[David Petersen]

in reply to: Low percentage shots #38773

To amplify what Don and others have said: Do I believe your set-up would have gotten the job done with proper arrow placement? Absolutely! Did you make the right decision not to shoot? Absolutely! “Can” and “should” do not necessarily equate. One of the hardest and most important character-building aspects of hunting is building the willpower not to shoot at every “opportunity.” In my books this ability for self-restraint under dire temptation is a primary marker between mature and true hunters, and all those who give hunting a bad name by doing sloppy work arising from sloppy morality erupting from personal weakness. You done good and what goes around comes around.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: "scary sharp" – a how to video #37511

Thanks, Clay. You do good work. Now, if only my arms were as hirsute as yours, I too could be a good broadhead sharpener. 😛 Good hunting to you this year. Dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Please don’t kick me off the forum… (this is a long one, so grab a beer and happy labor day) #36761

And Grandpa is listening too. Not talking (for once), just listening … until the bulls start bugling here, at which point I’ll listen to nothing else until it’s over. 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Scentless body lotion? #34915

Thanks for the research, Jody. I will indeed check ’em out. But I’m left to wonder how we got from “dry skin due to arid climate and a month without lotion,” to alligator skin. 😛 It’s more like snake skin. 😆 Seriously, thank you. Dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Backpacks for hauling meat… #34908

Nate — Not even close to snarky … just downright funny. 😀 I’m sure Thomas would and will agree — he’s in elk camp with his father in the high country, where they generally hunt downhill and have to pack ’em back up, contrary to my First Rule of elk hunting. 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Backpacks for hauling meat… #33922

Nate — I get your joke and thought the same thing. What I can say is that Thomas has packed half an elk out at once — that is, after it’s quartered and boned the average meat payoff is around 150lbs. (we don’t take neck or rib overmeat, which on an elk is so fibrous as to be unusable). So half an elk, 75lbs more or less, is doable for a reasonably short pack-out of a mile or two if there’s no steep uphill. T has done it, Alex Bugnon has done it, Dave Sigurslid has done it and others here no doubt, and when I was younger I carried over 100 on a couple of occasions. (Always hunt elk uphill!). But the average load is three packs of meat plus antlers if there are any, so two trips for two packers, no big deal.

Back to packs — I love my new Badlands Diablo, easily the best hunting daypack I’ve ever owned. But it’s not big enough or made for packing meat. If I want to pack a full load of meat with the same pack I hunt with, my favorite is the Dwight Schew hunting pack which is one very big compartment with a small pocket in the flap and a good sized fanny pack below, both attached to a Peak I Kevlar frame. It’s fleeze material so very quiet, holds all my stuff even when it gets cold and I’m up to 30-35 pounds for a full day’s hunt gear, and will pack a whole elk quarter strapped onto the outside of the bag with supplied straps. It’s an old design … Dwight gave me the one I still use at least 20 years ago. And best of all, compared to other big hunting and packing packs, it’s cheap. Now made by Fieldline and available at the usual amoral but well-supplied big-box outdoor mail order outfits. Just another possibility …

But first, you need an elk. 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Scentless body lotion? #33003

No skeets here, as the drought summer didn’t produce them. But I got nailed by a yellowjacket last night and will take a skeet anytime. Thanks for the lotion tip. Old leather skin is dry skin. And could you please translate your French into Spanish or Neandertal so’s I can understand it? 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Backpacks for hauling meat… #32620

Todd, I have and still use the same pack as yours, which is near 30 years old and has likely hauled a ton of meat. I keep it in the back of my truck with a couple of extra game bags strapped on, ready to go when needed. I always haul out the backstraps and tenderloins — in my hunting pack if there’s room (I always carry two large elk quarter bags while hunting), or in my arms if necessary, no matter how late and dark it is. If a bear gets the rest of the meat, at least I’ll have the high-grade portions.

That said, the past couple of elk I’ve packed out, in both cases with one friend helping, we’ve just slung the meat bags over our shoulders and humped it out like Santa Claus … two bags each, leapfrogging our way down the mountain so we don’t have to make the long walks back up. If you’re fit enough to be hunting well, you’re fit enough to pack elk. All large packages can be cut down to manageable size. It’s the industry that has convinced folks they need an ATV to do it. First rule: only hunt uphill; that way you can pack downhill. 💡

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Congratulations Dave Petersen! #31994

Well shucks, thanks Robin y tradbow amigos. The magazine, this exceptional website and you good folks help to keep me going, assuring me that I’m not alone in the good but often nasty fight for wildlife, wild places, and wild people with wild ideas. When they told me about it the first thing I said was, “Thank you, but I can’t take two or three days out of the middle of elk season to come to Denver, not even if the honor came with a huge cash prize.” Which it doesn’t of course. (Conservation is about giving, not getting.) They agreed to delay the presentation; good folks over at CWF. 😀

[David Petersen]

in reply to: quad tracks behind every locked gate #30894

George — Unless I missed something you’ve been away for a while. Good to have you back. Dave

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Recommended arrow choice #29377

The heavy ones are more than you need for all but the biggest game like elk, and the lighter ones are lighter than I personally would hunt even deer with. Try to find something in between, around 650 total with good FOC and a good two-blade head and hold your shots to 20 yards and you’ll be unstoppable.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: quad tracks behind every locked gate #29372

Same is largely true on public lands — the efforts to stop the motorhead outlaws are minimal, laughable, cryable. I take pictures and raise hell every time I see it, and strongly advise you to do the same. Write and call the timber company, and send a copy of your letter to local papers to embarrass them into action. These jerks are killing us.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Bowsocks ?? #22641

I use ABS skins on my Osage selfbow (got them at a door prize at a tradbow event some years ago). This bow has real rattler skins on the back but the finish is very shiny. The skins, with large scales, prevent use of paint or anything with sticky like camo tape. I’ve had no problems with bow-quiver slippage. I prefer not to use skins, but in some cases they are all that’s workable … and so far as cutting glare and visibility nothing works better than cloth. I tried some tape camo a few years ago but it was as shiny as the bow, so I saw no point. It is glare we need to cut on our bows, first and foremost.

Five days and counting!

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Finally bought an ATV #21785

Yep, you had me gagging there for a minute, Dustin! But where’s the beer-cooler rack? 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Thanks to BandAid Joe! #20853

Ed, I didn’t know such a thing exists, and have only the old military style large compresses. Can you get these things at a drug store? I assume that like the compresses they come in air-tight wraps and will stay usable for years? Maybe if I start buying broadheads by the dozen, rather than a pack or two at a time, Joe will include a set of sponges rather than BandAids. 😛 Dave

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