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in reply to: Anyone use a "possibles bag"? #19665

I think geography plays a big part defining what one needs to take along. Down here in south Alabama, I am hunting white oak riverbottoms, cypress swamps, piney woods, and canebrakes. The camp is never more than a mile or two away. That said, I carry an old folding camo stool with a bag fashioned into it. Something like dove hunters might use. It has a strap where I can carry it in similar fashion to the “possibles bag”. That little bag has a small roll of camo blind material in it, along with a water bottle, a little food, something to tie with, something to burn with, and something to cut with. Thats about all I usually need to set up on a trail to try and ambush a deer or a hog.

[hrhodes]

in reply to: Info on tuning your bow #16223

You have already been given some very valuable sources of reference for bow tuning…

I would just like to add that, at least for me and my equipment, a deer or a squirrel has too much reaction speed to still be there when an arrow arrives if I shoot at them from more than about twenty yards. Maybe some of these other trad guys have different opinions on this subject, but I have found that twenty yards is my max hunting distance, even though I can shoot pretty well a little further than that. I am looking for a clean kill or I won’t shoot at all.

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in reply to: The Aesthetics of Archery #16051

While I haven’t gone to building my own arrows yet, I have found few pursuits more rewarding than building my own bows. In communicating with a few bowyers on this and other websites, I am astounded at the number of us traditional types from around the world who are also involved in art, music and literature. No electric guitar, plugged in amplified music, but acoustic sounds from flat top guitars and homemade fiddles…. no modern art weird paintings that you don’t know what the heck you are looking at, but landscapes in oil and acrylics… and the literature! lots of philosophers on this site that I see eye to eye with!

Glad to be a part of it. You guys keep up the good posts….

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in reply to: Has anyone used Zwicky Broadheads #11677

Zwickey Eskimos are all I shoot. Years ago, while “flinging arrows” rather than employing the “perfect practice” as I should, I had a wild one miss the target and hit a concrete block. The eskimo penetrated almost two inches of concrete. I busted the block with a hammer and retrieved the broadhead. NO DAMAGE. I refreshed the edge and it will be in my quiver this fall hunting season. They are bad ass.

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in reply to: Scents for Hunting #10841

I see that deer communicate with scents… it is their language. If I start spraying scents around where I am trying to hunt, it would equal someone jumping into a conversation in a foreign language when they only know a word or two… I prefer to hunt into the wind, keep myself and my gear as scent free as possible, and try not to be noticed. I also try to keep my gear as simple as possible. A bottle of some magic store bought spray just wouldn’t go with my homemade bow and army surplus woodland camo. I think Dave made a great suggestion about your bootlaces… if you tie your shoes with bacon grease on your fingers from cooking breakfast that morning, you have pretty much announced your presence to everything in the woods. To each his own on the use of scents, but there is my two cents.

[hrhodes]

in reply to: My Latest Project #10825

Those are fine looking arrows. I love natural color turkey feathers. Looks great with the dark stain. Beautiful.

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in reply to: Hunting setup for 2011 season #10799

Shooting a 50# @ 28″ pecan selfbow I just finished last month. It seems to like 2018s with 40 grains of PDP weight inserts tipped with a Zwickey Eskimo 160 grain broadhead. Something about shooting this bow makes me anticipate October. Its quiet and groups about big as my fist at twenty yards. Pecan makes a great bow!

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in reply to: My hunting outfit – opinions please #9421

I think your outfit is cool. Hunting whitetails, you have to keep in mind that their nose is their best defense. Keep the wind in your face and be cognizant of wind direction always and employ a little natural foliage to break up your outline…. and stay with it brother. One will give you that quartering away, inside the twenty yard mark yet. Good luck this season.

[hrhodes]

in reply to: Is it possible to repair a splinter? #28365

George Tsoukalas wrote: You could wrap it with art. sinew, B 50, serving material or something similar. In order for a 58 in board bow to survive a 28 in draw even if backed it must be straight grained tip with no run outs and your tiller has to be picture perfect. My guess is the root cause of the splinter is poor grain with run outs. You can’t replace wood on the back of the bow. The repair that Dean wrote about was to fix the belly after it chrysalled if I remember correctly. Jawge

I will give the artificial sinew a try. I plan to glue it, clamp it and wrap it and glue it again… We’ll see… It was an uncommonly perfect straight grained board, tillered slow and careful, and it turned out to be really fast. I know now that I was asking a lot of that board for a bow that length. I am living and learning. I took your advice on the sapling issue and am about to complete a long bow from a 2″ diameter pecan sapling that is coming along great. Thanks George.

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in reply to: Is it possible to repair a splinter? #28012

Steve Graf wrote: If the bow is backed with linen, then I am guessing the splinter is on the side of the limb? Or is the belly cracked?

In general, you can glue a splinter down. For added security, you can wrap the limb with thread after that to assure the splinter stays down (glue the thread down as well). Some folks add another wrap of thread on the opposite limb to even out the tiller from the stiffening effect of the thread…

If the belly is cracked in the working part of the limb, my very limited experience is that failure is immanent… except for the following possibility:

Dean Torges has a “build along” on his website showing how to grind out a belly crack and replace it with good wood. I have a bow I am going to try that one one day. It looks easy enough.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice Steve. The belly of the bow looks fine. The splinter is on the side and about a fourth of the way across the back. The bow is about an inch and three quarters wide where the crack showed up. I will give the repair a try. I think I will build my bows a little longer in the future. I will let you know how it turns out.

[hrhodes]

in reply to: wild hog's shield #15492

Homer wrote: Can you provide a link?

Sorry, I am borderline computer illiterate. I will look around for a competent looking child to assist… Trying to get one to look up from thier screen at this time…. nope, no luck.:wink:

[hrhodes]

in reply to: small saplings as bow staves? #54872

George Tsoukalas wrote: The above directions where for 2-3 inch saplings. Jawge

Hey George! Thanks for the advice. I will check out your site. I am all fired up to build more bows. I find myself looking at trees and woodwork in a whole new light. I am blessed to have lots of great candidates growing all around me. I don’t want to shoot any of my store bought bows now that I have built one myself!

[hrhodes]

in reply to: small saplings as bow staves? #52750

Homer wrote: Howard (I rather like that name since reading “Mr. Nice”) — I don’t pretend to be an expert, but in general saplings are not considered as prime meat for good bows. What we need for that is mature trees with heartwood, sapwood, etc., so we can separate out the best bow parts depending on the species. I meself have tried saplings of Gambel oak, service berry, chokecherry, mountain juniper and more, and had no luck with any. Let’s hope that if you have access to all those young trees, you also have access to their grandpa’s. Where I live we have no great bow woods. You be a lucky man! Good to see you posting here. H

Thanks for the feedback. I do have access to the mature trees as well. I have a friend who complains about the osage, cedar and locust trees which he tries to keep cleared from his cattle fence… I have volunteered to help him with his troubles! I was just curious about the smaller trees. I will suck it up and try to split out a good stave of osage for my next project. Thanks H.

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