BowCast Blog

 Well as I promised a few weeks ago, I have finished my bow review, which included 14 bows that I chose to include. I have been shooting a ton of bows the past couple months, and thought I'd pass on my opinion on some of the aspects of a bow I feel are important, give some specs and give some notes about each bow.

 Overall my top 5 bows were:

You have been waiting...now you know BowCast At The Bird 2010 will be held at Snowbrid, Utah on July 10th and 11th.  To register and get more info, visit http://www.bowcastatthebird.com/.

Turkey season is fast approaching, my favorite game to hunt will always be Whitetail Deer; but Turkey and Pheasant battle it out for second place.

When you're out there, sitting in a blind or calling against a tree and a flock of turkeys come in, how do you know which one to take?

Kody Kellom of Born and Raised Outdoors on Filming your Hunts

It seems that more and more guys and gals are either starting to film their own hunts, or starting to get serious about it. As I know I have interest in this subject as well as many others, I asked my buddy Kody Kellom, Co-founder of Born and Raised Outdoors, http://bornandraisedoutdoors.com/, to do a Q&A about some common filming inquiries, as well as some behind-the-scenes type questions about what it’s like to be part of an outdoor video team.

Ok, just kidding on the bum part, but if you're getting a little lazy this winter then please do something about it.  Just be active, that's the overall message here.  Find something you'll do with minimal teeth grinding and go for it.  Here's what we do at CrossFit....

Web Link http://www.vimeo.com/9498630 

Last year Wisconsin legislatures came up with a great way to introduce our youth to the wonders of hunting.

After failed attempts to try and reduce the minimum age a new plan was hatched.  Enter the Mentor...

Hey Everyone,

Well I shot my way through the 2010 bow stalls, and picked a couple champs.

Over the next week, Ill be getting out some videos of the bows I shot this past week, which include: Mathews Monster, Mathews Reezen, Diamond Marquis, PSE XForce GX, Bowtech Air Raid....and my GT500.

 ...as well as a written review that will include the previous bows metioned, as well as: Hoyt Carbon Matrix, Hoyt Maxxis 35, Bowtech Destroyer 350, Hoyt Alphaburner, Bear Attack, and the Elite Judge.

Heres a couple to start it off...

I am of two minds regarding this issue!

While I certainly don't want our turkey herd decimated by over hunting, as a weekend warrior, it sure would be nice to actually be able to hunt when I can.

“A lion’s work hours are only when he’s hungry; once he’s satisfied, the predator and prey live peacefully together.”

This lion hunt started with a coyote hunt in 2008.  I had setup in a  brush pile and started calling to see if I could get a dog to come in.  I had been calling for about 3o minutes and was starting to think that the stand was a bust.  I was about to give up when I noticed something moving in a little bush about 10 yards in front of me.  At first I thought it was a bird but after I looked at it a little more I was able to figure out that it was the black spot on the tip on the tail of a Mountain Lion.  To this day I have NO IDEA how he got so close without me spotting him.  How did that animal get so close without me seeing him?  The more I thought about it the more it freaked me out.  If that cat wanted me there is no doubt that he could have been on me in one jump.  I was amazed and impressed by this animals stealthiness.  When I got home that night I knew that I needed to learn more about lions and I knew that I needed to match wits with one.

  Winter is in full swing; short days filled with little sunlight and plenty of snow or rain are of popular recurrence.  Unfortunately, bowhunting and archery are the least of our concerns. We all have a life to live and other priorities that come first such as jobs, school, family, etc.  Does that mean we should completely forget about archery/bowhunting? No sir!

  Last year I blogged about how wonderful 3d and 300 leagues were for keeping that winter rust from settling in on our bodies. It's a proven fact, the more you practice during the off-season the better prepared you will be come season. If you don't believe me take a look at my past year. Not to chest thump but, all that practice truly paid off!

For me a successful hunt is if I could have killed something with a rifle. J-

Day 5

It has been said that the love of the chase is an inherent delight in man-a relic of an instinctive passion. - Charles Darwin

Wow what a great quote…  I pulled it from my Runners World.  Hunters love the Chase.

Another year come and gone, 2009 flew by like a Full Metal Jacket shot with a 90 pound Elite GT500.  What a whirlwind year.   How many of us got involved with BowCast in 2009, whether its staff, sponsors, and of course the all important BowCast nation?  How many new friends did we make, and how much have we all learned?

Perspective -

• The ability to perceive things in their actual interrelations or comparative importance: tried to keep my perspective throughout the crisis.

If you guys have been tracking some of the events that have been going on in my life over on Facebook you will have noticed that I haven’t really had a chance to hunt like I would like to, but in the in grand scheme of life it is no big deal.  I am just glad my mom is doing better and that she is going in the right direction.

If you guys have been tracking my blog will have probably noticed that for me the best part of Coues deer hunting isn’t the killing of the deer but the  process of trying to get close to North America’s toughest animal to kill with a bow.  This year I spent over 60 days running around the mountains and my GPS tells me that I have covered over 300 miles on foot.  If you want to be a successful Coues deer hunter those miles are all part of the process.  I have often said that bow hunting has saved my life, it has given me a reason to be able to get off the couch, on my feet and out the door.  I know and old man that we call, “The White Rat”, that has probably killed more Elk in Northern New Mexico than anybody else.  I once asked him how he was always able to find animals, he would always laugh and say that the “They are where they are”.  As a young fly fishing guide I never really knew what he meant but as a get older it all starts to make since.  What he was trying to say is that when we scour maps, we spend hours climbing mountains and try to find the best habitat but when it comes right down to it animals don’t really care about that stuff.  As along as their needs are met they have no need to move.  If you want to be a successful hunter you need to figure out where the animals are during the season.  Last year I made  mistake by scouting like a mad man during the summer and the fall but once the “whitetail lull” and the rut kicked in I lost all of the big deer that I was tracking.  It was a real eye-opener, I was two steps behind the deer.  The last day of the hunt I picked up, headed into the high-country and I found deer.  I passed on 3 smaller deer.

This year I spent a lot of time learning new country but I knew that it was just fun and games because the real scouting would start a week before the hunt.   So what happened?  Well, I found a spot early in the summer that I was really looking forward to hunting but there is way too much snow back there, to get in there safely.  I might take the 4 wheeler in one of these days during the hunt just to see what is going on.  Who knows it just might be worth it.  To get to the area it is about a 45 min drive from the house, then a 45 4 wheeler drive and then a 30 min hike.  It is a lot of work to get in there but I am sure that there are a pocket of deer in there that die of old age.  So before the season a good buddy suggested that I look at a spot that he had seen deer before and that he felt might have a good pocket of deer.  Given the chance to learn a new spot I was all over it…  Like usual, I downloaded every map I could find and I started downloading waypoints to my GPS. The race was on.

As I type this we are gettign with a ton of snow…. They think we are going to get another 6 inches in the lower country.  To be honest, as long as I can get to my hunting spots I really don’t mind the snow….  I really try to refine my clothing selection so I can stay warm and dry during the hunt.  This year I wearing some stuff from Buckwear and StormKloth.  So far so good, for me the the key is not getting too hot while walking into the stand.  Some of my spots are pretty far in and you can really work up a sweat so I need to make sure that I don’t start the hike with too much clothing.  If case you are wondering Max-1 is the camo I usually wear…. I trust it.

So what have I been seeing out there???  Well, there is alot of snow and all the water sources are frozen.  The deer are also starting to scrape pretty heavily.  I found what looks like an old mining road that has about 8 scrapes in about a 200 yard line.  I think that is going to be my Number 1 spot.  It is on the top of a little knob….

Santa baby, slip a Spot Hogg under the tree,
For me.
been an awful good girl,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.