Arrow Prep

I managed to lose, "Robin Hood" or otherwise break most of my arrows from last season, so I ordered up a dozen new Carbon Express Maxima Hunter 350s from Lancaster Archery Supply a few weeks ago.  I had them cut them to length (26") for me, but I like to "build my own."  I started by squaring the ends with the G5 Arrow Squaring Device, and then I installed the inserts.  After that I put on a wrap made by Bohning.  I ordered wraps and Bohning Blazer vanes in white, neon green, and neon yellow.  I also got nocks to match those colors.  After careful deliberation, I settled on the neon yellow wraps and nocks with two neon yellow vanes and a white "cock" vane.

To put on the wraps, I use a mouse pad and a short ruler.  I put the wrap, sticky side up, on the mouse pad and use the edge of the ruler to make sure it's straight.  I put the wrap right up against the ruler, and then I line up the arrow by putting the nock end (no nock installed yet) up against the ruler.  Now when I roll the arrow over the wrap, the arrow will stay straight.  Apply slight downward pressure on the arrow and roll smoothly over the wrap, stick the nock in, and voila!

Next I attach the vanes using the Bohning Helix Jig and some Loc-Tite Control Gel superglue.  I've found that this super glue works better than any of the "fletching adhesive" that I've ever tried.  It's also cheaper and readily available at Wal Mart.

First you insert the vane in the jig and apply the glue to the bottom of the vane.

Then you place the jig on the base and let it sit for a few seconds.

Finally, a little dab of super glue on the ends of the vane, just to keep it on tight.








The finished product!

I've made the final adjustments to my bow and sights with the new arrows and broadheads, and tomorrow is opening morning.  I'll be in the stand by 6:30 AM.  Good luck to all you hunters hitting the woods tomorrow!

Hanging Stands and Shootin' (at) Doves

With deer season right around the corner (this Saturday!), it's time to hang some stands.  John, Mathias (John's Brother-in-Law), and I set out on Saturday to do just that.  We set up three stands on the property we'll be hunting on opening day.  First up was John's ladder stand, which had to be assembled on the ground before we propped it up against the tree.  This Millenium Treestand is easy to assemble, and I think the platform/seat is going to be very comfortable for long sits, but I'm a little concerned about the foot room for bowhunting.  I think it'll be a better stand for muzzleloader and firearm hunting, but we'll see.

The ladder stand site is on an edge between some planted pines and a recent 40-acre clearcut.  The picture of the big buck in my previous post was taken along this edge, about 70 yards or so from this stand.

Stand #2 is my Summit Viper climber stand, but I don't have any pictures of it to show you.  I was putting it up by myself while John and Mathias found a spot for John's lock-on stand, so I couldn't really take pictures of myself putting the stand up.  It's located along a travel corridor between a bedding area and a food source (the same corridor where we have the pictures of the Big 8).  There's some thick overgrowth (too thick for a deer to walk through) on the edge of a field, and then planted pines behind that.  My stand is in the planted pines but close to the thick stuff.  I'm hoping this is where the big bucks travel through, out of sight of anything in the field.  If they do, I'll have a shot.

Stand #3 is John's Summit RSHawk lock-on located along the same travel corridor as my climber, but it's about 400 yards from my stand.  He's set up on the far side of this little finger of planted pines that is adjacent to this log deck.

Once he had his climbing sticks attached to the tree, he trimmed some limbs to make room for his stand and to clear a shooting lane.  Of course, he's wearing his safety harness with the lineman's belt attaching him to the tree.  Hunting's no fun if your legs are broken from falling out of the tree.

It wasn't all work on Saturday, though.  Saturday was also the opening day of dove hunting season, so after we hung the stands, we went to Sparta and went hunting with Dad, Andrew, and Canon.  Andrew said Canon whined quite a bit, but he's only 2.5 years old!  He sure did look cool in his brand new camo, and of course he had some electronic ear muffs to protect his ears from the sounds of the gunshots.

As always, safety first, so I had on my Oakleys and my Peltor Tac-6 electronic hearing protection.  You'll notice in the title I typed "Shootin' (at) Doves."  Man, I had a rough day.  I don't think I would have hit the ground if I had shot at it.  I probably shot 20 times, and only had two birds to show for it.  They weren't bad shots either; I just couldn't hit anything.

I can't wait for Saturday morning!

Preseason Preparation

Deer season in Georgia is rapidly approaching, and I've been getting ready ever since last season ended...washing and putting away clothing and gear, reevaluating what worked for me and what didn't, and thinking about what I'm going to do differently this time around. Last season was the first year that I didn't even take a gun into the woods with me. I was a 100% bowhunter last year, and even though not having a gun cost me a shot at a nice 8-pointer, I loved every second of it. I'm planning on doing the same this year. Hopefully "The Big 8" above will make it by my stand during legal hunting hours this season. He's definitely on the hitlist!

I've been shooting my bows periodically all summer long, but in the last month or so I've really been trying to shoot every day. I bought a new (to me) Hoyt Alphamax 32 about two weeks ago, so I've been doing most of my shooting with it. It's definitely going to be my go-to bow this year, and Ol' Reliable - the Mathews Switchback - is going to be pulling back-up duty. I just absolutely love the Alphamax, and it's slinging darts (this group was from 50 yards).

One of the things I like to do with my bows as I prepare for the season is a little test to see how quiet they are. I take my video camera and set it up directly downrange between me and the target. Then I shoot the arrows directly over the camera. This, in theory, gives me an idea of how the bow sounds to a deer. In this video I'm shooting my Alphamax at a target 50 yards away, with the camera 20 yards from me. I think this was not the best setup because I think the sound of the bow is amplified by the house behind me. It's still pretty quiet, though. Notice how the sound of the arrow hitting the target (30 yards BEHIND the camera) is louder than the sound of the bow (20 yards in FRONT of the camera). Heck, even the sound of the arrow in flight is louder than the bow itself. Nice...

Once I've got my bow tuned and dialed-in, I do most of my practice at long range, which for me is 50 yards or more. No, I don't plan on taking a shot at a whitetail at that range, but practicing at long range does a couple of things. #1: It makes those shorter shots seem really easy...the target looks HUGE at 25 yards. #2: It really makes you pay attention to your form.

Even the most minor torquing of the bow or inconsistency in your form will be readily apparent on the target. I'm wearing my facemask and gloves to make my practice even more realistic. Those things can cause you to change your anchor point or otherwise affect your form, so you have to practice with them to make sure nothing changes.

My office has a back entrance that is elevated, so I took my old Block target to work. At lunch I'll go outside and take a few shots with my bow. My treestand is a little bit higher than the back porch, and the deer is probably going to be a little farther away, but it's still good practice for shooting from an elevated position rather than shooting from the ground.

Only 10 days left! We're checking our trail camera and hanging our stands this weekend, and then next Saturday we'll be getting into the woods at oh-dark-thirty to start another Georgia deer season!