[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Shooting Gloves #33176

Anybody out there making there own shooting gloves?

J

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Bunker Buster UEFOC arrow #20952

That sounds pretty neat Doc! I just saw some carbon shafts I believe were Easton Light Speeds? they weigh somewhere around 7.5 gr/inch in a 340 shaft! Wow! I would like to get some and see what kind of FOC I could come up with on my setup with 500gr up front!;)

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: important science for hunters #63919

This was a good link Dave. This topic touches on so many different levels of a traditional bow hunter’s experience that I don’t even know where to begin with my thoughts. I’ll share a quick story about human impact.

I lived for many years in Norway, which is one of Western Europe’s main “wild places”. The country has a very low population in relation to it’s size and the dense populations are centered around the larger cities (Oslo, the capital, having somewhere around 700,000 when I was in country. The total population of the country somewhere around 3.5 Mill). I always lived in very rural areas up in the mountains. Being an American kid who grew up hunting, fishing, and skiing in North Dakota, I was used to spending most of my time outside within these past times and continued with such. I made friends who took me hunting and fishing and shared their country with me and saw some very beautiful places. One thing which always struck me hard was the low numbers of game and fish in the areas we were in. I was always looking around and thinking to myself “this looks like good habitat, so where is the game, why doesn’t this water hold fish?”. It should be known that Norwegians are very good a some basic things. One being fishing with nets, and another being forest management and logging. If the landmass isn’t high alpine/tundra, it has forest on it. They have perfected selective logging to point of making the forest look manicured. You drive down quiet roads through the mountains and the underbrush has been cleared out and the trees are all spaced nearly evenly from one another. Being a child of the prairie, I expected to see game coming out into the fields early and late in the day. I would almost never see game. I learned through years spent there, they just don’t have the numbers we have in North America. I initially thought this was due to a lack of quotas during their hunting seasons. They do have bag limits, but they seemed very liberal to my American experience. They didn’t seem to understand “game management”. I now believe the lack of game was do to all of the logging and destruction of habitat which has taken place for a very long time. It seems they have learned to manage their land too well. They had Reindeer herds in the mountains which seem to do very well as the high alpine tundra where they live is very regulated with no off road vehicles allowed (that means no ATV’s and no snow machines. Yay!!!). I did find some populations of European Red Stag, Moose (very similar to our Shiras Moose), and Roe deer in the deepest valleys which were off the beaten path and thus had seen the least amount of managed forest and undergrowth. I could go on and on with this but don’t want to offend my Norsk friends:) They do many things very well.

I live in the area of the Black Hills of SD. This mountain/hill range is another prime example of human impact both with logging and virtually unlimited access to ATVs and off road vehicles by logging roads. There are so many beautiful places I have found while fly fishing and crawling around which seem like they should hold a lot of game. There is habitat which screams “I was made for moose and elk”, but there is no “official” moose population in the whole area! People just don’t realize the impact we have been having on our wild places for the past many years and I fear it is nearly beyond saving without drastic measures to limit our impact on access and the destruction of wildlife corridors through these areas! It seems so much of our American Dream has become our motorized vehicles and large houses right in the middle of our best habitat. We as traditional bow hunters are part of a small group of stewards for dwindling wild places. I feel we know better than most just how full of life the places we hunt can be. We also know how quickly a place can be “ruined” by human impact. Enough of my rant for the night as I don’t want to contribute to the “delete finger blister syndrome” our Web Mother has been fighting:)

Thanks again for sharing a great link Dave.

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: High FOC Vs. Speed #56252

Joe,

My fletching setup on my arrows is a four fletch with 2.5″x.5″ feathers plus a turbulator 1/4″ in front. They work great and the arrows seem pretty darn quiet, as does the bow. I have beaver strip silencers on the string. I think a rubber mounted slip on bow quiver would be quieter than the old aluminum vintage Bear quiver I have on the bow. I like the bow mounted quivers as I have always used them, but I will try taking it off to see how I like it and how things shoot. It may be a whole like more quiet:)

Thanks for the input,

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: High FOC Vs. Speed #55193

All very good advice gentelmen, thank you! Dave, I have thought of doing exaclty what you were recommending; lowering my head weight with the 225s or the 190 meat heads. I will have to crunch some numbers to see what I need to do to keep the most weight up front and end up around 650grs. I do love how my heavy hitters shoot though:) They fly so darn well, quiet, and dive deep in/through the target:) I might just keep shooting them as I have shot this setup a lot and trust it. Maybe changing my quiver would help? I have an old Bear quiver mounted on the bow. The darn thing is all metal and makes a bit of noise. I have a limb bolt mounted Selway quiver on one of my bows and love it, but would need a limb slip on quiver for my Bear. Does anyone have experience with those?

J

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: I have declared war on the squirrels! #53890

Yes, using a squirrel proof feeder would be more efficient than flinging arrows at them, but so would buying venison at the store, or using a modern 20 gauge over a wonderful smooth bore flint lock:) It’s in the hunt, or the target practice in this instance:), and how I get to go about it by the equipment I choose. I may just be getting really itchy for a season to start. I hate to see summer go by to fast, but then again I don’t as I would rather have a longer fall.

It is amazing how quickly they adapt to how I stalk them. They are as smart as a coyote; you screw up one shot and they will remember and never give you the same shot again! Maybe I should bait them with fermented fruit?:) An intoxicated squirrel would be kinda fun to fling arrows at. The last one has brought a friend with and I am back up to two of the varmints again!

I’m not at the point of setting up a tree stand for squirrel hunting, but have considered setting up and staking down the ground blind with the back door left open from a direction I can sneak into without being busted.

J

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Oil rub arrow finish? #50604

$16 per pint?!!!! That’s thievery!

Sometimes a guy can find it for a good price at a larger store. It shouldn’t cost as much as they were charging you, then again, supply and demand influenced by location is a crazy thing.

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: I have declared war on the squirrels! #49581

Dear hunting diary,

It has been a time since my last entry and squirrel encounter. My wife just set out a new lard block with bird seed and the last tree rat has found it quite palatable. Aghhh, he mocks me. Arriving every morning while he knows I am in the middle of breakfast duties. My bird dog anxiously awaits his arrival at the screen door to sound her alarm. I know he is there when the whining yowl builds to a crescendo and I hear her smearing herself on the window of the door and the dull thud of her head hitting it, trying to force it open. The varmint knows this to be the alarm of impending doom and has taken a liking to the first response I am sure. He will present himself flat against the tree directly under the feeder and won’t move an inch while I am looking. I catch him sneaking a nibble out of the corner of my eye. I was leaving the bow propped up in the corner by the back door, but my twins took to much of a liking to yanking it down and walking all over it. Sneaking to the garage, getting the door open, knocking the arrow and slowly looking back out around the threshold only provides the scoundrel more time to run for cover. I was able to lease a running shot on him last week. I missed. I may just tip my hat to this one and let him fatten up on my tab.

J

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Oil rub arrow finish? #49569

Dave,

As far as how many coats to apply? That depends on how durable of a finish you want, or how much weight you are trying to add or avoid. You can add quite a bit of weight to softer woods with oil, but you need to do it with the first 1 or 2 coats when the wood pores are open and able to absorb the oil. Tung oil also has some drying agent in it and once it is dry, it starts to seal the grain. It will absorb most through the end grain. If you want them heavy, I would put them in a dip tube filled with oil and let them sit for a day or two before pulling them out to dry. If you are going for a lighter shaft, just apply, let it sit a few minutes, then wipe it off. I would do this several times, a minimum of three but better with six. Any oil finish gains strength/thickness through multiple layers/coats. The process of wipe on, wipe off will keep it from getting shiny. If you have any kind of heat at home or in the shop, watch how long you let the shafts stay wet before wiping them off. Oil is real fickle if left to dry to the point of getting tacky. In heat, or a warm day, this will only take about 5-7 minutes. Tung oil is not cheap, but it is a good oil. I like the Lundstroms brand which comes in a gallon jug for about 20-30$ last I checked. I would think a dip tube would be a good way to put it on if doing a whole batch of shafts, but anything will work. Let us know if you play with adding weight to your shaft through the oil finish.

Hope this helps,

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Making flemish twist strings #48410

Clay, thanks for sharing your video. What a great and straight forward method to making a Flemish twist bow string! A few questions; With B50 string material, how many strands does a guy need to use? I know it is based on poundage but have heard you can use fewer strands than recommended due to how strong it is. I have heard this helps with a little extra speed.

When tapering the ends in, how much difference in length do you cut them off at to get them staggered nicely?

What type of string do you use to serve your string? Is this based on a thickness which corresponds to a knock size?

When measuring how long to make the string, do you make it 4″ shorter than total bow length? How much does a string made out of B50 stretch and how much do you account for that?

Thanks,

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Oil rub arrow finish? #48251

Dave,

I will second the statement you can use water based dyes/stains under an oil. Just make sure your dye is dry before oiling. Sand to finish with some 200 gr or higher. I like to use cheep sponge brushes for the oil. Apply liberally and let it soak in. Lighter woods will absorb more oil, something to think about if you are trying to keep weight distribution even. I brush on my oils, let them sit a bit (depending on how warm it is where I am finishing, then wipe off the excess with a rag and let them dry. I like the Danish oils but they can get a little shiny. They have a drying agent in them. Tung oil is a great oil finish too. You can get buttery smooth matt finishes with it. Again just wipe on until you have the amount you want, then wipe off before it gets tacky and let air dry. Show us pics when you get them done!

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: UEFOC Fish arrow build? #42462

Great ideas Doc! So glad to see your elbow/arm issue must be healing up and you are able to type and join us again!! I never thought of using one of my 300gr Tuffies as a fish head, but that sounds like a great idea! I will probably forgo drilling a whole through it though as I just can’t bring myself to do that to one of my “good” broad heads:) I might be able to rig some kind of spacer/collar right behind the steel insert that I can drill a small whole through for an attachment point up front, and still be able to screw the head in and out for removal. I can rig something up with one of my old carbon shafts that should be nice and strong. Can’t wait to try this out.

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Easton Arrow Recall #40350

Jeff,

Thanks for sharing that! I am shooting this arrow in the 340 spine. Luckily, my serial numbers are starting with 12…. . So far they have been great and I have used them to build a 785gr, 34% UEFOC arrow setup to shoot out of my recurves. No shattering yet!

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: A nice Father's Day present:) #40346

Dave,

Ha, yes, through years of patient training, she will hopefully come around:) She has shot a couple of times and really likes shooting so I guess it might be helpful to find her a nice trad bow and have her shoot with me:)

As far as bows, I am a lucky man for my age. I have my grandpas early 70s Bear take down recurve, now this super mag, and a Bob Lee signature recurve. The nice thing is I can warm up shooting the take down which is a 48#@28″, the Super Mag which is 55#@28″, then the Bob Lee Signature take down recurve which is 65#@29. I pull 30″ so that should put my series at 54#, 61#, and 68#. I did a few reps of the series today:) Felt great and shot well. I was actually amazed at how well my 34% UEFOC arrow setup I tuned to the take down shot out of the Super Mag and the Bob Lee. Not perfect, but not bad. It is truly amazing to shoot those three in a row and to see the increase in penetration and speed in the heavy arrow as you go up a little bit in poundage. My arrows weigh in at 785gr total. 500gr of that is up front. The penetration and energy they deliver out of the Bob Lee at 68# is scary awesome!

My father still has two more Bears of his Dad’s which I hope to inherit some day. A 45#@52″ Bear Kodiak Magnum and an absolutely gorgeous Bear 35#@68″ Tamerlane target bow. I will try and get pics to share.

Some people appreciate and collect all sorts of things, I like beautiful bows with stories I can hunt with:)

Jans

[jpcarlson]

in reply to: Att Dave Peterson #40321

Dave,

I should have asked, do you have any experience to share with other types of wood for shafts? Forge wood, birch, ash, Doug Fir?

J

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