[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #129257

Any rabbits in there?  Sure is a pretty place.  Camera’s rarely come through is such surroundings…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Finger pain #128850

David,

I forgot to mention in the exercise to hold the position obtained in step 3 for 5 or 10 seconds, then repeat.  After several months, your fingers will develop strength you didn’t know you could have, and you won’t have to curl them around the string so much, but can keep the finger tips pointed more to the side than towards the back.  Then real accuracy progress will be made!

 

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128829

Ralph, you sly old dog, I knew you weren’t showing of that dandy buck.  You were showing off your woodie handle (emoji’s sure would be good here…)

Nice deer! So…  What happened, do tell.  He doesn’t look like road kill so how did you come into possession of such a buck?

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Questions/ a little help #128828

What Don said, times two.  Then I would add this observation:

Longbows and recurves are designed to be shot differently.  Recurves can be handled similarly to compounds, and so that’s probably why you shoot it better.  The reasons are as follows:

1. The center of pressure in the handle of a recurve is closer to the arrow shelf in the bottom of the locator grip, just like a compound (high wrist grip, weight in the web of the hand).  A longbow generally requires the center of pressure in the grip to be lower (low wrist grip, weight on the heel of the hand).
2. The action in recurve limbs is mostly near the tips.  The limbs of a recurve bend first at the tips and last at the fadeouts.  A longbow is the opposite, it begins to bend at the fadeouts and bends last at the tips.

It takes more work to make friends with a longbow, but the effort is its own reward.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Finger pain #128687

David,

Assuming that you heed Don’s advice, and it turns out that shooting is causing the problem, then the following might help…

Earlier in the thread I think you mentioned you switched to a damascus glove.  When I shot a damascus glove, I had to add some leather to the ring finger.  I turned the glove inside out and glued a strip of deer hide to the inside of the glove where the string was rubbing my finger.

The problem is due to uneven pressure on the fingers.  As you surmised, it is a form issue.  Good form results from a good match between shooter and bow.  No matter how hard we try, we may not be able to get even pressure on our fingers based on the tiller of the bow.  It’s not that the bow is poorly tillered, it just may not be tillered for the way you shoot and how your body is put together.  That said, if your bow is adjustable, you can relieve some of the problem by making the tiller more positive.

Another problem that arrises is finger timing.  What I mean by that is that your fingers don’t leave the string together and so the last one to leave gets whipped bad.  This can be caused by muscle antagonism between the muscles that close and open your fingers.  Here is an exercise I developed to help me eliminate finger muscle antagonism and to form a better lock and cleaner release:

1. Hold your hand so that you are looking at the top edge of your hand with fingers straight.  Place your thumb along the top of your hand.
2. Keeping your fingers straight, Fold your fingers  down until they cover your palm (at some point your fingers will have to start bending so that the tips touch your palm)
3. drag your finger tips along your palm as you move your fingers into a hooked position to take the string.  At the same time, keep your pinky curled up and out of the way.

If you do it right, you should feel that your fingers naturally stay in a hook without a lot of effort to hold them.  The more you do this exercise, the more natural it will feel to take a hook without the normal antagonism we feel.

I do this exercise when I watch TV or drive or whenever I am not too busy.  At first I did it a lot.  Eventually I just did it every now and again through the day.  I found that this exercise helped me eliminate string torque as well as reduce the wear and tear on my fingers.

Finally, I have found this glove to work well at protecting the fingers and giving a clean release:

https://www.3riversarchery.com/cordovan-traditional-archery-shooting-glove.html

Go down 1 size from whatever works with a damascus glove.  You will likely need to add stitches to the glove to tighten it up eventually.  If you do try it, you will likely freak out the first time you shoot it.  Take a breath and force yourself to shoot it another 20 times.  Then you will see what I mean.

hopefully one of these suggestions will help 🙂

 

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Books for Traditional Bowhunters #128675

I second The Hidden Life of Trees.  Fantastic Book.

I would add Don Thomas’ book How Sportsmen Saved the World.  It only takes one moment to destroy the world, and its gone forever.  For the world to continue, it must be saved every day.  Learning what those great conservationists and visionaries that came before us did, might give us purpose and motivation to fulfill our responsibilities, as the current stewards of the earth.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128369

How could you say no to those eyes Ralph?  No way I say…

David, an empty freezer is hard on us bowhunters.  I know how you feel…  And as for firewood, I get the year off.  Last year was so warm, we didn’t burn much.  So the woodshed is mostly full.  Might have to fire up the stove pretty soon…  Good luck during gun season!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: PVC Bows #128367

I’ve made several dozen for kids.  Just delivered one to the son of the son of my oldest hunting friend.  3rd generation to pick up the stick and string.  I expect he’ll be outshooting me before the winter is out.  Dang kids have no respect for their elders.  Why, in my day we showed our elders….  oh never mind.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128356

All these high misses…  We all do it.  But why?

I draw my conclusions from my own experience, but I think they might apply more generally.  When I shoot at critters, I tend to short draw.  When a bow is short drawn, the top limb is still in control.  When the top limb is in control, the arrow flies high.  The problem is compounded when shooting from a tree stand where we find it hard to get our upper body into alignment with the deer.  So the arrow flies doubly high.

Got back from VA last night.  Shot a nice buck with my smoke pole.  All the leaves fell of the trees while I was gone and nobody thought to get them up.  Oh well, I guess I’ll do it.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128204

Hill style for sure…  For the first time in two years, I climbed into a tree stand, and wouldn’t you know it?  I saw a few deer.  Our local doe and yearling wandered through, and I figured that was it for the evening, but then this little 3 pointer payed a visit.

The first arrow was high (predictably) and dropped his rear end.  The second arrow was in the chest and dropped his front end.  Time between arrows was less than 10 seconds.  This is the power of the swing draw made famous by Howard Hill.

I’ve been sticking to the ground for the last few years as a change of pace and to give the deer some room.  I love treestand hunting for its strategy, views, and effectiveness.  But our local deer can’t take the added pressure.  While I have 6 tags on my license, I will not shoot another deer here this year (I’m headed up to VA this friday to  scratch that itch some more 🙂 ).

I struggle with the idea of posting pictures of dead animals.  I take pictures sometimes, sometimes I don’t.  But I never intend to share those pictures with anyone who isn’t standing next to me.  Therefore my pictures are not “magazine ready”.  They are usually bloody.  Death is a bloody business, and I don’t think we should cover that fact up.  So I won’t apologize for the blood in the picture, but if it is inappropriate, I won’t take offense if MOM takes it down.

I share this picture not to boast about killing the deer that feeds my life, but instead to show the equipment I used.  Thank-you little buck, I am in your debt forever.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128172

Ralph,  you definitely are at a disadvantage with regard to deer tree magnets!

David, I did kill a little buck a couple weeks ago.  Been in the woods sporadically as it has been so warm.  Maybe it is cool enough now for some regular hunting…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: What ya got goin'? 2 #128164

Man that sounds like a GREAT time!  But I have to warn you, so you won’t be disappointed or surprised when it happens, your old stand location is now a buck magnet.  It happens when you move a metal stand up and down a tree.  As you move the stand up, it de-buck-magnetizes the tree.  When you move the stand down it re-buck-magnetizes it.

My advice to you is this:  Bring a 30 foot extending ladder into the woods along with a friend and your best treestand.  Tell your friend that he will receive a free grilled steak if he will but carry your ladder just into the woods.  When you get just into the woods, pretend you can’t hear him as you walk steadily towards your intended deer magnet tree.  When you get there, your friend will undoubtedly begin to show some frustration and be catching on to you.  Don’t worry.

Place the ladder against the tree.  Have your friend climb to the top of the 30 foot tree and then ask him to pull the stand up and loosely strap it to the tree.  Then lower the stand to the ground.  Once on the ground, unstrap the stand and have your friend pull it back up.  Once there, repeat the lowering process.  Do this as often as you can before your friend finally throws the stand at you.

Once the stand has been thrown at you, duck.  When you stand up, smile.  You have now buck-magnetized the tree for sure!  And as for your friend and your promised steak, no worries.  Your friend will think you are so crazy that he will forget about the steak all together.

One last piece of advice – don’t forget where your buck-magnetized tree is.  Since the tree doesn’t have a stand in it (wouldn’t be magnetized that way) it is often hard to spot again.  I have magnetized several trees and been unable to find them again.  The best way to find them again is to sit and wait by any other tree.  A buck will usually walk by the magnetized tree shortly.  Usually is is too far away, or behind another tree.  I attribute this tree loosing phenomenon to the need to walk hastily out of the woods (without adequately marking the tree)  before my ladder toting friend drives away without me…

I hope this advice helps.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hey Grumpy: What did you say about CA winters? #128080

I’m glad you had fun!  From my experience, killing small game is much easier on the back.  Thanks for the nice snow picture.  I didn’t think Sasquatches ran in packs though…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: New Backpack Quiver #127887

I got the leather from a friend in the business…  he had a piece marked $25.00 which I took home and cut my quiver from.  When I returned it, it was missing about a quarter of it’s area, so he charged me 5 bucks.  Looking on the tandy leather site, a similar quality piece might run $40.00, but you’d get more leather than you’d need to make a quiver.

I didn’t write down dimensions or take pictures while making the quiver, so I don’t have much to share that way.  But if you have a question about it, I’d be happy to try and answer.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Good Compass #127826

I got my cammenga model 27 today.  Nice compass!  I really like the inductive damping for the needle.  Brings it to a stop really fast.  The instructions say it will steady in under 6 seconds.  To me it looked more like under 1 second.

Thanks for the heads up Duncan.  I can’t wait to get lost now 😜

[Author]

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