I've really enjoyed reading recounts from you Trad hunters. They have all been interesting and somewhat humorous. I thought I'd post a recount of my season, so far. It may not be interesting or humorous, but I find myself laughing, just to keep sane.
Some may recall from an earlier post, that my recurve developed a serious twist, so I have now retired it. I had practiced with it all year, determined to take a nice Traditional buck this year. Had my blinds set to accomadate the bow and set where I was sure of 12-15 yard opportunities.
Well, with it on the wall, I revisited my longbow. I love to shoot this bow, but never have been as consistent as I felt I needed to be. I'm still not!
To keep with the bowhunting, I picked up my son's Mathews and shot it very good (no surprise), on the range. Well, I took it to a tripod setup and promptly "gut-shot" a BBQ pig. This was the first animal I had lost in many years. I think my "push-pull" shooting style I used for the recurve, came out when I shot at the pig. This doesn't work with a compound!
My next "try" was a Mamba we use for bow fishing. I un-rigged it and tuned it for my broadheads. I remembered how nice this bow shoots. I got it grouping real well and I was excited about the 58 inch limbs...fits well in my ground blinds. This last week, I sat in one and had a very large boar show up right at daylight. I really wanted this hog, as I and the other Traditional guys on my lease have a pool set up for who ever takes the heaviest hog this year. He would put me in the lead, by a long shot. As I watched him devour the corn I had spread, I waited for a quartering shot. After about 5 mins. he presented a perfect angle. As I drew the Mamba, I and the pig realized I should have changed the "side plate" on the bow. After a year of being wet from bowfishing, the plate had turned to some type of vulcanized mess. Drawing the arrow reminded me of Miss Ladwig ( my 3rd grade teacher) dragging her fingernails across the chalk board to get our attention. I hadn't paid attention to this detail while on the range, but it sure was loud, when in a popup with a 200# porker 7 yards away. He was gone...I laughed.
About 30 mins later I tried to draw on a mature doe. She was gone...I laughed.
I spent the rest of the morning hunting rabbits.
The good thing is that our rut has just started, I have a new seal skin rest and plate ordered, and I have several more days planned for the lease. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide on a replacement for my twisted bow.
Good luck to all, and Merry Christmas.
Some may recall from an earlier post, that my recurve developed a serious twist, so I have now retired it. I had practiced with it all year, determined to take a nice Traditional buck this year. Had my blinds set to accomadate the bow and set where I was sure of 12-15 yard opportunities.
Well, with it on the wall, I revisited my longbow. I love to shoot this bow, but never have been as consistent as I felt I needed to be. I'm still not!
To keep with the bowhunting, I picked up my son's Mathews and shot it very good (no surprise), on the range. Well, I took it to a tripod setup and promptly "gut-shot" a BBQ pig. This was the first animal I had lost in many years. I think my "push-pull" shooting style I used for the recurve, came out when I shot at the pig. This doesn't work with a compound!
My next "try" was a Mamba we use for bow fishing. I un-rigged it and tuned it for my broadheads. I remembered how nice this bow shoots. I got it grouping real well and I was excited about the 58 inch limbs...fits well in my ground blinds. This last week, I sat in one and had a very large boar show up right at daylight. I really wanted this hog, as I and the other Traditional guys on my lease have a pool set up for who ever takes the heaviest hog this year. He would put me in the lead, by a long shot. As I watched him devour the corn I had spread, I waited for a quartering shot. After about 5 mins. he presented a perfect angle. As I drew the Mamba, I and the pig realized I should have changed the "side plate" on the bow. After a year of being wet from bowfishing, the plate had turned to some type of vulcanized mess. Drawing the arrow reminded me of Miss Ladwig ( my 3rd grade teacher) dragging her fingernails across the chalk board to get our attention. I hadn't paid attention to this detail while on the range, but it sure was loud, when in a popup with a 200# porker 7 yards away. He was gone...I laughed.
About 30 mins later I tried to draw on a mature doe. She was gone...I laughed.
I spent the rest of the morning hunting rabbits.
The good thing is that our rut has just started, I have a new seal skin rest and plate ordered, and I have several more days planned for the lease. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide on a replacement for my twisted bow.
Good luck to all, and Merry Christmas.
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