My Adventure In Longbow

[HUNT 24/7]

Well, I am now officially a bow hunter, I passed my bowhunter safety course today!
 
Come on Oct 1st!!!    

[Wannabe1]

Congratulations and good luck out there! Look forward to a success story.      

[straitera]

Good job Hillbro. Treat that Wesley nice.

[Tony B]

Congrats ole buddy! Good luck! We need to get togeather!
Tony

[HUNT 24/7]

On November 19, 2010 I officially made my first bow kill.
 
 It was actually my first trip to the woods with my bow besides stump shooting. I am for the most part a waterfowl hunter & it isn't really bow friendly LOL! So you won't see me in the bush very often.
 
 I decided to do some still hunting that evening for deer or whatever I happened to run into. I didn't see any deer, but did jump 3 moose along the edge of a cedar swamp.
 
  It was getting later in the day & there it was, a rabbit!!! He was facing my left & broadside at roughly 12 to 15 yards, I drew an arrow from my quiver & placed one right through the shoulder!
 
 I was pretty pumped to say the least, hopefully I will get a chance to take a bear this spring.
   

[Huntschool]

Good shot on the rabbit.  I thought there for a moment, "Oh my God he's gonna stick a moose with that Hill for his first.   I am sure you had enough bow....

It has been a pleasure to read your "trip" into trad bowhunting.

I congratulate you for your perseverance and your patience.

Well done young man.  Now enjoy and keep us posted…..  You are correct from a previous post, Those Widow bows are sexy.  But so is a Hill….

[landman]

Kid, I can't see any reason at all to shoot a 70# bow.   50 to 60# will drive an arrow through anything you'll want to shoot except dangerous game and i'd highly recommend that you lighten up and enjoy the sport.   Very few of us on this site shoot the heavy stuff and you'll do very, very well to heed the advice of the guys who have already said to stay away from the heavy stuff.   Machismo is great with some women, sometimes, but it won't serve you well in this sport.   I'm just sayin......

[vermonter1]

Good luck on your quest.  When you get a chance maybe you could try using some blunts or small game heads and go roving/stump shooting.  I like 3-D shoots occasionally but feel I get my best practice on my scouting/stump shooting forays.  Anyway, you'll figure it out and find what works best for you.

[HUNT 24/7]

Originally posted by landman:
Kid, I can't see any reason at all to shoot a 70# bow.   50 to 60# will drive an arrow through anything you'll want to shoot except dangerous game and i'd highly recommend that you lighten up and enjoy the sport.   Very few of us on this site shoot the heavy stuff and you'll do very, very well to heed the advice of the guys who have already said to stay away from the heavy stuff.   Machismo is great with some women, sometimes, but it won't serve you well in this sport.   I'm just sayin......

Hey, I respect your opinion & I can see where your coming from, my intent was to never look "macho" or anything like that, I just thought it was funny to be shooting a rabbit with this set up. (I was actually hunting deer)

 Trust me, I would love to  order a Black Widow 58# @ 28 - 58" PCH in curly bubinga (spelling) but I just don't have the $1500 CDN to buy one, nor do I feel the need to buy a lighter cheaper bow when what I have now is working fine, it's just not a necessity for me right now.

 And as far as women & "machismo", I have been married for 10 years to the love of my life & have 2 beautiful girls, 7 & 9, & none of the 3 could care less about my bow.

 I have gone back through all my posts & edited out the poundage of my bow, I don't want to come off like I'm trying to impress anyone, & I won't mentione it ever again.

..........."i'd highly recommend that you lighten up and enjoy the sport"...........

WOW! I can't belive you would say that!!!! You have no idea the enjoyment I get from me & my family in the outdoors, hunting & trad archery........... it's who I am


Again I am sorry if I came off as trying to be macho, was not my intent.

[HUNT 24/7]

Originally posted by vermonter1:
Good luck on your quest.  When you get a chance maybe you could try using some blunts or small game heads and go roving/stump shooting.  I like 3-D shoots occasionally but feel I get my best practice on my scouting/stump shooting forays.  Anyway, you'll figure it out and find what works best for you.

Hey thanks, I do have some blunts & some flu flu's actually, I spent the better part of my summer tramping the woods stump shooting................Fun!!!

[HUNT 24/7]

Here are a couple pic's from this summer
Practicing with my new broadheads, eventually I cut back to 1 shot at a time with the same arrow to simulate a hunting situation
   
Some 3D
 
       
I have lots more, just need to upload them to Photobucket

[Bonebuster]

Great shot on the rabbit...There used to be lots of snowshoe hares around where I live, but I have not seen a SIGN of them in almost five years.

Somehow, I missed the beginning of your quest, and see this thread began back in March. It is an honorable quest, and one that doesn`t end for most of us. There is always something more to learn...perhaps this is one of bowhuntings best parts. In fact, I have been a bowhunter for 32 years, and I`m sure YOU could teach ME a thing or two.

You will know if you are doing "it" right if you are having fun, and if you are having fun then you will know you are doing it right.  :D  

Don`t worry about draw weight comments. If you are strong, and physically active, bows drawing around 70 and under are not much of a problem.
Some people are just not built to comfortably shoot bows above sixty pounds...some are.
I`m betting the 70 lbs from your longbow is hardly noticed by you when you draw it for a shot. That is how it is supposed to be. About the same effort as walking up a set of steps.
Draw weight IS a great asset when bowhunting, no one will argue that.

Good luck with the bear hunting...winter can be long, but getting ready for bear will help shorten it!

"My Adventure in Longbow" cool thread, it hope your adventure never ends.  

[HUNT 24/7]

Hey thanks Bonebuster, I must say that traditional archery is one of the best things I have ever come across in my hunting adventures.....& I am having a blast!!!!!!

[champ38]

Ive really enjoyed this thread 24/7, I hope you'll post the rest of the pics u mentioned. You've obviously learned to shoot a heavy bow accurately...quite a feat in my book.

[Jerry Jeffer]

You seem to be doing very well with that 70# bow and I would not edit that out of any post for anyone. Your accomplishments to this point have been great. Keep it up, they way you want to. Also, congrats on 10 years married to your love and children. Too many don't achieve that in life. In my opinion, you are doing every thing right. My hat is off to you sir.

[HUNT 24/7]

Hey thanks guy's, I now have the pic's on Photobucket, I'll post some when I get home in a couple days.

[HUNT 24/7]

Busting some balloons with the kids
   
Waiting for the wheeley boys to finish as usual LOL!
   
My killer stare LOL!
   
The family doing some shooting at Troys
   

[HUNT 24/7]

Here are some pic's from my season so far

My wifes first partridge & my dog cooper.
   
One of the farms I hunted
   
My first speck!!! Rare around here!
       
Some of my hunting buddies
   

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Congratulations on taking that rabbit with the Hill!

[HUNT 24/7]

Update
 
 I had the chance a couple months ago to buy a 58" 50# at 27" Montana recurve from a friend of mine really cheap. It is a smooth, fast shooting little bow.
 
 The combination of a lighter more forgiving bow, paired with more consistent carbon arrows sure has improved my shooting.

 I can't wait to bear hunt with it this spring, I'll be using Simmons Tree Sharks thanks to a thread I read in PoWow.