I've shot a handful of Roosevelt elk bulls on the Oregon coast -- from spikes to very mature bulls. All tasted lights out delicious. The spike was quite young and had pale, veal colored flesh. The older bull had dark flesh, but after some aging was still flavorful. All archery bulls.
Last...
I have used both, but usually pack a Havalon Piranta for elk, deer, fish, turkey...everything.
The Havalon is so darn light and compact. The first year using it, I broke a blade. Now, I'm used to its tolerance and use a light, deft hand when processing.
With a surgical technique, you can break...
Left eye dominant, right handed here.
Whether the gun is marketed as left, right, or ambi is not the most critical thing.
Gun fit and how the safety works matter most.
The high end autoloaders today will generally allow you to shim the gun cast on for lefties and reverse the safety. On my...
I actually prefer the “touchy” feeling on these new Mathews bows and choose to shoot the 80% mods. Another word to describe this feeling is “responsive.” If you’re not used to it, you think it’s bad. I actually prefer the feeling now. Target archers shoot cams that feel this way.
Heck, I even...
I recommend the Scott Ascent.
It's one of the only hinges out there that allows you to adjust the click and sear independently. This is a huge feature for shooting a hinge as it's designed and especially helpful to someone starting out with one.
A guy named Shawn Padgett on ArcheryTalk has a...
I'm cross dominant (right handed, left eye dominant) and shoot left handed for rifle, shotgun, and bows (compound o recurve). This is 100% the way to go. All the little tricks to switch or fool your natural eye dominance are a psychic drain and rob from mental energy needed to execute shots...
ON paper, TSS 9s is the answer to the OP's question. They offer the optimal blend of retained energy and pattern density at that distance. I read a handloader forum years ago where a guy had done extensive testing and analysis. He reasoned that TSS 7s carried energy even farther than 70, but...
Turning limb bolts out is totally fine, just curious b/c of DL change. Sounds like you are on top of that by adjusting string or cable to get to your preferred length. Awesome.
You can get away with shooting that stiffer arrow, and many pro shooters and hunters actually shoot on the stiff side...
How are you dropping poundage? By turning the limb bolts down or using something like the Mathews SW cams? Are you shooting the same exact arrows, too?
I ask because turning down your limb bolts can change your tune, and it will certainly change your string geometry (draw length, exact d-loop...
I'm reading Work Clean: The Life-Changing Power of Mise en Place.
After college, I cooked a little while in some nice restaurants around the country. Learned some organizational skills and workflows that I carry with me to this day. This book is a good refresher on working clean -- lots of good...
I use an old dental floss container. Free, available, white in case it drops.
The Bendable lanyard looks cool. But a little spends for what it is agreed…
I switched to 15” front / 10” rear this year and won’t look back.
For the Atlas, which is so big, you’d want the mechanical advantage of long stabs to see real effects.
Overall, you end up with a heavier bow, but it’s not that hard to manage in the woods (and I hunt the Oregon coast, which...
Beautiful bow. I grew up in Columbia, SC and bought my first compound at Jeffery’s archery shop. Father and son worked there and one of them made this bow. Probably Tom the son.
The dad passed a few years ago but was still killing deer into his late 80s and 90s rumor had it. He was a legend...
Heart and tongue.
Both make excellent fatty tacos.
My last bull, I corned the tongue with a traditional beef brisket cure and made elk tongue reubens. Super fatty, flavorful piece.
I see a lot of guys get lazy and leave these cuts in the field. That’s changing somewhat in the past ten years...
Unless you are rich, tungsten is a non-starter. It's like $6/shell for all tungsten loads. Maybe even more now. Okay for turkey, but for ducks it's overkill.
Read the DaveinAz blog for all you ever need to know about this choice. What's happening to you in the field is consistent with his...
Haha, I like that comparison.
I was being somewhat facetious, but somewhat serious as well about the bowels being the last judge.
My view is that the human history of eating meat -- or eating anything -- is a lot more nuanced than the coin toss "it's good vs it's not good." With meat, there...
10% grass fed beef fat in deer/elk ground if the butcher grinds it. He's got a good source of fat that is clean, non-oxidized, and like I said grass fed, which is important to our family.
Pure elk/deer if I grind at home. Just cook with more ghee or olive oil if I know it's on the lean side...
Agreed -- buy a few boxes and find what patterns well.
Other considerations are cost, the size of ducks/geese you want to kill, and average shot distance.
For the OP, 3" steel #1 or #2 would be hard to beat. #2 if you think you'll shoot more ducks, and #1 if you'll shoot more geese.
Point...
This is a fantastic thread, and thank you to everyone for sharing ideas and experience.
Ive had a big upright freezer go out about 6 times over the past ten years, and I’ve been lucky each time to catch it but not smart enough to mitigate the future risk by getting one of these temp timers...