[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Dang Dr. Ashby Reports #25240

mhay wrote:

My next step is to be rid of the fletching noise .

For a long time, I’d been using 3 x 4″ fletching, with cap wraps (for no other reason than aesthetics, and they made arrows easier to find when stumping). A while back (in conjunction with bumping my point weigh up significantly), I decided to ditch the wraps and switch to 4 x 2-1/4″ straight fletching, just as an experiment. I fully expected that it would be nothing more than that, and that I was reducing my fletching by far too much, and that straight fletch was “crazy” according to all the so-called experts.

Instead, I immediately gained a noticeable bump in my FOC %, they flew great (even with broadheads) and they are dead silent. Plus, if cost is a concern, you can get a bag of 50 2-1/4″ feathers for $11 – about the typical cost of a dozen larger feathers. For as cheap as I can get 50 feathers, plus not buying wraps anymore, my arrows have actually gotten less expensive to build…in addition to flying great and penetrating a lot more, of course. 😀

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Dang Dr. Ashby Reports #25201

I can only tag on to what Doc has already said, but here are a few of my general observations, based on actually shooting these setups (as opposed to many who argue to the contrary about FOC, and have obviously never shot them…):

– Sure, many animals have been taken with low FOC setups over the years, and you’ll always hear the, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” argument. Well, I think the old-school approach to low FOC arrows IS somewhat broken. You can always point to the successes, but what tends to get ignored are the failures – in this case wounded and/or unrecoverable animals. And while many animals have been taken with low FOC setups, the part that no one seems to want to mention is that there are also many animals that have been shot, and haven’t been taken, or have at least suffered more than they should have before they eventually expired.

– The more I shoot and play around with EFOC (I’m currently shooting 29% and 650gr.), the more I have really started to believe that the low FOC approach to arrows is rife with increased potential for tuning issues, not to mention a variety of inefficiencies. Why else would an arrow “need” that much fletching? The simple truth is because many low FOC setups are more unstable otherwise. Proper high FOC setups are inherently a great deal more stable in flight (and far easier to tune, in my experience). And guess what? It doesn’t take long to realize that they also require significantly less fletching (and helical), and they still fly dead straight. Excessive fletching and more than necessary helical are just additional inefficiencies, but many people continue to use them, because otherwise their arrows would fly like crap. Or, because they’ve never considered experimenting with other approaches, and have simply “done what everyone else does.”

– I have a friend who was completely convinced that my arrows would nosedive 10ft. from the bow, when I described my arrow weight and FOC %. That is, until he watched me shoot it @ 20yards, and saw that the trajectory was just as flat as a 500gr. arrow with 12% FOC, and how much more it penetrated the target. He’s a believer now…

– Lastly, I think it’s important to note that none of this is anything new, despite the number of disbelievers saying that all this “new-fangled” tweaking isn’t really necessary, and that people are just trying to make it more complicated than it needs to be. There are plenty of historic examples of archery cultures that understood the benefits of increasing their FOC.

Everyone should make up their own minds, and like any path of experimentation, there will be successes and failures until you find just the right combo. But if/when you find it, I guarantee that some light bulbs will go off. I just encourage everyone who has an opinion on the subject to speak from actual experience, rather than pre-conceived assumptions. 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #24406

Rupe wrote: One of the.coolist things that happened was when I.sat down on a rock taking a break and a spike Elk walked with in 10 yards of me, Looked at me, then gave me a great 1/4’ing away pose and walked off slow.

He knew I didn’t have an Elk tag I just know it!

Rupe

DOH!

Of course, that doesn’t happen to me, simply because I do have an elk tag in my pocket…

Another dead quiet morning in the elk woods, even though I’m miles from where I’ve been hunting the last few weeks, and even though there is plenty of recent sign around. It’s like the rut just stopped, right as it was just getting going.

Well, nothing to to but explore and take pics…

Thick, nasty blowdown terrain. Elk heaven:

Looking for movement across the valley:

Aspens are starting to turn:

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: A couple of critters on the hoof #24358

Great pics, 1shot! Gila Monsters are really amazing critters.

I think we need to orchestrate a TBM reunion in southern AZ…:D

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #23637

After several discouraging days, I decided I needed to check out some new country. So I drove a whopping 10 minutes from the house (as opposed to my usual 3), and hiked up a ridge I’ve hunted the lower reaches for grouse. It turned out to be easier travel than I expected, so I just kept going, and finding more and more recent elk sign along the way, including some of the biggest elk tracks I’ve ever seen. I really want to see the bull that made those…

A stand of Mountain Mahogany, a tree that I always have soft spot for, for some reason. Maybe because they always seem to be on the most exposed, dry ridges:

As soon as I poked my nose over this ridge into the dark timber on the north side, I was hit with an intense wave of elk scent:

So I backed off and hung out a bit, cow calling occasionally, but never got a response. Still, they’re in there, and it’s the closest I’ve been to elk in a few days. Heading back in tomorrow morning…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Killed a Beautiful Bear Today! #23626

Well done!!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #23147

Congrats to everyone who has already filled a tag!

Alex – greatly enjoying your updates. Keep at it, compadre!

My stomping grounds have gone completely silent since we saw those wolves a few days ago. I think I’m going to hike in to a different area this evening…

Really enjoying this thread!!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #22085

Ben M. wrote: The place is an archer’s challenge but, possibly, a pocket stash for the right hunter.

I like the way you think, Ben. 😉

Ben M. wrote: By the way, if you’d like to give it a go, it’s in southern California.

I’ll be down there in late Nov…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Canting the bow #22054

I pretty much always cant my bow when shooting, without really thinking about it. My normal cant is between 15 and 20 degrees. A canted bow just feels more “natural” to me, and it doesn’t negatively affect accuracy at all in my experience. I also believe that a canted bow allows for a larger sight window and a better view of the target than a vertical bow.

Asbell advocates a more aggressive, bent-knee shooting stance, combined with facing forward, in his “Advanced Instinctive Shooting” book. He feels that it helps intensify concentration on the target, aids in the style of “push-pull” drawing that he advocates, and improves his accuracy versus the erect, in-line classic archer’s stance.

Personally, I don’t bend my knees that much on a regular basis while target shooting (though I think that it’s good practice, along with lots of other positions), but I do find that getting my upper body leaned into the draw, with my head over the arrow, gives noticeable benefits.

And all this talk makes we want to go out back and fling a few arrows…:D

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Mineral lick #20830

While the proximity to the road makes me wonder a bit, I’ve seen plenty of naturally-occurring features like that before. It could have started as a natural deposit, or it could have started with people putting out salt licks a while back, that eventually seeped into the soil. Either way, over time it gets trampled and torn up, and can be hard to say for sure (unless you still see remnants of a salt block…). But natural salt/mineral deposits are not an uncommon thing, particularly in a lot of western soils.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #20818

Great pic, Alex!

Things have gone from tough to practically impossible here in the last few days. We had some cold weather roll through, and a buddy of mine was out that day and said they were bugling all around him, he was able to call several bulls in, etc. Most action of the season so far. So I hike up there the following morning, convinced it’s “going to happen.”

A few bugles at daybreak, and then nothing. Around noon, as I’m eating lunch against a log, a muley buck runs right by me. A few minutes later, I catch another, similar-colored animal out of the corner of my eye, moving in from the same direction. I’m guessing it’s another deer, so I reach for my bow, and slowly turn my head over my shoulder to get a better look. And 40 ft. away from me is a big wolf, staring right at me. We look each over for a few seconds, and then I stand up and he vanishes.

Yesterday morning, I head up with a buddy, and we hear a few bugles first thing in the morning and then nothing. Shortly thereafter, we hear a whole pack of wolves howling in the drainage below us. Predictably, the rest of the morning was totally silent.

This morning it was absolutely dead – not a single bugle, at a time of the month when the bulls should be screaming their heads off. My zone involves a lot of thick cover, so when they’re not vocalizing, it can be really tough to locate them. Best thing to do is set up in a likely ambush spot and hope something walks in. That, and hope the wolves move on…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #17910

Nice job, SB. It’s gotta feel good to have a cow in the freezer already!

I wasn’t able to get out today, but the weather changed pretty dramatically – cooler temps, wind, rain. Just got off the phone with a buddy who was out and he said it was night and day from what we’ve been experiencing so far – there was bugling all over the place, all morning long, and he had several bulls called within range, but didn’t have a shot on them.

I’m headed out tomorrow morning, and can’t think about anything else…

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Rabbit fur string silencers #17801

tkohlhorst wrote: any suggestions on how to make them more waterproof?

I was out last weekend in the rain and I have fox fur and they got completely soaked.

Hmmm….maybe someone has more experience with this, but I’m not sure that there is a good way to effectively waterproof fur, at least not for this application. That’s why most fur silencers are otter, beaver, etc, which contain naturally-occurring oils that help repel water.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: The 2013 Season Bulletin Board #14417

Got out extra early this morning, and just as I was crossing an open meadow, I spied the body of an elk moving into the meadow from my right. I had just enough time to drop to my knees and pull my neck gaiter up over my face, but I was pinned in the open. A decent 4 x 4 came into view, about 100 ft. away. He looked me over several times, but apparently thought nothing of it and kept meandering at a leisurely pace toward the timber on the far side of the meadow.

As soon as he was out of sight, I took a shortcut to try and get ahead of where I thought he was going, and get set up. Waited, waited…did a couple cow calls…nothing. He vanished. Later that same morning, about a 1/2 mile from there, I accidentally busted him from where he was bedded behind some big, downed trees. Ouch.

A few observations so far:

– Despite it seeming like things were really starting to “turn on” toward the end of last week, this second week of the season has been weird. I figured that the cooler weather we’ve had recently would only help, and instead it’s been unusually quiet. And I’m not seeing any recent wolf sign, etc. that would indicate that they had been pushed out of my area. They’re there – they’re just hunkering in the thick stuff and not vocalizing much at all.

– It just doesn’t seem like there are many bulls around in my zone right now. And the two that I have been hearing on occasion are definitely not big, mature bulls, by any means (more like the 4×4 I saw this morning).

– Some friends of mine were scouting over on the Wyoming side yesterday, and they said they were seeing elk all day long – tons of them. But they didn’t hear a single bugle all day. In the middle of September?!?

Anyway, nothing to do but keep getting back out there every chance I get. Sunrise over Nunya Mtn. on the southern end of the Tetons this morning:

[Bruce Smithhammer]

in reply to: Practicing the "Cold Shot" #14402

Cold shot this afternoon, 17 yards:

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