Please take note newbe trad hunters and reminder to the veteran alike!

[jimmerc]

What brought this on is something I've witnessed over the last 10 years or so from bowhunters of both sides of the fence, but was really brought to light just within the last month!
 I recieved a call from my 21 year old son that he was ready to start hunting! From the age of 8 to 13 I trained him the best i could about bows and hunting, But at 13 he took to other intrests and went from bikes ,skate boards to cars and ladys,Some of you folks can relate I'm sure!!!
 Back to the phone call, He says he got a new bow, arrows, broadheads and the works from a local archery shop! He says he has been praticing everyday and feels he was ready to take to the woods! He then says he wants to get together to shoot and see if I think he was ready enough!  Cool!!! We meet up and get our bows out, and we start shooting, Cool!!! he is in fact shooting very well and good enough for a hunt if He keeps his shots 20 and under!!!  I ask him how his broadheads fly!?????  Well his responce thru me through a loop! He says they are the same weight as his feildtips so they should fly great!!!!  WHAT!!!!   I proceed to explain to him some fundamentals of how this really works and had him in fact take a broadhead tipped arrow from his quiver and shoot it at 20 yards!   He learned a real lesson that day,With a little bow tuning he was in fact back in the game! but his next question was how do I get these heads sharp after shooting them for pratice??!! Well that is an easy one son, go buy the replacement blades for that head!!!
 
  So my point is this to the newbes and a reminder to everone! with the WEALTH of knowlage on here(TRADGANG) There Is no excuse to take to the woods after game with less than tuned equiptment, Razor sharp heads and the confidence to get it done quicklly and cleanlly other than human error and we all try to elimnate the human error thing as much as possiable!! We don't take short cuts scouting,building ground blinds, hanging stands to try to get that one and maybe only chance to leave it up to fate alone to put that arrow where it needs to go!

  Get them sharp,get them tuned
 shoot straight my brothers and I hope your blessed with a freezer full this season!

[maineac]

Great point (no pun intended).  I continue to learn  from the members of this site almost daily.  I also hope to pass on the things I have learned to others.

[maineac]

Great point (no pun intended).  I continue to learn  from the members of this site almost daily.  I also hope to pass on the things I have learned to others.

[jimmerc]

I too continue to learn something from our tradgang members everytime I check in!
  My son when he was younger was indeed a very good archer, with good form and very good focus, I was very happie to see he hadn't forgot some of the things I had taught him! With 2 months of pratice I do feel he is /willbe ready, if he wasn't I sure would let him know!!! I was saddened by his choise of bows, but it is a start and will be happy to retake him under my wing in his new persuit, he will convert someplace down the road I'm sure!!!

That is good advice for all!

Bisch

[jimmerc]

Back in the 70s when I first started bowhunting(TRAD) I had no one to turn to to ask questions, I had to learn the hard way and it saddens me very much at the hard lesons learned! I made all the above mistakes!  Tradgang has in fact changed all of that and continue to change things for me in a very postive way! My sucusses in the woods have trippled since then!!
 I see alot of posts on how do I sharpen heads, and how do I tune this arrow to this bow ect....
This stuff is great to see and shows that our members want to be the best they can be!!
  I will always be a newbe to trad bowhunting!
 Only open minds will learn!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Jim,I think Its great your son has come back with a desire to shoot/hunt.  Glad you can mentor him again.

Thanks for the advice,I need to start shooting my broadheads again.

[Terry Lightle]

YEP

[Jeff Roark]

I did much more shooting with broadheads before this season than my last 2. Actually the month of July and August, thats all I shot. I think I needed much more practice with them than I knew.

I have an old ACE and Zwickey Delta that I use for practice. You can buy half a dozen and use one or two for just practice.

[jimmerc]

Hey Charie, How things going?? Ya get out there and shoot then bheads and that will eliminate one less negative thing we all carry around in the back of our minds that can and will effect the shot at the moment of truth!
  Ya just have to know that, that broadhead is going to fly right thru that spot your so focused on!!!

[johnny girardi]

Thats why your there for him.Hope my son calls me with that call soon.There also good help for draging deer.

[NEB]

That is good advice, but I'm more excited to hear about your boy. Some folks take different paths, but you planted the seed. We should all think of that regarding our faith and this sport we love.

[Wolfshead]

Your Son is very lucky to have your instruction.
He is more importantly very lucky to have an involved Dad such as your self.
Too many kids now a days do not have that instruction for life in general, let alone tradbow hunting.
with that being said...
Thank you for your tips it is much appreciated
Being new to hunting and tradbow hunting I am getting all my info from this site, publicland bowhunters and books.
And.... I need all the help I can get
My hat is off to you sir!

[jimmerc]

Doug welcome to tradgang and the wonderful world of tradbow hunting!  I've seen from some of your other posts that it looks like your gearing up for next hunting season to start! You have come to the best site to learn from, I learn stuff here everyday!
 I'm not sure if you have taken your hunting courses yet but they can teach you alot also and if so, Get your small game lic. and go squirrel hunting with that trad bow and stump shooting this season, you'll learn alot while out in the woods if you keep your eyes open, plus stump shooting is by far the best pratice for hunting you could get!!!  We have some pretty good pubilc hunting grounds all within an hr away! ( i'll point you in the right directions later)
 Topo maps and google earth are very good places to start your scouting and to get to know a piece of ground!
 I'll send you a pm with some info on the public lands close by!!!

[Archie]

This topic is right on.  When I first started with my recurve, my dad, who knew much more than me, got me all set up and tuned, and I was oblivious.  A year or two later, I stuck some heavier limbs on my bow, and started shooting some stiffer shafts, without his help.  Never practiced with broadheads, though.  A few days later I was hunting and had one of the finest shots on a buck ever presented to me.  I took the shot, and my arrow corkscrewed like Snoopy when shot down by the Red Baron.  I missed that deer by feet, not by inches.  I was mortified and embarrassed, though no one else saw it.  TradGang is where I learned how to correctly diagnose and fix the problem.

[jimmerc]

Archie, Now thats what i'm talking about and i'm not ashamed to say i've been there done and have the tee shirt!!! It's a very hard lesson to learn when you done all the work setting up for that moment to have an arrow go into the next county by way of cork screw or worst!!
 I'm just in high hopes that this post will save someone that kind of heart break! We have all the info right here on the gang and coming from seasoned bowhunting vets!!

[RedShaft]

Good point i now shoot broadheads everyday until the season starts... flyin like darts for me!