[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Target “Shed” #160098

Most excellent target!

If you find the plywood isn’t holding up too well on the roof, aluminum flashing makes an excellent and affordable metal roof.  It can be secured to the plywood with roofing screws in a jiffy.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Finger Strain #160065

Good to see you are still out there plucking away Ralph!

If you are half decent shooting split I don’t know why you would fool with 3-under.  I’m sure you can find some other trouble to get into.

Glad to see that you  still go a-roving.  It does seem harder and harder to find folks and the time to spend on such higher pursuits.  And around here there are fewer and fewer bright young faces behind the string.  There are a goodly number of wee-ones, but once they get into their teens, they stop showing up.

Which is typical I suppose.  Given another few years, they will trickle back to the woods looking to find that good feeling they remember from hot summer days long past.  It is the way of things.  One thing I’ve noticed at our local shoots is that some old feller’s just can’t seem to keep their bad attitudes and their politics under their hat.  Nothing makes a young person shy-off faster than the possibility of having to walk the course while listing to some old curmudgeon spew.

Our local club will be having their last shoot before hunting season soon.  If I make this shoot, I will have attended every local shoot this year (for the first time in a long time).  It does take effort to get out there, and to keep the old fingers working.  To them that make the effort, I say Salute!

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #159420

Hay Ralph, Glad to hear your wife is setting you straight.  Didn’t know it could be done 🤣

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #159217

Hi Paleoman!  Not many of the old crew left on this forum.  Some do stop by from time to time.

Glad to hear you have retired.  Enjoy this first season.  Nothiong like the first hunting season after retirement.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Browning Backpacker I #159071

That looks like a fun project!  Let us know how it goes, and thanks for sharing👍

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Consistent arrow material to hunt with? #158713

There are additional arguments to be made in favor of wood…

Wood is biodegradable.  If y0u use a carbon steel broadhead, then a lost arrow will eventually melt back into the earth (except for the plastic nock if you use one).  We should all try to “leave nothing behind but footsteps” when we play out our sylvan adventures.  Shooting wood arrows helps me do that.

Wood is durable and repairable.  I break a lot of arrows.  Not because they are made of wood, but because I like to shoot crazy targets often.  Once you learn to splice arrows, there is no such thing as a trash arrow.  It takes me less than 10 minutes to repair a broken arrow in most cases.

Wood is economical.  If you learn to turn your own dowels, you can make arrow shafts for about $0.20 each.  Ask friends for their turkey feathers.  Watch a few vids about dipping arrows.  Most of the time spent making arrows is spent waiting for lacquer and glue to dry.  That said, I can turn out a dozen arrows in a day or so.

Wood encourages your creativity.  From exploring different wood species, to  learning to paint a pretty crest, you can explore all sorts of creative activities.  As we get older, it is no small point to remember that doing creative things helps keep the brain healthy.

Wood is renewable.  It take the least amount of energy and waste to turn out a wood arrow as compared to man-made materials.  They literally grow on trees.

Wood arrows are every bit as lethal as arrows made from other materials.  My children are always reminding me that: “it’s a poor craftsman that blames his tools.”  Wood arrows are forgiving of the archer.  Assuming that our equipment is reasonably matched, and our form is reasonably consistent, then wood arrows will always hit where they should.

The list goes on…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #157847

I’m sure that stump will show you some respect now 😜

We’re supposed to get 3 days of nice weather starting tomorrow.  Looking forward to it.  Saw the first Daffodil flower yesterday.  Just a month early.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Fun Rounds #157641

Good idea!

I have always liked the idea of “keeping them in a pie-pan”, or in this case, a paper-plate.  If you can do that, you can expect to kill a deer (or maybe even a squirrel).

One of the stumbling blocks we all face when shooting game is remembering to pick a spot instead of shooting at the whole critter.  With that in mind, I would suggest an amendment to the Safford Round rules – The paper plate should have no mark on it when the round is begun.

This forces the archer to pick their own spot.

Following this line of thought, instead of leaving the paper-plate white, spray paint it brown.  Or just cut out paper-plate size disks from a paper grocery bag.  Affix that to your backstop.

And just so there is no cheating…  Don’t center the disk in your backstop.  Put it off kilter some where else.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Stephen Graf.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Stump Shooting #156607

I find rubber blunts the best option for stump shooting.  They keep the arrow from getting buried, but they also cushion the shock of impact.

They can be spendy for what you get though…  And not hold up to well, imo.

I made some dandy rubber blunts by pushing 3/8 chair leg tips onto a 38 casing.  Works great for 11/36 diameter wood arrows.  I made some blunts for my preferred 23/64 shafts by using 30-30 casings and cutting them down in length.

Instead of costing $3.00 a head for bunny busters, these cost about $0.32 a head.  chair leg tips purchased from amazon.

 

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #155597

Sorry to hear about the spur.  I understand there’s a roto-rooter for it that makes quick work of removing it.

I have a friend that just had his neck done.  He’s in a neck brace and hoping to have it off in time for some black powder hunting in a few weeks.  The operation cleared up his pain.  Now he just needs to get the neck brace off so he can see where he’s walking.

Getting old ain’t for sissys.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Killed Three So Far #155596

Let me know if you need help dragging one out 🙂  I know them skeeters can get heavy…

I got within 10 yards of a big buck a couple days ago.  Could have been a 10 pointer (I don’t count points till the deed is done), but alas he proved, like most deer do, that he was smarter than me.  Had a little brush between me and him.  He walked up behind me, so I turned around and waited for him to clear the bush.  He was about to when he sniffed my back trail and switched ends.

After he made his exit I got to looking at the bush…  Probably should have threaded an arrow through it.  Done it many times on 3d courses and while stumping.  At such a close range it would have been a sure thing.  Better than waiting for him to come into the clear.

Next time…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Almost …………………. #155458

It’s still unseasonably warm here.  10 day forecast keeps the afternoon temps clinging to the 80’s.  We’ve had a couple crisp mornings though, which has been a relief.  What a hot year.  Whew!

 

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Faces for Names #154640

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.  And glad to hear there were some young folks in attendance.  As for lost arrows, it should be the fate of all wood arrows to end in a glorious shower of slivers or find a hiding place in the duff of a silvan glen where none can find it.

Moldering in some barrel while the mites eat its fletching is a fate no good wood arrow deserves.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Just to stir the pot; #154592

To me, it’s about skills and knowledge.  What a bow is made from has little to do with how it shoots.  How it is shaped, and what is attached to it does have an effect on how it shoots.  Looking from the other direction…  A compound bow would still be a compound bow, even it it was made just from wood.

Does the bow you shoot require skill and practice to use effectively?  Then it’s likely traditional.  Carbon limbs and fiberglass limbs just make it possible to miss a little faster than the guy with all wood limbs.

I don’t think the word traditional was even part of the lexicon until compounds came along.  That’s an important point to remember.  As with all words, they start out meaning one thing and end up meaning another.  Part of the problem may be the connotations the word carries outside archery topics.

Maybe a better word to have used is “simple”.  It could have been used in the same sense as when it is applied to machines.  There are only 3 simple machines. Everything else is a combination of these.  There are no moral judgements or prejudices attached to it.

I am a simple archer.  My bow is just a stick and string.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Faces for Names #154579

Back in “the day” when forum’s used to be more active and the center of many good conversations, those folks and more would visit here often.  It’s too bad forums have fallen out of fashion.

Maybe, like the skateboard and the yo-yo, they will come back around…

Glad to hear you had fun at the shoot.  We have a shoot coming up soon at our local club which is the last of the year.  I plan to go.  After all, somebody has to do the hard work of making others look like good shots. 😜  😡

Hunting season is just around the corner…  My favorite time of year.  Good luck to all!

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