Madder than a hornet!

[LabLuvR]

Had a new bow string put on my bow. Shot it when I got home everything was fine. Came home from the morning hunt and noticed that I started shooting like crap!! Musta shot 50 arrows trying to figure out why I was off so bad. Noticed that the serving had came loose on the peep sight and it was sliding up too high throwing my aim off. Since I don't have any string at the house or anything else that I know of to keep the sight in place I'm gonna sit this afternoon out and that really just PISSES me off!! Damn it!!

[CWPINST]

I always use dental floss/tape. It works great.

[Catdaddy]

I thought peep sights were for sissys. Take it off and be a real deer hunter instead of a wannabe.

What do you do when it gets to low light conditions?......throw your thermacell at them?

[LabLuvR]

I tried dental floss but it kept slipping up the string. What is dental tape??


Cat, I beeeeezzz a wussy. When I bought that damn bow last year I wrestled with the decision to buy a compound. Too much gadgetry that can go wrong. Now I see I should have stayed with a recurve and instinctive shooting. The bright side is that I recently purchased a long bow and a recurve from Owen Jeffery, next year the compound shall sit in the closet.

[WoodieSC]

Hey Lab,

What's the difference between a longbow and a recurve? Aren't they essentially the same thing?

Funny how you're talking about going back vs. the compound. I've been debating whether I should try to find a compound since they seem easier to shoot more accurately.

[LabLuvR]

Woodie,some of these bow gurus are gonna have to explain the technical differences.

My long bow is about five feet long or better strung, and the limbs are straight in appearance. The recurve is around 4 foot strung with the limbs curving. It's also the one you see most injuns using in da movies! Sorry dude, that is all I know. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I can tell you this. Neither of the bows is more accurate than the other and I will argue that with anyone who wants. I've seen Owen Jeffery shoot targets with a longbow at great distances, I only wish I could hit, even with my compound. It is very similar to which rifle caliber is best for deer, it ain't necessarily the size of the bullet, it is where you put the bullet. It simply is a matter of skill level. Don't believe me, pay Tom or Owen Jeffery a visit. Even with Owen being up in age he is still quite remarkable with his shooting abilities.

Now, I will say this. In my humble opinion a person can become a better archer in a shorter period of time with a compound using peep sights etc. than a person who is learning to shoot instinctive with a recurve or longbow. So the compound "may" have an edge there. However, both are highly accurate.

Watch some Fred Bear video if you ever have a chance. There are quite a few animals dead as a result of "his" skills and accuracy.

[BugBuster]

Throw the peep sight in the trash and put you a kisser-button on there.

[CWPINST]

Bug is right. Many years ago, a good friend told me that my peep sight would cost me a deer one day. Well he was right. I had even drilled out the thing, which helped, but for low light the kisser is better.

BTW, dental tape is super duty dental floss. If you will serve above and below the peep with the same piece of tape it won't slip, even on fast flight. It takes a good bit of serving though.

[2thDoc]

lab-i got your tape for you...

BUT, I bet if you closed your eyes and mounted your bow (without the peep sight in place) you would still find that you aim at the bulls-eye without the aid of the peep.

I shoot with a kisser and its amazing how it just goes to the right place every time. I bet i could take the kisser off and still mount my bow in the correct position.

[CWPINST]

That is true, but what will throw you off sometime is when bending to take a shot at a deer below you, while you are in the tree stand.

[Catdaddy]

A red dot laser won't.

[Stripa Swipa]

what the hell is a peep sight? [img]graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[longbow]

I have nothing against compound bows, to me, all that counts is how a man coducts himself in the woods when no one can see what he is doing. Having said that, I have to tell you my sad story that maid me swear off compounds forever. In 87 I went to W.V. to hunt the rut. Rattled in two bucks that started fighting behind my treestand. The larger of the two ran the other one off and walked under my treestand and stood broadside on a logging road 10yds. in front of me. Put the sight pin low on his ribcage and touched one off. the deer jumped off the roadbed and stood in a tangle of grapevines. I'm sitting in my stand grinning like a cat cause I know he's going to tip over at any minute, instead he just walks off. As I'm standing there in disbelief, the other buck comes back and stands in the same spot .... I miss him to. Go back to camp and find my bow is hitting 24" high at 20yds. because my rest got bent getting to my stand. I got to thinking about it and realized I shot carp every spring with an old recurve bow at about the same distance that I had just missed those two deer. I went home and ordered a Black Widow Graybark II and never looked back. I shot more accurate with the compound, hands down, but I have alway's done better in hunting situations with a stick bow, hands down.

[Stripa Swipa]

Longbow,

You have a way of making me feel like I'm not an alien on this site. I thought Trad would fill that role until I met him. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

One afternoon spent with Owen around 94/95 was all it took for me. What kind of bow do you shoot? I've got a few of Owen's recurves. Never fell in love with laminated longbows but I would like to move to a selfbow at some point. Something about taking a bow out of a tree trunk with hand tools sounds pretty cool. Love the Maurice quote!

[LabLuvR]

I went by there this morning. Those two guys are sumthin else!! Owen and Tom are headed to the lowcountry tomorrow to hunt some fancy plantation. Boy they were excited. Owen made a point to rub it in just how great of a place it was and how it was too bad I wasn't going. First time in my life I ever told an 80 year old man he sucked! [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img]

[longbow]

Swipa, I go back and forth between a Dan Quillian Bamboo Longhunter and a Osage self bow. For a backup bow when I travel, I take along a Jeffery Royal Mag Hunter. Like everybody else my bow of choice through the years reflects tremendous mood swings! Just for the heck of it I will list the bows I have hunted with.Lemonwood longbow,Bear Grizzly recurve, Bear Polar LTD compound, Golden Eagle compound, Darton compound, Black Widow recurve, Great Northern Bushbow (flat bow), Dick Robertson Buffalo Bow (flat bow), Quillian Patriot, Quillian Canebreak, Quillian Bamboo Longhunter, Quillian Red Elm Longhunter, Jeffery Royal Mag Hunter, Chokta Chief ? (somebody help me on that one), and several selfbow's made of hickory,maple, and osage. I have owned many more that I never hunted with. Jeffery made the Quillian bow's for Dan except I'm not shure about the Canebreak. The Bamboo Longhunter is kind of a half-breed longbow. The limbs are reflex-deflex but appear straight when strung but the riser is more like a recurve with a semi-pistol grip handle and a shelf for the rest that is cut much deeper than most longbow's. It is not my most favorite bow to look at but I've hunted with it since 92 because it is very forgiving of my flaws as an archer (wich are many). Hunting with all of these bow's has proven to me one thing, If your treestand or ground blind is in the right place and your taking 10-15yd. shots, it does'nt matter if your using a cannon or a slingshot.

[Stripa Swipa]

That's one heck of an inventory their chief. Who made your self bows? How would you explain the flatbow's shooting qualities and feel to someone who has shot modern laminated curves and longbows?
The reflex/deflex hybrid seems to be getting more popular these days. I ran across the guy that makes pronghorn bows while on a hunting trip in Wyoming a few years ago and he was all about this new design. Thanks for all of your insight.

[longbow]

Swipa, My collection of bows pales in comparison to most of the guy's I run with. I am only guessing, but I bet you have owned more flyrods than I have bows? That is another passtime that is dear to my heart. I was raised by a father that was a true traditionalist in all he did. I grew up with homemade archery tackle, muzzleloaders, and split bamboo fly rod's, and continued to use all of them long after more modern equipment was available because he felt the history and tradition surrounding a sport was as important as the doing of it and so do I. Some willnot understand but that is what makes a morning afield a success when no game is brought to hand. anyway, bows are kind of like flyrods, they all feel the same only different. Selfbows are duty bound to perform based on the characteristics of the wood type they are made from, however, design has a lot to do with how they feel and shoot. Flatbow's that are "overbuilt"- longer and wider than they need to be for the draw length and draw wieght being obtained are generaly more pleasant and accurate to shoot. A bow that is built as short and narrow as you can get away with will be faster but will jar and buck in your hand almost to the point of being uncomfortable to shoot. this is a huge subject to try to cover here. It is best explained in Paul Comstock's book "THE BENT STICK...Making and using wooden hunting bows". I have made several of my bows and some where made by friends. The osage bow I hunt with now is a "D" shape bow like the bows the English yoemen used. The limbs are narrow,flat on the back and round on the belly. It is 66" long and 60# at my draw length. That bow was made by Eric"the red"Lambert, a friend of mine from GA. The biggest differince with wood bow's is how the energy is stored, it's all at full draw, if you short draw the bow you will lose more horse power with a wood bow than a laminated bow. At least in my humble opinion.I hope this helps, I am more than willing to try and answer any question you have but I do not want to set my self up as being the "expert", The only thing I am expert at is keeping my wife wondering what she ever saw in me in the first place!

[Stripa Swipa]

Only have a handful of flyrods. Damn things are too expensive for my taste. I've built a few for myself and friends to save a few hundred here and there. Flyfishing and hunting with traditional bows definitely tap that same little place in my innards that is hard to put into words for folks that don't. I've got the Trad Bowyer's Bibles, have read Comstock's and Torges' books, but have never shot or built a selfbow. Torges makes the case for an Osage flatbow's worth as a hunting weapon that's about as compelling as anything I've ever heard. Just thought I'd get some comments from a guy who's been there/done that. I know I'll not be satisfied until I build one but I wonder if I should buy one and get familiar with it's qualities before I whip out the drawknife. I'm concerned that I wouldn't know how to judge my work if I've never seen a flatbow bend......even though I've read everything that's ever been written about it.

[longbow]

I understand where your at, been there. The only difference is I have stumbled through the building process a few times. I have built wood bow's, cane arrows, knapped stone points, put the whole mess together with hide glue and sinew and shot deer with it so I can say I have been there, done that....but I am no bowyer and I struggle to make a piece of rock look like an arrow point. I mostly use stuff other people have made that are masters at thier particular graft. because I understand the mechanics of the building process from personal experience, I know when I look at traditional and primitive gear if it is well built and going to do what I want it to. I always make my own cane arrows and they are unbelievably tough and deadly accurate. I went through a spell where I would sell anything I made if the price was right so now most of my finer work is in the hands of others and I no longer have the time to make much. That will change know that my boy's are getting bigger and showing an interest. If I were you I would jump right in and make a bow, you have read the right books and you know more than you think you do. Start by buying a good stave instead of cutting one,that way you will have seasoned wood to work with, and start with hickory, it is easy to work with, forgiving of your mistakes and alot cheaper than osage. You can also cut a maple sapling and make a bow out of it green. It will dry out quik once it's reduced to the shape of a bow. You will not find maple listed as a top bow wood, and it will follow the string, but you can't hardly break one and they shoot darn nice. I would not hesitate to sacrifice a small maple tree and go for it. If the bow screws up I have never tasted a piece of wild game yet that wasn't great cooked over maple coals.