Today is July 18, just 32 days away from the opening day of the Utah bow hunt for 2016!  I’ve been reading and reading and reading about bow hunting big game and besides practicing my shooting and maintaining form and consistency, all the experts are saying that the sport is not only physical, but it is a mental game as well.  I figure that since we just finished putting the hay in the barn, which is a very physical chore to say the least, especially for older people like me (soon to be 67), I should start a physical fitness program of my own to get in tune with the upcoming hunting season.

This morning was day number one!  Sherry set her alarm for 5 am and was quickly out of bed and on the treadmill hammering out her routine.  It didn’t seem like a very long time before she was yelling up the stairs that the treadmill was open for my turn at a good run, walk or whatever I had in mind.

Well, there isn’t any sense making it such a big deal, I mozzied down the stairs and took my supreme position on the plastic and metal machine.  It has been nearly two years since I last visited this automatic torture machine and so I gently pushed in the number “1” on the console…..a humming and then the floor beneath my feet began to move….way slow….Number one was not going to cut it for me.  I thought, as I pushed in the number 2 button, that I was just very glad I wasn’t on some kind of rehab program in which the number one would have crushed my being and caused me to fall onto the floor.  I’m very fortunate to have what health I have got.  Well, number 2 was too slow as well, and so to hurry things up I pushed the number 4 button….WHOAHHHAAA baby!  Not today!  That was over the top for day one and I backed it down to number 3.  At least on number 3 I was able to walk fast to keep up with it.

Number 3 was a good enough pace for me and I watched as the lights indicated my current position on a make believe oval track.  On this particular machine there are tons of lights and numbers always changing showing me just how perfectly good everything was going.  It neglects the participants heart rate, hard breathing, lack of water and cramping leg muscles, but it sure does like to show off how well it is doing.  After about 10 minutes I decided I needed to begin with some “slope” to the footing and so I pushed the limit and cranked that baby up to its max of 10.  I could do some research and tell you that each slope number is a degree of slope, but I don’t think that is the case here.  Each number, I have determined, is the pain level in which the backs of your calves will hurt after just a few steps at that level.  10 was killing my calves, but in my mind I was chasing down an elk with my arrow sticking out of its chest and going straight up the steepest of the steep hills in the area where I hunt.  So today’s workout consisted of the treadmill and then 10 pushups and 10 situps and finished with a straight leg stretch to touch my fingers to the floor in front of my toes.  All in all a good first days workout.

The goal for the future (next 20 or so days) is a similar routine every morning and increasing the length and strenuousness of the workout and the number of situps/pushups etc.  Maybe by the end of the month I’ll be where I was a few years back, running, walking and extreme inclines for a 40 minute time frame.  We will see.

So, again, with the thought that the hunt is not only a strenuous one, but a mental one as well.  I will just have to get myself into a mind frame where the adrenaline won’t take effect until after the shot.  Again, we will have to see what happens if and when that event occurs.

Equipment?  Well, I have my new arrows purchased.  I decided on 500 spine arrows and went with the Gold Tip Hunter Kinetic model.  I have 12 of them and will go have them cut down to 28 1/2 inches, probably today.  These arrows come with a .006 inch straightness tolerance and so I’ll have the arrows cut from both ends to get my length.  That should give me the straightest part of the shafts to work with.  Then with the feathers I bought a few weeks ago, I’ll 4 fletch them in Right Helical to match the 6 Badger brand Right Helical single edge broadheads I have also purchased.  I think my hunting setup will work just fine and I sure hope to bring home a cow elk and a buck deer during the hunting season.

You might say, with all the other things that have been going on lately now behind me, that my mind is now consumed with the upcoming hunting season.  It’s never too early to start practicing right?!

July 18, 2016

Bears Butt

Just to let you all know I have not given up on my bucket list….to kill a deer with a recurve bow!  I’m still practicing whenever I can.  Yesterday I pulled the bow out twice.  I had to go dump some tree limbs into the hole, so I took my bow…that was about noon.  Still hot outside, but not unbearable.

I mixed up my shooting a little.  Started at 20 yards and shot two ends of 6 arrows per end.  Then moved back two to three yards and shot two more ends.  I did that back to the 30 yard mark and then moved up those same 2-3 yards etc. back to the 20 yard line.  Then I sat on the 20 yard marker and shot ALL my arrows at the spent shotgun shell I had put on the bale a few days ago.

Of course I’m not going to show you all my misses or wide groups, but here are some of my groups.

That was 28 yards (and of course that “one” arrow).

30 yards.  The two arrows that hit low are 8.3 grains per inch and a full 2 inches longer than the ones in the target above.  I know to aim them higher, but I just didn’t aim high enough.  For hunting I’m sure the heavier arrows would be a better choice and perhaps I will cut them down to see if making them shorter would make them shoot better in my bow, but for now I’m leaning to the lighter arrows for this years hunt.

This was my sitting at 20 yard group.  I came close to hitting the shotgun shell, but not quite.  I surrounded it though.  I don’t consider this a bad grouping, as this is a mixed bunch of arrows from lighter weight carbons to rather heavy old Easton aluminums.  And sitting to boot.  I figure while hunting there will be times I will be sitting on my butt waiting for that animal to come up the trail and of course they always come in behind you.  So, I sit with my back almost totally to the target.  Then I twist around and take the shot.

Later in the day, toward evening, Cody was saying he would like to go to the field and pet the horses.  But I talked him out of it and opted to fix his bike instead.  That way he could ride down and pet the horses any time he wanted.  Well, hit tube is hashed bad!  So, I couldn’t get it patched.  It was too late to go to the field by the time we figured all of that out.  But, with a few more minutes of light left I pulled out the bow and shot into the garage.  I probably shot 100 arrows and never missed the bale once…my good!

This was my last end!

Shooting from the edge of the road, it measures 22 yards.  I felt great about this one!

June 27, 2016

Bears Butt

As time clicks away my practice sessions are getting really heated up….I mean it was over 90 degrees last night…..

I received my two new strings in the mail yesterday and so I retired the one I made and put it in my bag as a backup.  It’s still a very good string.  I put one of the new ones on the bow and set my nock point and fixed crawl.  Grabbed the next one to get it set up and it was 2 inches too short.  The package said it was 60 inches, but when I went to string it I could not get it over the tip of the bow.  I measured it and it was only 58 inches long.  So, back to 3 Rivers it went!

Well, with one new string on the bow I headed to the hot field to try it out.  NOISEY!  is the word here.  TWANGGGGG!  But it flinged the arrows pretty good.  I’ll put on my green yarn silencers and some brush buttons and that should calm it down a little.  My first end at 25 yards looked like this:

And even with the “ONE” arrow, that isn’t too bad for an old guy shooting.  I continued to shoot at 25 yards and my groups were holding their own against that bale so I moved back 5 yards and shot this.

You can see my confidence level is going way up.  I shot a few more ends at 30 and then moved back to 35 yards just to see what would happen.  Of course my fixed crawl aim point was about a foot higher than at 25 yards.  And this was the result after a couple of ends.

Still, all in all, that isn’t too bad for me.

Well, I didn’t want to leave that hot zone too quickly and I wanted to try out the new string with a broad head on the arrow.  I only have one right bevel broad head and so I had to put it on an arrow and shoot it, retrieve it and do it again.  For the sake of “fun” I decided to shoot from the 30 yard line.  I used one of my Carbon Express arrows first and almost every shot went right of the target about 8 inches, even with 4 fletched feathers.  It might fly different if I cut it down an inch or so.  Well, I have always favored my Gold Tip Warrior arrows.  For some reason they just like to fly pretty good from my bow.  So, I put the broad head on one of those and gave it a go.  My first shot looked like this with the Warrior.

How about that boys and girls?!!!!  From 30 yards out!!!!

As I slowly pulled the arrows out you could see the shaft turning and feel the broad head turning as it was coming out.  A sure sign that the single bevel twists its way into the target!  And as much as I like the cutting effects of the DRT broad heads, I think these Badgers will be my go to for the upcoming hunt.

On another note:  Yesterday there was an estate sale on the east side of town that started at 2 p.m.  From pictures they posted on Facebook, I saw they had several bows in the sale.  4 or 5 longbows, a recurve and a couple of wheel varieties (compounds).  I went to see the longbows.  I got to the sale just as they opened the doors…2 p.m. sharp….ahead of me were about 15 people all interested in something in particular.  As I went into the door the tables in front were filled with guns of all sorts.  Most of the men were crowded around handling those and talking.  I moved through the crowd to the bows but was second in line to see them.  Of course the guy ahead of me took all but one of the long bows….dang!  But I looked over the one that was left and decided I needed to have it.  I bought it for $45 along with a bow fishing reel for another $5 and then left the place with my prizes.

Getting home I measured the bow and decided my old bow string (my original one from when I bought my Samick) might fit this new to me bow.  I gave it a go and sure enough it fit perfect and gave the bow a 7 1/4 inch brace height.  I guess that is a good brace height for this bow.  So, since I had this bow with me in the field I shot it a few times from the 20 yard line.  It flings a pretty good arrow and being a self-bow (one where you have to use the top of your hand to shoot the arrow off of) it didn’t do too badly with the aluminum 1616 Eastons that Sherry shoots.  I have not measured the draw weight yet, but it can’t be more than 30 pounds and is probably closer to 20.

Not too bad a bow for $45….not a 5 dollar Frank deal, but I’ll take it.

June 10, 2016

Bears Butt

As hot as it has been lately I have not been discouraged at keeping up with shooting my bow.  My drive is the upcoming hunt and there was a statement made by one of the big time bow equipment makers that “NOW is the time to get practicing for the hunts coming up this fall”!  I’m with them.

So, I was down on the farm shooting and I set my bow down to go retrieve my arrows, when I got back the bow was laying on the ground and the string was about 3 feet away from it.  I thought WHAT THE HE…!!!  I picked up the string and took a look at it….

My favorite string.  The one that Lynn Hayes showed me how to make.  Well, that was the end of my shooting for that day.  I gathered up my stuff and headed for home.

After getting home I looked closer at the string and decided it was still long enough I should be able to fix it and use it.  What did I have to lose?  Now this was built as a flemish twist and with only one lesson under my belt (from Lynn), I tried to recall everything he had taught me.  Of course that was months ago and I couldn’t recall most of it.  What I ended up with was a Bears Butt version of a flemish twist which is more of a braided rope looking thing.

And it was rather short.  I struggled getting it restrung, all the while thinking I was going to snap my limbs (arms and bow).  I was very concerned about the brace height of the bow once it was strung but to my surprise it was still under the 8 1/2 inches the manufacture says is the max.  I don’t think there is going to be any more stretch to this string.  Well as you can imagine, I was sweating quite badly the first time I pulled back on the string.  I started slowly and pulled a little, then a little more, and then a little more.  Pretty soon I was a full draw and the string didn’t break.  I was relieved.

Even at that I went on line and ordered two more strings in flemish twist.  I know!  I know!  Lynn gave me a board so I can make my own strings, but I would have to buy the string material and then make my string.  That would take some time to get the string materials here and then make the string.  It would be fun, and WILL be fun once the pressure is off to keep practicing for the upcoming hunt.  I’ll order string materials soon.

Well, with the bow strung up using the shorter string, I had to move the nocking point and my fixed crawl point.  In order to speed up the process of finding the fixed crawl point I measured my current setup and thought to myself, “why would that change”?  I’ll set the nocking point like I had based on the arrow rest and then place the fixed crawl clamp just below it the same distance.  That will get me close if not right on the money.

So, as you can see the spacing between the center of the nocking point and the top edge of the fixed crawl clamp is about 13/16ths of an inch (Bears Butt works in “abouts”).

OK, with the new nocking point and fixed crawl on the “newly fixed string”, I am ready to go try it out.  Still very leery about the string I drew my first arrow very slowly and away from my face.  I figured if the string was to break my hand would be far enough away from my face so as to miss smacking myself a good one.  I let go the first arrow.  Boy howdy was it ever loud.  I shot again and this time not so loud…maybe it was just my selective hearing not to hear the string being so loud.  Anyway, after several shots (11 to be exact), I settled into the fact that this string was going to stay together.

Well, after several 25 yard ends and thinking I have to get at least 5 out of 6 inside the target before I could move back to 30 yards, I finally put together a good grouping.

That “ONE” arrow just keeps haunting me.

And so I moved back 5 yards to the 30 yard mark and began shooting again.  It is funny how a simple 5 yards can make such a big difference.  My arrows drop a good 10 inches in that short distance and it makes me think twice about taking a shot at a deer at 30 yards.  I’m going to have to be right on top of the animal before I will shoot and even then I often think about the “what if”….What if my arrow does not go into the kill zone like I want it to?  What if, it ends up being the “one” arrow?  What if I wound it?  My practice is what is going to take some of the What If out of the equation but there is no guarantee.

My best 30 yard end was this one:

That kind of shooting does NOT allow me to shoot at a deer at this distance.  I often wonder about some of the archer stories I have heard where they say, “I just had to shoot, he was just too big not to”.  You know all the while the deer was outside their normal shooting (practice) distance and you also know they have not put in the practice at that yardage to allow them to make the shot.  But we are all hunters and I can not tell you what is ethical or not, I just have to stay within MY boundaries.  I’ll probably stretch my practice out to even 40 yards before the hunt starts, but my practice is to make sure that 20 yard (or closer) shot is easier to make.

June 8, 2016

Bears Butt

‘I forgot the arrow.’

Today was Memorial Day and after visiting some of the graves and having lunch with some relatives I took my bow down to the field for some practice.  This Fixed Crawl method really has be excited. Practice is what I need right now to get it down to hitting what I’m aiming at…..and I am aiming now and not shooting instinctively.  In my mind, the more ethical I am at shooting a game animal the more I will like taking the game I’m after.  Practice to hit where I’m pointing at is number one right now.

In anticipation of the hunt, I know I will be “rattled” when the opportunity presents itself.  I need to be within 30 yards of that animal and closer will be better.  So, before the hunt I will be practicing out to 30 and maybe 40 yards.  Not that I will be taking a 40 yard shot, but to make that 20 yard shot that much easier to make.

Tonight my first end of 11 arrows ended like this:

That one arrow off to the left was my fault…well…all the arrows were my fault, but the rest of them seemed to fly right about where I wanted them to fly.  A bit low and so I lowered the fixed crawl tab point.  Then continued to shoot the rest of the evening.  It was a beautiful evening for sure.  Toward the mid point of my practice I took this picture of one of my ends.

Oh Boy!  Things are beginning to come together!  Still a bit low.  And with a short discussion with Weasel, I decided I was dropping my bow.  What that means to me is that once I release the string, I am letting my bow hand relax and the bow drops down (gravity you know).  I told him…”Just one little thing and the arrows don’t go where I want them”….he said….”There is NO ONE LITTLE THING in archery”…I believe that now.

So I spent the next few ends trying my best to keep the bow hand up after the shot and watching the arrow go down range.  It was quite the eye opening experience.  Pretty satisfying too.  My last end looked like this, and this is after shooting for almost two hours at 11 arrows per end:

Only 4 of the 11 arrows didn’t hit the target!  And those were arrows number 2, 3, 4 and 5 that I shot.  After that I really put the concentration effort into each shot.

Time for a new target!

May 20, 2016

Bears Butt

Don’t give up on me!  I’m still trying out the Fixed Crawl method of shooting.  I was down on the farm on Monday (the only evening fit to shoot so far this week) giving it another go.  I decided to shoot all my arrows for each end and before the practice session was over, I had ruined one arrow and damaged a second nock.  That is a sure fire way of knowing things are coming together for you.  When you are punching arrows into the same hole you are becoming a machine.

With so many arrows being shot during one end, it doesn’t take long to wear yourself out and that is exactly what I did.  The strength endurance is quite demanding and holding 50 or so pounds of draw weight gets to this old guy pretty quickly.  I keep thinking….. Butt, you are only going to get one shot so make it count!

I recorded my first two ends and this is what they looked like.

For some of you old time archers this is probably a pretty disgusting set of arrows, but for me they look pretty good.  I still have all of the months of June and July and half the month of August to get them tightened up.  I think I’m on the right track.

I need to place a stump at the 25 yard mark and do some sit down practice like I was doing before this new method caught my attention.  I’ll be doing that when this evening shower and wind issue leaves us.

Weasel came down after I had been shooting an hour, so I think I had probably shot 10 to 15 ends of 12 arrows each end and I was quite tired.  I recorded this end and then called it a day!

I call it my “Smiley End” and a good one to quit on!

May 25, 2016

Bears Butt

UPDATE:

I was shooting last night with Weasel and I noticed most of my arrows were hitting lower than the target.  Similar to the two pictures above.  With that I decided to move my fixed crawl point up toward the nocking point.  I moved it the width of the clamp and this was the result.

A closer look:

Only 4 out of the 11 arrows are not in the target!  I’m very pleased and will continue to use this method and practice, practice, practice!

Bears Butt

May 28, 2016