Here in Belgium is bowhunting illegal (like moonshining ), but I know there are many archers in the US and bowhunting is legal... I heard something about "two seasons hunters"...
So my question is : are there moonshiners/bowhunters here?
I'm french speaking!
Boiler : 50 L (13 gal) beer keg, gas heated.
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I get about 5 to 9 white tail a year. I bow hunt early, then black powder during late Nov int Dec and early Jan.
Usually get 1 or 2 with a bow, and the rest with BP. This year, I did not get any with bow (only went out 2 mornings, and have nothing in range. I got 4 deer in one morning in Nov, then 2 more last week (struck out in december, which is very unusual)
Needless to say, we eat a LOT of venison here in my house
I scored three whitetail with the bow, and another four with the rifle last year. I probably hunted about 15 hours a week for 3 months. Distilling and bow-hunting are my two favorite hobbies, with fishing a close third. Now that I started wine-making, I'm afraid that I'll have to quit my job to find enough time...
I've been a hunter all my life, of just about every local animal. Bow hunting is by far the most challenging and rewarding I have done. In my experience, it takes lots more skill. Target shooting is also a ton of fun, and a great way to pass the time.
Yes I hunted with the bow, Black Widow Express, 70 pounds. Game getter 20/20 alloy shaft carrying the Davies Delta broadhead. Taken most of the game Aus has to offer, kangaroo,pig ,goat ,dingo,water buff. Never took the most elusive and hardest ,the deer. I am sure I could not draw the lady to full now ! Guess you could say the widow has webs on her. Even if you came home without anything ,it was still a good day of hunting . These days, squint behind the scope of the 22/250 and take just what I want!......Tippler
I love archery, my current bow is a little crappy so I hope to upgrade this summer. My brother is into bow hunting, nothing like stareing down a Moose while only armed with a bow.
When I was younger I took boar and deer with a crossbow. Not allowed to these days over here. It is only legal to kill animals with bullets in certain sizes and energy ranges Don't get me started!!!
Bowhunting is fine in my book but i prefered the crossbow. 120lb draw weight was ample for anything I wanted to shoot. Don't kill it unless you are going to eat it, is my one absolute rule. I shoot rabbits for the pot, but swerve to miss them when they run out in front of the car.
birdwatcher wrote:I have recently become interested in bow construction. Is anyone into this?
Cheers.
G
I have hand made quite a few flat bows along the Meare Heath (sp?) design some years ago though my handles differ a bit in that they have an arrow rest so it's a bit out of tradition. Of all the bows I ever made and used myself though, only the hickory have survived, are the lightest, shoot the hardest and the farthest. It's hard to find good wood without breaking the law around here. I wrapped my own strings out of Spider Wire fishing line on a jig made for each bow since no two were exactly the same length. Gave them as gifts mostly.
Used to hunt like crazy. Now we have deer come up in the back yard every day to eat sweet feed. They didn't much like the batch I dumped out a couple weeks ago that was a failed, messy ferment attempt . I don't hunt any more but if times get hard I know where they are
This is my favorite bow, limbs covered with mossy oak camo and envirotex epoxy. 60lb, 31" draw.
Thanks Fecus, for you interesting reply and lucky you that you have hickory available. After yew and orange osage, it seems to be the wood of choice for North American primitive bowyers.
There has been a new ground swell of interest in this ancient craft that has been with us and our ancestors for the past 10,000 years in every part of the world. Amazing, if you think about it.
As a matter of fact, a friend contacted me yesterday and has two hickory logs for me.
I have not yet completed a bow. I broke one of maple in the tillering process and I have three underway of white ash.
Thanks again. I was sure there had to be one or more bowyers out there in the distilling world.
G
My sugar wash for ethanol is under the Tried and true recipes forum.
Yep I have broke a few also. As long as you keep the same grain layer on the back free from nicks and such it goes pretty good. I've even left the bark on a couple as experimenting and it (the bark) will crack and eventually peel off altogether but the wood stays intact. I wish you well with your hickory logs!
I tried to bowhunt, we don't have the game around here to keep me occupied. I placed in a few bow tournaments, that was more fun than hunting. I do love to bowfish though.
Yep I bow hunt, Got a PSE Nova SU. Shoot ICS bowhunter 400 carbon arrows tipped with 125 grain 3 blade muzzy broadheads. Also love bow fishing too there are so many Koi Carp in the Waikato waterways.
I'm a little obsessed with shootin' bow as well...there's nuttin like it.
"It's hard to argue with the government. Remember, they run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, so they must know a thing or two about satisfying women." --- Scott Adams
Bow hunting illeagal ? boy that's gotta suck. Doesn't even make sense . I enjoy archery season much more than the gun season. There's something about getting close and not rattling everything in the woods when you shoot. There's a lot of pressure on the game around here once the guns come out also. Makes it less about skill & more about luck & filling tags.. Bow is to gun like grain mash is to sugar wash. (although i'm still just a gun hunter in that regard)
Anything i do or say here is purely hypothetical and for information gathering and sharing purposes only.
bowhunting is the only thing that i love more than stillin and here in texas we have plenty of hogs to shoot at year round they also taste good with bourbon
birdwatcher wrote:I have recently become interested in bow construction. Is anyone into this?
Cheers.
G
Yep i've played with this in the past, and have both eucalyptus and hicory seasonding at the moment. Having just bought all 3 of the 'Traditional bowyers bible" series i'm fired up something wicked to have another go soon. Bought myself a nice flexovit draw knife ready!
Where has all the rum gone? . . .
Every new member should read this before doing anything else:
It used to be here in Washington State, you could buy a hunting license, then hunt archery, muzzle loader and modern, so I used to start huntin in early September and not have to stop until January. One had to be a bit creative with tags, such as relatives and friends that didn't hunt but still like wild meat. But alas those days are over as they should be, just to many people around anymore, it was different in the 60's and 70's.
Sometimes I wonder why is that Frisbee getting bigger......and then it hits me.
texshinner72 wrote:bowhunting is the only thing that i love more than stillin and here in texas we have plenty of hogs to shoot at year round they also taste good with bourbon
You can hunt hogs year-round?! Never been hog-huntin but have always wanted to go.
"It's hard to argue with the government. Remember, they run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, so they must know a thing or two about satisfying women." --- Scott Adams