Leo

Re: shotgun barrel length For me the longer barrels are easier to shoot more accurately. The longer sighting plane really helps. Also although I keep hearing barrel length has little effect on pattern, it absolutely seems to me the longer barrels pattern better too. In my opinion, if you're used to and like the results of the long barrel, you won't be very happy with a shorty.

Re: Minimum arrow weight for bear?? You've got enough K.E. that won't be an issue. The problem with lighter arrows is they are more likely to be deflected and turned by a strong bone than a heavier arrow. That means quartering shots can be iffy with light arrows. As long as you're using a stoudt broadhead and only take broadside shots, you should be OK.

Re: I, too, just got the call... You gotta love that low profile self grip. Mid-wrist and essentially torqueless. Very very nice. IMO, been a long time coming on todays commercial bows. Hoyt had some cast in the riser years ago (Fastflites). Wish they still did. I don't particularly care for "modern" fat grips.

Re: Turning GT Hunters into XT\'s?? The straightness spec is based on a certain span length. I don't know what it is for GTs but on some other brands it is 29" Honestly, the straightness spec means very little without the gage span length. Anyway, shortening the arrows below that span length will in effect make them "straighter". Arrows with a longer gage span will benefit more from being cutdown than arrows with a short gage span. I agree with VT the arrows are simply sorted from the same production run. Same materials in those arrows you're just paying for sorting. But please keep in mind that also means the likelyhood that you will get a couple of really straight arrows in a batch of the lower grade ones is extremely low. The super straight ones have already been sorted out.

Re: Weirdest/funniest kill [ QUOTE ] I have a video hosted by Jim Shockey that contains nothing but home videos on it. ( Can't think of the name right now) but it shows some guys hunting turkeys with a bow. The guy shoots the turkey and the turkey takes off and flies right into the pop-up blind with the poor guy. Hilarious. [/ QUOTE ] Now that's funny right there. I don't care who ya are! I had a similar experience with a duck that suddenly revived in the cab of my pickup truck while we were on the highway driving home.

Re: My precious and beautiful wife, Linda, passed God bless her soul. Prayers sent. What an enormously huge tragedy.

Re: Prayers please for the deserving... Prayers sent!!! I truly hate to hear this.

Re: Off we go.... I'm going tomorrow. Gonna try real hard to get my buddy harvesting one on film. If I get one too, that'll be the grace of God. Good luck everyone that's going. I need everyones' well wishes also.

Re: Slow Shower drain help? If a plumbers snake doesn't pull out a plug, that's not good. If you are on a septic system the tank may need to be pumped out or the incoming T-pipe is clogged. There are also breather pipes that come through your roof. If those are clogged that will slow things down too.

Re: Forum Member Tragedy. That's a serious injury. He's lucky he didn't bleed to death. It can happen oh so easy. I won't judge. I had my close call and luckily was not hurt. I was cleaning a shotgun for someone. He brought it over and asked for help. I took it out of the case. Screwed off the magazine cap and when I pulled the barrel off a live shell dropped out of the chamber. I was ready to wrap that barrel around that dudes head I can tell ya. It never occurred to me someone might accidently put a loaded gun in a case. I'm absolute fanatic about checking after that experience. Even on my own guns! Hope he's doing better soon. Sounds like he'll need lots of physical therapy.

Re: Goldtip Question [ QUOTE ] I decided this year I'm going to give carbon arrows a chance. That and a $60 certificate from basspro. Anyway, Goldtip web site recommends I get 7595 shaft based on my pull and broadhead weight, basspro recommends the 5575 shaft, so who do I follow? Just want to make sure I get right thing. Again and as always, any info is greatly appreciated Thanks [/ QUOTE ] So the retailer is telling you different than the manufacturer? Will Basspro give you new arrows for free if they are wrong? Don't hold your breath. I gotta tell ya, I'm a little suspicious when retailers contradict manufacturers. Especially when the worst thing that can happen to them is you need to buy more arrows from them. If you have entered everything correctly in Goldtip's arrow selector, go with what they suggest

There's been a lot of buzz about maximum distance lately. I thought to be even handed we ought to discuss the other end of things. There are additional factors you need to worry about with taking very close shots that are rarely discussed.

Re: Sling for a Browning BPS.&.Question about anot I agree especially on a BPS the sling cap is the way to go. But watch out for one thing. Quite a few of the swivel caps only have a spring washer holding the swivel stud in the cap. I'm speaking from experience here, these DO NOT last!!! A gunsmith can thread the stud and peen a jam nut on there to fix it. If that's the only kind you can find, I suggest you get that done. Otherwise you run the risk of your shotgun sling letting go suddenly. Trust me that's not a good feeling.

Re: 2\" vs 1.5\" Blazer vanes? In my experience, shorter fletchings generally work better with faster arrows. Your actual arrow speed will play an important part in whether this will work for you or not. Fletch a couple with the shorty's and see how they do. Since, you're using mech's a fieldpoint fletch has a shot at working. One will be better than the other. But I can't tell you which one. Gonna have to try it yourself, sorry.

Re: bow hunting Africa Zebra, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeast, and Bushbuck. Very doable in one 10day hunt Probably end up costing you less than a single animal hunt for one big moose, one big elk or one big brown bear. There are no DYI hunts in South Africa but you will need all the help you can get. All four of those are very tough for different reasons to get with a bow. Zebra is probably the number one in difficulty. They ain't just striped ponies!!! Spotting and stalking one is practically impossible with a bow. Zebras are incredibly savvy survivors. Probably one of the most highly under rated game animals to harvest with a bow in the world. Think all day long blind sits. Even then, you may not score. I know a guy who has tried to harvest one with a bow three times already and not succeeded. He's an extremely accomplished archer. I couldn't get one either. Trust me, they're very wild. That's why Ted Nugent is so infatuated with Zebras. He knows. Bushbuck is the 2nd hardest. They have to be spot and stalked. They are extremely territorial and you have to go after them. Plus, even though they are about the size of an average southern whitetail. They are downright mean little boogers. Bushbucks have killed people. They may attack wounded or not. Very intense little dudes. 3rd place goes to Blue Wildebeast. In a group, very difficult to spot and stalk. They'll get out in the open where you have no hidden approach. They visit waterholes infrequently and don't stick around long. Finally, the Waterbuck, not tough to hunt but real tough to find a good one. Getting a Waterbuck over 30" is not an easy trophy to get. Most places won't let you shoot one that is smaller than 29" You will bounce from waterhole to waterhole trying to find one big enough. There will typically only be one big Waterbuck per waterhole as they are territorial.

Re: 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser The 6.5mm 140gr bullets will be a lot more resistant to wind than 120grnrs will be for long shots. Speed and flat shooting mean nothing if you miss left or right, it's still a miss. Trajectory is repeatable and range is measureable. Wind isn't so easy

Re: STS Products I put an STS on my bow over a year ago. Really really like it. It's important to take your string silencers off when you put on an STS. The extra weight silencers put on a string really take away from the STS's effectiveness. So much so, when you take them off, you won't miss them. Plus you get an added speed bonus

Re: If you had $3500.... That's just Micheal Jackson's politically correct way of saying he doesn't want to talk to anybody

Re: who shoots a bps? [ QUOTE ] My BPS doesn't shoot any Winny load worth a Hoot. [/ QUOTE ] Interesting, Winchester Supremes are one of the best patterning loads out of my BPS. Probably both gun and choke dependent honestly. I don't know who made my turkey choke. And I do mean who. It was some custom job some guy made in a shop. I picked it up at a gun store when I was on the road. 10yrs later, it's still working

Re: Homemade Lighted Nock video Please read! Making one of these nocks wrong could get you hurt! Be very careful if you are drilling nocks to assemble these. The nock is your only connection between arrow and bowstring. If the nock breaks after you release the arrow, it's as bad as a dry fire!!! I've only had one nock break on me in 20yrs. The experience is permanently etched in my mind. So trust me that's something you want to avoid. I was extremely lucky in that case but it did scare the heck out of me and gave me a good forearm raspberry. The raspberry was a mixed blessing, the bowstring catching my forearm probably provided enough resistance to protect the limbs. It took three weeks to heal (yeah it was bad). This video shows the guy drilling completely through the nock. Purposely weakening the nock where it needs to be strongest. That gave me shivers!!! It's simply NOT a good idea to weaken your nocks!!!

Re: Okapi As far as I know they can't be hunted. Here's another WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!! animal. Saiga from Kazakhstan

Re: How far is to far ? IME, you don't really want fast to shoot accurately at long range. You want a high ballistic coefficient with the heaviest bullet matched to the twist of your rifle you can shoot. The way ballistic coefficients work some of the heavier bullets that start out slower actually end up traveling faster at long range than lighter bullets that were launched at higher speed. The heavier bullets with the higher ballistic coefficient loose velocity much more slowly. Plus the heavier better BC bullets are less effected by wind. Go to Federal Cartridges website and compare the down range ballistics of a bunch of loads. Most of the 30caliber long range shooters shoot either a 180gr or a 200gr bullet Practice and shoot the heck out of that gun, see what it will do.

Re: Help with movies .MOV files are Apple Quicktime files. Movie maker won't deal with them. If you wanna use Movie Maker, you need to convert the files to .AVI first.

Re: Ratchet Straps on Treestands The strap material itself (usually nylon) is very sensitive to UV light. Sunlight breaks down the material and weakens it severely. About 6 months in direct sunlight can completely do one in. Lots of stands are in places direct sunlight rarely gets too. Those straps seem to last longer. In any case, you should not trust a strap that has been out there longer than 6 months.

Re: Africa [ QUOTE ] i think africa would be a blast there so many animals to hunt [/ QUOTE ] It is! These animals not only look different from each other, they act different. They all have different territories and habits. The best advice I can give anyone who is even considering trying a trip to africa is make up your mind which animals you want the most BEFORE you go. Also prioritize those animals based on the outfitters advice on which is the most difficult. Go for the harder ones first.