[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #176015

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #176013

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Archery deer season and small game seasons opened yesterday here in MN. Heard some does blowing, flushed some grouse in impenetrable cover (why so jumpy so early?) and noted location of “hidden” buck trails. Lunch was egg and cheddar on Finnish rye rolls, washed down by suitably strong coffee:

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Charles Ek.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: End of the Trail #176009

By the bitterest and sweetest of ironies, I happened to be looking yesterday at an issue from a couple decades ago and thought to myself – before reading this news – what a wonderful repository of knowledge TBM has been for many years.

I know something of the difficulties faced by magazine publishers these days. You folks have a record to be extremely proud of, in every aspect of your business.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Backstop question ??? #175871

Been there, done that four times for backyard ranges (not always with 3D targets). It’s a two person job to hang one unless your neighbors don’t object to some blue air (I’ve done that both ways, twice). Nothing equals the utility of the horse stall mat. Even the deer approve of the cover it affords here at the Kenwood Deer Sanctuary:

https://youtu.be/KybGYrH9biY?is=Km5ZtzHlGUZaccIl

I use a pair of 2x4s bolted along the upper edge to clamp the mat before hanging. This greatly reduces the likelihood of tearing out the holes with the passage of time.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Charles Ek.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Lower Bow Weights, The Ashby Report and Whitetail Hunting. #175870

The deer season opens here in MN in a scant 19 days. Seems like the perfect occasion to stir the pot with this oldie and goodie.  🙂

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #175638

No iPhones were harmed in the making of this video.

 

https://youtu.be/lhRUFBe5C7E?is=gINDvW0aRosTGNcj

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: 300 gr. blunts? #175598

Somewhere on YouTube there’s a video posted by a compound shooter. He missed an exceedingly royal elk at five yards because he had never practiced the shot.

A local 3D course owner outside Duluth, a trad guy himself, enjoyed tormenting the compound shooters with all manner of short-range shots.

 

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: 300 gr. blunts? #175594

I saw what you did there, Three Fletch.  😉

I do the one-yard shot frequently on a 3D bear target here – “just in case.”

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: 300 gr. blunts? #175582

Good stuff there, Roop. If’n I’m ever in an environment with a 60-yard shot window, I’ll keep it in mind. Here in the felicitously named Arrowhead region of Minnesota, you have to be out on Gitche Gumee to see that far:

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: 300 gr. blunts? #175574

What’s old is new again. I was just thinking about submitting a tip of the week regarding cartridge cases for blunts and I stumbled onto Webmom’s comment here.

I’ve taken to using the expanding form of Gorilla Glue to fill the void around any case that is larger in diameter than the shaft in question. This allows the use of various cases to achieve a desired weight. (I don’t put them inside a rubber blunt.) I don’t have any of the old traditional .38 Special cases that my father taught me to use, but they are apparently around 67 grains. FWIW, a .45 ACP case is 86 grains, a .44 Magnum is 120 grains and a .35 Remington (my standard for 11/32 shafts) is 154 grains. These are all primed and fired cases with the expended primers still in them. Additional weight can be obtained by adding shot from shotgun shells before installing the case.

And I have some 300 grain factory-made blunts, which I purchased from the predecessor of these folks:
https://siriusoutdoorgroup.com/product/hex-blunts-glue-on/

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Spine testing #175530

The straight and narrow on the subject of testing methods is available here in the comment from Walksalot45 (not me):

https://www.reddit.com/r/Archery/comments/we5osa/comment/kyhouor/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #175529

We might as well fill out the trifecta while we’re at it:

https://tradbow.com/product/the-traditional-bowhunters-handbook/

 

(Beat ya to it, Webmom.  😉   )

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #175336

The (occasionally beneficial) effect of peer pressure:

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/UJv5T-BQuWs?si=T-ZBnY9EAS2bRlzt

 

 

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by Charles Ek.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #175211

Went out yesterday with my BIL to try a hunter walking trail where he hunts grouse. On the way there I passed a hen looking for companionship. No sign whatsoever of anything with the goods she needed.

The HWT was easily the worst habitat for turkeys I have encountered. OTOH, it does seem to provide Bullwinkle what he needs – heard him in the brush as I came across this:

 

 

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going On 2026 #175129

We dodged the storms here in northeastern Minnesota for the most part, but it did feel like hell to this Duluth native when the temperature went into the mid 70s the day after the April 15th opener. So much for the tracking snow.

Went out again early today to ”slightly” different conditions:

Walked and sat for four hours without hearing any turkeys. Did find evidence of a recent passerby that lifted my spirits. This is on the fringe of the area that is the focus of efforts to restore a recently-hammered moose population:

Walked back to my truck, drove a quarter mile and spotted a turkey diving for cover:

[Author]

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