Problem Solved

The Rage expandable broadheads I am using for my vertical bow use rubber O-rings to hold the blades in their place until they deploy upon impact.  One of them failed last weekend and if I had spares I cannot locate them. 

I could not find replacements at Gander or Fleet Farm.  So I Googled:  rubber O-ring for rage mechanical broadhead and the second hit was for a place in Washington called The O-Ring Store. 

 They stock and sell nothing but O-rings (and associated hydraulic stuff) online.  Two minutes of my time and $4 got me approximately 24 - 3/16^th inch - replacement rubber O-rings.  Sure, there was an additional $6 for shipping – nevertheless, very convenient and from the warming glow of my laptop. 

Wonderful thing the internet is.  Be sure to visit The O-Ring Store here.

Pretty In Pink

From the 2017 deer hunting regulations:

Highly Visible Clothing Requirement

When and where a firearm deer season (listed on page 8) is in progress, no person may hunt any game, except waterfowl, unless at least 50% of their outer clothing above the waist is colored blaze orange or fluorescent pink. A hat or other head covering, if worn, must be at least 50% blaze orange or fluorescent pink. Faded or stained blaze orange or fluorescent pink clothing is unsafe and may not meet law requirements.  Although not as visible, camo-blaze is legal if 50% of the material is blaze orange or fluorescent pink .  The DNR recommends 100% solid blaze orange or fluorescent pink.

If you are you're bow hunting this weekend what are you wearing?

Scrape

Last Saturday I was out scouting with my girls and I found this immediately below a tamarack branch about the height of my shoulder.

 click on image to enlarge

Trampled with deer tracks this is what is called a scrape.  During the rut (mating season) male deer pee on the tarsal glands and mark their territory.  But it is much too early for the rut so what's the explanation?

These early scrapes are a bit different.  Few and far between these early scrapes are mainly used to communicate as bucks begin to leave their bachelor groups and stake out their territory.  It is akin to posting a no trespassing sign on a property line.

Later in the season it will be used to communicate for breeding.

The same day I fetched the memory cards from the trail cameras and last Saturday this guy's photo was taken about 20 yards from the scrape. 

Maybe it's his?

We'll find out.  I moved the camera to photograph whoever comes to the scrape.

And a placed a ground blind where the camera used to be located.  Guess who might be hunting there as you are reading this?

Stay tuned...

Practice, Practice, Practice

A recent weekly routine is to meet with one or more of my deer hunting pals at the indoor archery range for practice after work.  Video for now to work on the finesse of instinctive shooting and shot placement. Later and at the last minute the bows can be fine-tuned before they're used in the field.

For a guy with degenerative arthritis this is the best I've felt in a long time.  However, 40 arrows in the space of half an hour WILL make your shoulder slightly sore.

An upshot is dinner out afterwards for a burger or pizza and the opportunity to talk hunting and politics.

Cheers! 

Forensic Question of the Day

This whitetail showed-up on a series of trail camera photos.  It is sporting a distinctive scar on the right shoulder.  It almost appears to be a branding scar.

 I think it is a healed wound from a poorly placed archery shot.

What do you think?

Archery!

After an extended hiatus Braumeister and Smokey Joe and I shot arrows tonight.  Video range to be specific.  Then out for pizza afterwards and smart talk about politics and the rest of the world's problems.

We're actually rather proficient with our modern era compact, compound speed bows and carbon or graphite arrows.  Back in the day we had a fourth and with a foursome we shot league.  We have the trophies as documentation.

Speaking for myself I'm all for making this a regular Monday, after work, gig.  After a couple of years of letting Mr. Bowtech collect dust it will would be terrific to hone those rusty. dusty Robin Hood skills.

If we pick-up a fourth - who knows?  maybe league play? 

In any event bow deer season is only three months away...

Rage Mechanical Broadheads

Short blog post on the ever debatable topic of hunting technology.

Several years ago I switched from fixed-blade broadheads to mechanical broadheads.  For the uninitiated a fixed-blade broadhead has no moving parts.  The 'tip of the spear' (so to speak) consists of two to four razor-sharp blades affixed to a chisel-point arrowhead.  Deadly efficient but the aerodynamics of the blades can from time-to-time be problematic in their accuracy.  This is remedied by means of time-consuming tuning of the bow on a paper target.  And keeping it paper-tuned.

Mechanical heads fly with the accuracy of a field point (an arrowhead without extruding blades and thus no aerodynamic issues) but deploy their blades on impact with deadly results.  Braumeister and I both have adopted Rage two blade devices.

Sure, I know that some hunters haven't adopted this technology on the premise that anything mechanical will eventually fail.  And while I suppose that is a possibility that's not been my experience.  The two-inch wound channel of the Rage makes for a quick kill.  For me - case closed.

Just like the death-dealing parts of a fixed blade the components of a mechanical broadhead are reusable and can be resharpened after use.  And just like fixed blades you better have some spare parts because sometimes they get beat-up beyond normal repair.

Like this one - which happens to be a crossbow device:

click on image to enlarge

Having struck some bone the blade on this Rage is going to have to be replaced as no amount of work is going to straighten and sharper it to its previous condition.

Here's a high speed video the two-blade mechanical:

Youngster Hunter

click to enlarge

Nice archery form on the kid.   Practice makes perfect.

Youngster Hunter

Youngster out with dad bow hunting.

Smokey Joe and his son paid a visit over the weekend to spend some time in the woods. 

Botched Shot?

This doe has shown-up several times on more than one of the trail cameras.  

 

 click on the image to take a closer look

What is curious is the blemish just behind the right forequarter.  Haven't been able to obtain a close-up but it is an obvious deformation of the skin on the animal.

I cannot help but wonder if it might be the consequence of a botched bow-shot.  A wound caused by a deflected arrow or poor shot placement?  Is it healed or is it festering?  From all outward appearances the animal appears healthy.  She has been mothering a fawn.

Wounded animals have been know to survive with broad heads remaining embedded in the flesh after the arrow shaft has been busted-off.

I wonder...

Claude

Finally picked-up my finished black bear mount.  It turned out nice.

We call him Claude.

click on bear to enlarge

A Regular Visitor

Every week images of this young male - or buck - deer are captured on this camera on this particular trail.

click on image to enlarge

If this deer remains true to his movement patterns it will be fun to watch his antlers grow out.

There again - someone might want to tell him NOT to become too much a creature of habit.

A crafty archer might pattern him and, well, you know...

Finis!

Ventured-out yesterday afternoon for the last bow hunt of the season (which closes at sunset today).

I packed my gear on the ATV and drove down to the campsite and hobbled-in with my cane to set-up. 

I had a primo location nestled in a clump of red cedar so I was out of the wind.  Nice and comfy on Braumeister's folding chair.  Speaking of wind - it was in my favor.

I had a nice view of the active scrape location that has turned-out to be quite a hot spot for deer pictures.

Settled-in, it occurred to  me that if I actually shot a deer the adjacent trail camera was perfectly situated to catch all the action digitally. Alas, it was not to happen.  I had a nice quiet sit - alone with my thoughts.  As the sun set and the shadows lengthened and darkness fell I walked back to the four wheeler under the light of a rising moon.

click on images to enlarge

No hip pain.  Getting back in my groove.  Life is good.

Scouting

With all of the deer movement along this trail the dogs and I moved this bow blind to a spot where a patient hunter might just be able to arrow a deer.

We'll let it set for a spell and give the critters sometime to get used to it.

Fall Cranes

I went out for about three hours of bowhunting before nightfall yesterday.  The rains had finally ceased.

Saw one spike buck.  Never drew my bow.

The cranes were making a racket.  Flock after flock flying overhead.

click on image to enlarge

Waxing Nostalgic About Hunting

I'm probably done deer hunting until next fall.

We'll have to see.

I remain deerless for 2010/2011.

But I understand that the new Governor is going to 'Take the politics out of the woods and put the deer back in.'

We'll have to see about that.

It's a good thing the past few decades have been good...

Frosted

There are several advantages to winter bow hunting.




The first, and foremost, is it is easier to spot your quarry.

Sure, the deer still materialize like ghosts but at least you can see them approaching from a distance.










It's also easier to identify their sign.

Trails are easier to spot. And the heavily traveled trails can be identified and you can hopefully establish an ambush spot.














The cold can creep-up on you however.





Several hours of standing motionless can leave you frosted.

A Startling Surprise

Braumeister and I shot arrows again last night. We've both been shooting pretty good lately - him better than me. He was whipping my ass until he had a catastrophic equipment failure.

The unit housing the sight pins dropped from his bow.

I think it is better to have this happen now instead of while you're out in the woods trying to fill your freezer.

Many years ago I walked out in the dark early one morning and reaching the top of the ladder began to crawl into the stand and roused a possum who was hanging out there in the dark.

The surprise was startling.

How'd you like to climb into your stand in the dark and find this...



The bow opener is only eighteen days away.

Bulls Are Cheap

I shot arrows last night with my buddy Braumeister.

Man, it has been awhile. Probably a couple of months

It was with great trepidation that we brought-forth the hunting bows from their cases, strapped-on the releases and nocked the first arrow. We shot an all-deer Dart Video for a half hour. Forty arrows apiece.

Surprisingly we both shot pretty well with Brau besting me by nine points.

Bullseyes were cheap last night.

We finished-up with pizza afterwards and talked about deer hunting. Bow season is only about a month away.

I'm getting all tingly just thinking about it.

The Predator and the Piebald Deer

In the fall of 2008 I was bow hunting from my lucky stand high above the creek.

Why do you call it your lucky stand?

Well, I'm lucky I haven't fallen out of it. But it's mostly lucky because many deer have been taken from this stand. Last fall I shot two deer out of a group of eight from this stand. Now stop interrupting my story.

A small herd of deer ambled past me, north side of the creek, traveling east to west. I saw them coming and was at full draw as they stepped into my ambush.

Within a minute I shot two of those deer. I dropped them in their tracks - just like in the movie Predator.

I may not live long enough to repeat that feat - and it made for a helluva celebration.

One of the other things I remember from that experience is that one of the deer in the group had funny markings on her coat. For all the world it looked to me like a piebald deer. It was for that very reason I didn' t put the single sight pin of my Bowtech Diamond Liberty squarely behind her upper left shoulder.

Wouldn't you know it - her she is:














click on the picture to enlarge

If I had to guess she's probably about four or five years old by now. I'll have to keep my eye out for her.

That new trail camera takes nice pictures don't you think?

Enjoy this clip from the movie...