[wapiti792]

in reply to: Kudos to Don Thomas for reverse crowdsourcing #15646

I always enjoy ANY publication that has traditional bowhunting included. It is always an added suprise. Dr. Thomas is a freak of nature, however! He appears to be damn good at anything he tries: cooking, editing, flyfishing, wingshooting, writing, bowhunting etc and when he does “drop the ball” he admits it. I just finished his latest book “Have Bow Will Travel” and any guy that finds a way to discuss both success and failure honestly in that format deserves all the praise he gets.

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Longbows and demon birds from hades #58331

Killed my first “blindless” bird last Saturday in KY. After a ghille hunt I will be hard-pressed to ever get in a blind again. It was too much fun!

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Longbows and demon birds from hades #54018

Guys it was a Kanati Longbow, 49# at 28, 60 inches. I draw to 30 so around 55#. I was using a GT Blem 75-95 arrow with a 100 gr brass insert and a 250 gr Ace Broadhead. Total arrow weight 700 grains. The broadhead was shaving sharp, and it hit the bird quartering away right at the wingbutt and exited at the base of the neck. The exit was a mess and the arrow buried in a rotten stump behind the bird. I love heavy weight forward arrows, sharp broadheads, and hitting my spot 😀

[wapiti792]

in reply to: It's getting CLOSE! #20768

Things are hot and heavy here in IL with our season opening in 3 weeks. I witnessed a flock of 50 birds in my driveway sorting things out while I was working on my barn…8 toms aready strutting for the ladies and 12 jakes fighting amoungst themselves for the right to walk behind the toms near the ladies. Should be a good spring as my 40 acres of woods are the roost trees for half the flock in the section.

I am heading to Florida in 9 days to take my family on a vacation…with the boss lady giving me the thumbs up I get to chase Osceolas for 3 days of our 8 day trip. I am using a heavy doug fir arrow and a really wide 200 gr Ace 2-blade. I am a turkey nut as they are the closet elk-actin’ animal here in the midwest. Can’t wait!!!

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Concerns regarding speed and kinetic energy #20757

I believe that any of your bows will kill anything in North America. Read Dr Ashby’s stuff here in regards to heavy arrows and penetration as well as FOC. For instance, using a heavy wood arrow and a 250 gr broadhead (650 gr total arrow weight)I have killed elk, whitetails, and bears. Momentum is much more of a concern than true KE. Sharpen up a broadhead and go hunting…there is nothing in California (or N America) that can hold any of those arrows you mentioned. Good luck!

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Who Hunts Alone Most of the Time? #45779

I kind of do both…set up a base camp with a friend or two, then spike or coyote out on my own for a day or two. Come back to camp, eat a meal, visit some and do it again. That way I get the best of both worlds.

Recently my wife has showed interest in doing some hunts with me, and this fall we are going to do a bivy hunt in WY for a few days. She will be packing a camera and some bear mace, I will be packing my longbow. We’ll see how that goes 😀

[wapiti792]

in reply to: A hunting widow's philosophy #37196

The winter before my wife and I were to be married after a 5 year courtship I started out the door on a snowy,windy January afternoon to go hunt whitetails. After I kissed her goodbye and told the future in-laws goodbye and walked out my mother-in-law said to my wife “You know if you marry him he is never going to change.” My wife grinned and said “I know. I wouldn’t change him for anything.” Now she takes a trip with me into the backcountry for a week at a time to act as my sherpa during elk season, and looks after our two little ones when the holy month (November) is here for whitetails. I outkicked my coverage gents…

[wapiti792]

in reply to: ghost grizzlies DP #35105

David, I killed my first elk there and had several encounters with black bear there, one a giant color phased sow that didn’t like me on “her” seep…it is loaded with both if you are willing to go across some tougher country 😕 Your book (and looking through past photos) have me wanting more. There is an old sheepherder’s camp up top that I can use to look over the whole San Luis valley from my bivy. It is about a half days flatlander walk from a a gravel road but fairly quiet. I hope to tip my flask to my friend, wild country, and ghost grizzlies this September. Thanks again for the good read! Mike

[wapiti792]

in reply to: ghost grizzlies DP #35030

*My mentor and moutain hunting toughguy. Mr. Peterson’s book made me think of Jack often. Wondering if what he thought he saw was really a ghost grizzly. I sure hope so!

[wapiti792]

in reply to: ghost grizzlies DP #35012

I just finished “Ghost Grizzlies” after reading this post. All I can say is WOW! I have hunted East of the Divide in “The Rio” for many years, doing mainly solo 3 and 4 day bivy hunts from Comstock Campground as a base. It is not country made for flatlanders from Illinois but I love it. Seeing all of those places Mr Peterson mentions in the book so close to where I have cut my elk hunting teeth makes the book feel like a homecoming of sorts. Of coarse I am on the more “roady” side of the Rio and have to deal with other hunters by putting distance between me and the road crew.

I met a gentleman who has since passed that hunted the area since 1963. He was a ridge-running old timer and when I met him he was 73. We shared several camps together but I will never forget his tale of being in the area in 1970 and seeing a giant bear he thought was a grizz. He took me to that place the year before he died. It was the roughest climb of my life, and I could see a big paranoid grizzly holed up there.

Great read! Like of all of David’s works it will make you think…and THAT is a good thing. Mike

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Little Bears of the North Woods #10038

Wow those are some fat bears! That blackie looks huge…punkin’ head and pigeon toed. What a way to go through life 😆

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Found a point and killed a hog…. #32585

Way to go…bonus pig!

[wapiti792]

in reply to: Bigfoot caught on trail cam! #19103

Have to disagree on the ID of that specimen…that is a Spotted Swamp Gorilla known to the lowlands of Southern Colorado and recently Southern Arizona. Known to scare/sometimes kill small mammals such as Coues deer and even larger game such as elk. Should be considered dangerous around motorheads on trails while elk hunting 😛

[wapiti792]

in reply to: TBM's Ol Dave Petersen got his Coues #8415

Way to go on a fine animal Mr Peterson! I know from your writing that Coues deer have been somewhat of an albatross, albeit a fun one. It is now lifted… Time to celebrate! Cheers and congrats on a great deer.

[wapiti792]

in reply to: short longbow recommendation #57635

Well I would like to chime in here with my own praise of Ron and Gregg’s work. I went to KZoo this weekend and had no intention of buying a bow especially a short longbow. I am 6’3″ 230 pounds with shameful gorilla arms and a draw length of 30″. I picked up one of Shrew’s longer bows (a Model T) and loved the grip. After shooting it I brought it back to the rack, not because it didn’t shoot well, but because I have 3 other long bows that are 64″. That is when it happened…Gregg hands me this stealthy looking short longbow and says to try it. Being polite only, I went to the range with him looking on. After the first 3 arrows I found out what all the fuss was about.

It is a Ghost Bow, complete with mystery core, 56″. While shooting it 6 other guys asked to try it. When I finally got it away from those guys I calmly walked over to Gregg and told him it was sold. I have never shot a short longbow worth a crap. After shooting it for 2 days, in the barn after the kids were asleep, over my lunch break and again this am, the turkies are in trouble in a couple of months! Gregg and Ron both grinned when I walked over, stunned, with my wallet 😀 I asked Gregg how a guy with monkey arms could shoot such a short bow and his response was classic: “Cause I designed it that way.” I kinda feel gulity not waiting. So, I’ll just put my name on the list for another one!

After this long-winded response I’d like to say find a Shrew used. There are some that pop up on the Trad archery websites. Imitation is flattering, but the real deal, bonafied innovator of short longbows is what you have ordered 😉

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