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in reply to: Santa came! New JMA Elkheart #58086
Mike, best be careful what you say here, as we’re being watched …
in reply to: Santa came! New JMA Elkheart #57903How does such a short longbow shoot? Like a dream! So far as I know, Ron LeClair’s Shrew was the first really short longbow, at least the first to gain popularity, and that only after many years and at least three bowyers, the last of whom, Gregg Coffey, put Shrew on my personal gotta-have list because I much prefer shorter bows for practical hunting reasons, and the little Shrew Classic Hunter, which Gregg designed, thinks it’s at least a foot longer. Part of it is the handle-forward design, which is now being emulated by other bowyers. Part of it is the deflex-reflex limb design. For a while I had a 52″ Classic Hunter and it shot as beautifully as any 54″ I’ve had (just ask ColMike, who now owns it and is an amazing shot). The new JMS Elkheart is the Classic Hunter taken to the next step. For a hunter looking for one of these bows, I’d either get on Gregg’s wait list immediately–I think he already has several dozen orders–or start shopping for a used Classic Hunter. The Elkheart is some better, but the CH is still heads above any other short longbow I’ve shot. I’m not sure what effect Gregg’s going solo will have on the used Shrew market. They already held great resale value, since so few who own them want to let them go, and so many were looking to buy used to avoid the 18-month waiting list for new. So their value could soar to or above the new price. On the other hand, I predict that lots of ShrewHeads like me will want a JMA bow now, so a few more used Shrews may come on the market. If you can get to Kalamazoo next month Gregg will have bows representing several of his designs there for folks to shoot. Shrew or Java Man, it’s a win-win deal so long as they’re Coffey-built. My new Elkheart is so quiet I don’t even plan to install string silencers, and this is with FF string.
in reply to: stiff, weak or bad form? #55506We’ve gotten some 20″ but it’s compacted to about a foot … waiting and hoping for more. Good luck on the deer. Beyond I certain point I can’t bowhunt when it’s really cold. Sitting in a tree in a CO winter? That’s dedication! 😀
in reply to: LL Bean Anniv Hunting Shoes #55500I just contacted Bean and speed laces are not available on this centennial model boot. I understand they are trying to replicate the original–the leather in the uppers, for example, is unfinished–but a boot is not something you put in a display case, and I have always found the eye lacing holes the single downside of this otherwise favorite boot. Others may not care, but it were me I’d save a few bucks and get the regular Maine Hunting Shoe in 10″ with speed laces; utility over nostalgia.
in reply to: stiff, weak or bad form? #54733Doug — According to my wife, I have all of those problems. 🙄 And she’s not talking about bows …
You seeing many bunnies down there on the rez? We have a few here on the mountain, first time in some 10 years, but not nearly enough to hunt them. I’m looking around …
in reply to: Santa came! New JMA Elkheart #54458More pics of Elkheart: For veneer wood I chose Macasser ebony. While it has lovely black/brown patterns I didn’t choose it for looks but rather because, with a matte finish, it produces such minimal glare that it’s huntable “in the nude” without skins or camo. (I found this out this fall while whitetail hunting in AR with Jody Smotherman, who has a Coffey bow with Macasser.) BowBolt take-down, and Gregg has arranged the veneer woods on both belly and back so that the two limbs are mirror opposites; very clever.
in reply to: LL Bean Anniv Hunting Shoes #53556Good question, John, and when you call in your order the voice from Maine should be able to explain it. All I know is that when I can find them I usually wear 10.5 boots but always get 11 in Beaners. I am fine with “loose shoes” (and all the rest of it from the old song) so don’t mind the extra roominess when I wear them in warm weather, as they come with no insulation. But when it gets really cold I want to be able to wear really heavy wool socks to compensate, thus the half-size extra, which is cheaper than another pair of boots. I think the sizing issue will sort itself out when you talk to the Bean phone rep (and I suggest ordering by phone so you can request speed laces): he or she will tell you what size to order based on your usual boot size, then if you want room for big socks add a half-size to that. I wear the Beans for ALL sneaky or wet hunting in warm and modestly cold weather, then graduate to lightweight Schnee “Outfitter” boots, which have scent-proof rubber welded uppers like the Beaners, but with Thinsulate liners. But I’ve had endles problems with Schnee’s rubber on the uppers cracking long before the rest of the boots wear out. And compared to Beans they are really heavy. So next time I think I’ll get a second pair of Bean boots with Thinsulate liners for colder weather, as I’ve never had a problem with them prematurely falling apart. Also, as with Schnee and other top-end boot makers, you can return them when the soles wear out, which takes many years, and for a modest charge they’ll rebuild them for you. Thus I think of them as my Terminator boots.
May Santa be nice to you later tonight. 😆
in reply to: LL Bean Anniv Hunting Shoes #53417John — I’d go for it. I like the red soles too, and while I generally get 10″ it’s only because they’re a bit cheaper than the 12″. I would be curious whether the red soles are the same gum material as the standard beige soles. If so it could affect traction, which isn’t great on slick surfaces and tree trunks. The red could grip better. Only reason I didn’t get a pair when I saw the add was that I just bought a new pair last year and they’re barely broken in, and at my age it doesn’t pay to stock up too far ahead with expensive gear.
Two suggestions: order by phone so that you can request speed laces. They don’t cost extra but you have to ask for them, a well-kept secret. And if it were me, I’d tell them to keep the free can of SnowSeal because it doesn’t hold a candle to Montana Pitch Blend. If enough folks reported that, maybe Bean would check into it and switch loyalties. I first learned of MPB from Schnee, another leading outdoor boot company, which recommends only that on all their boots. And be sure to get a bit large so that you can double up on heavy socks in winter.
in reply to: Preserving our elk habitats #52169Hi Drew — A great way to be thinking at this thoughtful time of year! I agree with you, sadly, re RMEF … a once very good idea gone badly wrong. Forget them. Frankly, the best way to protect public lands wildlife and hunting habitat is to become informed and active locally, since you live in the West where most of the action is. Write letters to elected officials, agency leads, newspapers, expressing your views and pointing out that you are a sportsman. Attend meetings and speak your piece. If that’s not possible, the top group on my list is Backcountry Hunters and Anglers because they/we work from the grassroots (as opposed to a fat staff of paid professionals) to limit the greatest threats to public lands habitat health, including ATV abuse and overuse (top item on the list!), sloppy and inappropriate energy development, habitat-fragmenting roads and motorized trails, and more. Another member on this website is currently working with BHA leaders to start a chapter in KS, and you could do the same in NM. If that’s not practical for you, join BHA and do what you can from home to help. Trout Unlimited, both national and state chapters, are also good friends to big game hunters in that they work to protect watersheds, and watersheds in the West are prime elk and other big game habitat, usually classified as roadless areas. (That is, not protected as wilderness, but not yet messed with with roads and development, so still naturally wild.) If I lived in MT I’d be supporting Vital Ground (in fact I just sent them a nice Christmas present and I live in CO), which operates much as RMEF did back when it was viable (and is headed by Gary Wolfe, former RMEF CEO), arranging conservation land trusts and buying small key parcels of threatened grizzly habitat, and when you protect the habitat of the keystone species in any area, you are protecting habitat for all wildlife and us too. There are other good groups (Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is NOT among these, beware) that deserve our support. Feel free to attend our annual CO BHA chapter rendezvous next June (near Durango) to get a feel for how we operate so successfully. No matter where we live in America, the West is the future of old-style, traditional, fair-chase hunting in America, and thus worth supporting. Bravo!
in reply to: Peak to Creek Outfitters #51256Even though they are local to me, I don’t know anything about Peak to Creek, nor the owner Mr.Carlson. Best I can offer is that I’ve not heard anything bad about them. Two other local outfitters were taken down by law enforcement near here this year, so it pays to be careful. I checked the website and see nothing about references. No matter who you book with, if you don’t do a thorough reference check, you’re asking for trouble. The units they hunt are full of elk with some muley hotspots, and lots of bear as well. If you talk to the outfitter and check references and still feel you want to go with these guys, at that point I’m happy to check around for you about their rep. But do your legwork first. Also, they advertise 5-day hunts. The norm for that is a 7-day trip with one day in and one day out and 5 days of actual hunting. It should be no less than that for the price. IMHO, for folks new to the Rockies and elk hunting, yet who are competent and experienced outdoorsmen and don’t mind doing some reading and other research about the animals they intend to hunt, a drop camp is an excellent compromise and while not cheap, only about a third of what a guided hunt costs. And guides are too often just unemployed people who are not qualified. On the other hand, outfitters tend to put their guided hunts in the best areas and their drop camps in more marginal areas. References references references …
in reply to: Tuffhead 225 gr. Penetration #50122For full disclosure, the lion meat was given to me by a game warden friend who had confiscated it from a rancher who had killed the big male illegally. It’s fair to assume that meat wasn’t lovingly ore event promptly cared for and it showed in the sour flavor and very disagreeable texture, though there was no visible discoloration or bad smell. Bear meat has a grainy texture also, but I have no problem with that. I am all about eating everything we kill, so certainly don’t wish to discourage anyone from trying everything. “Meat’s meat.”
in reply to: New Job= New Bow #49985I think the Helms Deep is an excellent choice given our previous conversations about your preference in bows. I predict it will open whole new worlds of accuracy for you. Happily for me, my new Elkheart, first of its species off the one-man production line, is in the mail now. I just hope it arrives before the world ends. 😀
Congrats on a good choice in bows, and on your promotion.
in reply to: Checking In #49981As it happens, it’s also my wife’s birthday (25). Since it’s the end of the world I figured I didn’t need to buy her anything. So if it doesn’t happen, I’m in big trouble tonight. But then, my new Java Man bow is in the mail and I’d sure like to shoot it before the Big Blast-off. So I’m in a pinch either way. 😛
in reply to: Tuffhead 225 gr. Penetration #49208Alex — A rabbit will do just fine, and far easier to come by at this time of year. Man, I wish I had a few in the freezer, yum. My wife easily tires of red meat, and I easily tire of chicken, so rabbit is the perfect compromise. Too bad they’ve been on a way-down population cycle here for more than 10 years now. We have one huge one that lives under the woodpile and I see it every morning at first light, sitting in the snow doing I don’t know what (who can know a bunny’s mind?). But any wild animal in my yard is safe. Stray cats watch out! But I’ve never tried eating domestic cat, fried or otherwise. Tried lion once and couldn’t stomach it, nor could my two dinner guests. (Don Thomas will disagree.) To return to topic, I’m sure a Tuffhead would work great on fat, free-ranging, murderous housecats; nail ’em right to the ground for easy recovery. I think our Beloved Webmother is a cat person (as opposed to cat woman) so this post may be in trouble. 😈
in reply to: Twisted limbs #49202Mountaineer– Welcome to tradbow. Wing was a well-respected commercial bowmaker BC (before compounds). How badly are the limbs twisted? Have you tried to shoot it? Many bows with twisted limbs shoot just fine. At that low draw weight, and given the purpose you intend, it might be just fine as-is. Few kids young enough to pull only 20# will shoot well enough to notice any difference (and most will need a shorter bow, assuming this is a full-length bow). Sorry that’s all the help I can offer. Welcome here. Dave
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