[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #47912

Steve Graf wrote: OH that’s good to see! No shame required… But how have you dealt with the quiver issue? I took my recurve to Colorado for elk cause I just couldn’t figure out how to carry my arrows and a backpack.

Steve,

For big game hunting, I use a Safari Tuff side quiver in conjunction with a day pack. I really like it, and I don’t find that it interferes (much) with a pack. You can also strap it to the side of a pack, if you prefer, and still be able to remove an arrow from it.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: "a safe and painless death" #47890

This reminds me of a similar response from author David James Duncan, when asked how he could be a follower of Buddhist teachings, and also an avid fly fisherman, since “fishing is cruel:”

“Fishing is cruel indeed. Eating is cruel, often as not, for those of us who don’t digest sand and gravel live off of other life-forms. It is also “extraordinarily cruel” that this interview is being powered by electricity that is wiping out migrating salmon and dumping mercury and sulfur on North America’s waters and children and pregnant women. And it is extraordinarily naïve to think that anyone is going to want to protect ecosystems and natural processes about which they have no firsthand experience or knowledge. Read “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv or Gary Paul Nabhan and Steven Trimble’s “The Geography of Childhood” on the separation of children from nature, and you might find it more reprehensible to sit here staring at a screen, or to drive a car, or to watch network TV, than to take a child fishing on a wild river.

The fact is, those who have actually saved rivers and fish species have tended to be the fishermen and women who love them. Those who saved wetlands have most often been duck hunters. And so on. There is a mystery here that has to do with the words “love” and “sacrifice.” This mystery has served the world well. Jesus caught, killed, cooked, and served fish to his disciples after the resurrection. I can’t tell you how at peace this leaves me about my fishing.

Lord Byron felt as you do and condemned fisherfolk in his poetry. He also infected a large swath of Italy with gonorrhea. Fingerpointing is dangerous for all of us — me most of all!”

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #47880

R2 wrote: 😀 That’s just pretty cool. Wolf kill you think maybe? Or drops?

It was especially lucky to find the pair laying on the ground within a foot of each other! Pretty sure they are sheds.

paleoman wrote: I didn’t need/want anything but that beauty has me about convinced to carry my bow naked too! The lightness of a good bow makes me wonder how I ever carried a rifle around.

Indeed. A bare longbow has me spoiled on carrying just about anything else! And Steve – you’ll be glad to see that I’ve reunited with “The One,” along with an appropriate amount of shame for my recent daliances…8)

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: "a safe and painless death" #47825

Clay Hayes wrote: You seem to think that in the absence of human hunters that wildlife would live a peaceful life; a kind of Bambi like existence. Having spent my life in the woods, watching, learning and living close to nature, I can tell you firsthand that this isn’t the case. Nature is unforgiving. Whether it be a rabbit caught and eaten alive by a hawk, or a mule deer starving on a degraded winter range, death in the wild is rarely swift or peaceful.

Excellent.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #47813

Well, it wasn’t meat (although we had a bull @ 25 yds. this morning), but at least I got to pack something out of the mountains today:

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #46730

Alex –

That’s a great looking quiver!!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Southwest DIY Javelina Hunts? #46601

Yup. As non-residents, we have to purchase a “Combination Hunt and Fish” annual license and then a draw app for Hunt #5093 (Archery-only).

I just double-checked the archery-only season dates for that zone, and they are Jan 1st – 22nd.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #46178

That’s a good idea, Doc! I’m headed to the hardware store later today anyway, I’ll look for some.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Made a new quiver for the opener #45662

Wow – amazing work, Darren! May it serve you well in the coming season!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Southwest DIY Javelina Hunts? #45652

I’m thinking Area 34A (south of Tucson), 3rd week of Jan. How does that sound?

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #45385

Doc –

Yep, when bird hunting with my dog, there is no way I would use a broadhead, for obvious reasons. And I don’t have a lot of faith in blunts when it comes to roosters, as noted above. I’m experimenting now with a combo bodkin/Zwickey Scorpio setup. Not much to hurt the dog that way, and with this combo you get penetration along with an arrow that ideally stays in the bird to bring them down.

Luckily, we still have a number of WMA’s in my part of the state with good pheasant #’s, and at lower elevations, prolific populations.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #45307

Doc Nock wrote: But, but, but, bruce…can you do that on the wing???:D:D:D

!

I’ve only hunted pheasant with a bow once, and I bounced one off a rooster in flight. They are such tough birds. I’m going to spend a little more time trying to get one with a bow this year, but with a different head setup.

We have an area west of us where there is pretty good pheasant hunting, and not far beyond that is some good sage desert full of jackrabbits. Once big game season is done here, I’m thinking that could make for one heck of a fun “combo” day.

ausjim wrote:

Bruce, I think the second coming of Phrank could be achieved through the liberal use of duct tape 😉

Jim – it’s hard to tell in the pic, but he has several layers of duct tape around his neck. In addition to a counter-sunk screw, that was bored into a hole filled with gorilla glue! That lasted for almost a year, but alas, all good things come to an end. 😥

Great pics too – start ’em young!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #44339

Had this little guy wandering around about 20 feet in front of me for a while last night where I was set up calling for elk:

Shortly after discovering a new wallow this morning, we heard the characteristic bark of a rutting bull moose. Sure enough, he came out into the clearing and began raking his huge rack on everything in his path and tearing up trees not far from where we were sitting. He was really worked up!! Such an impressive thing to see at close range.

The aspen are really turning in the last few days. By far, my favorite time to be in the mountains…

We got on a bugling bull this morning, but he seemed to be on a mission, and not interested in our calling. With a week left to go in the Idaho archery season, vocalizing elk in our corner of the state continue to be few and far between.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #44336

Phrank.

R.I.P.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: New books #42983

Just downloaded to my reader:

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