[David Becker]

in reply to: Just brought home my first deer killed with a trad bow. #27349

skinner biscuit wrote: Have it!The author uses the same WW2 packboard I have.:)

Cool. I preach that book to people whenever I get a chance. I actually took it in mind to go look him up and see if I could email him or something, but he’s passed on.

What I want to find is the equivalent of that book, only for west of the Cascades Roosevelt Elk. Much like most of the literature out there about deer is about either Whitetails or Mule Deer, and thus doesn’t always apply to Blacktails, much of the reading I’ve done about Elk is about Rocky Mountain Elk in places like Montana.

When I’m in the puckerbrush out here, and I can see about 20 yards, I always think “Great! Let’s spot and stalk!”

[David Becker]

in reply to: Elk Hearts movie #25072

Hey gang.

How do I see or buy a copy of this?

[David Becker]

in reply to: Just funny. #19275

colmike wrote: Don’t think Ishi was a horse person. My vote is Genghis Kha Khan, Emperor of all men (gee I love that title) he was definitely a horsemen armed with a bow. Plenty of pictures (of course no cameras then so you can pick and choose) on the web. Hey this could turn into a great T-shirt. Go for it Wojo:D.

I can bring this one full circle.

In 1956, John Wayne starred in The Conqueror, as none other than Ghengis Kha Khan…

[David Becker]

in reply to: Just brought home my first deer killed with a trad bow. #16747

skinner biscuit wrote: Awesome job David! Blacktails are quite the cagey critters.One thing about the Pacific northwest, as a trad bow hunter you can use how dense the undergrowth is to your advantage.It took me three years before I got my first bowhunting kill ( cow elk) ( started off trad and never looked back).I’m still learning though and honing my skills.This site was the best source of information when I started and I knew nothing of the Ashby study or single bevel, high foc arrows.As a matter of fact this is the only hunting blog I care to read.Here we find like minded folks with a wealth of knowledge all willing to share.Once again well done sir.

Thanks! You are right about the Blacktails. I was really ok with the fact that White Tails were smart, cagey animals with superior senses that would outsmart me and get away if I wasn’t on my game.

With Black Tails, I wonder if I should worry about them sneaking up behind me, stealing my wallet and using my debit card to buy stuff on the internet.

You aren’t very far from me. I’m over in Yacolt in SW Washington. A book that I’ve found real useful for hunting this area is “Hunting Black-Tailed Deer: An Oregon Perspective” by Louis Terkla. It’s one of the best hunting books I’ve read. He didn’t care about horns, hunted for decades for the table. I learned a bunch about hunting from that book.

[David Becker]

in reply to: Just brought home my first deer killed with a trad bow. #14458

Thank you all for the kind words and congratulations.

I am indeed very lucky to make this happen my first year. I returned to hunting several years ago after not hunting for a long time. I got totally skunked my first few years out here.

The Pacific Northwest is very different from Eastern Kentucky, and Blacktails and Elk are very different from Whitetails. Moving to a weapon that’s considered less capable seemed like madness in someways, but I felt like it would work out.

When it came to the archery part, I felt like all the pieces were out there laying around, and I just had to snap them together. People hunted with bows for thousands of years, then, in Western Culture at least, we forgot how. People like Fred Bear had to reinvent that.

People coming into Trad bowhunting today have it much easier. Between books and the Internet, my learning curve was steep but short. The first bow I bought was of good quality. I was able to put together arrows that worked really well off the gate with Stu Miller’s calculator, and Dr. Ashby’s research led me to a big single bevel broad head that worked extremely well.

I read a book by Asbell, and watching Youtube videos by Jeff Kavanaugh and Clay Hayes really helped me with the mechanics of shooting. I shot everyday, and if I keep it up between now and March, I’ve got a pretty good chance of getting Rhineheart to honor their warranty on an 18-1.

Many of the thoughtful posts on this forum, and a couple of David Petersen’s books really touched my heart on what it means to hunt with a trad bow and really inspired me.

So this new generation of trad bowhunters have the benefit of some community elders, and that is wonderful.

Right now I’m in my Mid-40’s, and doing stuff that most people do at a much younger age, getting (re)-married, buying a first house, having a baby etc. But I’m also at that phase where I’m reflecting back and thinking about what my future contributions will be.

We are making a serious effort to live as closely to our land as we can. As my neighbor and I were hauling my deer down the hill on stick Monday night, I thought “I’d like to get really good at this, then teach other people how to do it.”

So I’m sitting with that idea in the back of my head.

Good luck to everybody out there. Stay safe and enjoy the woods.

David

[David Becker]

in reply to: White Whitetail #9300

This sounds like the setup to a Jeff Foxworthy joke, but….

Back in the early 90’s my Great Uncle made the front page of the local paper in Vienna West Virginia when he shot a pie-bald deer.

[David Becker]

in reply to: But Whose Counting? #47283

42 days. Fortunately, I can buy an over the counter tag that’s an “any deer” tag in my unit.

My neighbor and I put my treestand up at the top of my property, right on the deer highway between my place and the private timberland to my north. We have a Rineheart fake deer that we hauled up there and I practiced shooting from the stand while my knees knocked together. I dislike heights.

Got my Grizzly broad heads in the mail yesterday and screwed them onto some arrows. I took careful aim, and the first shot glanced off my 18-1 and disappeared into the puckerbrush, and has yet to be found.

Boy does that make me feel like an idiot, especially since it was total pilot error. The other too shot fine.

[David Becker]

in reply to: What ya got goin? #29431

Just got my tree stand hung on the top of my property, right on the deer highway, which is on the edge between the heavily forested ridge on my property and the 5 year old or so reprod on the Weyerhauser land.

I hate hights.

That platform is awful small, I’m practicing my shooting now with my feet much closer together. Today I practiced shooting sitting down too.

Less than two months to deer season!

[David Becker]

in reply to: Grilling Game Meat #14180

Good golly you fellows are making me hungry. We are going to grill up some beef steaks on the grill tonight, but cow is a pale imitation. It was a sad day when the last package of deer meat went in this house.

I’ve got nothing to add to this other than to add a hearty “ditto” to the part about the window between perfect and over-cooked being pretty darn narrow.

[David Becker]

in reply to: Tracking #8118

Thanks for that. I very much enjoy Moskowitz’s Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. One of these days I’m going to do a tracking evaluation. It sounds like a hoot.

[David Becker]

in reply to: Possibles bag #58932

john dilts wrote:

Made from tanned moose hide bottons are from a white tail i shot years ago. All sewed together with sewin

That’s a pretty cool satchel. I want to make some stuff like that. Now all I need is a hide…

[David Becker]

in reply to: Backyard Wildlife #50137

dwcphoto wrote: Thanks! Gotta keep my imagination in check. Dwc

For sure. When I read that I thought, “now there’s a man takes his shaving seriously.”

[David Becker]

in reply to: Possibles bag #37270

Remember gentlemen, it’s a “Satchel” not a “purse.” Indiana Jones carried a “satchel” not a purse.

Back when I had a different life, I bought a bunch of tacticool nylon stuff with MOLLE webbing on it. It’s all very high quality and bomb proof, and wish some of it would wear out so I could justify spending the money replacing it with stuff that is more traditional looking…

[David Becker]

in reply to: When Birds Squawk, Other Species Seem to Listen #37262

You guys might enjoy Jon Young’s book [i]What The Robin Knows.[/i]

More here:

http://birdlanguage.com/

[David Becker]

in reply to: Possibles bag #31706

Mike,

I’m guessing this is more tacti-cool than what you are looking for, but I’ve been using the same Maxpedition S-Type Fatboy for 10 years and it still looks brand new.

http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/FATBOY-S-TYPE-VERSIPACK-p49.htm

[Author]

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