SaskSniper

thats a sweet mount. love that blonde marking

09 Martin Firecat Pro X Bow Easton ST Epic arrows 100 grain 2 blade Rage mechanical broadheads

2 blade Rage expandables

I used the 2 blade Rage's on my bear, was veryyyy impressed with them! He only went 40 yards. With that 2" diameter cut its like a sword haha. My uncle is switching over to them after seeing what it did to my bear.

thats awesome, always great to see more people getting involved in this great sport

thanks again guys. arkanas boy, ya it's the same bow. but I am only drawing around 27 inches and about 52 pounds, those two dont exactly equal fast speeds haha. but fast enough apparently i suppose i could go to easton light speeds and do some other things to gain some speed but I'm feelin pretty good about my rig right now. Think I will start maybe exercising and then I can crank the bow up as I feel more comfortable.

we didnt weigh him but he would have been over 300lbs I'm guessing. a little more than me haha

haha actually it is a 09 Martin Firecat Pro-X

Hey guys well as some of you know I was going bear hunting to try and get my first archery kill. Well God truly blessed me on Saturday night. My uncle and I were in the tree stand sitting at the bait by about 5:30pm and were ready to sit until dark. I had made it up in my mind that no matter the size of the bear that I would take a shot. Size didnt matter to me, I wanted to get my first archery kill. So we sat there and thoughts of leaving were starting to run through our heads as the day was almost done. My uncle then said, "this is about the time when your mind starts playing tricks on you and everything looks like a bear." then he said, "wait! that is a bear!" I couldn't see him yet and the heart was starting to pump. Then I could see a nice black bear coming down the trail towards our bait. I took down my bow and tried to wait patiently for the bear to present me with a shot. He was starting to get close when there was a crash off in the brush farther behind our bait. It startled the bear and he took off. He stopped within sight and started to cautiously wonder back. As he did we spotted another bear making his way in from the other direction. It was a nice reddish brown one and when the black guy saw him he took off towards the brown guy and they both disappeared into the brush. I was hit with a sense of disappointment as light was fading fast and I thought I wouldnt get another chance that day. Just as I was thinking that here comes the black guy again and straight for the bait! But wait....whats that behind him...another blackie and he is bigger! They were both coming on the same trail, the smaller one first and the bigger guy a few yards behind. The smaller one made it to the one barrel and the bigger guy hadnt quite made it there when he stopped perfectly broadside at 20 yards. As my uncle video taped he said, " do you have a shot?" I slowly started to draw back my bow, settled my 20 yard pin behind his shoulder and tapped the trigger on my release, sending my Easton ST Epic equipped with a 2 blade Rage blazing towards the bear. With a smack I hit him perfectly and both bears took off down another trail. A few seconds later we could hear a crash followed by a moan and some gurgling sounds. I think I just killed my first bear and made my first archery kill! As we sat there and discussed what had just transpired the other smaller black guy looped around and stood about 80 yards away huffing and puffing. Let's just say he was not a happy camper. We decided we had better get out of there and come back in the morning. Going into the dark brush with this other testy bear didnt excite me too much. My uncle got of the tree stand first with the back up shotgun and asked where the bear was. He hadnt moved. So I passed my uncle his bow and looked back....he was gone..."where is he?" my uncle asked....I didnt know so I quickly descended from the stand and we headed back to the truck in record time. So I would have to wait till the next morning to see my bear if he was indeed done. I felt very confident in the shot. We shot a 3d archery competition earlier that day and lets say if the bear was a 3d target I thought I 10x'ed him. After a sleepless night we headed back to the stand at first light. Walking down the path he took, the blood trail started fast. That trail however was not needed, there a mere 40 yards away from where I shot him was my first black bear! A gorgeous blackie and not only that...he looked big! So we loaded him up, took pictures and headed for home. We skinned him out and saw that my arrow hit him perfectly and man that Rage did the job. My uncle is a taxidermist and has done a lot of scoring, so when we were done he scored my bear. He went 19 and 5/16's, my first bear makes Pope and Young! I am so stoked haha, a trip I will never forget. Here are some pics.

yep my uncle will have the "big stick" with him......a 12 gauge haha

great thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it now I will just need a bear to try this setup on. wish me luck! haha

Hey guys, well I'm going black bear hunting next week so I decided to head to the range and fling a few arrows. While I was there I thought I would go through the chrony to see what I was putting out with the bow. I have to say it was less than I thought it would be, 242 fps. Now I'm not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination. 5'7", 130lbs, 28" draw length and pulling about 52lbs. So I turned my bow up a bit and was putting out 252lbs but I just wasnt as comfortable holding with the added lbs so I put it back. I do feel confident in my shooting/accuracy; I'm just wondering if I will have enough kinetic energy. I put my specs in a kinetic energy calculator and this is what it showed: 400grain arrow + 242fps = 52.03 ft.lbs Will that be enough? Thanks guys

craig mack, no I didnt get the martin girl....dang I think I got ripped off haha. thanks guys for the well wishes. now I think I just have to pick up a good quiver. Well I have to get some arrows cut too, I don't have too many. Was thinking maybe st epic's or the axis series. Any suggestions? Something that would be a good hunting and 3d arrow. Also I used to shoot muzzy's but I'm thinking of going to expandables. I am thinkin either the 2 blade Rage or maybe Rocket Wolverines.

sweet pics. I love coming out to my parents place at the lake. Every so often they get a few mulies coming in the yard.

They just opened up Sunday hunting here in Sask. This will be our first year with it. I know for myself working shift work, I think its great. As well for all the kids out there that we are trying to introduce into the outdoors. Most of them obviously only get to hunt on the weekends. Now they will get another day to get out there.

thanks guys. bluelund79 I paid $525 canadian for the bow itself, so not too bad actually. It is kinda weird because on the Martin website if you go to the online store; the bow costs $630. I'm not sure if they marked the bow wrong or what. So I may have accidently gotten a deal haha. As far as add ons, I put a new 3 pin cobra sight on it. Used to have a 5 pin trophy ridge on my old bow but for myself I found 5 pins a little much. Since going back to 3 pins I can definitely see an improvement in my shooting. I might throw one more pin in it though. Four pins would be fine too I think and that way i can set them at 20, 30, 40 and 50. Also threw on the limbsaver stabilizer and a couple limbsaver string leeches. But ya if you have the chance I would definitely suggest giving one a shot.

Finally I upgraded from the old Martin Jaguar Magnum bow. Went to the local shop where a friend of my works and he let me try out the new 09 Martin Firecat Pro X. Obviously it was a huge difference from my old bow haha. So nice and smooth, quiet, no shock....could immediately picture myself getting my first bow kill with it. I used to shoot quite a bit when I lived out at my uncles place and helped him out at his taxidermy shop but since I moved back home I havent been shooting as much. We used to go to quite a few 3d shoots which I really enjoyed. Never was a competitor with those pros haha but loved it never the less. I never went to win. Went for the enjoyment and the practise it provided. Back at home here I didnt really know anyone here to go with. But since I got the new bow, I got a membership to the local club and have started shooting again. Feels great, definitely missed it. This fall I'm hoping I can get out and go after some whitetails and mulies with the new unit. Close by my Dads' place here I saw about a 180 class typical mulie that I really want to try and track down this fall if he is still around. But I would absolutely love to take any animal with my bow. Can't imagine the rush that would provide. Being able to hunt with a bow just means I get to spend more time in Gods' glorious creation. Here are some specs on the bow: Speed: 335-345 FPS (70#, 30”, 350 gr.) Let-Off: 80% Draw Weights: 60#, 70# Draw Lengths: 26”-30” Brace Height: 7” Weight: 3.55 lbs. Axle Length: 32 1/4”

oh really i was looking into those as well. might have to check them out further, thats a decent price.

thanks for the suggestions guys, we will see, maybe in the new year after all this Christmas shopping and what not haha. think ill prob go out a few times to see if I really enjoy it before I buy a new rifle. I'll just use the 30-06 for the first time or two. dont want to spend all that money if it isnt for me haha

thanks for the suggestions guys, anyone tried a .204 before?

here is one of the rifles i am considering, a Savage Model 25 Lightweight Varminter in a 223 rem http://www.savagearms.com/25model_LightweightVarminter.htm

Hey guys, I have been hunting for quite a few years now and am always looking for new opportunities. I was thinking of starting to do some coyote hunting. My main hunting rifle is a Tikka T3 Lite 30-06, too big for coyotes if I am going to keep the hide. I have been looking at some rifles on the net but I was wondering, what do you guys think is the ultimate coyote caliber? I was thinking a 22-250 or a .223 but I dont know much about these calibers. I would like something that can pull off those long distance shots. Also if you guys can suggest some rifles that won't break the bank but are quality firearms, i would appreciate it. thanks guys.

looks like i am getting him mounted too. my uncle is a taxidermist that I used to work for and when he asked me what to do with the antlers, i just asked him to cut them off for me. My room mate at home isnt a fan of having animals on the wall and at my parents place my Dad is still trying to get his own on the wall since their move lol. So I dont have a place for them right now. But he said that he would mount him and keep it in his shop till I found a place for him. So that sounded good to me. Ill try and post pics when he gets him done sometime in the new year here.

thanks guys, I always feel sad when the season comes to an end but at least its a good ending haha

Hey guys, well I just got back from hunting and thought I would share some pics and a brief story. This year I just got a new job so I didnt have the time to hunt like I have in some previous year. For the 08 season I was limited to an evening hunt and then all of Saturday. So on Friday night I sat in a blind on the edge of a field. First thing to come in was a small fork horn which provided some entertainment as a doe and a couple little ones came in. Lets just say, once the fork horn saw that doe he took off after her. But he was rejected and slowly went back into the brush. With about 40 minutes left of legal shooting light, I could see a nice 130 class 4x4 making his way down the edge of the brush. I'm not sure how many times I had the crosshairs on him but I also kept thinking that there was still a lot of light left. In my experience I dont know how many bucks I've had come in within the last 5 minutes. So I set my rifle back down and watched him for about half an hour and then he left. I was thinkin I might be kicking myself later considering my limited hunting time. The next morning we went for a drive and saw a few 120 class bucks and one 130 class but he was in some cat tails and had cattle behind him, so no shooting there. The day previous a friend of mine asked myself and some other relatives/friends to come push some bush with them on Saturday afternoon; I had not dont the bush pushing thing for a few years as I have done more blind hunting; but I thought it would be fun to go just to see some old friends and I didnt have much planned for the afternoon anyway. Saturday afternoon we headed over to my friends' place to meet and we all headed out. The first bush they pushed had a couple probably 130 class bucks come out but after a few shots they were still no worse for wear haha. Although nothing hit the dirt....other than maybe our bullets...it did get the blood churnin. So the next bush I was set on the corner of a field where I was told I could pretty much only shoot straight. The snow was starting to fall in huge flakes and it didnt take low before the one side of me was covered in a layer of snow. I was on the low side of a hill so anything I would get a chance at would have to come over the hill and then it would be at max, a 150 yard shot. So I sat on the fence line waiting as the snow died down to smaller lighter flakes making it easier to see...and then I saw tines coming over the hill. I threw my rifle up as he was in a slow run towards my left, quartering away. I took one shot but he didnt flinch, just kept on his way. Throwing the bolt of my Tikka T3 30-06 back and forward, I had him in my scope again and let another round fly. The bullet found its target this time and the buck hit the ground right there. My hunt was done and a the weight was lifted off my shoulder. Not just that but I think I had a decent buck on the ground. I didnt want to mess up the chase for the rest of the guys so I waited till it was done to check out my buck. I knew he looked like he had decent height but really wasnt sure what I got. As I walked up I have to say I was pretty happy. Wasnt expecting to get anything too good this year with my limited time and the guys around my area have been having a tough time with finding the big boys; I just really wanted the sausage but got something more and my shot went right through the front shoulder so there should be enough meat haha. Here are some pics. He is a 4x4 with some nice height, not a whole lot of width but has that nice dark face and antlers. My uncle scored him at 141 6/8's; not that the score really matters that much to me, I just thought he was a gorgeous buck. But just wanted to share my story and pics with you guys. Good luck to those of you still on the hunt.