Firstly thanks Terry for the post...i think we all get caught up in things sometimes and our emotions get the best of us.
I agree and I appologize. I have got caught up in the tech game a bit myself trying to learn as much as I can.....sorry.
I REALLY THINK THE INTERNET HAS CAUSED ALOT OF THIS BUT THAT'S OK - IT HAS ALSO CAUSED ALOT OF GOOD WITHIN THIS SITE....read and I will explain my story...if you have a few minutes ok.
I think your story might be similar and if it isn't maybe you will see where I am coming from.
I do ask questions within certain posts because unlike many ppl on here there is no place else to get any answers.
I know I can tune my equipment ok, but I am always looking to improve and some "HIGH TECH" stuff out there WELL IT ISN"T all that great, but there is some that is.
So if I ask questions it's cause I don't know or are interested in finding out about certain things before I buy or try something new.
When I started using a bow I was 12 - archery shoot at school....we didn't have a competitor in our class group so I took up the challenge.
I was a pitcher in baseball at the time and a partime quarter back on our football team so I think it helped a bit....Bear with me I will get to the point asap.
I didn't have a clue how to shoot and nobody did either....I know now that the arrows weren't straight and they weren't matched to the bow for sure.
I had one day too practice....hmm - so I got real close to the target and shot...I had three arrows. I noticed that they all hit the target somewhere different.
So I marked the ones that hit left - high - and low...backed up shot and I learned how to compensate for each arrow.
Next day we had the competition....I won (amazingly enough). There was one kid that had his own bow too.
So after the competition I was hooked..me and the kid that had his own bow became fast friends and still are 40 years later.
So I asked my dad if I could get a bow....I worked and collected bottles to get the money (dad said yes but that I had to buy it myself).
I got this orange 25# bow ( i put black electrical tape around it at about 1" spacings to make look like a igers tail...funny the things you remember) and wood arrows...some didn't fly so great, but I learned how they flew and I could hit what I aimed at with any arrow.
TECH TIME:
Then they came out with fiberglas arrows...they said that they were tougher and straighter. Of course they were heavier too and my bow would shoot them very fast...so the game would hear the bow and move and the arrow would pass by harmlessly if i was too far away.
but I was stuck with the arrows...why...cause I couldn't try before you buy and I had no place to turn.
Bought a bigger bow later and stuck with it in my teens.
Then I tried a compound...shot it instinctively off the shelf with feathered arrows. Shot pretty good with arrows that didn't match different lengths arrow weight tip weight etc.
Then I met some (tormentor/mentors) ppl and they helped me get proper arrows and showed me how to tune and get the right nock point etc.
BUT THEN THEY SCREWED ME UP.
You need this elevated rest - you need this plunger - you need this sight package with a lighted sight...you need a release - you need a range finder, camo paint - scents - tree stands - camo clothing - scented toilet paper (ok maybe not scented toilet paper).
AND BTW : You need a toolbox now to keep all the things you will need to keep your arrows flying right now.
So I tried all this stuff and finally said screw it.
I DID LEARN SOME THINGS FROM THEM THOUGH and for that I am grateful....learning about tuning a bow was more than I knew about up till then and for that I was greatful.
I got into bow hunting/shooting because it was SIMPLE and FUN...now it was frustrating and NOT FUN.
Are you still with me - hope so - the hope part is coming up.
So I sold all the crap including the toolbox with the bow and bought a basic recurve bow....shot it off the shelf (not even hair rest nothing). It had nothing on it...45# 60" I think and I bought some arrows and tuned them and that was that.
I WAS BACK TO SIMPLE AND FUN!!!!
I shot great I thought, but my hunting distance was close because my arrows didn't seem to group as well past 35 yards so I learned to be sneakier and quieter (I had to improve my form).
Wanted to get a heavier bow...did that...got a Jack Kempf longbow - 54#....tuned it (cost me lots of money cause I couldn't borrow arrows to try, but I got it done)and took a nice black bear that spring.
Didn't know anything about FOC just made them fly as best I could..could they have been tuned better absolutely...never ever bare shafted back them...wouldn't have dreamed of it.
NOW THIS IS MY POINT - THE INTERNET has made things different. We can get good and bad info instantly and in an age of instant gratification it only makes sense that ppl are going to try to get what they want the easiest way possible HENSE MANY TURN TO COMPOUNDS FIRST and maybe they become TRADS LATER...dunno.
The companies of the world have made that OUR purpose...you deserve a break today..well you know what I am talking about.
BUT TRAD HUNTING isn't about that...it is about taking the hard way and constantly learning and trying to improve and I agree....
I was taught that the best experience is someone elses sometimes (put your hand on a hot wood stove as a kid and you would be happy if it was someone elses right) and that we can learn from their successes or failures then it will take us less time and maybe less heartaches and money.
Nothing wrong with that I think. So I again ask questions....I used to shoot aluninums, but you would bend one.....toss it...couldn't trust it anymore.....tried carbons...broke or straight...liked that idea...but they weren't very heavy....asked how to get more weight..weight tubes...tried them didn't like how they flew....then someone said try weighting the tips and the FOC will help (didn't know what that was - start asking questions and resaerching that now)...brass insert - more field tip weight.
I didn't even know you could get tips over 125 grains for years or why you would even need to, but now I do).
I WAS AFRAID TO TRY HEAVIER WEIGHT....but I didn't understand the spine of a carbon arrow...
ALL I knew was if you added to much weight to and aluminum you would have to cut the length or go up a shaft size etc and that always cost me MORE MONEY.
SUMMARY - sorry it's been a long post
BUT THROUGH THIS AWESOME GROUP WE HAVE HERE...you showed me that I could experiment and it would work..again I have nobody here in the yukon to shoot with so it's all on my own.
Then I learned about tapered shafts (carbons) and I am now waiting to try my hand at those..why.
Cause I think I owe to the game I am hunting to do the best possible to harvest them....I shoot lots when I am in hunting mode, but having equipment that YOU TRUST is everything.
LIKE Fred Ichler - He has equipment that he trusts and is proven...do you think it took hima bit of fiddling to get it...probably...do you think he will mess with it...don't think so..but maybe. I think he is happy with his setup and he has proved it works on everything we have here and I salute him for that.
Some of us are still trying to get that bow/arrow combination that is an extension of us. It may take lots of bows and arow combinations to ge there and that is our journey
Flip side of the coin is that some of us will never be satisfied..well that's what makes us all different adn thanks for that.
If I can improve on what I have so beit....I might end up back where I was, but will always try to be the best I can be.
And with your help and encouragement (which is abundant here) I will get there.
Back to my roots (hopefully shooting matched arrows though tee...hee )
SIMPLE and FUN again.
PS
I will consider every post I respond to now or post myself before I hit "ADD REPLY" or "ADD TOPIC" making sure it pertains to TRAD ONLY.
humbly Jer
Topic: Trad Gang is not Popular Mechanics - UPDATE page 30 (Read 26769 times)
