BowCast Blog

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.

Well Everybody

It is that time of the year again. Time to unveil my choice in bows.  This year was different because I got a chance to shoot all the bows side-by-side at ATA.  I was able to shoot everything from Hoyts to Bears.  Personally, it was a great experience.  As many of you know I am always saying, "it is the Indian not the Arrow.".  I really believe that.  If you picked the top ten bows they are more accurate and consistent than any human can be.  If there is a difference it will be in quality control and ease of tuning.  Last year I shot and reviewed a single cam bow.  It was a nice little bow but I had some issues with the cams "biting" into the serving and the limbsaver kept flying off the limbs.  I know that is pretty rare to ever read anything negative about a bow but I have no  problem calling it like I see it.  So stay tuned for an honest review.

Hey Everybody...

  How about some trail cam pictures???  This is that little spot I found where a rancher tossed a salt block for his cattle.  He pulled the cattle out of the area but my deer are still around.  I suspect that the deer are going to really start hitting the area once our summer rains start.  This spot is on the edge feeding and bedding area.  It is about a 1/3 of a mile for a pretty significant water source so I think the deer are going to stay in the area.  The only issue I have is that I KNOW that there are much bigger deer in the general area but I can't figure out where they are bedding or where they are watering.  During the rut this area was TORE up with scrapes but I didn't get a chance to hunt it.  The crummy part is that I might not even get to hunt this unit because it is a tough draw.  So this weekend I planing on scouting my 2nd draw choice.

 One think you might notice is that  my Coues Deer are holding onto there antlers well into April.  For deer in the Southwest that is pretty common. 

 Again I am using Covert Trail Cams that I picked up from Amanda at www.coueswhitetail.com

How about this Buck?  He has nice mass and a great frame but he need longer and more points...

Turkey is on the brain of most BowCasters this time of year!  I am no exception! 

Hey Guys...

  If you have been reading my blog long you might remember that I found a place that doesn't get hunted very hard but that I always find scrapes in the area.  So once our season finished I hung a Covert Camera in the area to see if I could pick up any deer in the area.  The good news is that I found a ton of deer.  The bad news is that most of them are Mulies.  I also found a nice herd of Javelina's.  

2009 PSE Bows

I hope everyone is having a great whitetail season and possibly some late season elk.  I will be chasing both the next two weeks and keep you posted on my efforts.  During the next few weeks I am going to try and shoot as many of the new 2009 bows as possible and give you my thoughts on how they compare.   

Part 1-Making a Paper Tuner

I am still working on building my home bow shop like I'm sure many of you are.  There is a great PodCast, episode #53, on what tools and supplies you will need to start your own home bow shop.  One of the items missing from my shop was a paper tuner.  I have tried many times to quickly tune my bow shooting a piece of paper taped to my ladder rungs.  NOT a good idea and one I would NOT recommend as I put a few holes in the wall of my basement and was out a few arrows.  This blog entry will show you how you can make your own paper tuner by simply going to your local hardware and grocery store and spending around $30.

Living the Essence; Hardcore Bowhunting

Peers ask me all the time, “Why do you like bowhunting so much? All it is, is shooting animals.” I just have to smirk the comment off, because I know that bowhunting is something that is kindled deep in the heart of a person who wants a challenge; to be responsible, respectful and rejuvenated by all that nature has to offer. Some people say that “If you haven’t already done it, you never will.” I tend to disagree; however, if you really want to be a hardcore bowhunter, all it takes is for someone to plant the seed. From that point on, bowhunting is one of those things that people will either grow apart from, whereas the true hardcore bowhunter will find themselves obsessed by mystique of the bow and arrow. I am of the later.

Elk

                For elk, the 3 major areas I concentrate on are;

1)      Quality Forage, Shelter and Water - This is number one; simply put elk are big animals and if you don’t have the food, shelter and water to support them, so simply won’t find them in that area. There needs to be a big supply of quality forage, especially if you’re looking to find a good size herd, ample quantity of quality food for the animal.

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.

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.

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 ?

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.

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.

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.

The weekend kicked off with a batchelor party for my good friend. We met at Coors Field for a Rockies game, and that ended with about 30 police officers escorting the entire batchelor party out of the stadium....more on that in another blog entry.