New Year "New Season"

[les welch]

Wow that's pretty cool! Then I might have the second one, and the biggest! lol

 

[les welch]

At the arrow's impact I knew the shot was pretty low. I grabbed the camera arm and swung the camera and focused as the bear paused for a couple of seconds 20 yards later. As I got him zoomed in he took off for the dark swamp. I followed with the camera and their was total silence. I stayed on the last area where I heard him, waiting for the death moan. I've heard this on 6 other bears and expected I would again. To mu surprise I didn't. After giving him a few minutes and nothing I knew it wouldn't be coming. I zoomed the camera back out and panned the bait. I decided to get down and go look for him. I reached over to turn the camera off and bring it with me, and then I realized I SCREWED UP!!! Although I turned the camera on, and checked the frame multiple times, I either double punched record, or never punched it all! NOTHING ON FILM.

 

[robby denning]

NOTHING ON FILM.

That always sucks! Like a punch in the gut.



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[vlad]

looks to me like you had one hell of a hunt. good job

 

[les welch]

That always sucks! Like a punch in the gut.



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Robby, most people think I'm nuts when I tell them that I would rather have not tagged a bear but filmed some instead of getting one and not capturing it on film.........it was a terrible feeling when I realized what had happened.

 

[les welch]

I can't even explain how I felt once I realized what had happened. Pure deflation. From the high of seeing and arrowing a good bear and accomplishing something that was really important to me; to the feeling of failure once I realized my error. Hard to believe something so simple got messed up! I did all the hardwork, and forgot the easiest thing. At the moment and for the next hour after the recovery, sitting in the tree my dejection was unbelievably high. For awhile I let it ruin what really happened, I let it push all of the fun and the reality of what I had been doing to the backburner.


......NOTHING ON FILM, it was like I had been socked in the gut. Fuming mad at myself, but I knew the shot was good. Another of my goals was to see how these Iron Will Outfitters heads would perform. Time to suck up the suck of my error and go find my bear.

Within a few minutes of the shot I was standing over the glowing Nockturnal and bloodied arrow. As I put it in my quiver, I couldn't help but smile. I had just fletched this arrow with new vanes, bought brand new lighted nocks, and spun this razor sharp broadhead. This setup was coming out of my new Halon 32 like a mini fighter jet. For months I had been shooting. New bow, new broadheads, the Ironmind shooting course, testing new gear. I had already filmed Hunter shoot his first archery bear. I was basically 4 miles from the nearest road in Northern Manitoba and I wasn't at work........in that moment I realized I was kind of living the dream. I nocked another arrow and PRESSED THE RECORD button. It was time to find my Manitoba bruin.

At the first bound there was blood, it then opened up and was spraying a good trail. I followed it right to where he stopped for the couple seconds. Plenty of blood. A couple more steps and I could see a black mass lying ahead. 25 yards from the bait, after a 35 yard run, lay my black bear. The Iron Will passed through both lungs and the center of the heart. This guy was dead almost instantly.

5 minutes after the shot I was touching his long beautiful coat. Very nice mature boar. I knew I had 3 hours before my guide would be able to get in and get me, so I recreated a video of what happened and then just sat back in my treestand and enjoyed everything around me.

 

[les welch]

My personal best bear from WI had been a 252# fall sow. This boar was better than that as a spring bear. He squared 6' and has a nice head.


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[orionsbrother]

Congrats Les! Don't let the record button overshadow your hunt. You'll get the video next time. Heck, you could even make the case that it was strategic. "Hunter and I HAVE to go back for another hunt. I didn't get the video."

Perfect video could screw everything up.

Looking forward to your next chapter.

 

[robby denning]

Hijacking your thread here Les (nice bear btw)

Les wears a lot of footwear as evidenced by his latest Rokslide review on the Crispi Wyoming Boot. We just published it and wanted you guys who are in the market for an uninsulated, easy-to-break-in boot to see this review (it's also in our Footwear forum):

Review: Crispi Wyoming Boot

 

[les welch]

So Hunter snagged his release on his peep 30 minutes before the gun went off this morning before the Train To Hunt WI event. We were able to do a little surgery on the Stoke and he's sitting in first place for the teen division.

I apparently penetrated far enough to hit one of the steel rebar stakes in the target. We went 11 targets without realizing it was an arrow problem. It then blew up. When I went to my number 2 arrow I 10 ringed out the last 5 targets Challenge course and meat pack to come.


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[robby denning]

So Hunter snagged his release on his peep 30 minutes before the gun went off this morning before the Train To Hunt WI event. We were able to do a little surgery on the Stoke and he's sitting in first place for the teen division.

I apparently penetrated far enough to hit one of the steel rebar stakes in the target. We went 11 targets without realizing it was an arrow problem. It then blew up. When I went to my number 2 arrow I 10 ringed out the last 5 targets Challenge course and meat pack to come.


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Can you take photos at the event? Post 'em up


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[les welch]

Can you take photos at the event? Post 'em up


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Yes. Lots coming.


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[les welch]

I think this is a cool picture. Second and third place are already up there, and when Kenton called Hunter's name for first place the smile and hand sticking out immediately are pretty cool. Totally summed up what the day was really about.

Hunter actually had the best overall numbers and was the only competitor to shoot perfect arrows for the entire competition.


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[robby denning]

Very cool pic.


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[Bill V]

I think this is a cool picture. Second and third place are already up there, and when Kenton called Hunter's name for first place the smile and hand sticking out immediately are pretty cool. Totally summed up what the day was really about.

Hunter actually had the best overall numbers and was the only competitor to shoot perfect arrows for the entire competition.


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Wow, that's impressive! Way to go Hunter!

 

[les welch]

He sprained an ankle earlier in the week. This had him a little slower on the running portion, but he was able to make up time in the physical challenges and his shooting was on. Mathews, Kifaru, and MTN OPS the whole way.


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[les welch]

Now if only the old man could follow suit.....

As any of you following the thread know, I have had Target Panic struggles for the last 15 years. I started the Ironmind shooting course a couple months ago. With as hectic as my life has been, I haven't been able to finish it. The strides I've made however have been amazing. Although there are some timed shots, and we would be shooting under high pressure, I elected to compete with the back tension and follow my program.

The morning started out with a 20 target 3d Course. It wasn't timed per say, but for every point you dropped, you were added time. My first 5 arrows were great. On that 5th arrow there was a pretty loud crack. There was no brush in the way, it was wide open. It scored great and we couldn't find anything amiss? We weren't sure what the noise was.

Wind was blowing anywhere from 15-30 mph throughout the shoot. Well my next 10 arrows really started to become erratic. Sometimes I was just missing the heart ring, sometimes I was just missing the lung ring. It was hard shooting. There was uneven ground, some kneeling, very windy conditions, hot, bugs, presssure. Yet I felt really comfortable. I was starting to get frustrated. I was going through my routine, I was executing my shot. I wasn't getting the results. Arrow 15 hit the target with a very loud crack. Upon removal the FMJ was bent towards the shape of a J, and was cracked/broken. This was an antelope in the wide open with no chance of hitting anything, and there were no other arrows in the target. The only thing we can figure is that on my 5th arrow when we heard the noise, I impacted something inside the target.....maybe a broadhead, or astray target conduit? Whatever it was was enough to eventually cause this catastrophic failure. Well I switched to my #2 arrow and cleaned the course from there.

I was extremely happy to see that it wasn't me! This did dig me a hole of 11 minutes going into the challenge course and meat pack. It would be time to see what I could do and if this beat up body would respond.

 

[les welch]

First challenge was a 75' tire drag followed by 200 yard sprint and then shoot an arrow.


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[les welch]

I trained with a 2.5" battle rope and weighted sled thinking it would be better. Strength wise it probably was. This rope was much smaller and harder to grab, and the weight was much lighter. It was harder to keep up to the tire coming forward! I was headed into the first sprint tied for last in the heat.


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[les welch]

Attack on the uphill and maintain on the downs. That would be the last time I followed anyone for the rest of the day.


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