Uh-oh. Look who is getting into bow hunting.

Yes, the guy with two thumbs who is the author of this thread.

Picked up a bow for Hunter, my oldest son, because he wanted to give it a try. Found a Diamond Infinite Edge for $350, and it had high ratings for a starter bow, rated up to 70lbs. Got it fitted to Hunter (27.5" draw length), and he has been shooting okay with it, 6" groups at 20 yards. Practice should help.



Told a buddy about this, and he gave me his back-up bow, a pristine condition PSE, about 7 years old, and it was actually set up for my draw length, 29.5". Nice to have nice friends.

We have plenty of time to practice until next season, and we'll probably put in for the three season deer tag next year, which should be fun.

Going to pick up my youngest son Ryan, 25" draw length, a smaller practice bow tomorrow for Christmas, just so he can get in on the fun.

I will likely be asking for tips and tricks, so please be patient.

those are beauties...


Reebok or Adidas?

Asics. Always have to have the shoes in the pics.

Nice . . . .can't wait for the progress reports!!

Shoes are a little dirtier.

I have the PSE bow sighted in at 20 & 30 yards. I'll wait until Xmas until I pull out the good target and start working back from there. I figure if I can shoot 10-20 arrows a day, 3-5 days a week, I should be able to get into reasonable accuracy parameters by next season.

First day shooting the PSE I am shooting 2" groups for 5 arrows at 20 yards. Never really shot a compound other than a few arrows, mostly just a 35# recurve we have. They open up to about 5" at 30. I'm sure it is a form issue.

Got my youngest a reasonable youth bow, adjustable up to 50# and adjustable from 22-27", along with 12 arrows.

Very nice. Happy shooting!

It will be inconsistent for a while until you build your anchor point into your muscle memory. Second is the realization that you release with your back muscles and your bow hand should be relaxed to the point that you almost drop the bow when you release.

Spot on ^^


Paper test then bare shaft test. Easy to do and all is on the Internet.

Rock solid anchor and form but relax instead of anticipating the release. Shooting more is addicting and you see the arc of the arrow. It becomes habit. Stump shooting teaches unmarked distance and you will learn faster than repetitive shooting at known distance once you have some semblence of form.

Have fun.

Looking at doing some 3D shooting with FJ to get that yardage estimation down. I've been using range finders for years to estimate ranges from 50-250. Estimate range, then check by laser.

Traitor.
And an enabler of children.

Not a traitor. I'll still hunt modern elk season. I always wanted to try bow, and if I feel confident enough I might bring the bow in with me to my spot, along with a rifle. You gotta admit that that funnel would be conducive to a bow shot.

You'll have a blast, especially if you have kids to shoot with. You shooting will get better quickly and you'll be surprised how automatic 40 yards becomes when you regularly shoot to 60+. Don't overlook elk hunting. Elk hunting with a bow is a lot more fun that deer hunting with a bow.

Proceed with extreme caution. Adult crack. There's just something about that twang, thunk that I knaws at you. Archery seems to be hard wired to the core of the human brain!

Agreed

Wish my Dad would have introduced me to bow hunting back in the day! Good job broadening the boys horizons Andy

Already looking forward to the chronicles.

Guilty

Would love to see Andy and boys on Doomsday Preppers.

We're not stupid and backwoods enough to qualify for that show.

Make sure you shoot out to 50-60yds, it makes the close shots a slam dunk. You won't be rifle hunting for elk very much longer, you'll come around.

Don't shoot your eye out..........

The range finder is your buddy. Get used to using it at all times and have it at a very easy accessible spot. The 2nd and 3rd bull I ever shot at I under ranged them. It's amazing the trick it plays on your mind with how big they are. Had I had a range finder accessible I'd have killed a couple more bulls...

Might as well sell your elk rifle, bow hunting elk is the most addicting thing I've ever done in my life and knowing you you'll be in the same boat... That first bull at 10-20 yards broadside screaming at ya and you're done...

Keith

YA THAT'LL HAPPPEN

[/quote]

Looking good there boys!


He can accomplish this and still hunt modern rifle elk. Doggy and Sons now have an opportunity to hunt with any one of three weapons ...the tag posssibilities are endless!

My suggestion, if I may Andy, would be to get the boys archery tags for both deer and elk and you keep doing what you're doing...filling the freezer with your rifle/ML tags. You would get the best of both worlds and much, much more opportunity to spend quality time with your boys, which is most important. Don't even get me started on Special Permits! I hope Mrs. Dogfish is a very understanding woman.

Looking forward to seeing the harvests!

Ike

Multi season tags for deer this year is the plan for the boys and I. My oldest might hunt elk with me this year. We'll see, but I will be hunting modern elk. Doesn't mean I can take the bow out on an afternoon hunt during elk season. Probably won't happen on days 1 or 2.

Shot my first 3D course yesterday. Kind of like a 35 hole golf course. Very eye opening on ranging, since I couldn't use my range finder. I was under ranging most target out to 45 yards. Adding 5-10 yards to my estimation really helped.

Hunting the Rut for Elk would be the nuts.......what a great game animal.

Yes, that's exactly what happens... If all else fails add 5-10 yards and you'll usually hit spot on.... Could have 2 more racks on my wall cause of this... Nothing like watching your arrow shave the lower chest hairs as you nutmeg them...

Keith

There isn't a sport I've found more addicting... I mean, frothing at the mouth kind of addiction everytime I start thinking about it. Only 7.5 more months to go....

Keith

Agreed

I have an M1 Garand on the way that needs to kill something, so unless I draw the multi season tag for elk, deer will be my first bow target species.

I was just dreaming of elk camp last night . . . . .woke up with a smile on my face . . And the need to get in the woods . . . . .an kill . . .

Yup. Last year was pretty good.

Yup. Last year was pretty good. Working on shelve options tomorrow.

Welcome to the dark side Andy. Enjoy rifle elk for now ...that will change. No bigger rush period than bugleing in a bull to bow range. Wait till you shoot a newer bow.
....Team Hoyt,............Os

duh? True that. The newer ones are awesome. Matthews, bowtech, pse. I choose a hoyt,with any of the newer models you can't go wroung. If your in the market go to your local bow shop or shoot some ,then shop ebay ,most 1 year old bows are a bargain . Good luck .....Os

Nice to see you back around Mike!

I'll start with my "too short" but free bow for now and let the boys have the new stuff. Already had the M1 purchase in the works so my major fun money was already allocated.

Not a lot of bows out there on the used market for guys with a 30" draw length that I've seen, but I'll keep looking.

Cool. Both of the boys' bows have adjustable cams. Ryan's has a set of 10 drop in cam pieces, Hunter's cams have three pegs and a rotating piece in the cam that effectively lengthens the pull from 17" to 30".

Pardon my ignorance, I am a total NEWB when it comes to bows, but I greatly appreciate the help.

No idea how tall you are dogfish but very few people have a true 30" draw unless they are over 6,3" or have ape length arms. Stretch your arms out full length and measure your wing span from middle finger to middle finger and decide that length by 2.5. That is your true DL. Adjust your bow for this DL other wise your force curve will be off because your are either short drawing or drawing all the way to the wall . Either will affect accuracy or speed/power. IMHO the vast majority of bicycle bow shooters do not know how to size or tune a bow. Also shoot the heaviest arrows you can tune.

Even though I am only 5'11", I have very long legs, and very long arms. Ape arms is a good description. I've been measured for draw length three times at three different shops, all came in at 30" draw length. I do appreciate the measurement process detail, and the advice though. Please keep it coming.

I also may have the bow situation taken care of with a very kind offer from Marvin, aka Black Bart.

So many toys so little time. I shoot a 35" hoyt maxxis. Very smooth plenty fast. I think speed is overrated I believe the longer bows are more forgiving IMHO. Your style of release can effect draw length as well. The carbon element is out of my price range but very smooth to shoot.....for sure. Good luck Andy. We need to fish.....Os

Yes we do. Going tomorrow!

You are very correct.

Swung by Bart's and now we have a few things to work with, like a 30" 60-80# bow, 3 stabilizer, shafts for 30+ arrows, nocks, inserts, field tips, serving string, and a number of tools I need to figure out how to use.


We'll see how it goes. I now have a lot of tools I knew I needed. Thanks!

Dag nabbit Andy ....If you where not in such a hurry to go and shoot at the the winter LCR, I would've included the 5 quivers and the rest of the stuff you left behind. No worries, the rest of the " 25 YEAR OLD " stuff will show up at the bank the middle of this coming week. I did like that 1911 you had squirreled away on your hip though.

Wow. Got my care package. A bunch of quivers and the holy grail, impossible to find Beman outserts for 40-50 arrows, to go with the 40+ Beman arrows I now have. I swung by the Cabela's archery department and two of the guys really liked seeing the older arrows.

I'll pick up a few more solvents to see which works best on the old fletchings.

Thanks sir!

Tried Xylol, Lacquer Thinner, Goof Off and Acetone for the old fletching.

Acetone was the trick.


Soaked for 30 minutes and they came right off. No scrubbing or scraping needed. Ready for refletching. The pink ones were rotten, broke up when I removed them from the package. Green, black, and gray were good to go. Looks like I need to buy a few more fletching jigs, as I have 45 arrows to get set up.

Thank you!