[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Flowers and other blooming' things #31867

Lots of moose sign as well:

Looking back into the valley:

And up into the high country, where there is still some snow:

Old wolf sign:

“The Meadow” that I always expect to see a bull elk standing majestically in the middle of, and of course I never have:

Playing around with my new tree seat:

And some very unusual scat that I don’t recognize at all:

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Wisconsin deer politics #31303

I really know nothing about WI politics. But I do know that if there is any truth to this, it certainly wouldn’t be an isolated incident. And I do know that between recent huge cuts in the budgets of most state and federal land/game/fish management agencies, and seemingly continuous attempts at privatizing many public resources of late, I wouldn’t dismiss any of it lightly.

The price of our public lands legacy is eternal vigilance.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Hunting Bigfoot in Texas #30120

I know someone who was elk hunting not far behind my house last year, and inadvertently called in a cat while using a calf call. Once the cat was close enough to realize it wasn’t a crying calf elk, but a human, it just sat there and stared at him, from about 12 yards away. Luckily the guy was hunting with a buddy, and when the buddy came walking in, the cat took off. Freaky.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Fletching tips #29748

Lightly sand the area of the shaft with a fine grit.

Clean it with denatured alcohol.

Or, if you use cap wraps on your arrows, you don’t need to worry about the steps above. Personally, particularly for target/stumping arrows, I’m a big fan of cap wraps (or visible cresting of some sort). I think they’ve saved me from losing many an arrow…

Trim the leading edge of the feather. Many pre-cut feathers I find have an uneven, jagged cut on the leading edge, which will tend to ‘lift up’ after a while.

You can use glue or tape. Personally, I much prefer tape, with a dot of Gold Tip glue at either end. Never had a problem with it when applied to a properly-prepped shaft.

Hope that helps. 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #28009

Steve Graf wrote: …I’m off to put an edge on my hunting arrows – 620 grn, 21% fOC, Abowyer Brown Bear heads, 1.5″ aluminum collar behind the head for strength. Fancy laquer cresting, and home made Carolina Turkey Feathers.

Hope we’re going to see a few pics of those when they’re done.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #28010

Whoops.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Grizzly broadheads, redux #26717

Good news. Looking forward to trying some 200 gr. Grizzlies as soon as they become available.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #26411

You make some really good points, Steve. The only thing I would address is the common misconception that the Ashby study only applies to large animals, and not to smaller animals such as deer. Here is a link to Dr. Ashby addressing this:

(fast forward to 2:30):

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: weasels #25782

I’ve had similar experiences with mink in coastal AK – running between my legs, jumping over me as I was laying down with my head on a log, etc. Someone once tried to explain it to me by saying that they have very poor eyesight, but that’s incorrect. They (and weasels) actually have very good eyesight. I think they are just also blessed with a healthy sense of play and mischief. 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: where are the heavier bows at??? #25457

tkohlhorst wrote: I shot anything from light then shafts with 100grain field points all the way up to heavier shafts with 190 grain field point and those things would not fly correctly.

What type of bow? How is the shelf cut?

My first reaction is that 100gr. points out of a 60 lb. is probably way too light, and at 190 you’re probably just starting to enter the right range for point, but of course that’s also going to depend on a lot of other factors like length/spine of shaft, etc.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: where are the heavier bows at??? #24590

That more poundage = more force is undeniable. But with a bow in the mid #50’s and a 650 gr. 24% FOC arrow, I don’t feel like I’m lacking sufficient force for the species I tend to hunt. And if anything, I’d increase my arrow weight and FOC prior to increasing my poundage, if better penetration for less than ideal shot placement was my concern.

The other part of the equation for me is balancing poundage against how long I can comfortably hold the bow at full draw. Sure, I can draw a #70, but personally, I can’t hold that bow for more than a second or two without starting to wobble, which, in my opinion, narrows my shot opportunity in the very few seconds when I need it most. I like a bow I can comfortable hold at draw for up to 10 seconds.

Not putting down heavier bows, or anyone else’s choices, by any means. These are all obviously very personal decisions. Just explaining my own rationale for shooting the poundage that I do, and the other factors that I weigh against sheer poundage.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: It's getting CLOSE! #23621

Gobblers have been a bust around here. Unseasonably hot and dry, and the place we went this past weekend (where we got into a bunch of them last year) was over-run with an endless parade of ORVs. Talking with other locals it seems like few people have had any luck this year so far.

Anyone else ever get tempted to send an arrow through one of your decoys, when you’ve been staring at it for hours without hearing a gobble?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #23436

Let’s get this thread back on track. This was started by a guy who is interested in trying single bevel heads, not a debate about others’ personal choices.

Any comments about the broader issues that got this of track can be handled in PMs, in my opinion.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #23263

Thanks, Robin. And Happy Webmother’s Day!

I would just like to reiterate, for those newcomers and others who may get the wrong impression from these discussions, that there is plenty of history and tradition behind single-bevel heads, EFOC arrows, recurves…heck, even composite bow construction. None of this represents new-fangled innovations. This has already been abundantly pointed out and detailed elsewhere. So I urge folks not to be influenced by certain points of view into thinking that opting for these things makes one any less “traditional.” There is plenty of time-tested tradition behind all of this – it’s just a matter of choosing which “traditions” work best for you.

Carry on…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: broadheads #23144

J.Wesbrock wrote: Steve McD,

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it? Indeed.

A pass through is a pass through, and if the only way for me to quantify an increase in penetration is by measuring how far my arrows burry in the dirt after going through an animal, I see no reason to change what I’m doing.

This debate seems to rear its head on a regular basis, and personally, I feel like it gets pretty tiresome. I don’t feel that making a choice to shoot a trad bow means we all have to sign on to the same, set-in-stone mentality, nor does it have to mean consigning oneself to a static, un-evolving way of doing things.

Traditional archery is not fixed at some arbitrary moment in history….or at least in doesn’t have to be. If you consciously make the choice to adhere to some point in our history that you feel was the apex of our sport, and not entertain anything that may have been developed since, that’s fine, and I really don’t care what others choose. But saying that there is no need to do things any differently than how you’ve chosen to do them, and at the point in our evolution that you’ve chosen to stop evolving at, is no less dogmatic than what you’re purporting to be reacting against.

Personally, I see our trad history as something that continues to be dynamic – not fixed, and that has been continually evolving since the first time someone affixed a string to a pliable piece of wood (or horn, or…), and will hopefully continue to do so. I think that tinkering and evolution are generally good things, if they stand up against the test of usefulness. And if they don’t? Then the over-arching rule of practicality that guides our sport will eventually consign them to the dustbin.

But this mentality that “everything has already been figured out” and that there is no need to try anything different anymore, baffles me. There are so many innovations that many of us “traditionalists” currently enjoy, and that get defined as “traditional,” that we wouldn’t have if this peremptory mentality ruled the day. Fastflight? Modern composite wood construction? Non-wood shaft options? Ever-evolving bow designs? Unless the folks espousing this, “no need to innovate” mentality are purely using self bows with handknapped heads and sinew, I think this point of view is rather inconsistent and arbitrary, to say the least. History is, by its very nature, dynamic and ever-evolving. Nostalgia, on the other hand, tends to breed just the opposite.

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