[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Long bow into takedown #25718

There is a nice build-along on doing just that on the pirates of archery website in one of the bowyer subforums.

You can get the materials from the following website:
http://www.shop.bigjimsbowcompany.com/Takedown-Kits-BB001.htm

I haven’t yet done it. But I have seen several examples at local shoots that seemed satisfactory.

You might give big jim bow company a call and ask their advice. I think they are coming out with a video on it. They might also do the work…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: SBD bowstrings? #20162

I make my own strings, so I don’t know anything about purchased strings.

But I have experimented with skinny strings and thicker strings. On the whole I found thicker strings to be more forgiving of a poor shot, easier to keep arrow nocks on, and quieter. It also doesn’t stretch as much, so it settles down a lot faster.

Mr. Adcock is a proponent of thin strings. That’s why I tried them. But I couldn’t get them to work well for me.

But I use fast flight, not b50. fast flight is way more durable in my experience. I have several spools of b50 around and I still use it for organic bows, or if someone asks me to make them a string from it. But other than that it just sits there.

I’m not sure, but I think this response totally doesn’t apply to your thread 😳

I just always try to encourage people to make their own strings. It’s easy, economical, fun. And best of all, you never have to worry about where your next string is coming from.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Eye dominance and picking a spot #15748

handirifle wrote: Well that is a place to start. I use the method I saw on the Black Widow bow companies “Tour and Tuning” video. Is there a better method for bare shafting?

I watched that video, and agree with everything they talked about, except adding weight to the back of the arrow. I have no experience with that, but it goes against the general goal of increasing front of center on an arrow. But this is beside the point…

If you are shooting high at close distances, and can’t correct this with practice (the obvious cause is that you haven’t learned these short trajectories), then there must be something else going on.

If you study your string nock and see that the arrow is just a little above center when nocked, then that should be ok.

You might want to try rotating your arrow around so that it is cock feather in. This will eliminate any jump from the hen feathers hitting the shelf.

You may want to practice 3 fingers under for a while and see if that helps. I know you said you tried it, but try it a little longer.

You may want to study your anchor point. If your fingers are getting too close to your eye, the pressure can affect your eye and change how your eye sees things. Press of the soft part under your eye, and you will see your world move… Keep away from the zygomatic ridge (I think that’s the fancy name for eye socket)

After you think about this stuff, and maybe make some changes, then try some bare shaft shooting at close distances. See how it compares to longer distance shooting.

One way to troubleshoot a problem is to try to change the outcome of your shooting by changing different aspects of your setup/form. Once you can change the outcome, you can go back and figure out why. This often leads to discovering the cause of the problem. Then you can go back to doing things the comfortable way, and get the problem fixed.

Keep notes. Make a diagram of your string, and record all component distances from the upper limb sting nock. This will allow you to fiddle with string components like the nock, but still be able to move them back later. And it helps if you break a string and need a new one…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Eye dominance and picking a spot #14640

I know this will sound a bit far fetched, but give it a chance…

My guess is that there is something a little out in your setup. I have found that if my “shot feedback” is not consistent with my “shot placement” my brain goes a little crazy, and a symptom of that can be the eye wandering thing.

So what I mean is that if what I expect to happen doesn’t happen, my brain gets out of whack and creates symptoms I need to pay attention to.

The first thing I would look at is bare shaft tuning. Then I would look at the nocking point on the string. I don’t think it has to do with your dominant eye. Because it is a vertical problem, not a windage problem.

Maybe you are getting a nock high problem up close and not at a longer distance ’cause the arrow is correcting itself at longer ranges. There may be some “bump” off the rest due to a nock being too high or low on the string…

Just an improbable guess…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: My first Deer is down! #14631

Well Done! Nice Picture!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Two failures in 17 days….. #7789

You might try talking to the manufacturer. They often will replace a bow that breaks, just to make things right…

I too have had two bow failures this year. The second one came just a few days ago… I would go after the manufacturer on that one, except it was me 😯

I made a hill style long bow and it was shooting great. I had about 10000 shots on it I think and the carbon on the back gave out, and the upper limb then cracked…

I’m depending on my backup bow, and the season hasn’t even opened yet…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: differant weights? #7781

If it was me, I would invest in 1/2 dozen gold tip 55-75 arrows from kustom king. Get some brass 50 grain inserts to go with them.

Bare shaft tune the arrows to make sure they are going straight. this means experimenting with tip weight to get the arrows flying off the bow correctly. Then fletch ’em up.

This can be done 1 month before the season.

I bought a few sets of finished wood arrow shafts from 3Rivers and saw about a 60 grain spread. But at 15 yds, even this large spread shouldn’t make that much difference…

For ease of use, and lack of frustration, carbon can’t be beat.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Millennial mark #58632

It’s a slutty business, hunting is. I bought a climbing treestand this year, first “commercial” purchase in a long time. But I need it for some urban deer hunting. No choice.

Wading through the constant morass of subconscious “now buy this and this and this…” that permeates the hunting market makes me feel like I just walked 5th street at dark.

That said, I believe compound archery is past its prime and will fade away, replaced mostly by xguns. I think we’ll be dreaming about the good old compound days. And if we live long enough, that will fade too.

But the stick and string, humble as it is, will persist. Because it does not fear its true nature, and it brings joy to the heart.

And yet, I don’t go to local shoots anymore because I don’t seem to see the world as the local trad archers do either. Everything is viewed through the lens of employment. I think Aldo L. commented to that effect once, that a man’s truth is largely controlled by who writes his paycheck. So we all fall to the same sluty need for “growth” that drives the compound industry. And is killing our planet.

I’m just thankful that I can stay on my humble homestead and grow/hunt my food.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Climbing treestands #56939

I got the Summit OpenShot a few days ago and have started trying it out. It sure is light. And The platform is really quite stable. I was pleasantly surprised. The seat is comfortable. My overall initial impression is good. Although I still prefer fixed stands.

The only negative I have is that it is not very wide. I am tall but not big. Still, the seat part that you have to use for climbing is narrow for me. If it was 3 inches wider, I’d be happier.

I have gone up and down a tree a few times to get the feel. Tomorrow I will go up in the morning and take some shots to see how it does interference wise…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Climbing treestands #51221

I find myself in need of a climber stand these days because I have a few people who let me hunt on their land, but they don’t want me leaving a stand in the woods.

I have been looking at the Summit OpenShot stand, and the Lone Wolf Hand Climber. Here are the negatives I see for both stands…

OpenShot:
1. Not as big as the Lone Wolf
2. Not as compact as the LW

Hand Climber:
1. Expensive
2. Belts need replacing every 1 to 5 years at about $100.00
3. Belts only available from Lone Wolf.
4. No local Dealers
5. I know only one guy who’s stand has failed. It was a LW and the strap broke on the seat section. Broke his back, leg, and a few ribs.
6. Seat doesn’t fold up like OpenShot

On the other hand,if I did a positives column, the Lone Wolf stand would have more positives than the OpenShot.

I am having a little trouble getting past the initial cost of the LW. But I am having a lot of trouble getting past the $100 every few years. The Manufacturer website says straps may need to be replaced every year if the stand sees a lot of weather.

Anybody have any suggestions?

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: need help with a hickory bow #50999

I can’t give you any specific help. But I can make the observation that you’ve picked a very challenging project for your first bow. Getting a 59″ selfbow to behave is more than most people could do on their first try.

That said, if it were me, I’d break out the bowyers bibles and start reading them over. They are all about making bows from natural materials. They also have a bunch of sketches of indian style bows you may find helpful.

Don’t give up!

That’s all I got 😥

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: See you in September #49233

It’s all good. Arguing about the merits of the western mountains vs eastern mountains is like arguing about blonds vs brunettes.

I, for one, like em both… But for the record, NC has the highest mountain east of the rockies, mt. mitchell is around 6600 ft. 8)

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: 2 blade broadhead orientation #44194

cyberscout wrote: Mr Graf –
My interest is in what happens with –“the flight of the arrow”{Physics} and my impression from reading your posts is, you have studied it. If you use helical fletch, the arrow should spiral in flight?
I see the head subconsciously no matter its orientation [ old training]
I was first told, 1969 — vertical to get thru ribs — straight fletch? [ thus no spiral ?]-I did not flech my own arrows[then] and do not recall the standard.
If it spins[helical] and apparently it does- . How does that impact this thread?
respectfully submitted
Scout

Once the arrow starts to spin, initial orientation is irrelevant, as your intuition has told you.

But while the arrow is on the bow, and for the first few inches after it has left the string, the arrow has not yet started to spin.

It is during this short time, while the arrow is not spinning, but is flexing left and right, that the broadhead could act as a rudder.

For me, I seem to get better grouping with the broadhead horizontal. It seems to be more forgiving of my release. A crappy release gives more arrow flexing. Which could lead to more rudder control by the broadhead…

But like I said before, this may just be crap. I have no evidence to support the idea other than my personal experience… And as my kids will happily tell you, my experience doesn’t count for crap 😳

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Who do you choose? #44179

This could get to be a touchy topic… But I’ll go ahead and jump in 😀

Here in the US, as the economy goes from bad to worse, the answer seems to be to reduce education and emaciate the environment. The clean water act and the clean air act are under threat at the state and federal level. Here in NC the legislature just repealed all the state level clean water legislation that had been on the books for decades.

And it’s hard to know what you might think is “relevant to the traditional bowhunter”. And it is hard to think of any organization that has had much success on a national or continental level.

Be that as it may, here is my suggestion : the Aldo Leopold Foundation.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: 2 blade broadhead orientation #43283

I like to keep them horizontal for 2 reasons…

1. Like Dave, I find it more visually appealing (and conducive to better shooting) in my site picture.
2. This point may be total crap… But I think that in the initial corrections the arrow undergoes from paradox, a horizontal blade will wind plane less.

[Author]

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