Leo

Guess that means you let her go! This is no lie. This is what happened to me. We were fishing a saltwater tourney one day. I was doing the first mate gig. We got into a big group of schoolie dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi's) I slung a 5lbr into the boat and grabbed another rod with a fish on. The schoolie spazed out and snagged me in the top of my achilles tendon with the stinger treble hook on the rig he was on. I had a treble in my achilles tendon and a frantic 5lb fish on the other hook in the rig. There was just six inches of wire between the hook the fish was on and the hook in me. I was screaming for the pliers while that fish flipped and yanked and yanked and yanked. Before Capt Dave could dig the pliers out of his toolbox the fish managed to yank hard enough to break the hook!. Only 1/8" of it was visible above the skin. It broke right near the shank of the treble. I landed the other dolphinfish. We boxed both of them. Capt Dave says, "That's it we're done." I said, "Give me those pliers." Yep, I know. Crazy. I pulled out the hook, cleaned it with a septic tube. (The kind you break open that are full of iodine. Yeah, they sting!) Put a band-aid on the wound and said let's keep fishing. We came in second.

If you're working a mature and very vocal bird, usually jakes don't come in. They will, occasionally but usually they don't. When I'm blind calling. Which is necessary during a gobbling lull. Jakes show up frequently.

You also have to deal with pigs and that's not as desirable as some may imagine. The flatter terrain of central Florida has relatively zero terrain based pinch points and funnels. Similar to where I hunt in South Carolina. Most of the funnels are vegetation related. Specifically where one kind of vegetation starts and another ends. IE. Planted Pines end and hardwood starts. Often deer follow the zone in between the two types of vegetation. They follow that transition zone. It's a good place to look for "rub lines". If you can find where one type gets near a creek sometimes this forms a "soft" funnel. Sometimes there is a crossing there. Sometimes not. But these places are often activity hubs where deer go through.

Some bowhunters suffer from what I like to refer to as "equipmentitis". They try everything new as soon as it comes out trying to "purchase" better skills. They never master a setup because they are simply changing it too often. It's good for archery businesses but hard on archers. I went through that phase myself early on. When I finally dug in and stuck with a setup a couple seasons. It helped a lot. It sounds to me like you have a setup that's plenty adequate. master it first, get some harvests under your belt with it and learn from experience its true limits. When you do that there will be no question in your mind when you decide to upgrade. Because by then you'll know yourself what it is you feel you need to improve. You'll know what you want and what you need to improve. You'll enjoy and appreciate an upgrade so much more. When you can personally recognize the improvements the upgrade offers you, you feel much better about it.

Someone should tell them to just follow one around with a cup and wait until it hikes a leg then hold the cup under the stream!

Is there no bowhunting where you live? That will make it harder to select a hunting bow because "try before you buy" is the best advice I can give you. Purchasing one and having it shipped to you is a risky proposition. What works great for me may not for you.

That's a darn good choice. I like the Gulp sinking minnows maybe a little better. You can do all the above with them plus if you reel them fast enough and you can walk them like a Zara Spook. But for big Bass the 3/4oz Rat'l Trap has been my most consistent producer.

If you use that speed (3000fps) and BC (.425) for the 150grn 270 MRX and your software uses the "Flat Base" drag model you will indeed get about 500Ft-lbs at 1000yds. With a boat tail drag model which I believe is more appropriate for the MRX. You'll get almost double that figure.

For a 140grn bullet with a BC of .31 about 700 ft-lbs. With a BC of .5 it could be double that. I don't shoot that far but I've spent time on the range with guys who do and can shoot amazing distances with astonishing consistency. Personally, I can't. So I don't. But I do believe it's possible. So I won't judge based on my own personal capabilities. Happylilcuss, Nightforce has an excellent reputation with the long range guys. The Brownings also do as well. 7mm might have been a more prudent bore size choice. There are quite a few high BC bullets to choose from in 7mm. The .270 bore IMHO is limited by comparison.

If it's inside 55yds I can pull the trigger with confidence. Bang! Dead bird! I've patterned, I've shot birds this far I know my gun will do it. I prefer 30 to 40 yards but what I prefer has nothing to do with what actually happens. I've gotten them in much much closer. I really DON'T like a 10yd shot at a gobbler with a shotgun. I can do it but the results are UGLY. When every single pellet and the wad itself connects with the bird, it's messy, nuff said. For the true 50 yd hangers the only way you're getting that bird is with a gun that will do it. I've had more than enough experiences with these types of birds to have this hammered into my head with concrete emphasis. If I can get him closer I do, but if it's one of those rascals that hangs and hangs and hangs and hangs... I gotta surprise for him!

Ruth, I'm going to be honest. I know you've been hunting real real hard this season. But frankly I suspected you were jumping from place to place too much and this would sadly leave you birdless this year. There were countless posts of I'm going to hunt here and then I hunted there instead. Sometimes it was even, "I overslept!". It was driving me nuts. I thought to myself, stay there Ruth, figure out what's happening, the sign is there. Trust your eyes if your ears tell you nothing. I was trying my best to help and pulling for you the whole way. And just when I think that you're gonna admit defeat this year. You post a success story. Holy crap! I'm happy for you! Now my question for you is this. What did that bird teach you? They all teach you something and what you've learned can be used later. What did you learn? I'm interested. And a heartfelt congrats again!

Prayers Sent!

mean to moan

First bear hunt? Dude you don't even know. This experience could open a brand new world for you. Get ready to have your heart racing at record speed. I really hope it happens for you!

I use the Bohning Instant Gel. I let it cure at least 1 1/2 minutes before removing it from the jig. Cyanoacrylate based adhesives do "Frost" the fletching areas of your arrows unless you are extremely careful. Even then it's darn hard to prevent the frosted look. Personally, I don't care. You can clean it up with acetone but I don't usually bother. Pretty arrows don't float my boat. The Bohning gel is quite tough when it finally sets (24hrs). I squirt a puddle of the adhesive into a paper plate and then apply it to the fletching base with a toothpick. It takes very little gel to get the fletching to stick. Just wet with it is absolutely enough.

I find the Blazers to be the toughest fletchings I've ever used. Fletch them helical and they really stabilize well.

It's one of those things that can be true but isn't as necessary as it once was. I'll try to explain. Back in the day when "Prong Rests" were king. Many archers could only get decent fletching clearance if they stuck with straight fletched arrows. With straight fletched arrows that didn't spin in flight, lining up the blades absolutely made a difference. When the arrow flies without spinning the fletching corrects for "blade planing" drift only if the blades are aligned. So there is in fact some valid reasoning for doing this in that case. Fixed two blade and four blade heads were often hopeless with straight fletched arrows. Three blade heads took the market by storm as being more accurate, and they were. Nowadays, with dropaways and "bristle" rests. Fletching clearance isn't the challenge it once was. You can put a good helical on your fletchings and really get that arrow spinning. The spinning action nullifies the need for lining up the blades. It corrects and stabilizes the arrow. If you got an arrow spinning fast enough in flight it actually wouldn't even need fletchings. It would stabilize just like a bullet.

Thanks for your patient explanation. Seems like the tag thing is a significant part of the challenge. Species, units, season... makes my head spin! My hats off to you guys that deal with that. Just the tag part alone would leave me wondering if I did everything right. That's why I'm not too proud to ask for helpful explanations. Lots of important and serious rules. I take local game rules seriously, primarily because being LEGAL is important but also out of respect for residents who have to put up with starry eyed non-residents invading their state. I feel it is absolutely crucial understanding this before venturing forward into an out of state hunt.

Don't get stage fright Buckee!!!

"So simple a lizard can do it!"

You did good! That's a great size for eating too. That's the kind you roast practically whole slowly all day and have a "Pig Pickin!" Lip smacking GOOD!!!

Just occasional purrs and clucks if you are trying to simulate a flock. Yelping and cutting is for real hot gobblers and you want to simulate a single excited hen. This tactic doesn't mix with the flock tactic.

Helically fletched Blazers are great for just about any point flight. Blazers are actually quite good for whisker biscuits because they are a tough fletching. Of course tuning the bow is a prime concern. The Martin Saber has plenty of oomph at 65# to work with the rocket stricknines.

More good info! Thank you! But I still don't completely understand. Are the left over tags not available over the counter after the drawing? I'm not trying to be a Smart-A this is a serious question. If I came to Colorado seeking left over tags where would I have to go to get one.

Some times a flock of hen decoys will do the trick. Beg and borrow at least eight. They need to be all hens and only ONE should be head up and have her looking AWAY from where you expect them to come from. The rest should appear to be feeding. You can call but give no indication whatsoever you hear them answer. Do not answer them. The key is they see the hens and start to feel ignored. A whole flock with heads up is on alert. This sometimes hangs them up. So don't do that. Watch wild flocks usually hens take turns being sentries when they are feeding. Nothing is guaranteed. But I got a gobbler that was locked up on an opposite roadside doing this a few years ago. He flew over a paved highway to get to the dekes.