not yet convinced that heavier is better (I mostly use the 300), and is the most affordable of all top-echelon, hunt-ready, Ashby-quality broadheads.

In general, any broadhead that comes with grinder grooves showing, thus needs filing followed by honing to get hunting sharp, puts us in a situation of having paid for an unfinished product, but worse, once we put a file to a head we’re reducing the professed weight radically and rarely will we be able to get all the heads even close to the same weight. The best money I ever spent, and the biggest shock I ever got, was my first electronic grain scale. These days, I’m willing to pay extra for a mirror-finished, hunt-ready head. Other things to watch for are steel hardness and difference in weight between a package of heads. I recently got a 6-pack of a popular head (not Tuffhead) with heavy grinder grooves and more than 20 grains of weight difference between the six! It pays to check these things out before we decide. Advertising generally means less than nothing, way less. Be skeptical, buy a scale ($20 on average) and thus be able to explain our choices with facts rather than opinions. (In all life, not just broadheads. :P)

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Elkheart arrived! #37682

Brennan — It’s the thumb rest, visible in your top photo, that makes the Java Man grips special for me. With that as a Braille guide for your hand, you really can’t help but take precisely the same grip every time without even thinking about it. I’ve only met one shooter who didn’t like it … and even he changed his mind after a while. Gregg is a mechanical engineer by trade and it shows in subtleties of his designs, in the case of the grip for comfort, aka ergonomics, and invisibly in the high-performance limbs. I’m glad he’s making the Elkheart out to 58″, to accommodate long-draw shooters. I draw 28″ and can shoot a 52″ EH just fine, though mine is 54″. Such fun!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Elkheart arrived! #36573

Scout — I think you meant that for Brennan, rather than me? I hope to hunt elk this year with my Osage selfbow built by Clay Hayes. To feel confident, because it’s slower than the Java Man bow, I’ll want to use an even heavier arrow than usual which means getting even closer than usual which means lower odds than usual. But what the heck, if I try and fail to put together a high-odds shot with the wood bow, I have a back-up rifle season cow tag and can use my Elkheart to make meat then, just like it turned out this past year. Meat’s the bottom line but when you have two seasons to get it in, you can afford to play around a little. I’ve found my perfect forever go-to bow in the Elkheart and have already killed several elk and a couple of deer with it and its Shrew Classic Hunter predecessors. But I’ve never even shot at an elk with a wood bow, for fear of wounding and I’m way overdue. Only now, having the Ashby lethality basics pretty much figured out, do I feel fully confident. It’s all fun, and I don’t mean this to hijack our celebration of Brennan’s gorgeous new bow.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Had the day off #36408

Some of you guys with experience, what does pigeon taste like? Dove is OK but not a favorite here, but I’ve heard pigeon is better?? I always thought that in an urban survival situation, give me a good BB rifle and I could get by fine on pigeons and feral cats. I’m serious. 😆

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Elkheart arrived! #36405

Brennan — Welcome to the Coffee Club! Indeed, Gregg makes every bow as if it was going on permanent display in the NY Museum of Art. What is your draw length? I have a friend who is on the verge of ordering a 58″ Elkheart for a 32″ draw, whoah! Small bows that shoot like big bows and look like art are addicting. There’s no need to say “Enjoy!” as there’s no way not to. 😀

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Had the day off #35606

I’ve heard that pigeons, aka Rock Doves, were imported to N.A. originally because they’re good to eat. I’ve always wanted to try one. Let us know how you prepare it and how it tastes.

[Author]

Posts