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in reply to: TBM's Ol Dave Petersen got his Coues #36110

Dave, I’m glad you got your chance to diversify your meals. I hope we as bowhunters can always find reward, even in our failures. Mike

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in reply to: A Mountain Trip #32269

Ha! Ha! Success is never measured in game harvested for me.
Michael- was planning to go into Pintlers, but got into some good bulls on the Salkaho side.
I learned from Barry Wensel to marinate the grouse and breasts in ranch dressing.

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in reply to: A Mountain Trip #31505

Montana- I was up east of Hamilton, then at the end I hunted with two friends down west of the BigHole. I took the picture just before a cleaned this group of grouse. I did not kill all of the birds pictured, but had a fork in eating them. The males were a little tougher than the hens, but after eating mountan house meals for a while the grouse were sure good.

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in reply to: A Mountain Trip #31416

I hunted Montana for elk packed in for 2 weeks. I got into a huge 360 class herd bull the first day and spent the rest of my trip in hopes of getting him. He is still out there but I did take 7 grouse. boy did they taste good cooked over the open coals of the campfire.

Also hunted Utah high country mule deer. Yep you guessed it, I saw a huge buck the first day and hunted him hard. Each day he moved later and later until he went nocturnal. At least we shared the same haunts. Ha!

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in reply to: Grunting 101 #31406

Thanks guys. Calling, lures, decoys….. I try to stress there is no magic bullet to getting a deer. Somne things work great at times while others don’t. I know Dave Petersen is wanting to hunt whitetails very badly. They are so diverse and accessible, while afording great opportunity from the ground. Following his writing, I would guess he would preffer to hunt them from the ground, so even more caution should be used while calling deer in eye-to-eye. But, his rewards will be exceptianal should he take a deer in this manner after calling it in! Mike

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in reply to: Grunting 101 #28866

Mule deer make a very long (sometimes over a minute) higher pitch tending grunt compared to whitetail deer and are not nearly as responsive to calling.

As far as whitetails and grunting, bucks grunt a lot during the rut while they are in search of does and after they have found one I heat. So, yes I have called in bucks using a grunt tube, but it seams to work best for me during the pre rut or late November after the peak rut is over and things are winding down. Like most calling timing is everything. We as bowhunters try to be very stealthy so it kind of goes against my grain to call and in some cases let animals know of my “hiding place.” So right up front I use all calling sparingly.

One of the most overlooked techniques is the wheeze-call. A warning call made by bucks who are tending a hot doe and what to proclaim there dominance. Well, this call will usually cause young bucks to back off or at least approach very cautiously, but it could trigger a very aggressive reaction in mature bucks who just can’t believe another buck is bigger than him. They may come right in toward you very recklessly and off a shot.

Rattling works best for me during the late season after the main rut. Again I’m looking to take a mature deer, but if any buck will do, then rattling is a longer range technique that will get a response from many younger bucks during the rut who just can’t seem to locate a lone hot doe. During the peak rut there are many does coming in heat and mature bucks will usually pick one up during their night-time prowl and will be less apt to investigate the rattling during the day. Why fight when you already have what you need. However, during the late season (in my area late December and Jan) solitary does come in heat and the young first-year fawns. This creates much more competition and rattling works better for me. I tie 4 sheds together and one haul line to my tree stand, thereby the rattling sound comes from the ground and also sounds more real as sticks and leaves are rustled. This method also leaves your bow hand free to hang to your bow with nocked arrow at ready.

Doe and fawn bleats work best for me during Sept. or very late season again as bucks come to investigate. Late-season bleats brings in bucks looking for hot doe fawns.
Calling is kind of a timing thing. Its hard to learn unless you do more of it, but do to much and you risk educating your local deer heard. Whether cautious from predators (man) or trying to get down wind to find the doe that the other bucks are fighting over, mature bucks usually circle me before coming in. I just try to coax them in quickly before they cut my downwind. Just remember grunting, or any calling, puts deer on alert for predators or other deer, just hope they don’t find you in your tree or ground blind instead. Ha! Have fun with it. Mike

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in reply to: Footed Arrows #28707

I have a long draw so footed arrow shafts allow for getting me the length need. Talk to Bob and Wispering Winds for information about footed shafts. Mike

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in reply to: Kalamazoo Traditional Bowhunters Expo #28702

I will be there all three days, either at Tall Tines, Brothers of the Bow or Sitka booth….. Please stop by and say hi. Mike

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in reply to: Predators and A Hunter's Conscience #27611

Yes up with diversity Dave, but we also need to open up to a diversity of opinion. I realize your love for predators and you have little desire to kill one yourself, but I also see you opening up a little to the opinions of others versus hunting them. Out west you have such huge open space that I love as well, but the cover does not change that much during the course of a year. Here in Illinois we live and hunt among agriculture, so cover in the form of corn, soybeans, wheat, and even tall alfalfa and hey field are annually removed. This very sudden lack of cover moves many animals in very tight proximity into the woodlands and thickets remaining, including the deer and coyotes. In the approximate 2 square miles I hunt we annually take about 20 coyotes. (Me, I use a bow and only get about one per year). This year alone I have seen coyotes chasing deer fawns 5 different times. Of course I may get more time to hunt than other people and I’m hunting in a place of good deer density, but this was very surprising to me since I have not seen this activity so frequent in the past. There are however many more coyotes this year do to a good spring. I have not climbed out of my tree stand one single time this year without hearing the howl and barks of several family groups of coyotes call out to each other in the twilight. I have seen two different covey of quail this year on my place (they have been void in years past), but know they will have a tough time this spring. So I guess everything in moderation, and yes diversity is good. I like the coyotes, deer, turkey, quail, raccoons, fox, squirrels and pheasants, so I hunt them all when the time is right. Mike

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in reply to: New to the Trad Scene #27595

I have a long draw, so sometimes its hard to find long wood shafts, but I like the footed hexshaft that can be made as long as you need with a little more weight up front if heavier hard wood is spliced in. Mike

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in reply to: National Archery in the Schools Program #48746

I contacted NASP back in 2005 and tried to let them know about our Primal Dreams movie and how it could be used as an educational tool during their class program, but they told me that much of the programs were geared toward big city schools and they did not want to bring up hunting directly with the curriculum. Now it is 5 years later and and I have heard that many of the rural programs do address hunting and even have support from state wildlife agencies.
So again I am throwing this out there, we have a condensed edition of Primal Dreams now that will fit very nicely in a 50 minute classroom time. It is available at reduced price for this type of function. Please PM me or contact us through brothersofthebow.com Mike

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in reply to: "Waiting to Kill" article in TBM #48739

Whether we kill or exsanguinate with broadheads, I second your recommendations of Dave’s writing. I may not agree with every thing he writes (he may not agree with all that I say either), but he certainly challenges my thinking and gets me to change my behavior from time to time.:>) Dave has a purpose and I’m grateful for that. Mike

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in reply to: Who's going to Compton? #48727

I won’t be able to make comptons this year because of a bear hunt planned for Quebec. You guys all have fun. Dave you should try to make comptons one of these years, or even Denton Hill. We are going to Denton this year in July. Both shoots are great!!

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in reply to: Robin Hood #48722

Gene and Barry were up our place in Illinois doing some editing for our sequel to Primal Dreams with me and brothers. We took a break at 10:00 PM to go watch Robin Hood. Brothers of the Bow do Robin Hood! It was very entertaining – and the movie wasn’t bad either. Dave, if you watch close you will see that Russell has thin cups of leather on each of his shooting fingers, they appear almost as tape. Interesting! I haven’t see that before. I guess the actual bows he was shooting in the movie were in the 37 to 40# range. Mike

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in reply to: Happy Birthday, David Petersen! #48717

Happy Birth Week Dave. I’m glad to call you a friend. Mike

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