Beckers, Bows and Arrows! Let's see your "stringed instruments" :)

Gear can hold you back, I didn't mean to imply otherwise. It's just that gear in archery, as you know, is very personal to the shooter. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. A lot has to do with your own preferences, as well as how well you work with certain systems.

I'll tell you - if I were you, I'd be asking this of the guys you know who can reliably group under 1" at 60 yards. That's better shooting than any professional I've seen or heard of.

EDIT - the optics your friend is using. It sounds like he's just using a clarifier lens. Not uncommon for indoor shooters, in particular.

i will never likely exceed the skill limit inherent in my traditional bows. esp with cheap arrows. but i attempt to become my best.

archery makes my rifle work even better :D plus, shit, i enjoy it. i'm only competing with myself. though, my friend tells me that since so few people actually compete around here in that, i'd "do well"...

my friend's normal target is a tennis ball can lid, or a cat food lid depending on what he has in the bin. it's pretty unusual for him to not get six in that cat lid. provides a nice bright target at distance too.

the year before last, he bought the local champion's bow, as mr fancy was upgrading ;) last year, my friend won that championships with mr fancy's old bow. go figure. he's retired, and he's local to the range, and he shoots every single day at least, and sometimes twice (morning and evenening). his biggest thing is: he hunts for his meat. takes all the game with all the seasons he can. he's pretty good.

i get some tips from the guy, but mostly he leaves me alone as he figures i'm enjoying myself and doing "pretty good". well, last year was weird, i had my bow completely retuned (it was setup poorly apparently, but i adapted) and it wasn't shooting right for me until i relearned it. probably take me another year to get it all back, but, "good enough for a deer at 40 yds"...

clarifier. mmm.

yeah, still.

oh, that weird bow that "green arrow" on tv uses? apparently an old custom type bow they revamped. now they're selling for $$$$ on ebay. would be nice to try one of those.
 
Good equipment is important, I agree with that, BUT, IMO, the most important item for good shooting, is TIME. You need time to practice, practice, practice. To be really good, you meed to MAKE time to practice. You need time to shoot slowly, so that you can determine why ARROW X did what it did. Time to make changes slowly. NEVER change more than 1 thing, be it equipment, setup, stance, release.

Back when I was shooting competitively in the BHFSL division (Bow Hunter Free Style Limited - "pins and fingers", finger release with tab or glove, 5 fixed pins, Max 12" stabilizer), I routinely shot in the high 290s, hitting 300 4x in competition. Got beat out on Xs every time I shot 300. Just the caliber of competition I faced in Texas.

That's not said to be bragging, but is necessary for background. To shoot that well, I would shoot over 300 arrows per day 7 days a week, unless it was pouring down raining. During INDOOR season, 80% were 20 yard shots. I still shot outdoors 1 or 2 days per week. During OUTDOOR season, the percentages were reversed. Distances were 3 yards to 80 yards. The people that were beating my ass all the time were doing that much or more. I lived down in south San Antonio, below Kelly AFB. The nearest range was 26 miles away on the far north side of SA. I would drive there every day after work. I shot in 2 indoor leagues and at least 1 tournament every weekend.

I also probably could have won more tournaments, but I refused to shift up to "telephone poles". Large shaft diameters give you more slop for "line cutters". The arrows I shot were 18s (0.28125") indoors and 20s (0.3125") outdoors. That's in 64's of an inch shaft diameter. The maximum shaft diameter allowed is now 27s, or .422". Someone shooting a 300 with 18s - 22s impresses me a hell of a lot more than someone using 25s - 27s.

The second most important thing you need for shooting well is PATIENCE. Shooting fast leads to lower scores. I don't mean shooting glacially slow, taking the maximum of 1 minute per arrow or 5 minutes per end like some arrogant assholes do in tournament, just because they can. I mean that you must have patience and CONCENTRATE on EACH shot to make sure you do the same thing each and every time. I have seen outstanding archers shoot 300s using no more than 2 minutes per end. I have seen crappy scores come out of the glaciers.

The third thing you need is DEDICATION. You MUST be willing to dedicate ALL your spare time to archery. Shoot every tournament you can. Shoot 1 tournament on Saturday and find another for Sunday. Shoot in a league to simulate competition and have someone to shoot against. Shooting against someone else, no matter how crappy they are THAT NIGHT, forces you to concentrate to do the best you can every time.

A little "dedication" story. When I got transferred to Newport RI for Navy Department Head School, I found the Tiverton Rod & Gun Club just off the north end of Aquidneck Island. They also had archery I&O. I would go up and shoot with them on when I had time from school. One day, the guys I was shoot an outdoor round with were debating which weekend shoot they were going to go to. They were also trying to decide if they were gonna "go all the way to New Hampshire" for the All New England tournament. One of the upcoming weekend shoots was just over the state line in Massachusetts, about 14 miles away on a Sunday. The other one was on Saturday, just over the Narragansett Bay bridge in Warwick, about 30 miles away. The ANET was in some little town in NH about 140 miles from the Naval Base at the extreme south end of the island. I had been pretty quiet during all this discussion (unusual for me :D) and one of them asked me what I was going to do.

I said, "I'm gonna shoot Warwick on Saturday, MA on Sunday, and I'm going to NH the next week. Y'all don't know how good y'all have it up here. In Texas, we can't have a shoot the same day as some other club that is within 150 miles of each other. Down there, I'd drive 90 miles south to shoot in Corpus Christi on Saturday and then drive home, and then to drive to Austin or Waco, 100 or 160 miles north away for Sunday. And y'all are bitching that the Regional tournament is over 100 miles away this year." There was a reason I waxed everybody's ass every time I could go shoot.

The fourth thing you need is an "I don't care if I get beat as long as I beat my last score" attitude. Don't worry about what the other quy (or gal) is shooting. If you concentrate on beating yourself, the good scores WILL happen.

As I said, good equipment helps, I can attest to that. I was routinely shooting around 230 with my "Bear Whitetail Hunter" (now an ancient piece of junk), went to a PSE hunting bow and gradually crept the scores up to 270s. Got a custom Viking and the first time I shot it, I broke 290. Sweet bow.

But your best equipment still needs to be you and your attitude. Money can't buy those.


so, get to recommending bows already ;) i don't even know what to look at really for target. hype vs junk. naturally, my googles find a lot of stuff. everyone says the same magical CNC stupid good qualities :D

i agree with most and all of the above. i am doing well with my gear, and i'm patient and take my time.

the guys that do well at my range take it farther. they make their own arrows. they have special carriers for them. they weigh them to ridiculous standards, and balance them. a variety of widths. hours spent in "the lab" designing things. TABS of paint for adjustments. crazy :D

they also yeah, make the tiny adjustments, and they take their time, and they take notes. the arrows are numbered. arrows that behave badly are removed from the herd. it's crazy OCD :D

me? i just want to level up a little. i want better than the PSE Brute i have - it's a great hunting bow, it's not a target bow. esp with the arrows i have :D
 
If I had my druthers, I'd recommend a custom Viking, but they went out of business a couple of years ago. The old man and his sons split ways, then 1 son scammed his brother and they split. No more individually CNC machined risers or custom limbs. :( And I think they sold all the equipment.
 
Here's my bowtech carbon icon. Love this bow so much. It's really an awesome, lightweight rig. I can shoot it very accurately. On the off season I like to take out groundhogs for my in-laws up in their fields.



Here's a couple shots my wife took when I had my boy with me sneaking on a ground hog that was in a tree thicket. He was taken at about 25 yards.

 
Amanda's new custom recurve. 60'' 40#.

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More pics to come I'm sure.

Jeremy
 
Thet is a sweet setup WW. I thought about getting into bow fishing. Unfortunately in Maine there is only one, maybe two species of fish that we can harvest with a bow or spear/gig and those fish are not fish that are high on my list.

If we had gar like you have been getting recently I'd be more likely to invest in a nice set up and go after them.


Thanks for the pics!

Jeremy
 
Thanks bro. Sucks you can't shoot but a couple species there, which ones can you take?

I have shot gar, catfish, and got my first carp this weekend but gave it away. I'm normally going for gar... But if a catfish presents itself... I'll happily take it lol

If you ever get into bow fishing I'd suggest a light bow, you end up holding it for hours and no matter the weight it gets heavy, so lighter the better imo.

I have tried several bows now and several reels. Most my online research pointed to AMS reels as being the better option so that's what i ended up with. But honestly i prefer using the zebco or muzzy type reels. With the ams you have to hold a break while you reel in. No biggie until you get a huge fish on the line... Then it gets annoying LOL

If you like shooting bows and enjoy fishing... Bowfishing is very addictive.
 
Here in Texas, you can bowfish for anything that is not a gamefish or on either the State or Federal endangered/threatened species list. Most of the fish on the list are minnows, chubs, etc that would explode if you hit them with an arrow anyway, :D

Catfish are a gamefish here, so no bow fishing catfish. We also have a daily bag limit on Alligator Gar of 1 per day. No limit on Spotted, Shortnose and Longnose (aka Needlenose) Gar. The problem is when it's dark out, telling the difference between an Alligator gar and the other three can be challenging.

Here's a link to the Texas P&W Department's regulations on bow fishing in Texas.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_t3200_1559.pdf
 
I am pretty sure we can only bow fish for the various sucker fish that we have. They are pretty much only good for the garden.

I wouldn't want to eat one, that is for sure.

Jeremy
 
I am pretty sure we can only bow fish for the various sucker fish that we have. They are pretty much only good for the garden.

I wouldn't want to eat one, that is for sure.

Jeremy

Believe it or not, carp are damn good eating - prepared properly. Gotta cut off the dark meat, watch for the little bones (triangular skeletons) and a brine doesn't hurt....I ate a LOT of it when I was young. Fun as hell to catch on the light tackle we were using, and once we figured out how to prepare it....should I try to catch a mess of smallmouth bass and/or sunfish, or just go for the 12-15 pound carp? Easy choice, and with a 4'-5' rod and 6 lb. test a real challenge to boot. Always wanted to go bowfishing for them when I was young, but back then it was all DIY and I didn't have a boat to fish from. I did get as far as getting a fiberglass bowfishing arrow and making myself a "reel" out of some string wrapped around a tuna can (that was bolted into the stabilizer socket). I must've looked pretty funny practicing with that rig in the back yard. Never went fishing with it, tho. I had a friend that used to shoot frogs for the hell of it...didn't eat them, just left them on the creek bank with their guts hanging out. Kinda sickened me, killing things for "fun". I lost my taste for shooting with him, even in his backyard - which was too bad 'cause he was the only friend I had that had a bow. All the other kids in the 'hood were busy having BB gun fights :rolleyes:. It's a wonder none of them were seriously injured - I mean, NOBODY was thinking about protective eyewear in the 70's.


OK, ramble over. Here's a picture of archery stuff:

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For some reason I'm more consistent shooting the deer target at 30 yds. than I am with the 5-spot....decent but not awesome groups on the single target, whereas on the 5-spot I'll bullseye a couple and the rest will be WAY off. Had the "aha!" moment today while I was talking to the LAS guy about different peeps. Think I've been going about shooting the multi-pin setup wrong; we'll see if the new setup improves my results.
 
Many people say carp is "trash" fish and don't taste very good or taste down right bad. Well, there's truth and bunk embedded in those opinions.

Several things can make carp an excellent eating fish.

1. The best eating carp are in the 4 to 12 pound range. Much bigger than that and they start tasting "off". Littler, the rib bones are really hard to see/find.

2. Many of the smaller bones in carp start fusing after the carp gets above 5 or 6 pounds. The bones are all still there, they just merge with some of the other bones, so it "appears" that there are fewer bones.

3. HOW one cleans a carp can affect the flavor of the meat. If one simply scales a carp in the manner that bass, crappie, sunfish, etc, are usually prepared i.e., scraping the scales off and leaving the skin, carp will taste "fishier", or "skunkier", or ..... other descriptors that imply the taste if "off" or "bad". This is because a carp's skin contains a lot of gland ducts that secrete the slimy goo that a carp is naturally covered in. This goo tastes bad. By literally skinning a carp like a catfish, the goo on the skin is removed. Also, many of the glands themselves are pulled out of the carp's flesh when the skin is shucked off.

4. If you rinse the carp well and then marinate it in lemon juice, the citric acid in the lemon juice neutralizes a lot of the nasty goo that may transfer to the flesh during processing, and also helps to kill any goo left in glands still in the carp meat.

5. You can eliminate a lot of the small rib bones in carp if, instead of filleting a carp, you cut it into steaks. This takes a little practice to do it just right, but if you line up cuts for the steaks just right, you can see the rib bones and pull many of them out before cooking.
 
Many people say carp is "trash" fish and don't taste very good or taste down right bad. Well, there's truth and bunk embedded in those opinions.

Several things can make carp an excellent eating fish.

1. The best eating carp are in the 4 to 12 pound range. Much bigger than that and they start tasting "off". Littler, the rib bones are really hard to see/find.

2. Many of the smaller bones in carp start fusing after the carp gets above 5 or 6 pounds. The bones are all still there, they just merge with some of the other bones, so it "appears" that there are fewer bones.

3. HOW one cleans a carp can affect the flavor of the meat. If one simply scales a carp in the manner that bass, crappie, sunfish, etc, are usually prepared i.e., scraping the scales off and leaving the skin, carp will taste "fishier", or "skunkier", or ..... other descriptors that imply the taste if "off" or "bad". This is because a carp's skin contains a lot of gland ducts that secrete the slimy goo that a carp is naturally covered in. This goo tastes bad. By literally skinning a carp like a catfish, the goo on the skin is removed. Also, many of the glands themselves are pulled out of the carp's flesh when the skin is shucked off.

4. If you rinse the carp well and then marinate it in lemon juice, the citric acid in the lemon juice neutralizes a lot of the nasty goo that may transfer to the flesh during processing, and also helps to kill any goo left in glands still in the carp meat.

5. You can eliminate a lot of the small rib bones in carp if, instead of filleting a carp, you cut it into steaks. This takes a little practice to do it just right, but if you line up cuts for the steaks just right, you can see the rib bones and pull many of them out before cooking.

To the many, carp is a significant part of gefilte fish (jewish deli item). Zzyzz's got some good points......me, I skin them, cut out the small parts of dark meat and then brine the pieces before cooking. Never had anyone complain.....then again, I never told anyone exactly what kind of fish they were eating until dinner was over....;).
 
People often go off what they have heard and seldom look into the truth it seems. I have heard Gar is nasty... Same thing you keep that dark meat on and it gives it a fishy taste. Take that backstrap and do it up right and its down right delicious. I have heard people say they dont eat catfish because its a bottom feeder... I cant even reply to them people LOL, catfish is my favorite fresh water fish, and close to my favorite food to eat period LOL
 
Spent some more money on this whole archery thing. I ordered a Morrell target for near full price only to find another target at a local big box store for $4.00 out the door the following night. I tried to buy more at that price but it was a discontinued item and that was the last one.

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20 yard 4 shot group to end the night. Need to work on it more. Been working on 30 yards as well. I feel confident hitting the target, But no where close to wanting to shoot at an animal at that distance. It gives me motivation though. Oh, bad rotator cuffs do not help you in archery.

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I also bought a new stabilizer. It seems to be helping but the jury is still out.

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Also, Amanda is getting more and more deadly with her new recurve.

Jeremy
 
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Spent some more money on this whole archery thing. I ordered a Morrell target for near full price only to find another target at a local big box store for $4.00 out the door the following night. I tried to buy more at that price but it was a discontinued item and that was the last one.

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20 yard 4 shot group to end the night. Need to work on it more. Been working on 30 yards as well. I feel confident hitting the target, But no where close to wanting to shoot at an animal at that distance. It gives me motivation though. Oh, bad rotator cuffs do not help you in archery.

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I also bought a new stabilizer. It seems to be helping but the jury is still out.

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Also, Amanda is getting more and more deadly with her new recurve.

Jeremy

The addiction that is archery. Was out shooting my bow for a little more than an hour tonight. Targets....Shoulda bought all the ones I could lay my hands on at the end of last season at your place ;), dres. $10 for the small deer ones and $20 for the big Bee Stinger ones. Didn't think I'd need that many....now that I've shot through a couple, I'm reconsidering. Posted this pic on Instagram, but tonight at 30 yds. I hit the shed with an errant shot (left half)....then on the next end (right half, duh) had a nice group. Been shooting for 40+ years and still ain't got it figgered out.

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Last night I was shooting and this idiot longear walked to within 10' of where I was standing.....no wonder they breed like, uh...rabbits.

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If I ever decide to have coney for dinner, I won't have to wait long. I see them without fail every single day. Not surprisingly though, the turkeys have disappeared since the beginning of hunting season.
 
Do any of you shoot with wooden arrows? If so, where the heck do you get them for an affordable price? Cameron and I want to shoot longbows with wooden arrows for kicks since we released our edition of The Witchery of Archery, but the wooden arrows at our local stores are super pricey!
 
Do any of you shoot with wooden arrows? If so, where the heck do you get them for an affordable price? Cameron and I want to shoot longbows with wooden arrows for kicks since we released our edition of The Witchery of Archery, but the wooden arrows at our local stores are super pricey!

They're not cheap, usually....and the points have a tendency to stay in targets when you pull them out. Lancaster archery has them, but you're still looking at ~$70 for a half dozen....surprising that decent carbon arrows can be had for ~$20/half doz.....I'd check out some local places.....or maybe start building them yourself. Though, that's not cheap, either. Good luck on your quest!
 
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