BowCast Blog

Well, I plan to keep up with this a lot more than I have been, aside from this past week...keep it updated, so if you aren't out scouting, or aren't seeing bucks, you can live vicariously :)

Checked the ground tonight again...whatta ya know...two new good lookin' bucks! 

Gettin' the FMJ rockets prepped for launch!

Later
Cima

Well, it's that time already...scouting starts to heat up (since if never does stop) and bucks are really starting to grow!

Checked out a small property I have for deer; very similar to urban whitetails. It is a small, thin strip of ground that the muleys usually use as a travel route between bed and feed (alfalfa). Sure enough, I found 6 bucks...3 of which were familiar faces: Splits, Tripod and Lefty.


It'll be here before we know it!

Well, tis the season for elk sheds. My buddy and I threw together a plan Thursday night to leave at O-dark thirty Friday morning and hit the hills for two days in search of elk bone.

We met up at 6 and hit it for two days in the high country! 

 

Michael Hunsucker from Heartland Bowhunter on Getting Your Spring Turkey

About two weeks ago, my 2010 Elite Z28 hit the porch. Since then, we have been spending quite a bit of time together, getting to know each other! :)  

 This bow is quite a bit different then what I have run the past couple years...I shot a Bowtech 82nd in 2008 at 36" axle to axle and a Elite GT500 in 2009 which is 35" axle to axle. The Z28 is 32.5" axle to axle, and has a much steeper string angle than I have been used, however so far, it has been super accurate for me.

 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:

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.

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...

Well, the recent attempts for geese have been of zero success....the weather has really changed the habits and moved the geese from the permissions I had, but we still got out there and tried...launched some arrows and came up with nothing. Got some good pics though, so I thought Id share.

 

Well as most know, my big game bowhunting is done with, so now its on to try and put the hurt on some geese with the archery tackle. We had some weather, not so great for bird hunting, over the break, but it was still nice to get out and see a couple great mornings.

More to come over Christmas break, going to be doing alot of videoing that Ill be uploading on BowCast YouTube and linking, so watch out for that!

Hope Thanksgiving treated everyone well!

Whats up Nation?!
As it says, I shall....

.....give thanks for my friends, my family and my fellow bowhunters.

.....give thanks for the opportunity to hunt out of state this year.

.....give thanks for having supportive parents.

This was the third year I have adorn my bow with a FUSE quiver. I chose the Fuse Satori, as I prefer a two piece quiver; I used to use a one piece but made the mistake of taking it off, I ended up moving up on a elk and not didnt have my quiver there when I needed another arrow.

The Satori very light. When I have had it off, and put it pack on the weight is hardly noticable.

My METAL Experiments...

This was my second full season of using Easton Full Metal Jackets. I used them in 2007 and shot a pronghorn at 67 yards, the arrow went 60 yards after it went through the goat...I would call that decent arrow performance. I was shooting 300 spine FMJ's at 280fps and shooting around 90lbs of kinetic energy.

Those only reason I didn't continue shooting them in 2008 was because I wanted to see if I could gain speed and kinetic energy.

In 2009 I jumped back on the FMJ bandwagon, and I'm glad I did. I got some 300 spine, black FMJ's, cut them to 29"; I put wraps on them, and fletched them with a new vane for me, 3 Duravane Predators. That put me at a finished weight of 510 grains with a 100 grain tip.

With my GT500 shooting 82lbs, with a 30" draw length I am pounding them through the chrono at 309 fps! 108 foot lbs of kinetic energy!

I shot them all year, from spring during turkey hunting, through the summer 3D tournaments and took them the daunting BATB! They perform great, they are an awesome hunting arrow, and since I shoot my hunting setup for 3D, they work great because they pull very easily and are tough enough to handle the constant pounding of the 3D targets.

I killed a small buck in eastern Oregon at 52 yards and had a great pass through and a perfect, blood-covered arrow waiting for me 15 yards past where I shot him.

I also mixed a couple misses in and although I was disappointed to see a dry arrow, they were fully intact and ready to shoot again.

I recently started a little experiment and am shooting 400 spine FMJ's that weight around 420 grains and am shooting them at 325 fps! They flight better than my 300's and I lost kinetic energy, down to 98 foot lbs, but my arrows are shooting flatter, and flying better.

One you go FMJ you don't go back....keep it in the pocket!

This year, after planning for a whole year in advance, my buddy and I headed down to Utah.   August 17th,  we're Utah bound: Two buddies, 7 days, 1400 miles, 10,000ft elevation, two camera & one tag.

 In 6 days we saw 65 bucks, with most being solid 3 or 4 points. The first morning I had a 140 class four point at 50 yards, but passed, and was almost able to get an arrow in a 160" that evening at 50 yards. 

We hunted a group a 3 bucks, a 4x4 28" wide 170", a 4x4 25" wide 160" and a 3x4 25" wide 150", for 4 days, but they used their knowledge of the mountain to work us day in and day out. I passed on multiple small bucks, waiting for something 150" or bigger.

After 4 full days we cruised back down, and Andrew was able to video Taylor shooting a cow at 20 yards from a treestand.

As big and bad as I hoped...no. One hundred and sixty inches of velvet and 300" of white-tipped chocolate horns...no. No tags left in my wallet come October...no. A season to remember...forever.

For me, season has come and gone; the sun setting on the time of the year I cherish most. All year, be it picking up sheds, shooting in the summer, scouting for bucks, working on my elk calling...everything I do is geared towards punching that tag in the fall.

It seems that season comes  in a quick, rush of warm air, I'm left turning around, just catching a glimpse of whatever that was disappear over the horizon. Never can I get enough of that feeling: up early underneath a blanket of stars, hiking to the top of a ridge to greet the sun, another day in God's country. Throwing a bugle into a lodgepole basin, sitting down to finally indulge in a steaming Mountain House and feeling beat down at the end of the day only to get up and do it again...It's an obsession, it's a passion, it's a lifestyle.

 

It's crazy, how bowhunting has evolved. What came first; the flint tipped shaft, or arched wood, held taught by a thin piece of braided sinew?

Whatever it might have been, ever since then, "bowhunters" have been evolving...trying to continually further our gear and ourselves.

Posted in the forums because of the amont of pictures...

Enjoy 

Aight, so I am just about finished packing for first trip to Utah, Snowbird, and Salt Lake City. To me this is part of my season; the quiz before the test. 
I went through my last round of shooting today, and got the gear all dialed in (or so I hope).

Heres my final list of things to do, bring or be aware of;