I can't believe this...
 

OK, enough already. I screwed up.

<<OK, the gig is up, go to page three to see my long post and explanation.>>

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Am I taking this right in assuming you haven't shot you bow since last year? If so you deserve to have lost it and have no right sending a hope and a prayer at a live animal.

I for everyones sake hope I misread your post.[:'(]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

so you mean you haven't touched your bow since last year and you are gonna go hunting after teaching yourself to shoot with fingers in 3 days? hmmmmm[&:]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

This is a whacky idea but couldn't you go buy another one???:eek:

And like buckeye said, haven't you shot your bow since last year???

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You laid it in the garage? Uh oh, sounds like somebody needs a bow room. Wait, you said it was laid there last year. Hmmmm... :eek:... if you left it there last year and you have 4 days before bow season, that means you are just now realizing your release is missing. I hope that doesn't mean you have yet to verify your gear is on target. No pre-season pratice sessions??? Shame on you. [&o]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Team "Lung Busters" might be looking for a substitution. :eek:
If interested, I'd be happy to step in! LOL

RE: I can't believe this...
 

are you sayin you pull your bow out only 4 days before season?

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Oh man, talk about opening a can of worms ... [:'(]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You got to be kidding. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are the kind of hunter that gets the rest of us in trouble. Stay at home.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Sheww! These comments are harsh! I don't see how you can leave your bow in its case all year. I always take mine for a "test" shot.;)

RE: I can't believe this...
 

OK MY TWO CENTS...

i would say that u should buy a new release, but u should practice a little more. my friends dad doesnt touch his bow til the day before season that way nothing can get messed up and for him it has worked. i wouldnt do it tho, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE is my philosophy

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Man, you picked the wrong site to admit you havn't been practicing. You have three days left. Better get a few thousand shots in.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

"Dude where's my release?" Is that your favorite movie? Go Practice or something.:eek:

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Now I see what you mean Arthur!:(

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Somebody Get A Rope [8D]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

What's all the fuss about? I don't take my practice shots anyway. I let my friend do it, who shoots better than me and can hold still better than me, just to make sure the bow hits where it ought to hit. If it hits where it's supposed to, I ought to be able to hit in the field, shouldn't I?

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Holy cow you just opened a HUGE can of worms. You should shoot your bow. Your friend and you shoot totally different. You need to site it in, not your friend. I wonder why he can shoot better than you?

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Even if your equipment is shooting dead on you NEED to condition your muscles to be able to hold steady. I am an automotive machinist, I lift v-8 engine blocks with my hands, diesel heads and flywheels, Stuff like that.
I am not bragging, I am just saying that I am pretty strong and when our 5-6feet of snow clears and I can get to my shooting area, it takes a couple of weeks to get my muscles conditioned to shooting again. I wouldn't dream of throwing an arrow at a deer with fear of flinching or not being able to hold steady because of not enough practice. Man I shoot all summer long, its easy to find time, fun to do, and the least we can do for the game we want to harvest. We owe it to the animals to be as merciful as possible, that means nothing less than perfect shots. To do this one must be in perfect condition and that means lots of practice.
If you start now and are not overbowing yourself you have a chance to condition yourself maybe by the rut, but not by opener.
This is just my opoinion but alot of hunters will agree with me. Please take the time to practice, its fun, challanging, and the right thing to do!!!

RE: I can't believe this...
 

But most (or a lot of) gun hunters don't practice all year long, why should bow hunters? They take their guns out, place them on a nice steady rest unlike anything they'll have in the field (more times than not), and fire few shots for 'zero' the weekend before the season. Then they shoot off hand at a running deer. Nobody gives them this type of grief.

You all aren't telling me that gun shooting and hunting is a lot easier than bow hunting are you?;):D

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Yep.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

gun hunting is 100 times easier then archery .... with archery everyones techniques and points of anchor ar different ... you should shoot your own bow , you owe the animal that atleast .....

[>:]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I must have miss read the post I thought he said he had 4 days to pratice. I usually just shoot a couple of leaves on the way into the stand to see if everything is ok.

Have a friend shoot it? Why? Don't those sights come sighted in? I just screwed a new one on last year and it was ok.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I agree 100% DoubleLung.

So then, wouldn't taking a deer with a bow be more of a trophy than taking one with a gun? After all, I've got to take all this time practicing with my bow, 1000's of arrows by most people's accounts, and can shoot a few rounds through my gun to be ready. Hmmm?!?!:D;)

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You just don't get it do you. I know this isn't so hard to understand.

How about I don't pratice for a year and we play "William Tell". Say 20 yards the apples on your head. How confident would you be I'd hit the apple and not you?

Think about it. Common sence (If common sence was so common everyone would have it I guess) dictates you must pratice to be lethal with a bow and arrow.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

SO! Now you see! If you believe that this is an exceptional example, you have your head in the sand or you are the same type of person who uses a bow to shoot at animals.

Just like on another thread where a person does not know why his bow is reacting in a certain way. When provided "factory" adjusting info he is still confused because he does not know the basic nomenclature of his bow and does not know what part of the bow the "factory" manual is referring to.

The next time someone chimes in and wants to HEAVILY debate bows, equipment, and bowhunting, maybe, just maybe, background and skill should be considered and weighed. Otherwise, the unaware may be taking the advice of someone that cannot yet spell BOW. :eek:

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Wounding deer is not cool. Double Lung shots are. Even the best miss from time to time, but at least they can say they gave their all to put a quick and painless end to the animal that they admire.


Jim

It is good to practice, for muscles and such, and sights can get knocked around, anchor points can vary. As for guns its a hell of alot easier to prepare but i still leave myself a few weeks to sight it in.

The deer gods might get angry at you! You dont want that.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You've made my point exactly. People don't know anything about the other people that make posts here on this board, but they take what they say as gospel, or worse yet, flame them when they make a statement that may not be complete.

What if I said that I can't find my hunting release, but that I shot the 1000's of arrows (that so many of you self righteous guys think that I ought to shoot before ever shooting at the righteously exalted deer) with my target release over the summer? And now this weekend I'll be brushing up with my hunting release. Would that have change things? Sure it would. But how many of you gave me the benefit of the doubt? No one. Well, I have shot a mess of arrows this summer because I got a new bow, a new Rhino release (how many are brave enough, or sure enough about their form to use that release, I wonder?), and a shorter draw length- because the last time I had a bow set up for me was in 1990 when everyone thought that you had to be stretched out like you were on a cross to shoot.

However, 2 years ago when I came back to shooting after a 12 year hiatus of not even unpacking my old Hoyt Pro Vantage with overdraw, I reluctantly picked up my bow after weeks of pressure from my pastor to get back into archery with him. After 3 shots, my remaining 18 shots were all within a 3” bulls eye at 20 and 25 yards. This was 3 days before the season. I’m so evil, I guess. I should have had to pay a 2 year penitence for such a dastardly act. I didn’t though, and that season I shot a 7 point buck through both lungs at 18 yards, hitting him where I aimed. So, Buckeyebowhunter, it would depend on who you were if I would let you do it or not. Well, actually, it would be stupid to ever let anyone do it, whether they shot 20,000 arrows all summer or 2. What was that you said about common sense?

I shot 5 years in south central PA, from 1985-1990, worked a year and a half in a pro bow shop in Hummelstown for you PA boys, and was fortunate enough to have shot with Todd Herman, a Hoyt pro Staff shooter, and Scott Schultz, now the president of Robinson scents and also a Hoyt staff member. Those men did not have to shoot 1000’s of arrows to hit a bullseye, much less to hit a deer. No, I’m not the shooter those two are, but I am in the upper middle half. I shoot 3 D’s clean, without missing the lungs- ever. I can sit my bow down today and come back in 12 years and do it again. The number of arrows shot through a bow means squat. I firmly believe everyone has a plateau that they will reach in shooting, and short of a miracle or constant professional training, they will sit there. And for some of us, it doesn’t take a thousand arrows a month to reach that plateau again. I have seen it in myself, I have seen it in the hundreds of guys that came into our shop in ‘89 and ’90, and I have seen it in my father that nearly killed himself trying to get onto the Hoyt pro team, but could never get above his plateau. He literally did shoot countless thousands of arrows, but lacked that natural gift, whatever it is, that would allow him to do everything identically shot after shot after shot. I know that I can shoot 3” groups consistently in rain, sleet, snow or 100 degree heat. I’ll never shoot 2” groups consistently, much less the ½” and ¾” groups some people claim to shoot consistently. If one of those groups a day or every other day is all it takes to claim I shoot ¾” groups, then OK, I shoot ¾” groups. Woohooo.

Was my example with the trophies a little off? Sure it was, but it went deeper than that. Fieldmouse stated the way he saw things and felt about trophies, and got flamed for it. Those of us that agreed with him got flamed by extension, because we agreed. There’s also the Montgomery Gentry video thread that showed a link of their video, “You do your thing”. Many chimed in saying how much they liked that song, but unfortunately that doesn’t apply here on this board that is populated by the most ethical hunters in the world. It’s a great slogan until someone holds a different view on how deer should be hunted. There is the example of TexasHighrack who had the balls to tell people here not to tell him how he should hunt on his Texas Ranch. Then those that flamed drives based on a TV show they saw on OLN. Then those that flame people for legally hunting over bait. Hell, it goes on and on. But, hey, You Do Your Thing, as long as it matches the way I do things.

Now, C903, you label me as 'a shooter of animals', like I am lower than dirt. Do you know that I kneel and pray and thank God (yes, I’m a Christian) over the body of my deer for the opportunity to have harvested such an animal, for the health and ability to do so, and for the opportunity to do so? Do you know that I have a church ministry in Plattsmouth Nebraska that has gotten youth and adults into bow hunting, and that we hunt together and they are ambassadors within their communities for both Christ and Bowhunters. Do you know that as a group we have gotten some farmers to open their land back up to bow hunting after refusing for years because of unethical bow hunters and the wounded deer they left behind? No, you don’t, but the accusations fly anyway. That’s fine, because I don’t measure my worth by how popular I am on a hunting board that I visit for 3 months a year. Go ahead and flame guys, and accuse others of hurting the hunting community while not looking at yourselves.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

My comment was in gist. "Common sense" would also dictate that to you as well:eek:.

Why not just use your rhino release, instead of learning how to shoot off the string in 4 days. Or having your "friend" shoot it for you.


From your comments of your friend shooting your bow for zero to you being a mid class 3-D hunter class shooter is BS IMO.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You start with this:


Then add this:


Then you proceed to give a sermon "on judging people and chastising them for not doing things your way". [&:]
While your last post had some good points to it I believe it lost it's merit by your munipulative and deceitful way of getting it across!

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I have to agree with EVERYONE ELSE if you don't practice at least some you have no right to go into the woods archery is a million times harder than pulling the trigger on a firearm way too many variables if you rely on your friend to pactice shoot your bow might as well let him shoot your deer for you too that way you can sleep in work late or whatever other excuse you might have for not pulling your bow out months ago

RE: I can't believe this...
 

Anyone know how to spot "backtracking" and when someone is filling the cracks that were originally wide open?

However, the actual points of relevancy include more than just the need to practice. How about going over the gear with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that the "stuff" that has laid in a case for almost a year is not worn or in a "near-failure" condition.

After all, if someone does not haul out their "stuff" until the last minute, and has to post on the Inet that they cannot find their release and believes he or she can make an quick and easy transition to shooting with fingers, is it not possible the same person put their gear away in dirty and worn condition...always?

I love the part where someone else shoots the bow in. :eek:[X(]

Go "Lung Busters!" :D:D

RE: I can't believe this...
 

OK, let me come completely clean, since evidently it is being missed.

I used the board wrongly. I lied. I never lost my release. I was never gonna try to learn to shoot fingers, although I did play around with finger shooting in 1990. No, I don't let my buddy shoot my bow in for me. That was a poor analogy of a gun hunter using a bench rest with sand bags to shoot his gun in (i.e. 'he holds steadier than I do'- just like sand bags allow a hunter hold his gun much stiller than he'll ever do in the field, usually.)

I posted this intentionally for three reasons:

1. To get people to flame me because I did not live up to their expectations.
2. To make a point about the difficulty of archery hunting vs. gun hunting and the rating of trophies accordingly (this was juvenile and I apologize).
3. To make a point about people flaming others when they do things differently than they do, regardless of the overwhelming support of Montgomery Gentry's message in their song, 'You do your thing.'

However, no I don't shoot a thousand arrows a year. Yes, I put my bow away and don't shoot much until August first. I have other hobbies and a three and a half that likes to play tackle with his daddy. I do other things other than shoot and bow hunt.

Yes, I can take my bow out of storage and shoot bullseyes, after 3 or 4 arrows. Maybe others can't, but I can. I've shot about a hundred arrows this year because I have a newer bow that I bought from a friend and wanted to get used to it. But now I go out and at twenty to thirty yards I group consistently with 3 inches. I have 3" paste on dots. I shoot at them. I hit them. I shoot in groups of three. I shoot 5 to 8 groups of them every few days, from different angles and different heights, with my camoflauge on. After I hit the dot 15 to 24 times, why do I need to go on and keep shooting arrow after arrow? I like shooting my bow, but I got burnt out once before shooting too much and didn't shoot for 12 years. I like to quit while I still want more- that goes for most things in my life.

BUT, if I was a new shooter and came to this board wanting to learn some things, I would probably run away from the sport feeling like I couldn't measure up the lofty goals that you guys set forth with your attitudes at times, ready to leap on anyone that doesn't practice daily with 50-60 arrows. Heck, people have lives, not everyone can do that.

The 3/4" group thread of last week by a fairly new hunter is a good case in point. The guy said he could shoot 3" groups but his buddy is telling him that he shoots 3/4" groups at 20 yards. Post after post is telling the guy to practice, practice, practice. Heck, 3" groups at 20 yards is pretty darn good for hunting, but if I was that guy, I would have gone away wondering if I had what it takes to hunt deer. Doubt in your abilities when pulling back on a deer is worse than shooting 3" groups. He's more than ready, but now he may doubt himself.

Then there was the 5 stages of a hunter thread. That list, though not intentionally, is telling people that there is a higher plateau that they need to reach for to be a 'complete' hunter, and that if they are not to that point yet, they are, in a way, inferior. Just read the posts, practically all of us that posted were trying to put ourselves partially in that 5th category, when there should be no shame in being in stage one, two, three or four, if that is where you're happy and where you get the most fulfillment and are doing it legally.

Anyway, those are the points I wanted to make, and I did a very poor job of how I went about it. Thank-you Bowfanatic for pointing that out to me.

C903, you'll probably not buy this explanation and flame me anyway, judging me against your high standards and ethics that I'll never reach, nor aspire to, if it causes me to flame others as much as you do. When I wrote the original post, I knew you would be one of the first to reply. That's fine. We'll just be two people that will never agree. Life goes on.

Oh, and I think the Lungbuster will be just fine, even with an old slob like me on their team, but thanks for your encouragement.;)

RE: I can't believe this...
 

this was a nasty joke.......[:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:@]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I know, and I apologize. Poor judgment on my part.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

one i will never forget to......[:@]

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I do not "flame!" I say it the way it is or I "mirror." I do not have "high standards." I do try to live by the "hunting standards" that all hunters should have.

Did you expect to be "coddled?" What you pretended, if your were, was/is not fictional.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

by23856, Nothing in your post would lead any intellegent person to conclude that you have the intellectual capacity to possible forsee what you claim you did as a reason justifing your post. Your story is completely inconsistant. If you want to come clean just say you lied and didn't lose your release; or that yes, you indeed should practice more, whatever, is the truth. One last piece of advice, don't tout your christain wares, then in the next post say you lied. You have a serious credibilty issue.

RE: I can't believe this...
 

....muley69 you are 100% right.......by23856.i have not been mad in a long time..this tops it all....it was just darn dirty....what do you get out of it....was it funny to you....

RE: I can't believe this...
 

I'll admit it...Wednesday was the first day since last season that I pulled out my bow to start practicing for the Oct 1 opener... I'm not ashamed either...I had college, turkey season, a girlfriend, and a squirrel dog pup to raise and train. I pulled out the bow and shot using pins, just to see how consistent I could make my groups...Not perfect, and I need a little oil cause I'm a little rusty, but it's nothing I can't work out before season. And before the season, I'm switching to a pendulum...I may even buy a new one before then[:o] that I'll have to get used to. So what? I'm not worried, cuase I'm confident that I'll get it right, and if I don't, I'll wait to hit the field until I feel good about it. My stand is safe and secure and nobody can hunt it but me, so I'm not concerned if I have to miss the first day. I think hunters should let hunters hunt how they want as long as they get it done right. I guarantee I'll be shooting good before I go out, and I haven't practiced all year until this last Wednesday. I don't feel bad about that either. Also, some say that this kind of stuff gives fuel to the antis...yeah right, nothing we say or do could ever make them turn our way, if they are really an anti, it doesn't matter how much you practice, they're not going to like you, and they will always have "fuel." Would you ever become an anti hunter? No way, and nothing they could say or do could make you an anti, and the antis feel as strongly as you do, only on the opposite end. Good luck everyone this season, and encourage your fellow hunters, please. -MIKE

RE: I can't believe this...
 

You could intentionally start this thread on ANY bowhunting forum on the internet and you'll get the exact same responses. [&:]