By Jerry Long, July 27, 2010 

As departure for South Africa looms large I finalize my packing list, see what luggage I need and do a packing “dry run”.

Strategy

“Pack your bags then throw out about one-half of everything you packed.”  I’ve seen that recommendation a couple of times when people ask what to take to South Africa on a bowhunt.  Since I’ve been known to pack not only a kitchen sink, but a spare kitchen sink as well, I thought I should heed that advice.  I’ve made my list, checked it 25 or 30 times and am fairly confident I know what I’m taking.  Besides the standard check lists I use for every hunt I took a lot of input from a Tips and Packing List thread on Accurate Reloading. 

Here is my packing list in both Microsoft Excel version and Adobe Acrobat versions.  If you see something I’ve forgotten or something I’m taking unnecessarily please leave a comment below.

• Africa Packing List in Excel - Hunting List
• Africa Packing List in Adobe Acrobat – Africa Pack List

Laundry is done daily in camp so a lot of extras are not needed.  I went with olive drab cargo pants for the most part so they can serve double duty as hunting and travel clothing.  Blackout gear is prevalent on the list for blind hunting.  One odd item, I suppose, is the long underwear.  The performance material tops serve as blackout outerwear alone in warmer weather so are a good double-service option.  Additionally, as a runner, my body fat tends to be less than five percent and I’m often chilly in mild temperatures.  It will be winter in South Africa in August.

Luggage Choices

After reading innumerable discussions about one bow or two and rolling duffels versus hard cases I chose an SKB double bowcase.  I’ll pack my two bows and arrows in the case cushioned by much of my daily clothing.  Another small suitcase will hold the remainder of clothing and gear.  Finally, a large backpack will serve as a carryon.  It will hold my in flight necessities such as I-pods and reading material as well as all my electronics including camera, video camera, rangefinder and binoculars.  That way they are close at hand and not in my checked luggage.

An SKB double bow case, small suitcase and backpack.  Note the lime green Gracy Travel tags.

Dry Run

A couple of weeks ago I grabbed all my gear and packed everything up using my packing list.  My bow case came in at forty-four pounds which is quite acceptable.  Despite my best efforts and my check list I managed to forget my primary release.  So, the effort was definitely worth my time – I learned a lesson to be more careful.  Hopefully, all this work will come to fruition with a successful trip to South Africa.

happy hunting, dv

If you liked this blog you may like the following:  

• Short Draw Bow Speeds And Technical Discussion
• Short Draw Bow Kinetic Energy And Trajectory
• WWAC – What Would Africa Cost?
• dv Goes to Africa – Expenses Part I
• dv Goes to Africa – Expenses Part II
• dv Goes To Africa – Bow and Arrow Set Up

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 By Jerry Long, July 20, 2010 

Some of us tend to think we’ve been involved in archery for a while.  Not necessarily so when it comes to West Allis Bowmen.

Hollis Allen began work on his compound bow in 1961.  He was granted the patent in 1969, the year I was born.   Can you imagine being involved in archery for decades before that and still being involved today?  Can you imagine witnessing the changes in archery technology over that time?  And what about the change in archery’s sporting culture?

The local archery club I belong to, West Allis Bowmen, has been at its current location since 1962.  Oddly enough, it isn’t located in West Allis, WI.  Rather, we are in Franksville where our founders located a decent chunk of land for a decent price.  Our history indicates WAB actually started in 1948 with Burt Straw as the first president.  Our 10^th president from 1969, again, the year I was born, is in his mid-70s, shoots a Hoyt Powerhawk and inspired me to try a different type of fall-away rest.  At least one current member was involved in the club before 1962. 

WAB has approximately 63 acres, a club house with 20 yard indoor range, kitchen, work room, basement storage, bar with pool table, an outdoor field archery range, practice butts out to 60 yards with broadhead pit, two 3D courses, broadhead course, storage barn and campground.  Additionally, WAB membership includes a Super Slam hunter as well as national and regional title holding target archers.

To honor this immense heritage and to give thanks for what we have WAB recently hosted a Founders’ Day Banquet inviting all former members we could contact back for a free lunch, literally.  Certificates of service were awarded, club logoed pens were given as tokens of appreciation, club histories were distributed as well as presented to the attendees and an excellent slide show of years gone by was shared.  Here are some representative photos from both the past and our banquet.

The photos in our collection show a different demographic than today’s; many more women.

Fred Bear during a local visit.

Michelle Ragsdale at a local shoot.

In the days before McKenzie’s, Reinharts and Delta’s.  These targets were all handmade and many have survived throughout the generations for today’s use at West Allis Bowmen’s Labor Day Safari Shoot.

An honored member shows off his lifetime membership card.

Ron, on the right, has been involved in archery since at least 1962.

Presentations to honored members on the range.

Roger presents a club history.

What about you?  Do you have archery heritage in your midst?

happy hunting, dv 

If you liked this blog you may like the following:  

• Archery Range Improvements – Work Day
• Hello From dustyvarmint’s Mostly Archery
• dustyvarmint On Up North Journal Tonight!
• Return On Investment – Outdoor’s Style
• Preserving Bowhunting Memories
• Passing On The Tradition
• Judging An NWTF Turkey Calling Contest
• The Foundation of an Outdoors Person
• 4H Archery

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 By Jerry Long, July 13, 2010  

Is it really necessary to spend $75 or $175 on a TV antenna, GPS, marriage counseling, toast making stabilizer?

Back around 2002 I started looking for a new stabilizer.  I was always a fan of the old Saunder’s Torque Tamer, but boy was that thing heavy and mine had weathered a lot.  I noticed that most of the stabilizers combined a space ship steering wheel with some mounting threads.  I didn’t need a space ship control, just something with a little weight on the end that would “roll” the bow forward after the shot.  Sure, vibration reduction was great, but I wanted my stabilizer to actually stabilize.

I contacted my archery mentor and friend, Rhonda, who suggested a Quiet Tune.  They’d just been bought out by Cobra.  I think I paid $16 for their hunter model which had a light weight 6″ aluminum extension bar and a heavy steel dampening assembly on the end.  It worked great for years, but I wanted something longer for greater stability and that “roll”.  Unfortunately, Cobra killed the Quiet Tune line.  In Overhauling A Hunting Bow I switched to the Sims Xpress Stabilizer, but that still wasn’t what I was looking for; not weight forward enough.  Then, I stumbled onto some stabilizer posts in Archery Talk’s DIY section – a bunch of them.  Maybe I could make what I was looking for. 

Parts

I went to the store and gathered some parts:

(1) 5′ section of 1/2″ copper pipe, $5.97

(2) 1 ¼ inch, ¼ x 24 hex headed bolt, $0.98

(5) ¼ x 24 nuts, $0.55 (.11 cents each)

(1) 1/4 x 24 connector nut, $3.40 (ouch)

(1) An end weight of some kind.  In this case I used the Quiet Tune weight.  Archery Talk forum users utilized gear shift knobs (skulls, 8-balls), odd things hanging around in tool boxes, etc.

(1) marine epoxy, had it laying around…

Assembly

Here’s the steps:

1)  Decide how long you want your stabilizer to be.  I looked at a number of “high end” hunting model stabilizers and determined 8″ was the right number for the extension bar.  Cut the pipe to length.  The table saw with a carbide tipped blade works fine for copper and aluminum.  Be sure to wear safety glasses.

Cut the copper pipe on a tablesaw using a carbide tipped blade.

 2)  Configure the bolt, nuts and washers as shown in the picture.  Besides the end weight I wanted to add a little more weight forward so did so with the extra long bolt and nuts.

Configure the bolts, nuts and washers as shown below. 

3)  Grind the corners off the nuts so they fit the inside the pipe.

4)  Epoxy the bolt/nut configurations in place and allow to dry.

Marine epoxy and a close-up of the coupler nut.

5)  Prepare the pipe and forward weight for painting utilizing sandpaper from 150 grit up to 400 grit.  Degrease with denatured alcohol or acetone.

6)  Insert the weight into the extension bar.

7)  For paint I went with 3 coats of flat black and then followed that up with 3 coats of matte clear for protection.  So far this finish has with stood both normal use and bug repellant.

Flat black paint and a clear coat.

The finished stabilizer.

Note:  Many AT forum users were filling their extension bars with various dampening items including chopped up rubber fishing lures, rubber pellets, oil, etc.  I chose not to do that as I wanted all weight up forward.  Also, a number of forum users drilled holes in patterns in the extension bar.  I wanted to do that, but after two attempts it became obvious I didn’t have the right tools to produce a quality product, even after the assembly of a drilling jig.  Since I’m picky about my stuff I threw that idea out the window (well, not literally).  Pictures of these failures can be seen in step 2, above.  Also, carbon extension bars can be had by salvaging the shaft from a golf club – check your local thrift store (or put on your camouflage and test your stalking skills at a local golf course…). 

So, for about $12 I built the stabilizer I wanted and obtained the performance I wanted.  I used it for our last 3D league and am quite satisfied.  I also have enough material left over to make some more.

happy hunting, dv 

If you liked this blog you may like the following:  

• Overhauling A Hunting Bow
• DIY $25 Bow Press
• How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call
• How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call – Part 2
• How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call – Part 3
• DIY – Arrow Squaring Rig
• DIY – Solar Lighted Stabilizer
• How To – Use A Sharpening Steel

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 By Jerry Long, July 1, 2010   

Coaching the next generation of archers. 

When I think of a Super Slam archer someone who teaches 4H archery really isn’t what comes to mind.  However, friend and Super Slam archer Gary Martin has run the 4H program at West Allis Bowmen for seven years.  I met outdoors buddy Seth, see The Foundation of an Outdoors Person, while coaching him in 4H archery back in 1995.  After that Uncle Sam pulled me away and career progression seemed to keep me away from the program.

Shooters “on the line”.

This year Gary asked me if I’d help out and I thought it was about time.  I’ll be honest, though.  As many of you who participate in volunteer organizations will attest, they are, well, all volunteer organizations.  People get done what they can get done how they can get it done.  I was not looking forward to going back for 4H volunteer orientation.  My first exposure to it back in 1994 was enough to leave an indelible “beware” stamp on my brain.  Orientation is just painful, awkward.  I’ll sum it up into two sentences, “Don’t touch the kids,” and “Report it if you think someone else is touching the kids.”  There we go, 59 minutes, 30 seconds, saved. 

These archers are working that bear over.

I also was not looking forward to National Archery Association (NAA) Level 1 re-certification.  Although I didn’t have a brain stamp I’ll say maybe it was just a wrist stamp…    Summing up Level 1 certification, “”Say, “Hold your bow this way,” not “Don’t hold your bow this way.”"  Anyway, I suffered through another round of unavoidable volunteer orientation, but was able to avoid NAA Level 1 re-certification since I’m just assisting, everyone else is certified and I won’t be alone with the kids while shooting is going on.   

Interestingly, in an environment where it seems us sportsmen are always under attack, the shooting sports programs are the number one participated projects in the county.  Number one.  West Allis Bowmen is one of four local archery clubs with 4H archery programs (note that each club’s is the “best”, of course).  There were 106 young men and women signed up.  Seventy-nine ended up shooting and while I don’t have exact demographics I would say there were about 35-45% women.  I’d sure like to know where they go after 4H as we could sure use the varied demographic in our sport. 

Young archers are taught to pull their arrows without poking their (or their friends’) eyes out.

Here’s how the program works.  We do two orientation sessions per night for three nights.  These sessions lay out the rules, go over equipment and then discuss basic form.  The archers are broken up into beginner and advanced levels.  Then we shoot two lines per night on Monday and Wednesday nights for four weeks during the month of June.  The course of fire consists of shooting 4-arrow ends at five burlap targets of varying distances from a close line.  Then they repeat the course of fire from a far line.  The targets are animal outlines on burlap with 5-point “kill” and 3 point “body” scores for a possible 200 points. 

The bear was the longest shot for the beginners at 10 yards. 

Archers must shoot six “shoots”.  Their ribbon award is determined by comparing their last shoot (the fair shoot) to the average of their first five shoots.  If it is within ten points they receive a blue ribbon.  The “the fair shoot” is no longer shot at the fair for whatever reason.  Gary has the program set up so that food is provided in the two middle weeks.  A cookout of burgers, dogs and brats on one night and frozen pizzas the next.  The nights are swapped the following week, pizza on the Monday and cookout on the Wednesday.  Gary the silver tongued devil talked me into cooking this year.  I’ll give you the high lights of that – grill don’t work, go home get mine, get late start, Mrs. dustyvarmint lights bad grill on first try, flaming gas grill at over 800 degrees singeing hairs off my arm, 7 pizza ovens scattered around the club to avoid popping breakers cooking 44 frozen pizzas in one and a half hours.  Need I say more?  I’ll stick to coaching next year…   

Form – the good, the bad, the ugly – let ’em fly.

The program has about eight Mathews Genesis bows, arm guards, finger tabs and a slew of arrows.  That isn’t nearly enough so participants bring in their own equipment.  As somewhat of a bow “techy” I spent about 35% of my first couple nights tightening screws, fixing peeps, determining bows were incapable of being lowered in weight, looking in astonishment at compound bows so old I’d never seen such a weight adjustment systems, fixing string stops and more.

Lots of different bows here.

Coaching here is a delicate balance for me.  I want the kids to be successful, but I want them to have fun also.  Some don’t want help, some don’t have the attention span to accept help, some have parents who don’t want their children to have help and some have parents that are so over bearing the kids develop target panic before they are taller than the bow.  There are others that are naturals.  You also see where equipment plays a significant role in the sport.  I had a hard time getting my little buddy Joe to develop good form with the Genesis in bare bow style.  After visiting a local shop who sets up and rents bows to the 4H kids Joe returned with a full modern “rig” and shot “lights out” the rest of the time.  It warmed my heart and I shook his hand with vigor.

4H archery is another opportunity to give something back to the archery community.  Only one of the five coaches has kids in the program so don’t let a lack of little ones stop you from participating.  I just wish I knew how to recruit larger numbers of this generation into long term participation in our sport.

happy hunting, dv 

If you liked this blog you may like the following:  

• Archery Range Improvements – Work Day
• Passing On The Tradition
• Judging An NWTF Turkey Calling Contest
• The Foundation of an Outdoors Person

Feedback, Questions & Comments 

I’d like to hear your tips, feedback, comments or questions.  Please leave them below.   

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