[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136670

Primed and ready to go, but…………………………..for those who think of Texas as warm and sunny, it’s 13* and a chill factor of -4* with snow flying.

 

No sense in practicing musk ox hunting.

Can’t afford that anyway so mite as well stay in and snuggle…

Other places colder? Yup but they be snuggling too.

Not driving for sure hopefully from what I’ve seen on TV of some areas.

 

Y’all be well and have a good’un…

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136645

In regards to Steve’s reference to the book about beavers, they can make some pretty spots in our relatively dry climate.

They have moved us out of some of the area that we used to set targets in at Memphis, Tx. but we have plenty of room to adapt.

To me it’s worth the pretty view here to have them but I know they can be troublesome.

At the northern foot of the Grand Mesa my uncle and I had to make a yearly spring trip up the creek to clear dams so folks could get their irrigation water for their hay fields and such.

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136570

Looks rather chilly!!!!

Good shot!!!!!

Glad you got to get things going for the coming months.

Activities for the summer months are starting around here next weekend. Snow? We be drier than a popcorn **** around here….

A shoot here in Amarillo this coming weekend, Leedey, OK the next and then on the 23rd/24th it be OJAM at the Rutter farm near Stillwater, OK.

[Ralph]

in reply to: Wood Types for Light Weight Arrows (30-35 Spine)? #136484

I’m curious to know what weight points your planning on using on the arrows.

It’s easy with glue on points to play (experiment with) the 75 gr., 100 gr., and 125 gr. points that are available for the 5/16″ shafts.

There may be more options but these are all that I’ve diddled with.

The below I copied and pasted. It has been a tried and true method of at least where to start when selecting wood spine.

Of course the the figures are way different than being discussed here but the principal is the same.

“To get arrows with the correct spine for your bow, you first need to know your exact draw length and the weight that you are pulling from your bow. The standard measurement for a bow is based on 28″, but many of us fail to draw to that length; most of the time we draw less. A rule of thumb is to add five pounds of spine for each inch over 28″ as well as an additional five pounds for the broadhead. For each inch under 28″, you will subtract five pounds. For example, if you are drawing 65 pounds at 29″ you would add five pounds for the inch over 28″ and another five pounds for the broadhead, ending up needing an arrow spined at 75#. I would also err on the high side, adding another five pounds. In this case, I would opt for shafting that is spined 75# to 80#.”

The “most of the time we draw less”…………..important……………………it’s easy to draw less than what we believe is our draw length.

Good luck…Have fun….don’t overthink it.

P.S. It’s easier to tune and mess with wood arrows a bit over spined than under spined….

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: Shooting Glove #136331

I just cut a some serving and a strand or three in the string. Not catastrophic, just chronic.

Those days I knew not how to make strings and the only archery in Amarillo was totally in the mode of the the new world of compound bows.

The days of no order online, phone call and wait ‘patiently’ for Pony Express to deliver…

[Ralph]

in reply to: Shooting Glove #136325

Richard I’ve been using tie on nock sets for so long I’d totally forgotten the wear and tear on gloves and tabs that can be caused by a brass nock set.

I recall I used to, very carefully, use a small fine file and smooth off and round off any edges on the brass nocks sets after I pressed them on.

The very carefully part of that was a lesson learned the hard way by the way. 😒

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136279

So the little ol’wireman that caused the lockout relay to trip and dumped the plant not on the most popular list eh?  :-))))

Those in the know, know why I thank God for ground sets on the hi-lines. On the distribution lines also. There be lots of folks that fire up generators up and know not of back feed.

When it’s a lights out situation and we’d hear a generator ginning, we’d hunt it down and help isolate it.

Pissed some off but better than dying.

[Ralph]

in reply to: Glove vs tab… #136276

Winny, it’s hard to give a definitive answer on glove or tab because it’s such an individual thing.

Me, I shoot both but normally I grab my old glove and go for it.

Some gloves, the third finger has a tendency to hang a bit and it’ll make me shoot left some (I’m right handed).

I like my old plain and simple Neet brand gloves. They’re not too thick nor to thin. I have several all worn and broke in. I keep one stuck in places so when I forget my glove I’ve got one:-))

But…………………there are days when nothing is working, I’ll grab a tab, things work beautiful and I wonder why I don’t shoot this all the time.

Most of my tabs are homemade.

My advice, such as it is, would be to find a glove that not real thin nor too thick and like you mentioned, not high priced and give it a try.

To me, settling into an anchor with the finger of a glove in the corner of my mouth is natural. But that’s the way I started when I was 14-15 years old and that’s been a spell…..

The bow in the pic….gift for my wife years ago but now I’m enjoying the heck outta the 40# bow.

I was gonna steal it from her but she said I can “borrow it” anytime.

Reese? Reese Field was the origin of Great Plains Bows.

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136267

Amarillo Windiness. Wind is an ever present condition gardeners (archers too) know they have to live with. Amarillo had been name the windiest city in the United States, according to a Weather.com report last spring

No wonder I’m having hell with draw, anchor, squeeze shoulder blades together, release… Time I do all that I’m pointing in the wrong direction. :-))    -><-

The wind has really been aggravating for a spell now.  Gripe, gripe…….

Draw, anchor, target acquired, shoot…………….guess that’ll work for me……….

:-))

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136247

Great video…the beauty of such destructive power.

I know your deal after working 40 years for  a power utility company, mostly substation construction as the wiring crew foreman but I have had a stint as a high-lineman also. My lineman’s belt up in the loft of my little barn still reeks of creosote.

Getting the lights back on during ice storms and getting the high lines back up after a tornado rips them apart are some hard earned memories.

A little vibration in the wrong place and the result being a 3 unit coal power plant going down is vivid also. Not my doing but as the foreman on the job my responsibility.  Simply amazing how quickly one’s popularity dwindles……….  :-)))  It was determined later that is was faulty equipment and that saved my hide….

I can tell you sometime, when one is the only one working in a substation east of Carlsbad, NM and the lights go out at the WHIP project (the nuclear waste dump). S***. Wasn’t me, some driver knocked a pole down, but some folks can put the fear in one for awhile…

Much of my career was working away from home and when I retired there was a spell of everyone getting used to me 24/7.

No matter where I worked though I always had a longbow or recurve with me.

I met lots of people, messed around the country in the Carlsbad and Artesia, NM area with bow in hand for years. I used to bow hunt in the Guadalupe’s every year.

My wife is from Artesia…….

In those days a non-resident archery license   was $33 and no draw system. Kinda different nowadays.

Enjoy your retirement and the more time you’ll behaving with your family and time with bow in hand.

Nuff rattling out me, it finally warmed enough I got to shoot for awhile this evening.

Windy some but that’s pretty much a norm for Amarillo.

 

 

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136207

Good going David.  I had to also take deer by other than archery this year due to medical probs with both myself and my truck.

Ahhhh, gai paree!!!!!!

Bet things a bit different in Europe now than when I was there around 1961 eh?  :-))

I too found a neat travel route for mule deer this year and next year I may not have my hunting place anymore…grrrrr……..sob…sob…sob

Glad we have this “goof off thread”…

 

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #136182

I love this pic that was sent to me…

It’s titled “To Catch the Squirrel, One Must Become the Squirrel”

 

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: New Arras #136159

Lawful Hunting Methods
Shotguns, archery equipment including crossbows, falconry, dogs, artificial decoys, and manual or mouth-operated bird calls are lawful.

Legal in Tx. I’ve hunted pheasants with my bow with some success………..Doves, with no success.

They be a whole different breed of cat when airborne………..They learn while still in the egg how to fly fast, never in a straight line, and how to change direction of flight in a heartbeat.

If (and when, confidence speaking) I take one down in mid-flight, everyone I know will know….   :-))

That’s pure bragging rights there!!!!!!!!!!!

Ummmmmmmmm?????????? A .38 shell casing blunt with lead and lead laws and migratory game bird hunting??????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ralph]

in reply to: New Arras #136153

When I started chopping feathers years ago I could now and then get two 5″ feathers out of one full length, usually a 5″ and a 4″ for sure. Nowadays I get a 5″, sometimes a couple of 4″ers, sometime either a 5″ or 4″ and a flu flu feather.

I’m getting quite a supply of flu flu feathers…..

I guess I’ll need to check next fall and see if bow/arrow legal for dove hunting….
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Bet I need more flu flus than I can carry to score a bird in flight?

[Ralph]

in reply to: New Arras #136134

I tried one of my arrows on the fence the other day. I’d like to say it was intentional, experimental, but I’d be fibbing’

The fence won…………

[Author]

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