# 17 days and counting.....



## honers (Sep 14, 2009)

each day is one more mark off on my calendar.....opening bow season right around the corner.....oh boy....oh boy..... =D>


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## Loggerhead Mike (Sep 14, 2009)

the anticipation sucks dont it. ours started labor day


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## Jim (Sep 14, 2009)

Good luck man! I really hope to get good reports from you guys this year! [-o<


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## switchback (Sep 14, 2009)

!8 days here and can't wait either.


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## honers (Sep 15, 2009)

ah come on Logger....that aint right.....any luck as of yet


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## Loggerhead Mike (Sep 15, 2009)

hah. none yet, was over 2 miles in the woods at a good crossing from there bed to where they walk down the mtn and what do ya know, here comes to guys diggin ginseng. second time in a row thats happened so far. i think i need to setup some boobie traps

all i wanna do is stick one


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## honers (Sep 15, 2009)

yup...i can relate to those unexepected intruders....turkey huntin one season....had me some birds slowly moving my way when all of a sudden here comes two kids on four wheelers daredevil dickin it thru the woods....funny thing is they came withing 25 yards of me and had no idea at all that i was purched next to a tree with gun.....evil thoughts runs thru yer head when something like that happens.... [-X


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## Loggerhead Mike (Sep 15, 2009)

lol. i was about 10 feet off the trail leaned up against the bank behind a bush when the feller's came walking by me. of course when i park to close to the gate the game warden is around, but when fellers are diggin sang illegally and messin with my deers theres none around... hows it always work out like that

anyhoo western nc is a pretty tuff place to hunt though. no thick deer populations and the terrain is eather up or down. on an up side, i did see one of the biggest deer prints ive seen in along time. its been 2 or 3 years since ive seen one that size and it was in the same area. maybe its the same grandpa walking around


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 15, 2009)

Ours opened September 5th and I still haven't been in a tree yet.

Too many irons in the fire trying to get all of the house projects caught up before I go into full on hunt mode in October. I just bought my tags last night. Being 85+ degrees every day hasn't really had me too upset about not being able to go, though... but I know that first cold snap of the year can't be too far around the corner.

I'm going to try to get out at least once this weekend if the temperature doesn't jump back up into the mid 80's. Those kind of temps are hard on a fat boy trying to climb a tree while keeping his scent to a minimum. :lol:


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## honers (Sep 16, 2009)

i'm really surprised with our weather......been in the low 80's / high 70's....just how i like it....buddy of mine been scoutin my area for me.....which makes it easy....it's his property...he's been seeing quite a bit of movement in the last week or so.....he said he saw big ole 12 pointer....but of course i'm not a trophy hunter....i'll take whatever the good Lord puts around me.....nuttin like a good ole "honers" recipe backstrap =D>


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## honers (Sep 23, 2009)

oh boy....i have without a doubt a question that is rather......  ......went to my local shop to have my coach take a final lookover of my bow and while we were chattin he asked me how i was grouping my arrows at 20 yards....20 yards i asked....thought you set my pins at 25-30-40....now i had him thinking....but he said he hardly ever sets pins at that kind of distance....but i've been grouping my "20" yard pin at a distance of 25 yards....course i had the bad luck of my sight falling off my bow cause i had turned the wrong knob when adjusting but when i reset it i set the top pin at 25 yards...

does this make a difference since i've re-sited or should i go back and re-site my pins set at the 20-25 and 35 as it was originally set at....

my thought was as long as i'm pretty consistant at 25 i should leave as is...but can this effect my shots at longer distances if need be....i have shot at 30 and 40 but confidence is not exactly high on a 40 yard shot....30 yards....well...only if i got me a bullwinkle around me will i take that long of a shot....plan on keeping most of my shots at 25 or less.....

any thoughts on this :?:


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## dyeguy1212 (Sep 23, 2009)

week from tomorrow for us michimaniacs... can't wait... :mrgreen:


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## switchback (Sep 27, 2009)

Next Saturday I'll be in the woods for the opener and have a spot where I shot the turkey last year for morning hunt. Another spot for evening hunt. Got camcorder camo'd and bracket made for my stand to mount it too. Hope to get some footage this year. 

Just made fried steakfingers from venison from last year and got one last backstrap for later this week. So, it's time for the smackdown!


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## honers (Sep 28, 2009)

saturday will be my first day....goal is to make it an all dayer...temps only reachin the upper 60's with cloud cover...think the rain has been taken out of the forecast...water and beef jurky my diet for that day...never been this pumped for deer season in a long while....
sure hope i can git er done on the first day....then i can get a little picky as to what i want to shoot.... :---)


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## Loggerhead Mike (Sep 28, 2009)

> Just made fried steakfingers from venison from last year and got one last backstrap for later this week. So, it's time for the smackdown!



hey quit your braggin! us boys are goin hungry down here



> course i had the bad luck of my sight falling off my bow cause i had turned the wrong knob when adjusting



i did the same thing w/ mine last month after i finially got my 20 rite on the money.

i'd shoot it at 20 and see how far your off if any. 5yds shouldnt make much of a difference unless your shooting an antique like me


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## honers (Sep 28, 2009)

funny thing Logger....after this happened....once again thinking that it was a 25 yard pin i made all my necessary adjustments as if it "were"....and now i'm daggone near dead nuts on with it at 25 yards...so i'm gonna leave er alone till this saturday since i'm gonna be sitting in a treestand all day long...now if i go and miss my dinner for the nite...then i'll have to reconsider what i've done...

but sure appreciate the advice on this....good luck to you and all the other folks who get to enjoy the new season in a couple of days


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 28, 2009)

I'm not sure what sort of problem you think you may have with the 25 yard pin but... you should be good with your 30 & 40 if they were not messed with.

I can shoot one pin with mine from zero to 30 and could probably stretch it out further than that if I wanted to tinker with the site a little bit. Of course, there's only about 3/8" difference between my first pin and my fourth pin, too (30-60 yards). :LOL2:

I just about had a doe yesterday morning. I walked right up into an entire herd of them just over a hill feeding on white oak acorns. One of them that I didn't see up the side hill from me caught me reaching for my range finder and stomped. That put them all on high alert and I had the biggest doe walk right up to me at about 15 yards trying to figure out what I was. The foot stomper on the hill managed to sneak around downwind of me and that was that. :lol:


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## honers (Sep 28, 2009)

quackr....it's not that i've moved any of my pins...no...my prob was a misunderstanding on my "coach" and me....i thought my pins were set at 25-30-40....but he states that they were set at 20-25-35.....so the prob i had was when my entire site fell off my bow...when i began to get er sited back in...i used what my coach said was a 20 yard pin...well i sited it in at 25 yards...

this is why i was wondering if it makes any difference that a pin thought to be set for a 20 yard shot is now set for a 25 yard shot....i'm hoping not...cause 5 days from now i'm gonna be putting it to the test....

just to let ya know...i've been bow hunting for 3 years....2 of those years i was using an old PSE....and it did not have the ability to lower the draw to my size...it was a good 1/2 or more longer...this is the first year i have a bow that is set up for my preferences and that's why i have all these questions....never really worked with my own bow...always took it to my coach when i had probs...but this year i'm wanting to learn to do this on my own without having to drive and have him do all my adjustments....so that's why i'm actually treating it as if i was a beginner cause that's what's it's gonna feel like....


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 28, 2009)

If you left your pin spacing the same and set the entire site by the first pin, you should now have a 25, 30 & 35.

Although, I've never known anyone to have (or need) their pins set in 5 yard increments. Even 30 years ago with bows that slung arrows at the speed of smell by today's standards, we were setting them in 10 yard increments.

What poundage and draw length are you shooting?


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## honers (Sep 29, 2009)

can you telll by looking at this pic if they are indeed at 10 yard intervals ?? 








now just for the fun of it here is a pic of my bow...


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## Loggerhead Mike (Sep 29, 2009)

what in the world is that thing? i like it!


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 29, 2009)

Loggerhead Mike said:


> what in the world is that thing?



Ditto that. :?: 

It's hard to tell from a picture but it looks like your pins are not evenly spaced. That leads me to believe that they are not set in even increments.


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## switchback (Sep 30, 2009)

Almost reminds me of this one.... https://www.libertyarchery.com/

What brand?


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## honers (Sep 30, 2009)

right...that's why i thought they were set with one pin 5 yards and the other pin set at 10 yards...sure wish i knew how to adjust the pins themselves...but sure dont want to make any trial and error with season a couple days away....

well here is a webpage of my little beaut...

https://www.whitetailgear.com/Qstore/P__000208.html

with it being so small from pulley to pulley there aint much room for error when you get beyond 35 yards....so that tells you how close the deer gonna be for me to shoot it...20 to 30 yards is my range....


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## Jim (Sep 30, 2009)

switchback said:


> Almost reminds me of this one.... https://www.libertyarchery.com/
> 
> What brand?



seen that too! Looks pretty cool.


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 30, 2009)

honers said:


> right...that's why i thought they were set with one pin 5 yards and the other pin set at 10 yards...sure wish i knew how to adjust the pins themselves...but sure dont want to make any trial and error with season a couple days away....
> 
> well here is a webpage of my little beaut...
> 
> ...



Should be nothing to setting the pin. Shoot the top pin at 20 yards and see where it hits (should be high). Loosen that one pin and slide it up until you get it where it needs to be.

Short axle to axle bows are a bit unforgiving but the brace height on that bow is somewhat misleading because of the design. Normally, a long brace height (and that one is a whopper at 11.5") makes for a more forgiving bow... but.. because that bow places the rest so close to the string, any torque issues are going to be magnified, bigtime.


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## honers (Sep 30, 2009)

what do most of you have your pins set at....if i move it up then it would be 20-30-40....is that normal ?


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## Quackrstackr (Sep 30, 2009)

honers said:


> what do most of you have your pins set at....if i move it up then it would be 20-30-40....is that normal ?



That's quite normal for hunting situations.


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## honers (Sep 30, 2009)

sho nuff...headin out to get a few more shots in before weekend....will make a point to set the top pin at 20 and go from there...

tks


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## wasilvers (Sep 30, 2009)

Your pins are your pins... set the top one at what you feel comfortable with. 20 yards, 25 yards... 30 yards if you want to. If it shoots dead on at 25 yards, then knowing that, you can hit most deer 20 - 30 yards out.

Your pins look like mine on my last bow. The bottom pin will be lower because the arrow is dropping more by the farter distance. With your bow speeds being what they are - (prob 250 fps real world), I'd set the pins at 20-30-40. I bet they look similar to the way they are now. If you don't have a shot over 25 yards, then set the top pin at 25 and forget about the others. 

Practicing at the longer distances is the key to being accurate at them. Your hold has to be steadier, your sighting better. I start practice at 35 and work from there, usually out to 50 and take just a few from 20. The target looks so big at 20!

Not to throw a monkey wrench into your shooting, but I gained another 10 yards on accuracy using this tip ( besides hand hold and form) Your sights are housed in a circular pin protector. Just center this inside your peep with every shot and place the pin over your target. When I first started, I was trying to put the pin in the center of the peep. It left lots of room for error. If you look for the circular pin protector and center that inside the center of your peep, it is bigger and much easier to center. Then your pin will be in the centered as well. Just put the pin on the target and release. When my bow is shooting well, I wouldn't hesitate to take a 50 yard shot. 

Right now I will not shoot over 40. I am only 1 inch off vertically at 50 yards, but horizontally the pattern is spread over 9 inches. Turns out my feathers are clearing everything except the wires on my compound. Crazy - I've never seen that before. So 40 is my limit for this season till I fix that problem.

The main point is, use your equipment and set it up for you. It's the old saying, if you want a job done right, do it yourself! 

Aim small, miss small!


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## honers (Oct 1, 2009)

have to say that i'm as ready as i'll ever be for this weekend....but looks like mother nature may have a little say so on the matter.....could be some rain...now i'll sit in a stand if'n it's a little drizzly but not sure about a good ole rain....big thing would be keeping my feathers dry...although a huntin buddy of mine said that there is somethink on the market that you put on yer feathers that sort of make them waterproof....that would be real nice....

wasilver....like yer ole saying...and cant agree more....i actually think i have more confidence in my bow cause i've been the one making all the changes to it....it's been a long ole tough road...and came across a whole lot of "T's"...but seemed to figure it out...only thing left now figure out if it's me or the bow...actually noticed it yesterday after i made the move and set my top pin at 20 yards....couple of my arrows seemed to be hitting the target at a slight angle....

anyways....hope i can have some stories and pics this year....would make this ole man a happy camper.... :wink:


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## wasilvers (Oct 1, 2009)

I've had that angling problem too. If it's a box target, it's usually just the target moving once you hit one side of it. When you are done hunting for the year - go lookup the easton archery tuning guide. It has some awesome setup tips that will have you shooting 3 inch groups at 50 yards in 2 shooting sessions. It's amazing what a 1/32 correction of your rest setup will make to your grouping at 50 yards.
One thing I was taught this year was my hold. I'd shot for 9 years and then someone showed me I was still torqueing the bow even though my hand was open. Once I got that corrected, I can really feel the difference of a great shot.

Saturday is my first day out hunting this year. Hopefully I'll have some great luck!


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## honers (Oct 2, 2009)

well do you use the sling for your left arm...that is if you are a right hand shooter....i myself have not gone that far...but with that big ole stabilizer bar i got i'm able to sort of anchor my pinky and ring finger along the side of it and i then touch my thumb and index finger as if i was making the "ok" sign with my left hand...i just dont feel right resting the bow in the palm of my hand...mentally i'm thinking the bow is gonna fall...

but anyhoos....good luck to you saturday...all i got is 12 more hours of work left before my weekend


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## Quackrstackr (Oct 2, 2009)

Definitely try the wrist sling. If your hand is anything but open (and at an approximate 45 degree angle on the grip), you are more than likely torquing the bow on the shot.

A cheap wrist sling will insure that you don't drop the bow. The sling needs to be loose above your wrist and not tightened down like a bracelet.


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## wasilvers (Oct 2, 2009)

Agreed! The bow should be loose in the hand. The best way I can describe it is to get to full draw and then tap the bow with your pinky. If it doesn't rock back and forth like its in rubber band, then you are torquing it. If it moves then snaps back to where you started and doesn't move again, you are torquing it. It should rock over the hand like it is balanced right in the middle and any movement allows it to rock in the hand. Hard to explain.. Think of it in 2D. At full draw the bow is taught and the strings pull the bow to exact center. Twist the bow once while holding the string still at the nock and you would have wound it one revolution. Let it go and the strings will pull it back to center, but it will keep going off center because of it's mass, and the strings will pull it back to center, but it keeps going..... - vibrating back and forth till it comes to rest again. If you tap the bow a bit and it occilates like this, the bow is movign freely, then you aren't torqueing the bow. I had to work on my hold a bit this year and move it slightly farther out on towards the thumb - which centered it better over my wrist.

The hand should be all open, fingers loose, in the same shape as when your hand is at rest at your side. Mine is a slight curl. My current bow doesn't jump at all. My last one would at worst pop out to the fingers and you automatically catch it. Only dropped the bow once years, and the sling caught it fine.


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