[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Thoughts from a Luddite #42351

I would note that what used to be described as “bird points” in the lithic record are now generally agreed to be the heads used on the largest game – bison, moose, etc. It’s easier to get penetration with a small head on a heavy shaft than a large head on a light one if the total weight is the same.

And, as the prehistoric bow evolved, the points got progressively smaller.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Cresting – anyone do it without a machine? #41412

I have a plywood board with a block on one end that has a 3/8″ hole in the inside face and a block on the other end with a “V” groove in line with that hole – the blocks being seperated by 24″ on the outsides. I use Sharpie permanent markers and Pilot metallic ink markers for the following results:

But I do much better when using the same pens with my Bohning cresting lathe.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Thoughts from a Luddite #41405

jpchilton wrote:
Incidentally, I don’t appreciate whoever burned my barn and shot the dogs off my front porch.

If they weren’t pinned with wooden arrows it wasn’t me.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Thoughts from a Luddite #41062

I take a very Luddite approach to bowhunting myself. I enjoy shooting recurve bows from the 60’s and 70’s and use wood arrows (only recently switching to Douglas fir from cedar for a couple of my heavier bows). “Traditional” is a very vague concept. The beauty of it is – it is your choice, your decision. So long as we are not bound by game laws or regulations we can use whatever appeals to our own interpretation of tradition. For some it is self-wood bows and knapped flint tips with natural fiber string. For others carbon fiber and foam materials and cutting-edge innovation.

I’m happy to have a choice and enjoy setting the challenge at my own level of satisfaction. If I was headed off for Africa I’d be all over Mr. Ashby’s work. I am happy enough that his findings bear out my choice of single-blade cut-on-contact broadheads on a relatively heavy arrow. Ain’t it a gas Douglas fir grows that way? I appreciate simplicity in my bowhunting and don’t want to be bothered with tables, calculators, center-of-balance calculations, etc. I go for smooth flight and good grouping from what I know to be a heavy-enough bow for my quarry from historical evidence. “Tradition”, after all, is what is handed down to you. Not what you discover through experimentation or research.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: TBM's Ol Dave Petersen got his Coues #36144

Congrats Dave!

And, as I sit here in March with no season open but pine squirrel and woodchuck it keeps the heart warm to look back and be able to share the images of other’s success and dream of future hunts.

Good job Dave and thanks for posting it Tom.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Some Field Time… #35918

Great stuff! I can walk for miles in the woods out my back door . . . but only a few creeks. Not Lake Michigan!

Thanks for the images.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Wind check feather #35909

I believe you, Homer. 😉

Years ago I was set-up in a ground blind and I smelled a cigar. A bit later an older man came walking by at an unhurried pace: gun slung over his shoulder, one hand in his wool plaid Mackinaw pocket, cigar in teeth.

I waved and thought: “Now there’s a man who just needs an excuse to get out of the house.”

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Wind check feather #34629

Turkey have “marabou” style underfeathers on their breasts and that’s what you will find in fishing supply shops. Works great.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Heavier broadheads #33649

My “problem” is that I have hundreds of arrows used with seven different bows and many, many unmounted points and broadheads all of 125 or 130 grains. Just from a financial standpoint I’m not starting over with heavier points even if someone demonstrates it is an improvement. I know they work very well.

I shoot nice, already heavy wood shafts.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: atv riding #33630

. . . not just go out on public land and tear everything up! and ppl should stay on the trails and not get off them ..which alot ppl do and dont do!!!

Unfortunately, one ATV rider can screw up the land for dozens of years in a few hours. As a landowner I forbid them on my property. Gun hunters, OK. Compound shooters, OK (one even took “my” nine-point two years ago with a compound & my blessings afterward). But no ATV riding. Some have spoiled it for all. Gates open, muddy ruts that change drainage patterns, noise. I have a powerline right-of-way that I can’t do much about unless I am there.

I used to hunt 3,600 acres that was public access. I’d get up three hours before sunrise. Drive to the area and walk in to be in place and quiet for an hour before sun up. About 5 minutes before legal light there’d be an engine and some bozo would park his ATV near me and walk another 100 yards and sit down. Happened many times. Nothing steams a fellow more than that. What I eventually learned to do was “pattern” the lazy hunters and put myself where there was no vehicle access in the thick stuff where the deer moved to, so I considered them just a noisy nuisance.

My “ATV” is a 1956 Ford 640 tractor. I keep it to about 2 mph while in the woods. I still drag my deer as far as it takes to get them to an existing logging road where I can use the tractor.

What you do on your own land is your business. What you do on public land is everyone’s business. Some folks can’t be trusted with stewardship of a damageable resource.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Recurve – new or used? #31778

paleoman wrote: I’m curious, having really no experience with a recurve, on how much more difficult or not they are to shoot?

I find a recurve easier and more accurate. Depends on the shooter and the bows. My longbow is a rectangular handle “old” style and I have girly wrists so it kills me after a shooting session. The higher grip of my recurves works out better for me, and the added speed means less vertical spread over distances I am likely to shoot – so less chance I’ll shoot low.

But I will say when you have a real brain fart and mess up a shot the recurve tends to throw it much wilder; so a consistant form is perhaps more important.

Center-shot recurves also tend (IMHO) to be less critical of spine.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Arrow flight #31381

I go with smallest brace height (longest impulse push on the arrow) that can be had with acceptable noise. So, if I have beaver fur silencers and a heavy arrow I lower it until the bow gets noisy. I just put a 62″ bow at 7-7/8″ as the best trade-off.

Interestingly – this bow throws a bare shaft nock high no matter where the nock is but paper holes are perfect little triangles with fletched shafts when I just gave up and set it so the bare shafts and fletched shafts all hit at the same spot.

The only way to know is futz around with it. Your release technique will effect arrow flight, so three guys shooting the same bow may have different optimal settings. Trad bows are almost like living things. They seem to have minds of their own at times.

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Arrow flight #31373

Pardon me for referring to other websites (these are not forums)

If you brace a bow too low, the feathers will hit the shelf before the nock leaves the string. The arrow actually stays on the string past the brace height measurement. It travels forward a bit before pulling itself loose. If the feathers come into contact with the shelf before the nock clears the string, your arrow flight will be erratic. You’ll be prone to having the string slap your wrist with ultra-low brace heights too. The bow will be a bit smoother and pull a little less at the lower brace heights and conversely if you short-string your bow, the weight will increase slightly and the angle of string pinch will increase. You can’t hurt a bow with a high brace height, but you can hurt performance. The bow will pull harder and the short string will force the limbs to stop short in their travel path, robbing you of energy. You should be looking for the “sweet spot” – that special brace height where the bow feels good during the draw and release, and your arrow flight is crisp, clean, and straight.

http://www.3riversarchery.com/longbow-recurve.asp

Tuning your Arrows to Your Bow

Nock Height

Nock height is a very personal issue relating to your release, shaft size and type(carbons, cedars, etc). We recommend that you start at 9/16“ and move up or down ( min. 1/4 ”max 1”) if necessary to get consistent arrow flight. You need to find the spot that is right for you. Nock height can cause “ porpoising ” as the arrow slaps off the shelf from the nock height being too high or too low. Point of impact can also be adjusted slightly up or down with nock height changes.

To start with there are several different ways to get your bow shooting properly. This is the way I prefer. Make sure your bare shaft is setup the same as your broadheads, as far as field tip and broadhead weighing the same. I like to shot a bare shaft into a foam target at 10 to 20 yards. You need a straight shaft with a field point, spin it to make sure it is straight, if it isn’t pick another shaft. This is important. You will probably need several shafts because you will probably bend or break some if your spine is way off. You should be using the same weight field point as your broadhead

Starting at 10 yards shoot a fletched shaft at your target; this will give you a reference. Now shoot your bare shaft. Check the entry of the bare shaft compared to your fletched shaft.

1. If the point is high and nock is low you need to raise the nock point on you string
2. If the point is low and nock is high you need to lower the nock point on you string.

3. It is possible to have #2 if nock point is way to low, causing it to bounce off shelf.

4. At this point get it as close as possible, don’t worry at this point if it isn’t perfect as spine with effect it also.

Now’s the time to get the spine right for your bow and your shooting style. Remember that every shooter is different so you can’t have someone else tune the bow you will be shooting.

This following is for right hand shooters. Left hand shooter is opposite. Make sure the shaft is straight; don’t be wasting your time with a bent shaft.

1. If the point is left and the nock is right your shaft is to stiff. You need to pick a lighter spined arrow or start with a longer shaft and cut off the end ½” at a time until close and then ¼” until you reach the proper spine.

2. If the point is right and the nock is left your shaft is to under spined. You need to go to higher spined shaft

3. At this point your shaft should be entering the target the same as your fletched shaft. If not, keep repeating all steps

4. If your spine is very close you can change your brace height slightly to fine-tune it.

I personally like my nock point to be where the bare shaft hits target with the nock a little higher than the fletched shaft.

Also, I like the shaft to be a little under spined. The actual setup of these pictures is of a Cougar 58″ 53# @ 26″ using a Carbonwood 3000 with a 250 grain field point. For me this is a perfectly tuned arrow, as I said for me. You may find you need a little different setup

I also move back to 25 yards or more the closer everything gets to being right and continue to fine tune the shaft to the bow. It is important that you are fresh and not tired when doing this. You need to be consistantt in your style.

Once everything is right write down the brace height and the setting for your nock point on your string. If you can not get it perfect I’m sure you will be a lot closer than you were. Go ahead and tune your other bows the same way, you will find every bow is different. It is very possible to have your field points and broadheads flying the same.

http://www.morrisonarchery.com/html/body_tuning.html

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: 3D deer recommendations #31302

I’m a huge fan of the U-Stuff It targets from Trendsetters, Inc. I got a bunch of old Nylon screening for filler and have four of them – including a square bag I keep in the basement. They last for years and years

[Stumpkiller]

in reply to: Arrow flight #31286

If you’re not getting good arrow flight then why do you say your nock hight and brace height are where they should be?

Tweaking those is how you achieve good arrow flight.

[Author]

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