bow hunting the sub 52" bow

[trashwood]

Well OK OK Dave so 'em shorties are 8 to 10 yds bows.

Wingnut and I meet a fellow bowhunter at Vanderpool 3 yr ago.  He indeed hunted with real short Indian bows.  said he never shoot a deer ovr 12 feet away.  build himself a wicciup in the middle of a rye field with r-bar and old carpet.  just before he gets inside he makes an offering to the hunting spirits by puttin a ring of corn around his wicciup.     his bows were like 36" flat bows.  had some with sinew, some selfbows.

rusty

[trashwood]

Did your production tab have elastic across it or was it leather.

rusty

[AZStickman]

It was elastic.... But leather would work just as well....It just keeps the tab on your hand after release.... Terry

[trashwood]

Don - I have used the augmented pinch method a lot.  the thing is for some reason I have a hard time anchoring with the pinch method.  I am a pause and release shooter. it is harder with the pinch release.

rusty

[trashwood]

Ah Terry I'll put me a elastic band on there.   that way i could always use it as a herina belt from shooting this 63# shortie.

rusty

[trashwood]

Though I got to admit that the last couple of years Wingnut has been telling that my pause and release has become a creep and release style shooting.  Ya jsut gotta creep the same amount each time  

rusty

['46]

Man, now ya got me thinking Rusty. There is a  hunt coming up this spring where everything is out of pop-ups...  Figure my bear 52 incher is the only bow to use. Guess I'm going to give it some practice and time, thanks for the thread.

[trashwood]

46 - i bet they'd wrok great in a pop up.

well the point of the thread is that shorties have a place if ya hunt them right.  if ya think you gonna hunt them the same way ya hunt your 66" r/d "in the kill zone every time at 20 yds"...ya ain't.

They are exciting little things to hunt.  ya are at spear chuncking distance.  heck at shortie ranges I can even smell the pigs with my sinus ridden nose.  See 'em big porkers bat their pretty eye lashes at ya.  Plumb exciting.

rusty

[Littlefeather]

Rusty, I just finished up a really sweet sinew/osage bow Im using for the T-Sweat. I now am ready for a real shorty. I have a really nice piece of Mullberry worked down and a pile of sinew stripped. Please design my "shorty" for me. I will build it. Give me the total design for maybe something around 48-50" that I can kill pigs with at 10-12 feet. Thanks, Curtis

[trashwood]

How far back ya gonna draw it, what do ya want the draw wait to be?

rusty

[Jeff Strubberg]

Bugger has me wondering how a 54-56" 'glass bow would work out....


After the hunt though.  Too busy packing and making lists right now.  

[trashwood]

Heee heee - btw LiddleFedder! ya got the right attitude for a shortie bowhunter, PIGS AT 10 TO 12 FEET...no that there is excitment of the first order.  If that don't get your heart a puumping, ya might try base jumping.  

rusty

[trashwood]

Jeff I made a 58" ntn glass backed wooden belly bow for a javie hunt.  I have since cut it down to 54" ntn (it is a bendy handle abo looking bow).  I was just trying to see what a bullet wood belly would take with a glass back.  54" ntn drawing 55#@27" and still very little set.

rusty

[Littlefeather]

Ahh yes, good point Rusty. At yardages inside of 10 yards the bow shouldn't need to be more than 45-50#. 45# has served me quite nicely already. Draw length? I can still shoot well with a draw as short as 25". Get any shorter and I gotta pray first if Im expecting to hit what I am aiming at. We gonna recurve and bend through the handle? Gimme a width to start with. CK

[trashwood]

45#@25" mulberry....1&3/8 48" ntn,  taper the last 3" of each end to your nock.  put some 1/2" high mulberry tip over lays on the tips.  keep the bow 1&3/8" wide the lenght to the tip taper.  tiller the bow to 16" at 45#  in a circular tiller (bnedy handle).  put the bow on a board and tie it down right in the middle with a kelvar fishing line.  Put a 3" block under each tip and sinew the back with 2 good solid layers of sinew.  after the ya get the the sinew on and it gels warp the limbs the best ya can (leaving it tied and blocked one the board) with ace bandage or supim like that to get the sinew to lay down.

in a couple of days remove the wrapping.  if it is feeling dry to the touch bring it to 95 degrees over a couple of days.  in about a week cross wrap sinew around just before the overlays to hold the sinew well in that area.  in two week if the bow has been at 95 degrees I tiller them.

it should be a ring tail totter.

rusty

[trashwood]

after ya get it off the bracer board and tillered, sand the sinew moderately and use the acetone and epoxy finish on it.  since it is pretty wide thru the handle try cuting your arrows 1&1/2" longer than usual.  I liek that style bow a lot.  with the wide handle it is a bit harder to tune but ya also get to cant your bow a lot.  that leaves a wide open view of the vitals....right down the tube     thaaaawackkkkk  

rusty

[JasonV]

First bow I ever owned/hunted was a supermag 48" - I was 14 or 15 then and used it for everything (had to, it was also my ONLY bow)- first deer I shot was at about 25yds.  I never realized until much later (after the evolution from recurve to compound and back again) that a longer bow is more forgiving - but its still my favorite bow to shoot.  
I want to try that "2-under" tab though - I'd probably shoot it more if it didn't tear my fingers up so much....

[trashwood]

Ya but Jason you were likely a good shot   .  If ya ain't a good shot to start with (like me) ya need all he help ya can get with 'em shorties.

I take my hat off to ya.  25yd deer with 48" is some fine shooting  

rusty

[foxbo]

I have a 50" Elburg and am considering a 48" takedown model from the new owners called Risen Son Archery.

The Elburg is pretty darn accurate for such a short bow. I can group just as well with it in my basement, (13 yards), as I can with any of my other bows. It's 58#@ 27" and is a screamer. It's the last Cherokee Mite that Harry built.

[trashwood]

Good point Foxbo.  I have painted this thread with a broad brush.  there are some fine shots that can shoot the shorties very well...but they are indeed fine shots; not being one of them it is harder for me to shoot the shorties.  I gotta work at it.  

rusty