I’m not a bow guy, at least not yet, but I’m learning a thing or two about the science of shooting a bow and arrow. In my quest to learn I have come across something very interesting. I’ve known that an arrow needs something attached to it to give it stability in flight….feathers, called fletchings, or plastic, called vanes. Both fletchings and vanes are pretty much shaped the same and installed using special glue. Both have to be held in a device that holds them in place until the glue has time to dry. This takes time to accomplish and the better you are at doing it, the more the demand is for your services.

So, I went on line to find out the difference between fletchings and vanes, as I didn’t have a clue. I have shared with you my limited knowledge about the subject. ALSO, while I was on line, I found out about another product out there that is designed to take the place of both fletchings and vanes and yet it still does the same thing and that is to keep the arrow stable while it flight.

Take a look at this video:

If I were an archer, I think I would be checking into these little guys. It just seems to me they do the stabilizing, keep the arrow going where you want it to go, and they do not require any super knowledge or special equipment to use.

Just saying.

Bears Butt
November 15, 2014

http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/11/12/backed-china-russia-deploy-bombers-over-gulf-mexico

I’m not a political anything and will avoid most arguments and confrontation if I can….however, don’t piss me off.

I was still in high school when I said to one of my friends, “Someday they will announce the take-over of the United States on the 5 O’clock news”….how far are we from that now?  I graduated from high school in 1967, it’s now 2014…We are very lucky to still be a United States of America.

This news is not new to me.  I could see it coming when we (almost all of us) were demanding more money for the jobs we were doing.  We had the world by the tail, so to speak, we had our freedom, our homes, our jobs, our kids, our hunting, our gun rights, our religion (if we wanted it), we had our everything……

I could see the writing on the wall when I worked at a local cement pipe company, my first job out of high school.  One of the first guys to approach me was a “labor representative”, who asked me if I wanted to join the labor union.  Then when I said no, he said, well, you couldn’t anyway cuz they are going to be laying you off.  What?  I was just hired two weeks before.  Sure enough, I didn’t join the union and I got my notice of severance the next Monday.  Reduction in force it said.  But I know a kid my age who got hired the week after that….what gives with that?  I didn’t care at the time, there were better jobs waiting for me….still labor jobs, but what the heck, I was making $3.85/hour!  None of my friends were making that!  And I didn’t have to belong to a union, I still got “union wages”……Union wages……The lobbyists were working hard to keep their plushy jobs for sure.

So, I kept my eye on the “unions”, not for any other reason than to see what the unions were doing that was so great for the American worker.  What I saw over the next “many, many” years was this:  They caused the United States to begin our spiral into the depths of oblivion!  There were unions for almost every facet and job type that could ever be imagined.  The teachers union, the postal workers union, the miners union, the theatrical union, the sports announcers union, the “you name it” union (I’ve made some of these up….I think).  I started working for the U.S. Government after college and the military and sure enough there was a union there.  I didn’t join it, but I retained my job, unlike the one at the pipe making plant.

There was a time in American History when the Unions were needed!  They helped the working class of America gain enough to make ends meet and not see their own children sold to the highest bidder.  Laws were enacted to protect the young labor force and to allow men and women to work and make enough money to buy their own homes and clothes and food and not owe their souls to “the company store”.  Tennessee Ernie Ford sang a song about that:

“Sixteen Tons”
(originally by Merle Travis)

A couple of months ago Winemaker and I made the trip up to Hoback Junction in Wyoming to drop off some elk ivories that had collected in the drawer from last years hunts.  I wanted to make sure she had a necklace and some ear rings to match her ring.  The man who made our wedding rings really did a great job on them and so who else would we go to to have a necklace and ear rings made?  Place advertisement here:

Anyway, our trip back then was nice and cool and a fun drive.  When we told him what we wanted he was more than happy to accept the challenge and took the ivories and told us it would be after the hunting season before he could get around to making what we wanted.  That was ok with us.

Well, last week his wife called and said the jewelry was ready to pick up.  SUPER!  We tentatively said we would be up Thursday, Nov. 13 to pick them up.

Since that time we have been watching the weather forecasts for not only Willard, but also Jackson Hole Wyoming.  Hoback Junction is 10 miles south of Jackson.  Yesterday morning we were enjoying our morning visit over my cup of coffee when I looked at the forecast for the week.  Willard’s forecast calls for cold on Wednesday with clouds building in the afternoon, continuing to build and 80% chance of snow beginning Thursday morning and continuing through Friday….HMMMM.  Let’s look at Jackson’s weather……80% chance of snow Wednesday, continuing through Saturday with accumulations nearing 10 inches, colder and some blowing and drifting could be expected.  Oh my!

Do we really want to wait until Thursday to go to Hoback?

It didn’t take long to realize we should probably go right away as the longer we wait the closer to snowy conditions we will encounter….A quick call to Rod Huskey to confirm someone would be tending the store and off we went…let’s go!

We got away from home about 8:45 and headed North….Up through Logan, on to Soda Springs, Idaho, through the canyon and down to Freedom, Wyoming, North again to Alpine, Wyoming and then up the canyon to Hoback Junction.  Mapquest says it’s a 4 hour drive.  We can get up there and be back by 6 p.m. and that would even give us an hour to BS with Rod and Candy and to have some lunch at the Yankee Doodle’s restaurant.  Our trip began with a delay in Smithfield….A big truck had hit a power pole and had the lines down in the road.  All traffic was being diverted.  It took a good half hour to get through and back on the road.  That was OK, what else were we going to do anyway.  Besides, we have always said, “there are reasons for everything”, we had no idea what the reason for this delay was, but we would accept it.

As we got closer to Soda Springs, Idaho, the weather was beginning to settle in around us….

I asked Winemaker to take a picture out the front window to show the skiff of snow alongside the road.  Rod had told Winemaker on the phone that they had about 6 inches of snow at their place.  I reassured her the roads would be in fine shape as it is a major access to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and they would never let the road get so bad as to close it.  Soon we found ourselves in Soda Springs, Idaho….home of the famous “Soda Grizz” (I wonder how he is doing)….

Hey!  Soda Springs has some snow…we are about half way to Hoback Junction and my mind is racing….do we continue to go on or do we call it and turn around?  I don’t say anything to Winemaker, but continue as if it is no big deal (which actually it wasn’t…..yet…).  From Soda Springs the road winds and twists up past Blackfoot Reservoir and up and over and down a small canyon called Tin Cup.

Not much “road crew” work been done here.

We haven’t slid off the road yet, so life is good and we will continue on our way.  Besides, this is a local storm and the road will get better as we get lower on the other side of Tin Cup.

We did encounter a couple of “hold onto the wheel, take a deep breath and hold it” spots but we came out and through Freedom, Wyoming (home of the famous Freedom Arms gun manufacturing plant).  I think Freedom, Wyoming has a population of about 10, but it triples during the working hours of the gun plant, Monday through Friday.

At the junction of “Freedom and hwy 89”, we turned left (North) and headed for Alpine, Wyoming.  The road was very good at this point, a little wet, but the road crews had been out in great numbers a few hours before and so it was a road you could go the speed limit on (65).

By now my butt was getting tired of sitting and I had no idea what time it was, I knew it was after noon and we still had a pretty fair distance to go.  4 hours from 9 would make it 1 p.m., our scheduled time of arrival in Hoback Junction.  Winemaker assured me we were only 20 minutes behind schedule.  That’s great considering the white knuckle stuff I had been driving in since leaving Soda Springs.  Things will be better from here on.  In Alpine the junction toward Jackson Hole, Wyoming is a very big junction.  We turned right at the junction and proceeded to follow the Snake River up its course.  What a pretty river and today it was extremely cold looking…I wonder why?

Oh ya!  More ice on the road…hey doesn’t the road crew know this is a major route to Jackson Hole?  Come on guys, get some salt and sand out.  We are much to close now to turn around and I’m thinking, once we make it to Hoback, I suppose we could continue up to Jackson and spend the night if we have to.

Arriving at our destination we did find nearly 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground.

We went on in and found the place warm and comfy, just like always.  Rod was in the back pounding out more customer orders of custom made jewelery, while his wife, Candy took care of business at the counter.  She had a lunch date or a deliver to make or something and so we didn’t keep her too long.  We got what we came for, gave a hearty “Thank You” to Rod for the fine work and off we went to see how the roads were going back the way we came.

In Alpine we had to stop for lunch at Yankee Doodle’s!  It is the only restaurant in town, at least the only one we saw.  We had eaten there many years back and since it was Veterans Day, maybe they would be having a special meal.  You never know.  There was only one other customer in there when we walked in, but it was obvious when we went past on the way through toward Hoback, the place was packed.  No place to park outside, so we know the place is where all the locals eat.  We chose to sit back near the fireplace which was very toasty.  While we were sitting there a group of young people came in and sat behind us, even closer to the fireplace.

A little bit about Yankee Doodle’s…..Before you even walk in you realize this place is “all American”….red, white and blue…even the curb markers are painted in alternating colors.  Through the door you see so much red, white and blue decor it is mind boggling.  There is actually too much to see and so you would have to go back time after time to try and see it all.  Signs are everywhere talking political trash on both sides, but most of the negative stuff is aimed at the “donkeys”.  The owner of this establishment is very Pro-gun and even has a sign just inside the door, next to the “no smoking or vaping” sign that reads:

                                            “GUNS ARE WELCOME ON PREMISES, PLEASE KEEP ALL WEAPONS HOLSTERED UNLESS NEED ARISES IN SUCH A CASE, JUDICIOUS MARKSMANSHIP IS APPRECIATED”

Looking around the establishment is an array of stuff, like I said, you just can’t see it all in one trip there.

They have a sign by the cash register that says they will give all active military personnel a complimentary meal.  So, for you active military folks, get on up there and get a free lunch!  By the way, Winemaker and I had their down home plain and simple hamburgers, mine with country spuds and hers with tater tots.  It was almost too much to eat and for both meals the bill came to $18.36.  Can you beat that?  They serve beer too if you prefer and since I had a long and unknown road condition drive ahead, as tempting as it was to have one, I just had water.  One more observation I made while there.  The windows are double, double panes.  What I mean is on the outside is mounted a double paned window with the sliding glass on your right side as you look at it.  On the inside is a double paned sliding window with the sliding glass on the right as you look at it.  For ease of cleaning you just slide the window open, clean the inside of the outside window, close the window and clean the insides of both pieces of glass.  Then go outside and do the same thing!  Clean as a whistle!  And with the cold weather outside, just keep both windows shut and you are toasty warm inside.  Smart idea.

The drive home came with a decision…do I go back over Tin Cup, which was a scary adventure, or go down through Bear Lake to get home?  Bear Lake direction won over the decision and off we went.  Just outside of Thane, Wyoming the road took an icy turn and continued that way until we started down Montpelier Canyon, then it got progressively better to the point of dry roads.  We got stuck behind a farmer with a load of grain coming down Logan Canyon and didn’t get around him until we were almost out of the canyon.  That slowed us up quite a bit but we still got home right at 6 p.m.  For future trips up that way, I think going through Bear Lake is the way to go.

What did we see as far as animals on this trip?  The always present hawks and birds of almost every kind, including wild turkeys and ducks.  Tons of deer, even one small buck.  A white weasel (ermine) and a coyote.

I don’t have any pictures of the jewelry we picked up, but it is absolutely beautiful.  Small ear rings made from the ivory teeth from my cow elk and matching necklace from one of the bull elk ivories.  I’d post a picture on here right now, but Winemaker is wearing it while at work today…run on over to Smith and Edwards and see it first hand!

Bears Butt

November 12, 2014

EDIT:  Picture of ear rings and necklace below!

I had the pleasure to attend the Brigham City Bowmen group at their Be a Girl Shoot for cancer awareness month.  What a blast!  Even though I did not shoot I watched and learned a whole lot about shooting a bow.  I saw some spectacular shooting as well.  When I asked one guy how he did, his comment was something like this, “I dropped two, only got 298”.  For those who don’t know what that means, it means he only missed a perfect score by 2 points!  Later in the day, he shot a second round and was more pleased with his performance.  Again when I asked him how he did, he said he shot another 298, but was more pleased because he had 28 “X” ring shots!  28 out of 30 in the “X”!!!!!!  Now that is some kind of shooting.

The shooting wasn’t all there was to the day however.  You see in order for this to be a special shoot and to bring awareness to the ugliness of cancer, they made the shooters (who wanted to play) wear womens clothing!  And yes, even I wore a dress and bra for the occation even though I didn’t play in the shooting….support is support, right?

How’s that for a selfie!?!!!

They had some super raffle prizes as well, and at the end of the day I was calling foul!  As they seemed to be bringing all the prizes over to me!  I’ll make sure they get distributed.  But I really wanted one of the bows they were giving away, but my luck didn’t hold out for those and I didn’t win.  The two guys that did win, however, were really tickled.  You didn’t have to be present to win and Corey Barton, the club’s President made the call while I was still there and told the guy who won it about his good fortune.  He was tickled.  The other guy was still on hand and was equally as tickled even if the bow was pink!  Congratulations!

And a big THANK YOU to Full Draw Archery for being the sponsor for that bow!

So, you have seen a little bit about the “dress like a girl” thing in these few pictures.  Let me show you some of the others I took (I apologize to anyone who might have been in attendance that I didn’t get a picture of):

There was a 9 o’clock group I missed as I didn’t get to the event until nearly 10:30….I did have some honey-do’s to get done before I could attend the happening!

Some individual pictures I took at random were interesting as well.  It seemed like everyone had a blast and I believe they had 91 or 92 shooters there!  That is a lot of organizing and I know all too well what that can do for your sanity if you are in charge of it.  Tickets to sell!  Food to prepare!  Making sure the facilities are ready!  Banners put up!  And the list goes on and on!  For those of you who were in charge of this, I commend you all on a job very well done!  You even had a reporter from the Ogden Standard Examiner on site making sure he had the event covered:

Cory, blue really makes your eyes shine!  Just sayin!  Oh ya!  You must be really working out alot too….look at those pecks! 😉

I had the privilege of talking to one of the “old timers” in the bow shooting arena.  I don’t know most of these guys but I did learn a whole lot about the shooting of bows.  This guy had a ton of information to share and even though he can’t do it anymore because of some cancer issues of his own, he was there to make sure the event was being conducted properly.

So, young and old alike were on hand to support and play.  The biggest thing I came away with at days end was this:  Shooting bows is a sport that is absolutely on an equal footing between men and women.  You don’t have to have a bow that takes 100 pounds of pull to hit the bullseye of your target.  10 pounds pull will hit the bull just as well as 60 pounds pull.  So, if you have been thinking about getting into this sport and are uncomfortable with the pull weight of the string….forget about it!  Go do it!

The Brigham City Bowmen (Bowpeople) are a great and fun loving group of people!  People who really care!

Beards and dresses….

This gal (guy) won the pink bow!

Pecks or what?

What’s with this picture?

A bit over the top, so to speak!

Oh and there were some “real ladies” present as well:

Where did we see this girl (guy) before?  Sometimes the situation can get out of control!

Thanks again Brigham Bowmen and all the sponsors!  This was fun for me and I’m sure it was fun for everyone who came to it.  And as for some of the shooting….I liked it!

Bears Butt

November 9, 2014

The weather just hasn’t been what we need for duck hunting so maybe it’s time we went fishing!?!

Techno Crazy!

Bears Butt Just letting you know!