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Big Game Hunting => Bow Hunting => Topic started by: huntingbaldguy on January 03, 2015, 04:41:34 AM


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Title: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 03, 2015, 04:41:34 AM
I've been talking about it for a couple years now, getting my wife into hunting with me.  She finally said she wanted to, on one condition.  She wanted to start with archery.  I've been talking about going archery since i started hunting, and this gave me the excuse to do it now that i have a hunting partner.  So we went out and bought a pair of bows about 2 months ago.  We both absolutely love shooting!  She went with a Mission Craze and i went with a Hoyt Charger.  We've been practicing about every other day trying to get her draw weight up slowly to the legal minimum, and she is doing great and having fun at the same time.  We plan to join an archery club in the next month or so and go out shooting there at least once a week.  A buddy of mine is helping us with our shooting form and he's been very patient with us.  We are getting there.  These are most recent pics.

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi120.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo189%2Fpowder006%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F1225141025_zpsqwcw9lfi.jpg&hash=10ccc81fba86ab1b9858cf2a4bae07103916a33f)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi120.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo189%2Fpowder006%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F1221141451_zpsppbbpcvu.jpg&hash=9c0d6a521771f8c80d92c8408bdf9aef4fb3143c)
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: rasbo on January 03, 2015, 04:51:07 AM
sweet,good to see couples having a blast
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: RadSav on January 03, 2015, 05:17:32 AM
Looks like you guys are starting out nicely!  Good equipment, fitted well and having fun is what long term enjoyment is all about :tup:  A couple things I noticed I'll send you a PM on.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: bearpaw on January 03, 2015, 05:43:16 AM
Great to see you and your wife doing this together!  :tup:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 03, 2015, 05:59:14 AM
It's definitely cool our interests are aligned on this.  It's a great feeling sharing a hobby with her.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Cap.Silver on January 03, 2015, 06:00:04 AM
Great , I've never been able to get her involved .Well, can't have everything I guess .
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Encore 280 on January 03, 2015, 08:18:40 AM
Congratulations,  I just started recently also and I'm really enjoying  the heck out of it. The guys at Sportsmans Warehouse have helped me out a bit but I need some more pointers so I'll be making a trip back or to Cabela's pretty soon. I shoot for a couple hours day whenever it's not raining and am gradually getting the draw weight up there. I'm looking forward to archery season this year. :tup: Ok good luck to you your wife!
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Smokepole on January 03, 2015, 08:32:18 AM
Baldguy, you are definitely on the right track.  Here's hoping you & your wife take those bows out this fall & have the time of your lives in the hunting field.  Happy New Year!
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: splashcaster on January 03, 2015, 10:31:23 AM
My husband gave me a Mission Craze this year too. I've already had a blast learning archery on it, hope she enjoys it too! It got way better when I was able to get up to a 50lb draw after some working out and practice, made me feel a lot better when I didn't have to aim at the sky to shoot an arrow past 40 yards
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: BABackcountryBwhntr on January 03, 2015, 12:25:04 PM
That buddy of yours.. good dude from what I hear!  :chuckle: you guys will have fun... Ill show you a great area for elk this spring... you guys should have a good time in sep.... just cant let you in on where I took you guys during rifle  :tup: I dont want to have to hurt you lol...
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: kodiak 907 on January 03, 2015, 12:44:56 PM
Hoyt! Excellent choice. Hunting with a stick and string is addicting. Welcome aboard👍
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Bean Counter on January 03, 2015, 12:45:50 PM
Outstanding!  :tup:

I've never succeeded in getting my wife hunting with me.  :(
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: RadSav on January 03, 2015, 04:58:59 PM
I've never succeeded in getting my wife hunting with me.  :(

Smart Man!  :chuckle:

Or just pain lucky :dunno:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: 724wd on January 03, 2015, 08:46:31 PM
Nice to see someone who got their bow fitted correctly and has good form!  You're both standing with shoulders above the hips, not leaning back, GOOD!  a lot of women (and men!) get their forward hip thrust out, leaning their shoulders back.  Neither of you are!  Nice!  welcome to the addiction!   :tup:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: stevemiller on January 03, 2015, 10:04:41 PM
Awsome,You will get much more out of your hunting trips this way.You will also get a lot more hunting time in to.  :tup:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 04, 2015, 12:17:43 AM
That buddy of yours.. good dude from what I hear!  :chuckle: you guys will have fun... Ill show you a great area for elk this spring... you guys should have a good time in sep.... just cant let you in on where I took you guys during rifle  :tup: I dont want to have to hurt you lol...

No doubt!   :tup:

I wouldn't dare try to move in on that spot lol. 
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 04, 2015, 12:24:18 AM
Nice to see someone who got their bow fitted correctly and has good form!  You're both standing with shoulders above the hips, not leaning back, GOOD!  a lot of women (and men!) get their forward hip thrust out, leaning their shoulders back.  Neither of you are!  Nice!  welcome to the addiction!   :tup:

We've had a darn good tutor pointing us in the right direction.  We are almost there, couple little things to work on!

I'm super excited to try and get my first archery deer and elk next year, but what i'm more excited about is trying to get my wife her first animal and just the opportunity to hunt with her.  It's a very exciting thing for me.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: BABackcountryBwhntr on January 04, 2015, 12:49:05 PM
You guys are doing good for sure. Just a few things to work on. I'll help you gus as much as I can next year.. where to go etc... we need to do scouting this summer..
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: trophyhunt on January 04, 2015, 01:24:30 PM
Good for you guys!  You might want an arm guard if your gonna keep your arm straight when you shoot.  I'm not a pro by any means but I think your supposed to bend your arm just slightly?  If you hit your arm with the string with no guard or clothing, it's gonna look and hurt like hell.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: lokidog on January 04, 2015, 02:14:49 PM
Good for you guys, my wife bowhunts as well and loves it.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on January 04, 2015, 04:18:56 PM
 :tup:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 05, 2015, 12:24:34 AM
Good for you guys!  You might want an arm guard if your gonna keep your arm straight when you shoot.  I'm not a pro by any means but I think your supposed to bend your arm just slightly?  If you hit your arm with the string with no guard or clothing, it's gonna look and hurt like hell.

Yeah i've done that already, it hurts.  My draw length is at it's absolute max so it looks like my arm is straight but my elbow is out.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 05, 2015, 12:26:39 AM
You guys are doing good for sure. Just a few things to work on. I'll help you gus as much as I can next year.. where to go etc... we need to do scouting this summer..

Yeah we will definitely put in as much scouting time as possible for elk.  Deer we will probably be somewhat local for most of the early season.  I have 3 properties i'm gonna set cams up on now that are 5 minutes driving distance from my house.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Russ McDonald on January 05, 2015, 06:58:25 AM
That is awesome.  :tup: I got my wife shooting a bow now but she doesn't want to hunt yet.  Work in progress on that front.  :chuckle: 
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: BABackcountryBwhntr on January 05, 2015, 01:49:24 PM
Good for you guys!  You might want an arm guard if your gonna keep your arm straight when you shoot.  I'm not a pro by any means but I think your supposed to bend your arm just slightly?  If you hit your arm with the string with no guard or clothing, it's gonna look and hurt like hell.
   

His arm is fine. Arm guards are not needed if your grip is correct. It's impossible to hit your forearm if your grip is correct.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: nwwanderer on January 05, 2015, 02:35:59 PM

Sure, with proper grip you will not need a guard.  When you are shoooting around the corner, downhill, through the only clear zone your grip might suffer.  Losing a little hide is not unusual.  Be aware through practice in feild situations and use a guard if the risk is of concern.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: BABackcountryBwhntr on January 05, 2015, 05:00:34 PM

Sure, with proper grip you will not need a guard.  When you are shoooting around the corner, downhill, through the only clear zone your grip might suffer.  Losing a little hide is not unusual.  Be aware through practice in feild situations and use a guard if the risk is of concern.


well in 20 years Bowhunting and just a few animals on the ground.. that has never happened.... the angle of the shot in no way changes the grip of the bow... with all due respect, that does not even make sense.... you adjust your hips to get the correct form on any non level shot.. that does not change in anyway how the bow is gripped.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: lokidog on January 05, 2015, 05:11:51 PM
Good for you guys!  You might want an arm guard if your gonna keep your arm straight when you shoot.  I'm not a pro by any means but I think your supposed to bend your arm just slightly?  If you hit your arm with the string with no guard or clothing, it's gonna look and hurt like hell.

Yeah i've done that already, it hurts.  My draw length is at it's absolute max so it looks like my arm is straight but my elbow is out.

Shirtless, in good form, I would have no worries.  However, toss a jacket or sweatshirt with folds like your wife's has, it would probably be a good idea.  No big deal if an arrow is a little off while target shooting after catching a ripple, but hunting is, of course, a different story.    :twocents:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 06, 2015, 12:15:06 AM
I'm sure i'll need to set up some scenarios that would be close to hunting conditions prior to actually going out hunting.  I've done some reading about how to set up some things for your nerves to get a little more acclimated.  I don't necessarily have a lot of experience killing animals, as i've only put one deer down.  I did fail pretty hard in elk season and i'm unsure of what i did wrong, but it has haunted me enough to where i think about every shot, consider form for every shot, etc.  That said, i won't really know how i'll be until i get out and have an animal in front of me at full draw.  Maybe i tag my arm, i figure that's something many bow hunters, or hunters period, go through is getting out of their own head to make a good clean kill. 

I really plan to set the stage to not fail.  I've already started reciting a little something in my head as i walk through the steps of drawing, sighting and releasing, so that it's kind of burned into my head that i can't skip steps and have success.  I've started trying to train myself on back tension.  I just need to figure a way to get my heart rate up and get some pressure on myself while shooting.  I figure i'll do some sprints one of these days, get back and pick up my bow and see how i do. 

As for the arm guard, i definitely won't be wearing one while hunting honestly.  I figure if i can't shoot with the right form, i deserve the pain.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: RadSav on January 06, 2015, 01:36:17 AM
It's now been 35 years since I put an arrow through my first archery deer, bear and elk.  I can not ever remember a shot that hit my arm with a compound bow or recurve.  I have, however, had some winter clothing that would interfere with the string and have missed a couple shots as a result.  I now use a spandex sleeve or some camo Duck Tape if the weather dips below zero and I need the Ommpa Loompa suit on while bowhunting.  But it has to be DANG cold before I hunt with that on.


Hope I didn't just jinx myself :chuckle:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: Encore 280 on January 06, 2015, 07:03:12 AM
When I built my recurve in high school back in the middle 60's and started practicing with it I never needed an arm guard. I was a bit leery though with this compound but it's working out fine. The main trouble I'm having and it's really frustrating to me is I'm left handed, shoot a rifle left handed but I shoot a bow right handed. It's really been a challenge for my brain to get the signal to my right hand trigger finger, damn it I hate that!! :bash: I can pull up and be on the target just fine but getting the trigger finger to hit the release at the same time just doesn't happen. It ends up taking about 10 seconds or so but it seems like forever and then I start shaking a bit from holding the bow too long. :bash: I figure I've got about 7 months to work on it. May just have to go back to a recurve. :dunno:
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: BABackcountryBwhntr on January 06, 2015, 08:31:23 AM
I'm sure i'll need to set up some scenarios that would be close to hunting conditions prior to actually going out hunting.  I've done some reading about how to set up some things for your nerves to get a little more acclimated.  I don't necessarily have a lot of experience killing animals, as i've only put one deer down.  I did fail pretty hard in elk season and i'm unsure of what i did wrong, but it has haunted me enough to where i think about every shot, consider form for every shot, etc.  That said, i won't really know how i'll be until i get out and have an animal in front of me at full draw.  Maybe i tag my arm, i figure that's something many bow hunters, or hunters period, go through is getting out of their own head to make a good clean kill. 

I really plan to set the stage to not fail.  I've already started reciting a little something in my head as i walk through the steps of drawing, sighting and releasing, so that it's kind of burned into my head that i can't skip steps and have success.  I've started trying to train myself on back tension.  I just need to figure a way to get my heart rate up and get some pressure on myself while shooting.  I figure i'll do some sprints one of these days, get back and pick up my bow and see how i do. 

As for the arm guard, i definitely won't be wearing one while hunting honestly.  I figure if i can't shoot with the right form, i deserve the pain.

Shoot as much as you can properly, go to as many 3D shoots as you can. back tension is the proper way to shoot a shot, regardless of release... if you would ever come down here I can get you both dialed in a day. Go on hikes or runs, then grab your bow and shoot 1 shot.... you need to get in the habit of making the first one count. I can go over every angle and where/how to shoot it with you. Then how to track etc.... I have done this once or twice  :)
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: huntingbaldguy on January 07, 2015, 12:48:41 AM
Shoot as much as you can properly, go to as many 3D shoots as you can. back tension is the proper way to shoot a shot, regardless of release... if you would ever come down here I can get you both dialed in a day. Go on hikes or runs, then grab your bow and shoot 1 shot.... you need to get in the habit of making the first one count. I can go over every angle and where/how to shoot it with you. Then how to track etc.... I have done this once or twice  :)

We do need to get down there soon for sure.  We will figure it out. 
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: sakoshooter on January 08, 2015, 06:53:57 PM
Good for you two. My wife and I really enjoy our time shooting walk thru courses and 3 Ds together.
Title: Re: Well, the wife and i made the leap!
Post by: JJB11B on January 08, 2015, 07:12:32 PM
I've been talking about it for a couple years now, getting my wife into hunting with me.  She finally said she wanted to, on one condition.  She wanted to start with archery.  I've been talking about going archery since i started hunting, and this gave me the excuse to do it now that i have a hunting partner.  So we went out and bought a pair of bows about 2 months ago.  We both absolutely love shooting!  She went with a Mission Craze and i went with a Hoyt Charger.  We've been practicing about every other day trying to get her draw weight up slowly to the legal minimum, and she is doing great and having fun at the same time.  We plan to join an archery club in the next month or so and go out shooting there at least once a week.  A buddy of mine is helping us with our shooting form and he's been very patient with us.  We are getting there.  These are most recent pics.

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi120.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo189%2Fpowder006%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F1225141025_zpsqwcw9lfi.jpg&hash=10ccc81fba86ab1b9858cf2a4bae07103916a33f)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi120.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo189%2Fpowder006%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F1221141451_zpsppbbpcvu.jpg&hash=9c0d6a521771f8c80d92c8408bdf9aef4fb3143c)
I think I know what your username is all about now, sorry.  Archery is a blast and it doesn't bother my neighbors as bad as my "hypothetical .22 shooting possums in my back yard" in town does.
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