[David Petersen]

in reply to: Giving it a try #19754

Here in Durango, CO — the heartland of elk hunting where you’d think they’d know better — the heaviest heads you can get at the one and only store that handles archery gear are 125s, mostly mechanicals. Of course they cater to the speed-and-straw crowd. Blind misleading the blind. The token few real bows they sell are, natch, the cheapest big-factory stuff. Just from a business pov if nothing else, if I were in the archery business I’d want to know all I could about all aspects of it and handle a wide array of stuff to reach the widest market. Laziness is all I can think of for their excuse. It lights a torch in my guts to realize how many grand wild animals are wounded and unrecovered every year simply because of the greedhead marketplace and “professionals,” including “factory pros” and outdoor writers, as well as consumers, who are too lazy to learn how to do it right and/or don’t give a tinker’s dam so long as they’re getting what they want from the deal. For these reasons and more, Fubar, we should all be supporting our traditional archery suppliers and to heck with the rest. IMHO

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Congrats to JodyS For His Article #18246

Good work, Jody! In all walks of life, any meaningful positive change must begin with the children. A child without experience in nature is problems waiting to happen. Good fathering, good article. 😀

[David Petersen]

in reply to: What draw weight would you recommend? #17237

Yes, accuracy trumps all … assuming you’re so consistently accurate that you can always shoot between the ribs.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Surplus Wool Quality? (it just showed up) #17232

Justin, I say yes. I’ve owned several pairs of military surplus pants in my life — mostly European, like German and NATO — and currently own a pair, and they’ve always been great. And you should be able to find the a LOT cheaper than your quote. Just google “military surplus pants,” or sweaters or whatever. You’ll find many mail-order surplus stores with great deals. Often you can find this stuff brand new as surplus for only a bit more than used. However, sizing can be a bit more difficult, at least for used, since you don’t know how much it may have shrunk. And with new, unlike most wool-blend fabrics used commercially these days, it’s old-style wool that will shrink seriously if not properly laundered. And sometimes they comes with annoying things like built-in gaitors, all sorts of straps, and of course the clumsy fly buttons. But all things considered I believe carefully selected wool surplus plants are among the best on the market and a real bargain.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Bearly human #16403

Schwein — Well, it’s always been Mexican for this old bear. But across the past decade or so little Durango, CO has spawned several of the finest small breweries in the West, so my tastes are being expanded. For the Olympics it was Steamworks Kolsch. 😀

Wexbow — hey, well, yes. I’ll have to speak to the bar-keep about that. 😛

Seriously, all I know about the origins of this pic is that it’s apparently a dump on a Sioux reservation, which would likely place it in the Dakotas. I have no idea what beer they prefer up there, but it sure makes for a big healthy bear.:lol:

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Surprise Tree stand dangers! #16395

Wexbow, the other night we watched a documentary called “The Pubs of Dublin.” Two things would entice me to visit “the British Isles”: to listen to the musical accents, and to visit every pub I could find, preferably in the countryside, not the city, though my distant ancestors (Vikings) once occupied pre-Dublin. I don’t suppose, amidst your seas of Guinness, any of your pubs serve good Mexican light? Say Pacifico or Sol? 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Surprise Tree stand dangers! #13041

Justin – You are right. While some adjacent oak leaves had been nibbled by insects, there was no damage whatsoever to the twig they kept returning to. To me, this is the most dangerous animal alive. Yet I don’t hate them but only want them to hang out someplace other than my backyard 😛

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Surprise Tree stand dangers! #12672

About a month ago, while walking my dogs an hour or so before dark and cutting through a patch of scrub oak, I noticed this odd sight. Although I had passed very close by, none of the yellowjackets paid any attention to me, and all were very still in their wad of bodies. Only thing I could figure is that they were massing before going into the hole for the night, or there was a queen inside there somewhere. I returned right at dark with a can of wasp spray but they were gone. After that I started watching for them every evening and a week or so later there they were again on the same little twig. This time I had my spray with me and they dropped like pebbles; no survivors. In the past 25 years I’ve accrued nearly a hundred ‘jacket bites and developed an accute, potentially lethal, allergy. So no mercy. If there are any hymenopterists out there … what does this behavior mean?

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Great Plains one piece swift #11741

Mark — I don’t know that particular model, but since no one else has chimed in yet I can say that I’ve shot several models of Great Plains bows and found them all just dandy. If possible, you should always try to shoot a bow, and several others, before buying. But GP is a solid, reputable outfit that makes good bows.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Atom broadhead #11736

Jerry — You asked an honest question and we are not “getting down on you” for that, no way. However, all the above comments offer solid advice. Stay away from these gimmics and use a good fixed-blade broadhead. A quarter-century ago, I fell for a strongly advertised head with 5 replaceable blades that came with a same-weight plastic practice head. It cost me what would have been my first really nice archery bull, good shot placement with a heavy bow but it just didn’t penetrate and left me with an unrecovered wounded animal. The Ashby arrow lethality study determined that the worst possible broadhead type is mechanical, and the best — strongest, best-penetrating, most lethal, is a long narrow two-blade with hardness around 53R, and heavy.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Why do you hunt #10833

I hunt in order to maintain a modicum of sanity in an insane human world. If I sometimes seem insane, then obviously I need to hunt even more. 😯

[David Petersen]

in reply to: sloppy release…help me… #8209

I would start by checking brace height etc. to be sure your bow hasn’t gotten out of tune. I can’t help with 3-under as I haven’t shot that way since I was a teen. But when I have a bad release with standard split-finger almost every time I realize I let my bottom finger drag on the string during release. The cure for this, for me, is to take that extra moment Bruce speaks of to consciously relax top and bottom fingers just a tad, so that the “trigger” is primarily the middle finger. With 3-under it seems this same problem could be magnified since your bottom finger is even farther from the arrow. You might check to be sure you don’t have that bottom finger in too deep. Good luck.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Heavy FOC arrow question #8080

Oops! In my post above I said “henceforth I will always hunt with double bevels.” Of course I meant SINGLE bevels. And I wasn’t even drunk. Thanks to Scout for pointing out this typo, which now has been fixed.

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Camo, Thermals, Depends… #63780

Fubar — I really like your quote at the bottom. Reminds me of something my insane hero Hunter Thompson like to say … and as a fellow nutcase, well, we all like company. 😀

[David Petersen]

in reply to: Heavy FOC arrow question #63771

Dave — I don’t know anything about your brand of shafts but I have a similar setup with CE250s that delivers about 790 total weight with 27+% FOC. Only difference up front is an extra 25 in the insert for a total front weight of 450. Last year I shot completely through a bull so it’s a proven setup and I’d say you’re set for elk. The question becomes whether or not you “need” that much weight for smaller big game. Last winter I downsized to just under 700 grains with STOS single-bevels and that did a number on a Coues buck, a smallish whitetail subspecies. Certainly, as I and other fans of FOC have often said, “there’s no such thing as overkill” when you want to go the extra mile to assure the most lethal possible arrow for clean humane kills. But you can sure kill deer and normal sized hogs without 800 grains. I personally will always stick with Ashby’s recommended 650 minimal total weight for assured heavy bone penetration. And I’ll henceforth always hunt with single bevels. But for deer and such if I have 650 and at least 20% FOC I am totally confident of pass-throughs no matter the angle of hit or bone impact. I shoot 53#. In sum, IMHO, you are set for elk and could afford to drop a bit of weight, preferably in shaft weight, for deer and such. But if you’re shooting great with the heavier rig, I wouldn’t confuse things with different arrow set-ups for different game. I am becoming a one-bow, one arrow guy as I age and need to simplify things as much as possible.

[Author]

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