Blog Entries tagged 'Jason Amaro'

Shannon's First Deer

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody....

If you guys have been keeping tabs on my blog you know that I love to post about first time hunters.� It doesn't matter if it is a kid or an adult, there is something awesome about a first bowkill.

Shannon killed her first doe this year and she is hooked.� She sent me the story and pictures below.

GREAT JOB Shannon!!!!

J-

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I did not grow up in a hunting household like most huntresses. I grew up in San Diego and spent my time showing horses and hanging out at the beach. I always wanted to learn how to hunt but I did not have anyone to show me or take me. I did express interest to my father, and he taught me how to shoot and take care of firearms, which drove my passion to learn more. I attended Oregon State University where I majored in Public Relations. For elective classes I took forest management, animal sciences and other agricultural classes. My passion to learn more about hunting and game management grew. After college I was blessed to land a job in the hunting industry. I was recently invited to hunt with Vicki Cinaciarulo and her Posse members for an episode of Archer�s Choice TV.

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I was so pumped when I received my Hoyt Kobalt for the hunt. I practiced every day for the hunt. I made sure everything was ready to go, and spent many hours at the local archery shop.

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When I arrived in St. Louis I was meeting up with three other Posse members from Archer's Choice Media. When I got to baggage claim they were already filming! I probably had the deer in headlights look, but they were very welcoming. We drove about 2 hours Eagle Lakes Outfitters in the legendary Pike County. When we arrived Vicki and her film crew was there. Ralph had been there a few days before and decorated the girl's bunkhouse with witches hats and broomsticks they also got scream masks and other goodies.

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Every huntress got her own cameraman. The huntress line-up included myself, Vicki, Dusty Perillo (Posse member), Meegan Turnbeaugh (Posse member) and Tina Sprague, the outfitter's wife. I was teamed up with cameraman Zendal. Zendal wanted to see me shoot before we got into the field. He totally turned my bow upside down from what I am used to. He upped my poundage, changed my release, added a D-loop and switched me to the 100 grain Hell Raiser broadheads. I thought he was nuts changing so much before a hunt, but my groups proved that he knew what he was doing. I went from 5-inch groups to nearly taking the fletching off my arrows they were so close! Throughout the week I learned from him how to identify scrapes, judge the size of buck's racks, judge the age of a deer and how to move about my stand in a stealth way.

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Tuesday it POURED rain on us! We had flash flood warnings. What was nice about the rain was that it brought a cold front and the deer really started moving. I saw a lot of 2 � year old bucks that would have scored around 115-120. The outfitter required that you can only shoot bucks 130 and over. I learned a lot about whitetail management. I am excited to go back to Eagle Lakes in the next few years. The 2-� year olds I saw were very healthy and I can only image what they will look like in a year!

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I went to this amazing spot on top of a mountain one night. I saw the biggest whitetail I have ever seen in person. He was at 130 yards, his back was to me, when he put his head down to feed all I saw were antlers on both sides...he was huge! I got pretty excited, but it was 45 minutes until camera light would be out and I knew he wouldn't feed that far. I was stoked to find a spot where shooters were hanging out (there were other nice looking shooters feeding with the monster). My master plan for bagging a big buck crashed when Dusty hunted that same spot and shot a buck, they searched for it that evening with no luck. They found it mid-morning the next day about 100 yards from where she shot it. However, the guides were ALL over that spot, guaranteeing that the big boys will stay in hiding for about a week.

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Still, I was so happy and excited for her because it was her first buck with her compound bow! It was a huge celebration for the entire group! If we could, we would probably do back flips for her! The camaraderie between us was unlike anything I have ever experienced.

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By the middle of the week, I saw plenty of deer, but they were either at the other end of a food plot, camera light ran out before legal shooting light or too small of a rack to shoot. Thursday morning I was sitting on the edge of a clover food plot. Zendal was looking into the woods while I looked into the food plot. A doe came in at about 7 yards, Zendal slowly creeped the camera around the tree and was like "Shannon get ready!" Once he was locked on the doe he goes "Shannon ready....Shannon?" I was asleep!! He woke me up and pointed at the doe. I was alarmed/shocked/tired so I quietly got up and drew my bow. The doe saw me draw and decided she needed to go to the other end of the food plot. AHH!!! We got a pretty good laugh about it!

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Thursday night a pack of wild dogs ran through where I was sitting, putting all the deer on edge. I was pretty bummed because at this point everyone but me has shot something.

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Friday morning was a bust, so I changed my flight since the outfitter offered me to stay longer. Friday afternoon I sat on a special food plot. Only Tina, the outfitter's wife hunts that spot. It was overlooking more clover and neighbored a cornfield. An hour before sundown a doe comes in eating the acorns at 14 yards. I didn�t need to use my Nikon Archer�s Choice rangefinder; I knew the deer was close! Zendal said, "That deer better have spikes or it is going down!" Sure enough it was an older doe. I drew back and waited for her to step in my shooting lane and let my arrow fly.

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I cannot describe the flood of emotions I had when I saw my arrow hit her. As I watched her sprint away into the field and across the street I was a shaking heavy breathing mess! I had to sit down my adrenalin was so intense! I think one of the first things I said was "That felt amazing!" I have never big game gun hunted, but I don't think I could get the same rush as I did with my bow! It was such an intimate experience!

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I glassed the field for my arrow, and Zendal was like, "look down." My arrow went right through her and rested where she once stood! So glad I switched to the Hell Raisers! We looked at my shot and saw that I was about two inches behind the lungs and that we will wait until morning to track her.

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Most people would be up pacing all night worrying about finding their deer. I was so emotionally drained I slept like a rock! I also had a lot of confidence in my guides and just knew we would find her in the morning. The next morning we found a good blood trail. She was about 125 yards from where I shot her. I was so happy!

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With TV, I learned that shooting isn't the hard part, but having to reenact the events was work. I had to reenact talking with the guide about waiting to track my deer (even though we found her and I was excited about it). I'm not good at acting, so we had to do a few takes.

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Archer's Choice came into this hunt planning for one show, but they decided it is going to be a 2-part episode because every girl got a kill on camera.

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I still have my buck tag and one more doe tag. Vicki and the Eagle Lakes Outfitters said I can come back sometime in November when the deer are moving to try my luck again. I am so pumped about going back!

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Eagle Lakes and Archer�s Choice will hold a special place in my heart. This was my first big game AND bow kill. I find myself wanting to chase that rush I got when I shot my doe. I�m hooked for life!

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For more information about Archer�s Choice go to www.archerschoicemedia.com

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For more information about Eagle Lakes Outfitters go to

www.eaglelakesoutfitters.com

[...]

My BLACKHAWK! Blacktimber Pack Review

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:00:00 +0100

One of the reason Bowcast was started was to give honest and comprehensive products reviews.� If you pickup any magazine or watch any tv show you will see so called reviews.� The only problem is that many of the people reviewing the products are sponsored by the company.� When I see this I always question the review.�

I have been down the sponsorship or pro-staff road a few times and luckily I have been able to to stay independent.� This affords me the freedom to call it like I see it.� I don't have to help sell a product.

As many of you know I have been reviewing a BLACKHAWK! Blacktimber pack for a few months.� My goal was to really give it a workout.� I didn't want to do one of those reviews that you see in the magazine that just list the specs.� I wanted to be able to say that I really tested a pack and want to feel comfortable with the review that the pack EARNED.

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I guess I should probably give you guys some of my background as far as packs go.� For the most part I have been using two different Badlands Packs, the 2200 and the 4500 Badlands. Before the review the 2200 was my everyday pack.� �

How did I come to review the Blacktimber?� Well, I saw an advertisement that they had in a magazine and I was intrigued by there design.� So I kept my eyes out for a good deal.� After a few months I found a good deal on a Blacktimber pack, the only problem is that it was digital. No big deal. � For the record, the pack comes in Max-1, Mossy Oak and Digital.

What was my first impression of the pack? � Wow, it was light and the hydration bladder had some neat features.� The bladder hangs from the top of the pack so it doesn't bunch up on the bottom of the pack and the bite value had an optional water filter. �

As far as fit.� It fit really well.� They use this material that they call SpaceNet on the back panel, the shoulder straps and the waist belt, the material is hard to describe; it is kind of like a sponge that keeps air circulating around all the points of contact.� It is also supposed to wick away sweat.� I don't know all the details on the SpaceNet material but I like it. �

Here is a picture of the material.

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The hip belt and shoulder straps are adequate.� It should be pointed out that the chest strap connects on the right� shoulder, so if you are a right handed archer they will never be a chance of the chest strap buckles getting caught in your bowstring. � The load lifters are fine but this pack isn't designed to carry a lot of weight, I will get more into that a little later. ��

The pack has 4 main storage compartments, for me that is more than enough.� I was able to carry all of my gear on my recent elk and antelope hunts.� The pack has a Shov-it pocket which I think was designed for clothes but I was able to use it to carry my elk decoy.� It worked out really nicely because I could pull the decoy out without removing the pack and messing with zipper.��

The pack also has what they call the S.T.R.I.K.E system sewn into the pack which allows you to attach accessory pouches just about anywhere you want.� I got two; one I used for my rangefinder and the other I used for my GPS and SPOT.� Because I have short arms and a long waist :) I liked the flexibility of adding the pouches where I can get to them.

If you are reading this BLACKHAWK!, I really wish that you would create some sort of accessory that would allow me to attach a one piece quiver to the pack using the S.T.R.I.K.E. system.� I ended up modifying my pack a little by tying in a Cat Quiver on the back of the pack.� It worked out really nicely.

Below is what my pack looks while it is loaded.

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Okay, so that is all the techie stuff, how did it perform in the field?� Well, I have been using for scouting and hunting and it has been great.� This pack got me thinking that I have been "over-packed", by that I mean I been carry empty cubic inches on my back.� If you don't need a 4500 cubic inch beast why carry all the extra weight?� This pack is 2557 cubic inches and I am able to easily get all of my stuff in the pack and you guys know, I always carry a ton of stuff on my back.� I will say that this pack ISN'T a Meat Hauler, it was designed� to carry essential gear in a nice, compact light fashion.

So the big question, would I recommend this pack?� Before I say yes or no, I need to stress that packs are like shoes, you need to try the pack on with weight in it to see if it fits your body type. ��

And the answer to the question is, YES.� If you are looking for a smaller pack that you could use while scouting or even hunting the Blacktimber is a great pack. �

You can go to their website by clicking� HERE.

J-�

Below is the stats from the website

BlackTimber 100oz Hydration/Hunting Pack

Big capacity meets big hydration. the BlackTimber� was designed for extreme performance with the serious hunter in mind. Featuring over-sized, easy-to use compartments with 2,557 cubic inches of cargo space and 100 oz. of easily accessible liquid, it�s ready for days of action in the back country. Comes complete with BlackHawk�s S.T.R.I.K.E.� system sewn-in for modular attachments, a SpaceNet molded back panel that wicks away sweat and a reinforced waist belt with additional attachment points.Extremely deep Shov-It� pocket is designed to carry bulky items, including dressed meat and antlers, while the pull-out, 244-square-inch blaze orange panel offers additional safety in the field.

NOTE: The blaze orange panel is NOT available on the ARPAT color (73PA04AU)��

� Padded shoulder straps are made with non-slip HawkTex to
�� help keep your rifle sling in place
� Bungee retention system allows for the storing of extra
�� layers of clothes
� Poly-frame sheet with aluminum reinforcement
� Robust waist belt evenly distributes weight and is removable
� Emergency whistle attached to front harness strap
� External shooting sticks/tripod storage on both sides of pack
� Deep expandable center section with pull-out orange panel
�� for safety
� Drink system protected by Microban� antimicrobial
�� technology
� 360-degree bite valve and patent pending quick disconnect
�� system
� BlackHawk bite valve holster keeps bite valve clean and out
�� of the way
� Compatible with BlackHawk in-line water filtration system

Hydration Capacity: 100 oz./ 3 liters
Pack Dimensions:� 21.5H x 10�W x 8�D
Pack Total Cubes:� 2,557� w/stuff pocket

[...]

When it rains it pours - My 2008 Antelope

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Talk about RAIN!!! It has been a long time since I have seen this much rain this late in the year. In fact, we had TORNADO warnings for the first two days of our Antelope season. I was praying that the area that I was hunting was relatively dry and that I might be able to sit a tank until I was forced to do a little spot and stalk.

Because of birthdays and family visiting I wasn't able to make the first two days of the hunt, usually two days isn't that big of a deal but our Antelope season is only 7 days long so you have to take advantage of everyday. So I rolled out of Silver City Monday morning around 5:00 am trying to make it to my hunting spot before noon. I was able to get to my camping spot around 10:00 am. So I quickly setup camp and headed to the mountain. I say mountain but in reality the area I was hunting was pretty flat. The good thing about this area is that I could see and glass a long way but the problem was that the antelope would see me coming.

A picture of some of the country

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So my hunt really started about 11:00 am on Monday. The plan was to drive to the little tank that I killed my buck last year and sit it. Hopefully, the rains that were hitting most of the state missed this little area of NM. I will admit that it was a lot drier than I thought it would be. The only problem that I had is that antelope will drink out of a little puddle made by a cow hoof print. Speaking of cows, when I got to my little tank it was surrounded by cattle... ARRRGHH!!! I mean surrounded. I understand that the rancher in the area has the right to have his cattle in the pasture but dang. It was a mess and I was pretty discouraged. Hoping for the best I stuck in out until sunset. Unfortunately, It was NBC or Nothing But Cows.

So I headed to the trailer for the evening to regroup and come up with a plan. There was no way that sitting water with that many cows around it, was going to work.

I think that the best hunters spend 75% of there time scouting and 25% of the time hunting. With Mother Nature throwing me a curve this year, I needed to do some serious speed-scouting. I needed to find one of two things; a tank that was being hit by goats that didn't have cattle around it or find some habitat that was more conducive to stalking.

Tuesday morning I covered a ton of ground with my Duramax and with my Swaro 15x's. I eliminated some unproductive ground and I found one little area that held some good goats. I saw them the previous day and if was lucky they might hold in the area during the hunt. If worse came to worse I could setup in the rocks and try to wait them out.

This is a picture of the area.
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I was starting to feel a little better about my chances but I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as last year. So my game planned changed from sitting water to spotting and stalking or hunting travel corridors.

Before I headed back to camp I did put the stalk on a nice buck with big cutters but I just wasn't able to get any closer than 125 yards before the sky's opened up. It was pretty dicey getting back to camp but I made it without any drama.

Before the roads got bad

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I know the picture above isn't the best but let me say that it was slick as owl crap.

That night I went to sleep with raining falling on the trailer, usually that is a soothing sound but I had some hunting to do so it was a little unnerving.

Before I new it my Treo was going off and it was time to hit the hills. I think that when you are spotting and stalking it is all about numbers. The more times you the try, the better your odds get. So I promised myself that I was going to put the stalk on every legal animal that I could glass up(if they were in a stalkable place of course). As I left camp it was obvious that I was in for another rainy day so my decision to spot and stalk was a wise one.

I put two stalks on in the morning and I pretty much blew both of them. I just ran out of terrain to hide behind but my third stalk had some real promise. You can't see it in the picture below but there are two bucks bedded on the top of the ridge. They were looking down and seemed to be nodding out. They were about 3/4 of a mile away and it seemed that they were going to stick around for a little while.

Ridge with bucks on it.

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So off I went. The stalk was going pretty well but about 400 yards from where I thought the bucks were bedded it started raining and lightening really hard. Crap, I had a few options; Call off the stalk like a wuss, put my noisy rain gear on and hope that the bucks wouldn't hear me or suck it up and hunt. All I could think of is a saying my buddy Dan Staton (fitness god) says, "Suck it up, Buttercup".

THE HUNT WAS ON... Something was going to hit the mud; a buck or a Jason.

I was using a little bush as a marker to guide me to where the bucks were bedded. I was able to get to that bush without a problem but now I needed to relocate the bucks. I knew that they had to be close. Danger Close. After about 10 minutes I was able to glass up some little tips sticking thru the sage about 80 yards away. Yes, I mean little but I was committed and given the conditions any buck would be great. The best part is that he was still looking downhill.

I have been practicing all summer and 80 yards would be a doable shot but I wanted to close the distance to about 40 yards. So I decide to push my luck and try to close the distance. Luckily, it was still raining so I had some background noise and I ground would be really soft.

It took me about 30 minutes to cover those last 40 yards but it seem like eternity.

So, I was close enough and I had a decent angle on his vitals but he was bedded and I didn't want to take that shot. To be honest, I don't know why I didn't want to shoot the buck when he was bedded but I just didn't. The wait was on.

To make this a successful stalk I had to do three things; Wait for him to stand, make the shot and don't get hit my lightening.

Taking a hint from the bucks I bedded down next to a sage bush and got comfortable.

After about 10 minutes he started to get fidgety and I knew he was about to stand. So I started to get ready for my opportunity. Almost in unison we both came to our knees. The only difference is that as I rose I also drew my bow back. I let my 40 yard pin on settle on his heart, whispered to myself "Confidence is Deadly" and let the arrow fly.

WHAAACK!!!!!

At first he don't know what happened but when he looked up the hill he saw me and he knew he was busted. He started running uphill to my right but I also ran than way hoping that he would see me and run downhill towards the truck. Guess what? He headed right to the truck but stopped to get a feel for the situation. I quickly ranged him again at 78 yards, I moved my sight and hit him again behind the last rib angling forward towards his front leg.

What a rush! I had just made the best stalk of my life. Is he a monster? No, but that really doesn't matter. I had everything against me and I had every reason to quit but I didn't. I sucked it up and I made the shot.

Nice Shot!

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How about a hero shot?

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A few things that I learned or could have done better on the hunt?

--- I recently switched from a Badlands 2800 pack to a BLACKHAWK! Blacktimber and that was a great move. I think that carrying a little bit smaller but very functionally pack made it easier to stalk my buck. IMO we often we try to get the highest capacity pack but that is always the best decision. Stick to a pack size that fits the situation.

--- I need to find another place in this unit that has more stalkable terrain. Flat is great when hunting water but not so great when spotting and stalking.

--- I really like my new Sure-loc sight. It is a basic 3-pin but it has a slider so I can adjust it on the fly. I had my pins set at 20-30-40 but my sight tape went out to 85 yards. I just moved my slider and I was dead-on out to 85 yards.

--- The new Tekan II's do fly like field points.

This is one of my favorite pictures

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A Bloody Bumper - That means you had a successful hunt and the animal is loaded.

So that was my 2008 Antelope hunt... WOW.... What a hunt...

I hope you liked the story...
Take Care

Jason

[...]

A recent scouting trip

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody...

Just when I was about to get totally discourage, I had a pretty decent scouting trip. As many of you know my deer season doesn't start until Janurary so alot of the work I am doing now is trying to learn new country and hopefully find a new honey hole. As always, my goals are to find sheds and hopefully find animals. Unfortunately, this year I hadn't really found anything noteable until my recent trip. I headed into some country that I suspected held a pocket of Coues and Mule Deer but I need to get in there and really take a look. The funny thing about this area is that a lot of people that draw this tag often drive right past this little section of huntable land.

So my plan was to cover country and take a look around.

What did I find? Well, I found a nice Coues Deer Shed, and I was able to glass up or stalk up on 6 bucks.

LIFE IS GOOD...

Below is the Coues Deer Shed I found. It probably goes around 45 inches.

How about a close-up?

It might not look like a very good shed but remember that P&Y for Coues Deer is 65 inches.

After I find a shed like that I get really jacked up and I am ready to cover more country. I wasn't able to find anymore sheds but I was able to glass and stalk up on a group of Mule Deer.

Below is a picture of three of the Mule Deer!

So what do you think? Are any of these guys shooters? If I was chasing Mulies it would be tough to pass-up that guy in the front.

Anyway... Take Care and SCOUT HARD..

Jason

[...]

Parker Bow Review Part 3

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0100

As promissed here is the update...

Well, I got the new cam and mod in the mail in a very timely manner. They also sent a new string and cable. So I went down to my local bowshop called the Backwoodsman just to shoot the breeze and to replace everything. I must admit it wasn't too bad but it did take some work. I was not able to use the mod that they sent me because it just didn't fit. So on the bow I have the new cam with the old mod. Hopefully, this will cure the string biting issue.

I will let you know how things go as I start to break in the string and start the retuning process.

J-

[...]

Parker Bow Review Part 2

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0100

I hope everybody had a safe 4th of July.

This is the 2nd installment of my Paker Blackhawk Bow review. Well, I have some good news and some not so good news. Don't worry the "not so good news" has a good resolution.

The Not so Good

I had been shooting the bow for about three months, when I started noticing some strange marks on the lower cam serving. At first it wasn't that big of a deal and I didn't think it would get much worse, but it has. It seems that the lower cam is biting into the serving.

This would be a good test for Parker to see how they responded to an issues. So I called and asked to talk to someone in Technical Support and I was promptly transfer to some guy named Dave. I basically told him the situation and he said that he would ship me a new cam and a new string. The entire call took about 5 mintues. When I get the parts I will post another blog on the results.

Below is a picture of the Serving wear/tear...

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The Good

Well, my 3-D shooting is the best it has ever been. Why? Is it the bow? I'm not sure, I think it has alot to do with this blog and the podcast. Seriously, writting these entries and being on the podcast has really made me think about about setup and my shooting.

On a more techincal note, this is a sweet little bow. I am getting great arrow flight from a small and powerful package.

So would I recommend getting a Blackhawk? Well, at this point it all depends on how there customer support handles the serving issue. So far it is a nice bow but we need to getting the serving issue resolved.

Take Care

Jason

[...]

Creating you own home bow shop!!!

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Taking the next step is what Bowcast is all about. Taking the next step, from the average archer to the complete archer is what we are trying to facilitate. For many archers the next step involves becoming your own bow mechanic. If you really want to understand how a bow works you need to start maintaining and fiddling with your own bow.

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Someone can tell you a million times how a bow works but until you start working on your own bow you will never understand all of the intricacies of super-tuning a bow.

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So how do you get started? Well, you can start by gathering the tools needed to make your own little home bow shop. It doesn’t happen overnight, so start with the basics and focus on tools that give you the most for your money. I have created a list of tools below that I use in my home shop. It is impractical to have every tool out there but that is okay, I still go to my local shop called “the Backwoodsman” to get my arrows cut and to shoot the bull with the guys.

Along those same lines even if you do have a home bow shop still support your local archery shops, you can learn a lot just buy listening and watching.

Again below is a list of items that I have and it has served me pretty well. Remember working on a bow isn’t that hard and there aren’t too many things you can do to really mess it up. If you get stuck or are unsure about something post your question on the forums or ask your local pro.

Tool

Notes

Bow Press

Bowmaster press. Cheap and Easy.

Bow Vise

Use it to hold your bow while you are working on it

Bowplane

This tool allows you to check your center shot quickly and makes sure that you don’t have any cam lean. It is quick and easy

Eze-eye

Allows you to center your center but you do have to remove your sight. Will allow to you practice aiming.

Small Scale

You can weigh your entire arrow components to make sure your arrows are consistent in weight.

Paper Tuner

Allows you to Paper Tune your bows and that your arrow is shooting bullet holes.

Arrow Fletcher

To re-fletch your vanes. This allows you to try different combinations of vanes wraps.

Chronograph

You can see how changes in equipment change your KE.

G5 ASD Tool

Allows to you make sure that the inserts are square and your arrows are consistent.

Lighter

For Burning tags ends of string loops or serving ends.

Bow Square

You can use this to give yourself a starting point for setting your nock point and your arrow rest.

Video Camera

You can use this to evaluate your form. Take video from as many angles as possible.

Serving Tools

To reserve your string. You can increase the speed of your bow by decreasing the amount of weight on string.

String Splitter

You can use this to adjust position of your peep sight. Slight adjustment can really make a difference in performance.

White Out to Mark Reference Points

Mark your sight, cams and rest so your have a visual reference point to determine if something has moved.

Leveling Bubbles

You can use these to make sure your arrow is parallel when it is on the rest and you can use them to get your 3rd axis initially set.

4 ft Carpenters Level – 2nd Axis

You can use this to set your 2nd Axis.

Plumb String – 3rd Axis

You can set your 3rd Axis by using a Plumb String

Drop Cloth

Keeps your workstation clean and keeps your bow from getting dings.

Take Care

Jason

[...]

Is it Bear season yet?

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody...

Last week I was getting big time cabin fever, so Stella and I went out to hang a trail camera. I found a tank on one map that wasn't listed on the more recent maps so I loaded the coordinates on my GPS and we went for a little hike. At the time I was just hoping that the tank would still be around and it might be a little honey hole. I was hoping to find a pocket of Coues Deer but I found something better. I found a place to hopefully stick a bear. I am going to hang some some scaffolding for a treestand later in the year. Yes scaffolding, I am a big boy and I don't like little tree steps. :) Okay, maybe not scaffolding but I am definately going to use a treestand with a ladder. This is one of the videos that I got of the bear. He isn't huge but he will do just fine.

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I must admit that we were in some pretty rough country and I usually don't take Stella on these "Death Marches" but she did really well. The crappy part is that after going "bush whacking" fjor about a mile we found a really nice trail that just about lead to the tank.

Take Care....

J-

[...]

Contest - Are you Committed to Change?

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:49:20 +0100

It is often said that 10% of the people take 90% of the game. While I don't know if that statistic is correct, I do know that some hunters are consistently successful. So it leads us to the question, what are they doing differently than the rest of us? Do they go to church more often? Did they sell there soul to the devil? What do they have in common that leads them to be more successful ?

One of the things that I think these hunters do is that they are always self -evaluating and pushing themselves to be better hunters. Not only during the month leading up to there hunts but they are doing it all year. They are committed.

Bowhunters are like everybody else, we don't like change. We get stuck in ruts and we stay there. We go out and shoot our 25 arrows three times a week because that is what we have done for years. We sit in the same old non-productive tree stands year after year because we haven't done our homework and we haven't found a better spot.

I am guilty of it, this year I sat a spring that had a lot of deer activity during the summer but it shut down during the hunting season. Why did I sit so long? I am not sure, maybe I thought the deer would show up for me or maybe I felt that I had invested a ton of time in the area and I became too committed to the stand. I was having a rough hunt until I was "forced" to admit that I needed to make something happen and change stands. Once I changed locations I was covered up by deer and I was able to kill a nice buck.

Being Committed to Change:

Humans don't like change and we will often take the path of least resistance but this never leads to us overcoming our faults or inadequacies. People need to have a "Come to Jesus Moment"; that is the moment where you understand the problem and realize that you need to change your behaviors to make things better.

There is a saying, "The Hog and the Chicken both contribute to making breakfast; the chicken is just involved but the Hog is committed". i.e. the chicken donated an egg but the hog gave his ass.

Are you committed to change or are you just involved?

So where is all this leading? I know that we have talked about "Goals and Goals Setting" on the forums but we have never talked about our weaknesses and what we plan to do to strengthen them. We are going to solve that with a contest.

THE CONTEST

What I would like you to do is list your biggest weakness then come up with a plan on how you are going to improve it. It can be anything from being a poor shot, to not scouting enough, to not finding a quality area to hunt. All I ask is that we be honest with ourselves. I have started a thread in the forums called "Contest - Being Committed to Change". Post what you consider to be your biggest weakness, then in the same entry post a small plan to improve that weakness. Aneal and I will look at the responses and select a winner. The goal of this contest is get us to identify what we are doing wrong and to come up with a plan to strengthen our weakness.

THE PRIZE

We will be giving away a two FMP DVDs, 360 and the Ride, to the winner.... If you already have the videos don't worry I am sure that we can work something out. I can't find my DVDs and I have a ton of NIP crap in my home bowshop that we trade. :)

I know that this is going to be hard but change is NEVER easy.

Good Luck....

J-

An example of what we are looking for:

My weaknesses:

My biggest weakness is my fitness level, I often find areas either on a map or from glassing that I would love to check out but I am concerned that if I were to knock something down in that area I would have a very difficult time getting it out. My hunting buddy, Tommy says, "don't worry about it until you get something on the ground" but I guess it is just my nature to worry about things like that. I also think that when it comes to elk and turkey hunting half of the game is covering country and finding an animal to work.

My Solution:

Well, this is the hard part and it is okay to ask for help to bust thru your weakness. In my case, I reached out to several people to help me develop a plan to increase my overall fitness level. I will admit that it is really easy to do this on paper but it really takes commitment to follow thru with the plan. For me, my basic plan( I will get more detailed in later blogs) is to work on my core or functional strength on Tuesdays and Thursdays and work on my cardio on M-W-F.

[...]

My 2007 Goat Hunt - Some Like it HOT!!!

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:01:56 +0100

Hey Everybody... All this talk about Antelope hunting really has me ready to get chasing some speed goats. Below is the story of my 2007 NM Antelope hunt. I wish I would have taken better pictures but when I dropped him it was AFRICA hot and I wanted to get him cooled down ASAP.

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Let me first say that I was very grateful and lucky to have the opportunity to hunt. My dad had been in the hospital with an infection and so I needed to be around just in case things got little more serious but my dad said I wasn't a doctor so I should go and chase some goats. Tommy, my hunting buddy from Gila Wilderness Hunting had an elk hunting client in the same unit a fews years earlier and he had seen some good goats so we had a good idea where to star. I was going to be hunting alone and this was this first tag I had ever drawn, so this was going to be a learning experience.

The plan was to try and spot and stalk in the morning while I was working my way to a tank. Once I got to the tank I would setup my blind and wait one out. On ther way to my hunting area there were goats all over the place. After setting up camp I went straight to bed. As usual the morning came WAY too early, and I hate mornings.

When I got to my general area I started seeing goats right away. I glassed this group of goats from about a mile and I my stalk was ON. I got to within 90 yards before they busted me. I was using a decoy and a call to try to get them to come in but the timing was just wrong, they didn't give me the time of day.

On a previous trip, I had found a hidden tank that had some sign around it so I was hoping that something was feeding or watering around it. So I parked my rig and "stalked the tank". When I peeked over the dam this little guy was feeding about 30 yards way. He was well within my range but I decided to pass. It was too early in the hunt to let my Silver Flame eat.

With temperatures well above 95 degrees, It was starting to become obvious that the only way I was going to get one of these suckers on the ground was to either get one to come to me or wait one out. So I made a beeline for a tank that I wanted to sit. While working my way to my tank I came across a ton of elk. I was able to get these pictures but there was probably about 75 in the herd. It was pretty neat to see these guys in such open country.

My sit in the blind started started at noon, it had to be an honest 100 degrees plus in there. Let me say that I don't strip down for anybody, not even my wife but DAMN it was just crazy hot. I completely stripped down to my AC/DC Boxers and my Danner boots. Sitting in my blind I must have looked like the white filling in a Little Debbie Cup Cake. If I saw a buck coming in I would quickly put on my black T-shirt so the antelope wouldn't see me.

At 3:30, a buck came in downwind of my setup and busted me. The funny things is he just ran around my blind until he got out of my scent stream then came in to the tank. It looked that after only 3.5 hours in my pressure cooker that I was going to get a shot. I wish I had a great story about why I missed but I just blew it. When I setup my blind I range the area before I setup my blind. I didn't to take the time get a second reading from my rangefinder after I settled in. I miss judged the distance by 10 yards. I held for 40 yards and he was at 54 yards.

Sitting alone in a blind gives you a lot of time to think and the only thing I could think about was that I had a chance and I blew it. I was just hoping and praying that I would have another chance.

YEEEEE HAAAW!!!!!!!!! ANTELOPE DOWN!!!! Well it happened, with about 30 minutes left of shooting light I had a buck come to the tank. His body language was much different than the earlier buck and it was obvious that he was committed to water. It was just up to me to make the shot. He seemed to be watering forever, but once he stopped he turned broadside and my arrow was on the way. All I have to say is the combination of my Hoyt bow, FMJ's and Silver Flame broadheads is scary. At 53 yards my arrow blew right thru his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. He was down and out but I just wanted to make sure that I got another arrow into him, the second arrow cut his spine in half. GAME OVER. Below is a picture of my setup and if you look to the left of the blind about 4 feet above the water you can see my buck.

With the temperatures ranging around 95 degrees I needed to get this goat gutted and processed asap. Tommy always gives me a hard time about not taking good photos but pictures are the least of my worries when I harvest an animal. SOOO I was not able to get any field photos other than with my phone but I did take some photos at the taxidermist (to bleach the skull). He is a pretty good buck he is 14 inches.

Take Care

J-

[...]

Product Review - BowPlane

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:14:59 +0100

As many of you know I have been in the process of setting up my Blackhawk Bow from Parker. Rather than stumbling thru the process I decided I would tune first then shoot. Always looking for the latest and greatest I setout to find some tools that would help me in thru the process. Other than the usual tools, I found a neat little product called the BowPlane2 by Double Take Archery.

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This tool is basically an arrow that has a laser in it that projects a laser beam 360 degrees. The idea is that your string, your cams, and your pins should all be in the same plane. It is a pretty simple concept.

So how does it work? Well, you nock the tool just like you would nock a traditional squaring tool, if you have a drop way you will need to prop it up if it doesn’t lock up. Then you rotate the laser so it aligns with the STRING first. Then you can move your arrow rest left or right to adjust for your centershot. Then you can lock your rest down. Then you can move your attention to the site. Look at your pins, if you site is adjusted correctly the laser should run up and down all the pins. If they are canted you will need to adjust the 2nd and 3rd Axis of your site.

As you can see it is pretty easy, overall I think it is a pretty good tool for setting up a bow and for quickly verifying that everything on you bow is straight. It is a little expensive but if you have issues with cam lean it will be worth its weight in gold. Would I buy one? Well, I did so I guess that is a yes.

NOW.. How would I improve it? At first, I thought maybe if they added a bubble to the tool somehow they could get the relationship between the rest and your nocking point perfect but after talking with Stu Minica, from Double Take, he mentioned that they have tried it but the issue is that a bubble working on the concept of the bow being absolutely square so they didn’t really think that you gained anything by adding it.

So how did my tuning efforts go with the Parker? They went pretty well, this is the quickest I have ever setup a bow. Once the string breaks in I will re-tune and see how much things have change. After the 2nd tuning I will open up the bow and see how it shoots at longer ranges with broadheads That will be the true test.

Once again thanks for everything and take care

J-

[...]

What is this little creature...

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:05:42 +0100

In NM we have had two cases in the last week where a wild animal has either attacked and dragged a child away or has eaten someones little FOO-FOO. Could it have been one of these? What is the name of this little animal? The person who comments first with the proper answer will get the other Nocked and Loaded DVD and window sticker. See Aneal's blog for details... This video came from one of my trail cams.

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Take Care and GOOD LUCK

Jason

[...]

Parker Blackhawk - My 2008 Review Bow

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:18:05 +0100

This year I will be reviewing the Blackhawk bow from Parker, but before I get too much into the bow I want to give you some of my background. Traditionally, I have always shot some of the longer ATA Hoyts. Not because I have been sponsored or any of that stuff but because I know they make solid bows. I also think that it is the “Indian not the Arrow." If you ever doubt that just take a look at some of the Professional Hunters on T.V., those guys switch bows more often than I change the fuel filter on my Diesel. Also, other than the Drop-Away rests I personally don’t think that there have been any really HUGE advances in archery technology. Some people say that the Cam and a Half design was a big jump but it has been around since the 70’s when Darton came out with the Darton CPS design and the Single Cam was something that Mathews “borrowed” (from Jennings and Martin). It has been and always be about marketing.

So when I am reviewing this bow I come from the background of shooting a longer ATA bow, that doesn’t have parallel limbs, that has a pretty narrow grip and typically has a pretty forgiving brace height.

Okay, now that we have that on the table, "Why the Parker?". Well, I wanted to stay away from the big three and I wanted a bow that I I had always been interested but I had never really had a chance to shoot. I also like there “Grow-up with Parker” Program, it basically lets you upgrade your bow as your child grows. I think that is a great idea.

So what are the nitty gritty specs of my Blackhawk?

Draw Lengths 28" (adjusts to 27" or 26")

Draw Weights 60-70 lb

Let Off 75%

Bow Length 32" axle to axle

Mass Weight 3.85 pounds

Brace Height 7 3/8"

Arrow Speeds IBO 325 FPS

Camo – G-1

Retail Price $649.95

Personally, I think these specifications are pretty standard and there is nothing too sexy about the numbers. The magic will be how the bow shoots.

Last week UPS dropped the bow off and I started getting it setup. Below is a list of the accessories I will start with.

Sight – 5 Pin Spot Hogg Hunter .019 fibers

Rest – Original Trophy Taker Drop-away

Stabilizer – Fuse Axium 4 inch

Peep – RAD 3/16 - tubeless

You might have noticed that I didn’t list a bow sling that is because Parker has incorporated a bow sling into the design of the bow.

Currently I am going to use Easton FMJ 400’s cut to 27.5 inches with Blazer Vanes, with wraps and 100 grain points. I will be changing my fletching and wraps in a few weeks.

Before I went outside to shoot the bow I decided to tune it the best I could. I used the BowPlane and the Eze-Eye to get the center-shot as perfect as possible. I will be doing a blog entry on the BowPlane later.

OKAY, now that we have all preliminaries setup I guess you want to know HOW DID IT SHOOT? I still need to break the string in and get everything super tuned but I am pretty pleased with this little bow. I will admit that I am not used to shooting a bow that is only 32” ATA so I really need to make sure I don't torque the bow. This is my issue not the bows.

So how does it compare to other bows I have shot? The Draw Cycle is pretty smooth and it does have a solid valley, I like that. To me it feels and shoots exactly like the new Matthews bow but it has a much better grip and that my friends is a good thing.

Below is a picture of a group I shot at 40 yards, for me that is a pretty decent group. After the days shooting session I did notice that I was having some timing sessions with the rest so hopefully my groups will get a little tighter when I shoot again. I was also getting some string twist BUT THAT IS EXPECTED with a new string.

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So you are saying, “Great, this is like every other review, he is holding back and not giving us the dirt”, well don’t worry if I have issues with this bow I will let you know. Also, the fact that I will be shooting this bow all summer and fall is also something very different, most reviews happen over a one or two day period and they don’t review the bow over time. I will also stress that, in no way am not obligated in anyway to give a positive review of the Blackhawk. So stay tuned.

So as an overview, the bow is shooting pretty well, nothing too crazy and it is performing like it is expected.

Below is a link to the Parker website and the Parker Blackhawk.

Parker - Blackhawk

Take Care...

J-

[...]

Trail Cam Pics - Lion and Deer

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:29:40 +0100

Last year I drew a really good tag and I knew I had to the opportunity to take a really nice Coues deer. Knowing this I really pulled out all the stops on my yearly scouting.

Hello Little Lady

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The unit that I drew is pretty big; the big problem is that everybody pretty much hunts the area that I call the BIG THREE. It is a series of three mountains and if you know anything about hunting it is pretty obvious where to setup your stands and blinds. My goal was to find an area off of these mountains and hopefully find myself a little honey hole; I was planning on having at least two cameras in the field at all times. I would check each camera every other week. So I had a plan now I needed to execute.

So I purchased a few cameras and I hung them. To be honest my first camera sites were pretty weak. I had a ton cow ass pictures but that was it. I knew that deer were in the area, I just needed to find them. For me I found that my most productive spots were on trails leading to water. During mid-summer I found a spot that had everything I was looking for; there was a solid water source, it was away from the typical hunting areas and it was REMOTE. I will post more pictures later but these two are my favorite. Look at the times when the pictures were taken.

RUN SISTER, RUN!!!!!!

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PS... I think I called this lion in this spring... more on that later..

Take Care

J--

[...]

You Asked, We Deliver : Unbiased Product Reviews

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:06:01 +0100

Hey Everybody

As many of you might remember we ran a poll a few weeks ago regarding what type of content they would like to see in the podcast and in the blogs. I don't remember the exact numbers but it was pretty obvious that everybody wanted honest product reviews.

Well, you asked for it and we are bringing it to you. Aneal is going to be blogging on the G5 Quest Bow and a bunch of other products while I will be starting with the products below:

Spot- Satellite Personal Tracker Blackhawk Backpack ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent BowPlane Numerous Broadheads -G5 , GK Silver Flames , Muzzy Camo Patterns Realtree Max-1 , Cabelas Outfitter

I want to say that I am completely INDEPENDENT. I am not sponsored by ANYBODY and I take pride in that. So when you are reading the reviews you are getting my honest opinion. Of course you might disagree and that is okay, I am just giving you feedback based on my years of experience in the outdoors. Hopefully, after the review I will be able to get some feedback from the manufactures regarding there products and my reviews.

Take Care

J-

[...]

Turkey #27 for Jason Z.

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:54:16 +0100

I have always said , "If you kill one turkey you found a dumb bird, if you kill two birds you are lucky but if you kill more than three birds you know what you are doing," Jason Z from Fargo, ND has turkey hunting down to a science. Below is his story, Great Job! - Jason

After setting up blind in the morning-I found the turkeys to be about a half mile from their usual roosting area in the Fall. I got permission from the landowner and set up a blind and decoys at noon on the fly down/strutting grounds that all 16 gobblers and jakes were on in the morning. My wife, Kerry, and I returned to the blind about 4:30 for an evening sit. I started to cluck, purr,and kee-kee a bit and 6 different gobblers came in to the Woodhaven call. They hung at about 100 yards and gobbled their heads off! Finally, after some insistant calling-the lead gobbler broke away and came running to the decoys. He would stop every 10 yards or so and strut-then take off again. He came to 20 yards and started strutting in front of a hen decoy. I drew back my 82nd Airbourne and put my 20 yard pin on his wing butt. The 1 3/4" Grim Reaper did it's job and the gobbler was laying on his back within 15 yards. It was all over so fast once he came to the decoys! Talk about adrenaline rushing after the shot! He has a 8 1/2" beard and weighed 22 lbs. A great bird for this area of ND and my 27th turkey with a bow.

Jason Zins
Fargo ND

[...]

Bare Shaft Tuning

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:52:11 +0100

Recently, in the fourms we had some discussion about Bare Shaft Tuning and I was asked to explain it a little more.... So here it goes.

The idea behind Bare Shaft Tuning is that you are trying to see if you arrows are correctly spined for your setup.

Before we get started there are a few things that I want to get out there:

Never shoot an arrow that has a broadhead without fletching, the results are just too unpredictable.Tuning takes time; days if not weeks.Bare Shaft tuning is one of several methods that I use to tune. Try them all.When you start adjusting things make one adjustement at a time. For example; if you are hitting high and right tackle the high part first then come back and handle the arrows hitting to the right.Before you start any tuning make sure that you don't have any "flecthing clearance" issues. These "Remedies" are for a right hand shooter if you are a lefty will need to flip-flop the movements.When I Bareshaft Tune my bow I start out at 10 yards and then I work my way out to about 30 yards.I personally work on getting my elevation correct first then I work on the windage.
Needed Items:
A Target2-3 Arrows without any fletching.Different weight points if you have them.Allen Key to move rest and adjust bow draw weight.plenty of time.

The big question is; what are we trying to accomplish?
What we are basically trying to do is get our bareshafts and fletched arrows to hit in the same point. This is accomplished by moving the rest or changing the spine of the arrow shaft. Personally, I would much rather move the rest than play with the arrow spine, but if your arrows are not spined correctly you may never get your arrows to fly correctly.

Lets first look at the techinque:
What I like to do is stand about 10 yards from my target and I shoot three flecthed arrows into the target and three bare shaft or non-flecthed arrows into the target. You should be able to get a decent group from both the fletched and non-flechted arrows. The key is to really focus on form and make sure that you don't introduce any torque into the bow. You might want to try this several times to make sure that your results are repeateable. Hopefully, after a few times you should be able to see the pattern.

Bare Shaft Arrows

How to Fix

Arrows are hitting High

You can either raise your knocking point or you can lower your rest

Arrows hitting Low

You can either lower your knocking point or raise your rest.

Arrows hitting to the Right

You are Under Spined - You will need to stiffen your arrow by shortening it; reduce your tip weight ; switch to stiffer arrows; you can decrease you bow's draw weight or you can move your rest to the left.

Arrows hitting to the Left

You are Over Spined - You will need to soften your arrow you can lengthen your arrows; increase tip weight; switch to softer arrows; increase your draw weight or move your rest to the right.

For the most part Bare Shaft tuning is pretty straight forward. The key is to remember that you are not group tuning or paper tuning what you are trying to do is make sure that you are correctly spined.

Once again thanks for everything. If you have any questions send me a PM.

Jason

[...]

12 Point Drop-Tine Shoots a MONSTER MULIE

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:46:08 +0100

As many of you know I am always looking to highlight our listeners hunts. Well, 12 point droptine sent me this picture and a story of his recent hunt. WOW, now that is a Mulie. Great Job and thanks for sending me the story - Jason

It was about 5:30 when I finally got up and ate breakfast. My guide Dave said he wanted us to go over to the east side of the 3000-acre ranch. We where in Colorado hunting mulies and elk. Me and my father where up their in late December and early January. My dad had already taken his mule deer on the second day. His guide said him and my father where going about 300 yards to the west of Dave and me. We left camp at daybreak to go see if we could spot a nice elk or mulie. We had spotted a nice 12-point elk and started to stalk it when we heard some thing running through the woods. My guide did a cow call and a 13-point elk my father and his guide had scared out bugled. The guide said get behind that log and get ready to draw. When the elk came into view he was at 20 yards. I drew back hoping he would stop and turn broadside he didn’t. He just kept coming right at me I told my self not to shoot till I got a good broadside shot but when the elk got to 5 yards I just had to shoot. The arrow went right through the heart he only ran 40 yards then collapsed. While taking pictures the guide told me there was a monster mulie behind me. Then he told me he was behind a tree and to grab my bow and nock an arrow and draw back. I did and when he stepped out broadside at 10 yards I sent a rage broad head right through his lungs and he only ran 15 yards before dying. Long story short it was my lucky day.

[...]

Off-season Stump Shooting

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:20:44 +0100

The term "Stump Shooting" is a little misleading, DON'T SHOOT STUMPS you will destroy your arrows. The first time I went stump shooting I quickly learned that you really needed to pick your targets carefully. I went thru 4 arrows in about 30 minutes, it wasn't pretty.

Before you go out and start shooting things, you need to replace your fields points with something like the G5 S.G.H, a rubber blunt or add a adder point behind your field tip. You basically need something that will not penetrate too deeply into your target and that will
“kick-up” and not dig into the dirt.

Personally, I like the S.G.H.'s because I can also use them on rabbits and other small game if they are in season.

Below are some possible head choices

The purpose of Stump Shooting is hone your range estimation skills, hone your shooting skills and get a little exercise. The idea is to walk around in a natural setting, pick a suitable target like a cactus or a pile of grass, try to determine the distance and shoot it.

If it is legal in your area, small cacti like the ones below are great targets.

You can also use a small kickable target like the Kick-N-Shoot from Hips Targets to add a little variation to the game.

If you are getting bored of drilling and killing the same targets get outside and try some stump shooting...

Take Care

J-

[...]

Stefen's First Archery Turkey - Great Job!!!

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:33:07 +0100

Stefen's Dad, Chris Gomes sent me this story. I it great to hear about a kid take his first animal. The best part is that Stefen really worked at it; he practiced, he put the time in and he made the shot. Stefen great job and thank your dad for taking you hunting. - Take Care Jason

Stefen started helping his dad hunt turkeys when he was seven years old. On his father’s first turkey hunt, he used a push button call to bring three toms in the last 100 yards while his dad positioned himself for the bowshot. Stefen has looked forward to the annual turkey hunt in Nebraska ever since, waiting for the day when he would turn twelve and be able to hunt for his very own bird.

In preparation for his first bowhunt, Stefen shot weekly leagues and as many 3D shoots as possible since the age of seven. He excelled in these competitions and became a very good archer, but still needed to be able to draw the legal minimum of 40 pounds to archery hunt. Finally old and strong enough, a 40-50 pound Mathews Mustang was selected to meet this requirement. Two blade Magnus broadheads were chosen to maximize penetration.

On the first day of the hunt John Cannon, a hunting partner, described the location of a roost he had scouted the prior day. Sneaking into the woods in the dark, Stefen and his dad setup the blind and decoys, and waited, hoping to hear nearby gobbles. When the gobbles came, it was obvious that they were too close, and had actually snuck past the roost in the dark. After flydown the birds went the opposite way, uninterested in the yelps and clucks from the hunter’s setup. Things went better for John, who killed his first archery turkey. After sharing the excitement of John’s success on a mature tom, it was time to setup for the evening hunt.

A large flock of jakes and toms was spotted, and the blind and decoys were moved into position. Another opportunity was blown when the rancher came to work on his fence, but Stefen continued on, undeterred. Later that evening a very large gobbler followed a group of hens and jakes past the blind, with no birds presenting a closer shot than 32 yards. Stefen held back knowing that any shot past 25 yards was too far on such a small vital target.

The next day dawned colder, cloudy and windy. The birds had vanished, and the morning hunt passed without so much as a gobble or a yelp. That evening was much the same, and Stefen and his Dad wondered where the birds had gone. They spent the time calling, glassing, and talking. As darkness neared, they knew the birds would be moving to the roost. With his head out of the top of the blind, Stefen’s dad spotted a large tom suddenly in range!

Afraid that he had scared it, his Dad ducked back into the blind, telling Stefen to get ready. The bird was behind the opening in the blind that Stefen planned to shoot from, but moving closer. Just as it was about to move into the shooting lane, the gobbler turned and walked down into a gully. Stefen’s dad gave a couple of soft clucks, and the lone tom turned back to the decoy setup. Stefen came to full draw, but the bird stopped just out of the lane. Waiting at full draw, he finally had to let down after more than a minute.

With a couple more clucks, the gobbler slowly moved into the opening, and Stefen drew again. Fighting against his racing heart, he settled the gap between his first two pins on the turkey for the 15-yard shot, and the arrow leapt off the bow. The tom dropped immediately at impact.

Ignoring past experience and wisdom gained from previous hunts, Stefen’s Dad excitedly ran out of the blind to recover the bird. The gobbler took flight, flying 75 yards before crashing down across a small river. After wading the river, Stefen had his first archery kill, a beautiful mature tom with an 8-inch beard and 1.25-inch spurs.

[...]