Thread: Any Archers out there??

Originally Posted by HamburgO

Local is definitely the best place to start, and can be great, especially if you have old-school guys running them. Unfortunately, we have one around here where the owner is quite opinionated, and unreliable to boot. But I must say I learned a lot just hanging out there and talking to other customers...

I agree about learning from the other customers. A lot of the other customers have become friends!

I'm extremely impressed that you cut your own feathers. I cut my shafts, glue the inserts, nock them, and fletch them, but I can't even imagine getting the feathers right from scratch. Care to share some pointers ?

Don't do it to save money! I got around 40 feathers from the left wing and still have the right one to do. With mistakes etc. I should get about enough to do 18 arrows. Like a lot of my projects I will start to have it figured out about the time I am done. Many of them are from secondary feathers and they are not as strong/heavy as the primary feathers. It will be interesting to see how long they last. There is a lot more twist to mine than the ones I have bought in the past.

The hardest part for me was sanding the bases. I used a fletching clamp to hold the feather and sanded it on a belt sander. By hand sanding I could have been more precise but lots more time. I then used Goat tuff one of the super glue type glues. That was a mistake. With my imperfect bases that style of glue didn't work. I already had an open container in the refrigerator so thats what I tried. Next time I will try Fletchtite or that style that should be much better on a porous material and fill in little gaps better.

Tim

P.S. I shot over my average last Thursday and because of that my team took 3 of 4 possible points for the night. So my new fletching didn't hurt my score. With my target panic problems I am not going to tell you my average though!

Been bowhunting in Australia for a couple years after always being interested. The bows I have are a Bear Charge compound set at 50lb and a 55lb Bear Montana Longbow which I have only used for targets but can't wait to take it hunting. Mainly hunt rabbits and foxes, still trying for my first deer.

My son had his first bow class today. He had never picked one up before. It was a 1 hour class given at the Bass Pro Shops here in Ft. Lauderdale. He liked it very much. I have my first bow class Tuesday night at the same location, for adults. I don't see myself ever hunting with one, but would like to learn how to shoot one. I used to shoot arrows at the refrigerator door when I was a child; the ones that had little rubber suction cups on the tips.

I promised my son a bow today, but I will have to rely on the store staff for suggestions on what to get him. If you guys would give a few suggestions, that would help greatly.

Thanks,
John

Here are a couple of pictures of my fletching. Included is the right wing of the Turkey that I have left and the hood ornament of my truck.

Tim

Originally Posted by Hirlau

My son had his first bow class today. He had never picked on up before. It was a 1 hour class given at the Bass Pro Shops here in Ft. Lauderdale. He liked it very much. I have my first bow class Tuesday night at the same location, for adults. I don't see myself ever hunting with one, but would like to learn how to shoot one. I used to shoot arrows at the refrigerator door when I was a child; the ones that had little rubber suction cups on the tips.

I promised my son a bow today, but I will have to rely on the store staff for suggestions on what to get him. If you guys would give a few suggestions, that would help greatly.

Thanks,
John

First of all how much money do you have?

Seriously, How old is he and what style of bow is he interested in? If a compound bow one such as a Genisis would be a good starter. For a growing boy get one that is easily adjustable for draw length so he can use it for a longer period of time. Don't let him do the macho thing and get one that has to high of draw weight. He should be able to draw the bow with his bow arm straight out and not point it towards the ceiling. At first it should be comfortable to be set at its lightest/lighter draw weight and then be able to turn it up as he gets stronger. There are lots of good used kids bows out there because they grow out of them.

Tim

Originally Posted by 32t

Here are a couple of pictures of my fletching. Included is the right wing of the Turkey that I have left and the hood ornament of my truck.

Tim

Nice! Really like the natural coloring and the classic shield cut.

I'm curious whether you do anything by way of marking a cock feather, or if that's not important to you? If you use a CF, do you position up or down?

My twin brother has been into archery most of his life.
He used to do a lot of field archery & also made his own arrows & bowstrings.
But we both used to do a lot of air rifle shooting & rabbit shooting on our friends farm that we have had the good fortune to be given shooting permission.
But we have now both got into slingshots in a big way.
They are similar to using a bow & the plus in the UK is they can be used for pest control.
Cheers Paul

I have been a traditional bow hunter for the past several years. I quit rifle hunting after another hunter was killed by his hunting partner who shot at a sound in the brush. Not only that, but bow hunting allows me to get much closer to my prey and it takes considerable skill to either stalk successfully or shoot a traditional bow accurately.

Originally Posted by mysticguido

Well since there is so many members that share different past times, I got to thinking, How many Archers/Bow Hunters do we have Here.

Since 2006 I have been Hunting with Traditional Bows only. I have a Jerry Hill Stalker deluxe, Bear Alaskan, Self made Red Oak long Bow ( I made it Myself) and a PSE Kingfisher recurve. I use mainly ash Shaft arrows with 160grn 3-Blade Snuffers, I also have some CX alumnimun 2117 w/Snuffers. So do You Bow Hunt or just like to Shoot Bows Post them Here... Tomorrow I'll take pix of My Bows and the arrows I have..

Originally Posted by HamburgO

Nice! Really like the natural coloring and the classic shield cut.

I'm curious whether you do anything by way of marking a cock feather, or if that's not important to you? If you use a CF, do you position up or down?

Thanks, I use the bump on the side of the knock to position my arrow if I am not looking at it, although for target shooting usually I look. Using all feathers/vanes of the same color allows you to pick which one you want for the cock feather. That can help you in tuning your arrows. With the drop away rests I have been using I shoot the cock feather up. I still have some clearance issues with my hunting bow. It is faster and only has a 6 inch brace height. The vanes rub the rest. At hunting distances and the accuracy needed it isn't an issue so I have ignored it.

Another thing that I do that can be argued as being extreme is to only use single colored strings and cables. Using different colors from different batches even if they are "the same material" introduces the possibility of different stretch and wear coming into play.

Now if I could only shoot as good as my equipment!

Tim

Originally Posted by Hirlau

My son had his first bow class today. He had never picked on up before. It was a 1 hour class given at the Bass Pro Shops here in Ft. Lauderdale. He liked it very much. I have my first bow class Tuesday night at the same location, for adults. I don't see myself ever hunting with one, but would like to learn how to shoot one. I used to shoot arrows at the refrigerator door when I was a child; the ones that had little rubber suction cups on the tips.

I promised my son a bow today, but I will have to rely on the store staff for suggestions on what to get him. If you guys would give a few suggestions, that would help greatly.

Thanks,
John

When my sons were young ( 10 ) I started them with a longbow and a recurve, to teach them how to shoot by the seat of their pants.Just kept it simple,no sights no triggers no kisser buttons. It teaches them how to judge distance and keeps it fun. Compounds just have way too much going on and they are like shooting a gun. ( no offence to the compound boys ) . Speaking of shooting guns, you want to learn how to shoot with iron sights first before shooting a scope!! JMHO