[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Improving accuracy #43081

In addition to everything mentioned above, I would also recommend Brian Sorrell’s book, The Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery.

He lays out a good step-by-step practice progression for improving accuracy that is easy to follow.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #41126

jugboy wrote:

As for the Dream Catcher, I hadn’t really considered getting rid of it…

Good! They’re nice shootin’ bows, and purty too.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Big Jim"s Bow quiver #40726

Good to hear. I’ve looked at those too, Mudd. Been very satisfied with Big Jim’s service so far.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #40693

Jugboy – congrats on a nice bow.

But I’m curious – what’s making you think that you might be overbowed?

That said, for getting he basics down, shooting a lower-poundage bow will probably let you focus more on technique.

But don’t get rid of that Dream Catcher if you don’t have to! After shooting for a while, you might not find #58 to be that big of a deal. And of course, if you do, then please PM me….:)

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Black Widow #39648

In addition to BW, a number of other bowyers offer ‘try before you buy’ options. Robertson Sykbow would be one to research.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Merry Christmas from Carter #39571

Great story. We’re pullin’ for ya, Carter!!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Black Widow #39407

Seriously – performance-wise, I’ll put any BW out there up against my Martin/Howatt Mamba, which cost half the price, and which I get compliments on all the time, especially after people shoot it and see how fast and stable it is.

And I would add that the fit and finish of my Mamba is top notch, in my opinion (I’ve seen a number of ‘custom’ bows with inferior workmanship by comparison).

If you blindfolded ten archers and had them shoot both, I bet the results would be pretty interesting.

BW may offer more eye candy options, but for performance, I haven’t seen anything to convince me that BW’s are any better than a lot of other, less expensive options out there.

I know lots of people love them, and I’m really not trying to put down BW, but I do think that they are expensive for what you get. Nor am I saying all this to plug my particular bow choice, but to your question – are they “worth” the extra money? I would say, only if you really want a BW, but not because you need to spend that much to have an excellent bow (both in performance and finish), by any means.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Arrows for 2012 #38315

Clean & simple & easy to see. We likes.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #37413

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Trad VS. Compound #37217

What is this “compound” that you speak of?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: string silencer placement #33247

Dave – interesting to hear that you’ve been using a SBD on your vintage K-Mag with no problems. I’m definitely considering the same for mine, and I’ve been really happy with SBDs on my longbows.

And this is probably obvious, but I only consider adding string silencers after I’ve done everything else to properly tune and quiet the bow, and if it is still needed at that point.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Who's Hunting the Late Season? #17017

I’m finally starting to see deer here @ 6200′ in eastern Idaho, though still not in great numbers. No one I know has been very successful on deer this year. We still haven’t seen much snowfall, but enough, combined with cold temps, to start bringing them down.

But I still have a week left to chase whitetail before it’s off to NV for a week of chukar. Either way, the next couple weeks will be a blast…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Is it the Traditional way? #17016

Since the topic is wandering…

There sure seems to be more and more coming to light to indicate that pre-historic peoples were far more mobile, across far greater distances, than we used to give them credit for.

As just one example, look at how Cook and his crew struggled to explain their first encounters with the Polynesians – people who they expected to be far less advanced, and could barely even consider “human.” Instead, they found sophisticated seafarers who were sailing circles around Cook’s boats, in craft that could move 3 times as fast. And then look at how much we’ve learned about their impressive open ocean navigation skills across the whole of Polynesia, without compass or a concept of lat/long. And when you study what they were capable of 500 years ago, and what they had likely been doing for a long, long time before that, it isn’t too hard to believe they were occasionally bumping into the Americas. And then there are the startling artistic similarities between cultures like the Maori and the Haida, the Norse seafaring cultures…

Sometimes I still think that our perceptions of the abilities of pre-historic people are still stuck in the same prejudiced way of thinking that created such a cognitive dissonance in the early explorers.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Is it the Traditional way? #15878

Mudd Foot wrote:

Is this an example of necessity being the mother of invention or just 1570’s style “baiting” and “hunting?”

Yes.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Is it the Traditional way? #14296

According to who’s ‘tradition?’ Bowhunting has many traditions.

The idea that there is one “trad way” that we should all be conforming to makes me bristle.

While others can weigh in with what they might, or might not do, these are questions you can only answer on your own path.

[Author]

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