[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Recurve Bow Upgrade #53137

I resisted owning a Kodiak Magnum for years because I was leery of the 52 inch length. But a couple years back I succumbed and bought a used 1966 model in 52# on eBay, and I will never be without one again.

This is an enormously handy bow and it shoots well. They are not the quietest bows out of the block sometimes, but that can be tamed by the judicious application of your favorite silencer arrangement.

I took a friend who was getting out of compound bows to look at recurves this past summer. He didn’t like the grip on the new ones, and I agreed with him. But when he held a 70s era version, you couldn’t pry it out of his hands.

There are all kinds of the Grayling-era K-Mags available in very good condition almost every day on eBay for under $250, and frequently for under $200. You can almost have your pick of hunting weights if you’re patient.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Christmas gift in the mail! Arrived in time! #14679

If I weren’t already happily married, I’d find a way to marry into that family. Beautiful piece of bowmaking exceeded only by the generosity behind it.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: I draw the line way, way before helicopters #14616

Okay, I’m going to cite a cartoon distributed by one of my favorite law school professors. Two men, apparently members of the French Foreign Legion, are standing in the desert. One is dragging a sword point through the sand and says to the other as he passes: “You have to draw the line somewhere.” The arbitrariness is the whole point (no pun intended.)

A helicopter is a very noisy intrusion on the top of a mountain that facilitates easier access to game than that provided by riding a horse, walking, skiing, snowshoeing, and yes, even riding a seat on a bush plane. It’s too easy and too intrusive for my taste.

YTMV, and there’s little or nothing that anyone can cite that will make it anything other than a matter of personal choice, other than the potential adverse effects on animals.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #41173

Dang El Niño is messing with our winter. The tenant back in my archery range is none too happy with his snowless situation.

<img src="[img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5702/23412281549_38aa8d2cd0_z.jpg” alt=”” />SNOWLESS HARE by googletops, on Flickr[/img]

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Seats vs The Ground #17870

Patrick wrote: Not the greatest photo quality, but here’s a pic from tonight’s setup…a bit unorthodox, but it worked well.

In addition to the usual arrangement, I’ve done this as well. It can be a great way to exploit the concealment available at old slash piles. And it has the advantage of not constructing anything obviously new to the neighborhood.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Where the Bucks Go!? #17861

And now for something completely different.

I’ve heard tales over the last few years of “monstah” bucks hanging out in dense cover at trailheads and parking lots during the firearms hunting season here in NH. They watch and know the patterns in the woods as well as any creature, and they’ve devised a strategy to hunker down and snicker as the orange army files past for distant destinations.

So I put this theory to the test on a couple of recent forays. Sure enough, Foray # 1 brought me to a scape within rock-chucking distance of a semi-busy road, tucked just behind a hill from where the orange army disembarks its various vehicles. As I stood there staring a bit too long at the scrape, I heard not a snicker but an ego-deflating snort from just inside a nearby woods line. Sigh.

Foray # 2 saw me fifty yards from the road at sunrise, heading down a snowless snowmobile trail. Up ahead of me, a scant hundred yards from the road, something with an inconvenient amount of headgear for dense woods leaped down from its trailside perch and dropped into a nearby cedar swamp, making a racket as it went. He didn’t go far, so we played cat and mouse for the next ninety minutes, while he watched me from various elevated vantage points, no doubt snickering each time he slid off to the next one.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Only sissies like Don Thomas use two ski poles when hunting #14005

donthomas wrote: That’s eastern Norwegian. I only speak the North Dakota dialect. Don

1. My Norwegian relatives are in fact in the eastern part of the country.

2. When I watched the movie “Fargo”, I turned to my equally Minnesotan wife and denounced the dialect as far in excess of anything I ever heard before. Then I went back home a few years later for my sister’s birthday, and a guy showed up who could have been a dialect coach for the cast. I had to leave the room to stop staring at him. He was from somewhere near Detroit Lakes.

3. Webmom, I’m reading up on ancient Danish bows to get ready to make a replica this winter, and my Danish ability is derived from my Norwegian, so yes, this all does relate to trad bows. 😉

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Only sissies like Don Thomas use two ski poles when hunting #56743

donthomas wrote: Now the title of this thread certainly caught my eye! Little known fact: in addition to some Spanish and French, I speak fluent Norwegian. The main text begins: “I am learning to ski with one pole so that someday I can use two, like Montana bowhunter Don Thomas.”

Hei du! Bra at du snakker norsk så godt. Google Translate bare driter på slike oppdrag, vet du. 😉

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Only sissies like Don Thomas use two ski poles when hunting #35689

Here’s a link to an excellent short video of the Altai skiers in action at home on a hunt:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/first-skiers/altay-skiing-video

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Only sissies like Don Thomas use two ski poles when hunting #34200

Webmother wrote: I don’t think I’d be calling Don a sissy. 😆 O

Only used that ‘cuz I’m separated from him by a mountain range or two. 😉

Thanks for finding the article citation. (For those who don’t know, the online access to sold-out issues is a prime reason to buy a Premium TBM membership.)

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Deer Calls? Or Just Blowing Hot Air! #49026

I’ve called in exactly one buck, during the rut. He approached within 40 yards, at which point he intersected a doe trail I had watched being made a few minutes earlier. Bye bye.

A “doe” called to my wife and me from a thicket while we were walking the dogs along a trail in thick downed leaves yesterday. I resisted a nearly overpowering urge to call back with, “How’s that Primo’s workin’ for ya?” 😈

I think the proliferation of whitetail calls in the woods around here has thoroughly educated all but the most naive forkhorns. JMHO.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Shooting Gloves #37245

Cameron wrote: I switched a few years ago to shooting 3 under and I use the 3 under leather cordovan tab. It will last you a life time and really has a clean release. You can also get a cordovan for split finger shooting.

This. Plus the Safari Tuff tab will fit over darn near any warm glove I’m likely to be wearing in cold weather and still allow a clean release. I’ve tested it with these and it works like a charm:

http://www.sitkagear.com/products/big-game/necessities/mountain-goretex-glove

(FWIW, I won those gloves and didn’t buy them. But I can heartily recommend them if your budget permits.)

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Website Upgrade #37194

Thanks, Mom!

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: I think a Dingo ate my Baby! #30398

This is the reason I’m burdened with a block-and-tackle rig (lightweight climbing pulleys and static line) every time I go deer hunting.

I like to hunt well away from the mad(den)ing crowd. If I’m fortunate to take a deer and my plastic toboggan and/or deer cart are not within a scant few minutes’ walk, the deer will be hung high enough for me to go fetch one or the other. There are coyotes everywhere in the Northeast these days, and the bears are holding their own as well.

[Charles Ek]

in reply to: Just brought home my first deer killed with a trad bow. #30390

Here are some tips on hunting Rosies I ran across that I’m itching to test. Undoubtedly someone here can vet them for us:

Washington State Roosevelt Elk Tips

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