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Traditional Tips

gcr0003

Well-Known Member
SH Member
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Nov 1, 2018
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I was looking for a new glove and ended up buying one from Kustom Kings Traditional archery store online. I just found them recently so I’m giving them a try. Well I was checking out their site when I came across “Tim’s Traditional Tips.” I think it had a lot of solid tips both for hunting and for traditional bow hunting more specifically.

If you have any tips be sure to add them here

Tim of Kustom Kings Archery Traditional Tips
“When bloodtrailing a deer, 3 guys on the track is perfect. One to search for blood at ground level, one to look for blood higher up, like on small bushes and tree trunks. The third guy marks each spot with toilet paper, maintains the compass bearing, and watches for any movement up ahead. Plus, three guys makes for an easy drag!

The first thing you should do after shooting a deer is to use your compass. Get a bearing on his departure. Use trees and other landmarks. Getting a clear direction of travel is important...even well hit deer often don't start bleeding for 30 yards or so.

Learn to sharpen your broadheads with simple tools, like a file and a pocket stone. You will take more practice shots in the field if you know that you can quickly touch up your edge.

Never take a bad shot. You don't need to kill a deer. Taking shots at the edge of or beyond your capabilities isn't worth the risk of a poorly hit game animal. Traditional bowhunting isn't an athletic sport where "going for it" is expected. Know your limits, and stick to them, no matter how big the trophy.

Wooden arrows are awesome, but if you are just getting started, consider carbon or aluminum. They have fewer variables than wood, and you can better analyze a poor shot. Once you are grouping well with carbon or aluminum, give wooden arrows a try...because every bow deserves at least 1 dozen matched cedars!

Consider big 5 1/2" high profile fletching for your broadheads. They will stabilize an arrow well even when damp.

If given the choice, set your treestand in a pine tree. They provide lots of cover, and an unending supply of cover scent. Crush the needles throughout the day and rub them on your clothing.

The woods are full of free and natural cover scent. Experiment and find out which leaves and needles are the most aromatic. Crush them and rub liberally on your clothes. Don't go around puddles and muddy spots, walk through them. Step on deer droppings, skunk cabbage, anything that will naturally cover your scent.

Don't get stuck in the "treestand rut"....lots of great spots don't have a convenient tree. Always be prepared to hunt off the ground should conditions or terrain warrant. Hunt your quarry...not a tree.

A handy first aid kit can be put together in something as small as a tin mint box. Aspirin, bandages, tweezers, some antiseptic wipes. Crazy glue will seal a bad cut quickly. Seal it up with duct tape...which is also a good "closer" for large cuts.

Arrows shouldn't be camouflaged. Bright fletching will help you be sure of your shot placement, and they are easy to find after a shot.

Don't get hung up on carbon vs. aluminum vs. wood arrows...every bow shoots something perfectly. Experiment and shoot what your bow likes best.

Can't quiet your bow? Try placing your silencers unevenly on your string (not the same distance from the tips, like one 3" from the end, and the other 5"). Sound vibrations travel down the string in an "S" pattern. Sometimes uneven spacing interrupts and absorbs the sound more efficiently.

Put a handful of rubber bands in your hunting pants pocket. They have thousands of uses in the field. Seal off your pants from ticks, instant armguard, keeping an arrow on a narrow shelf on a windy day....the uses are endless.

30 feet of parachute cord doesn't take up much space...but has infinite value in the woods.

Milkweed pods, talcum powder, unwaxed dental floss, bits of fluffy wool pulled from your shirt are all great wind indicators. Use them all. Always hunt the wind.

Your "possibles" requirements change throughout the season, or for different hunts. Hunting farmland 500 yards from your truck doesn't require the same load out as a wilderness trek. Try a minimalist approach...only take what you need.

Lots of guys shoot all summer long, and slack off when hunting season starts. Bring along a Judo point, and shoot as much as possible. Always shoot a few arrows from your treestand before you climb down.

Muted plaids work as well or better than modern commercial patterns. Shadows and background cover are more important than what pattern you are wearing. Camouflage is a concept, not a pattern.

Shoot a single arrow in the morning before you leave for work. It will simulate that first cold shot on a mornings hunt, and you have to live with that shot all day...

Have at least two shooting gloves or tabs broken in and handy...you WILL lose one or forget it on the kitchen counter.

Two spare strings is not too many... shoot a couple in during the summer 3D season, and keep them handy during the hunting season. Sew one inside your hunting hat.

If your release is consistent, and your grip on the bow is always the same, the arrow has no choice but to fly true.

Don't just hunt and shoot...consider and learn about the history of our sport. Read as much as you can about our traditional archery forefathers. You will enjoy our sport more if you know from where we came...”

Shooting one shot in the morning I’m already doing but like to see that and I like the thought of shooting from the tree a shot before getting down with a stump point. Also, hunt the quarry not the tree. Many other ones resonate with me as well.

 
I learned a trick a few yrs ago but just tried it today. Heterodyning is something about the study of changing sound waves. Someone on Traditional Bowhunter shared this. There's a science to adding silencers to your bow string. I always just put them on and shoot but, if you measure the string length where it contacts the upper and lower limb, and divide that by 3 and also 4. Place your top silencer 1/4 of the way down from the top. Place your bottom silencer 1/3 of the way up. Someone smarter than me figured it out but I put them on a noisy 70's Bear Kodiak Hunter and it worked amazingly well. I use wool yarn but it may work w/any style. Sorry if everyone else knew this but it is pretty impressive.Resized_20221026_154720_7094.jpeg
 
I learned a trick a few yrs ago but just tried it today. Heterodyning is something about the study of changing sound waves. Someone on Traditional Bowhunter shared this. There's a science to adding silencers to your bow string. I always just put them on and shoot but, if you measure the string length where it contacts the upper and lower limb, and divide that by 3 and also 4. Place your top silencer 1/4 of the way down from the top. Place your bottom silencer 1/3 of the way up. Someone smarter than me figured it out but I put them on a noisy 70's Bear Kodiak Hunter and it worked amazingly well. I use wool yarn but it may work w/any style. Sorry if everyone else knew this but it is pretty impressive.View attachment 74719
I just heard about it recently when reading these tips, it’s listed above. It makes sense to me. Vibrations are shown as sin waves. Adding the resistance to the string knocks down the wave/vibrations quicker by absorbing some of the energy from the wave. The quicker you knock down the wave/vibration (dampening) the quieter your bow will be. By spacing them unevenly I think what you’re doing is compounding that dampening effect and affecting it at two different levels on the wave instead of just once. Either way I’m looking forward to trying it out myself.
 
I had three guys on a track with my last deer. It was me looking high and low for blood. My Uncle who can’t see in the dark holding a lantern and my cousin stumbling around in the dark and walking on the blood after his awesome new $20 China made LED flashlight died after 10-minutes.

*Note to Self: Have two other guys that can see and who buy quality illumination devices.
 
if you find a glove or a tab that you like, and shoot it for 6 months and it really is for you
go out and buy 3-5 more of them.
chances are that by the time the one you like wears out, they may no longer be available or the producer may
change the design
then you will have to go nuts finding another one that you like
 
As an addendum to the practice shot before climbing down, make that shot a hard to execute shot from the tree such as weak side shot over the bridge. Pick your target and then move into position like it is a deer, slow deliberate movements while not taking your eyes off the target. Then execute the shot.
 
I forget where I read it - maybe I head it in a Dr. Ashby interview - but the idea of stalking your blood trail rather than just tracking it. If you take the mindset that the animal is not dead, but merely injured behind one of these dang bushes, and you need to sneak up and shoot him before you spook him, you will necessarily be much more aware and deliberate - and effective - on the track. Look at low sign and high sign and ahead and around, not just on the low sign on the ground in front of you.
 
I forget where I read it - maybe I head it in a Dr. Ashby interview - but the idea of stalking your blood trail rather than just tracking it. If you take the mindset that the animal is not dead, but merely injured behind one of these dang bushes, and you need to sneak up and shoot him before you spook him, you will necessarily be much more aware and deliberate - and effective - on the track. Look at low sign and high sign and ahead and around, not just on the low sign on the ground in front of you.
Thats great advice but since I snorted the fairy dust, They all fall in site.........
 
I just heard about it recently when reading these tips, it’s listed above. It makes sense to me. Vibrations are shown as sin waves. Adding the resistance to the string knocks down the wave/vibrations quicker by absorbing some of the energy from the wave. The quicker you knock down the wave/vibration (dampening) the quieter your bow will be. By spacing them unevenly I think what you’re doing is compounding that dampening effect and affecting it at two different levels on the wave instead of just once. Either way I’m looking forward to trying it out myself.
Something along the same line...

 
Here's a trad tip archive for y'all:
 
Milkweed, talcum powder, powder "puffers" require extra motion to check wind direction. A small problem when in a tree, but a BIG problem when on the ground. Find a fly fishing web site, & buy some Antron Yarn. Dental floss, or even knitting yarn will work, just not as good. Antron Yarn separates a bit better, & catches the slightest wind movement. Cut a length & girth hitch it to the top loop of your bowstring. Now you have a wind direction indicator that you simply have to look at, without digging into a pocket or pack to get. I got this idea from G. Fred Asbell's book, Stalking & Still Hunting- The Ground Hunter's Bible. Here they are on one of my Widows & Silver Tips:
0314F167-18FA-492E-A503-5B422C91BAB4.jpeg
 
Another one-have a compass ready & quickly accessible. I usually have it hanging around my neck & tucked into a shirt pocket, or under my outermost layer. Once the shot is made, get it out REAL QUICK and point it in the direction that the deer is running. When you can't hear any more sounds, carefully align the compass as if you were taking bearing on a landmark. Even if you don't hear it "crash," you have an "approximate" bearing on the most likely direction to follow & find it. Especially useful when in a tree, because things look so much different from up there.
 
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Another one-have a compass ready & quickly accessible. I usually have it hanging around my neck & tucked into a shirt pocket, or under my outermost layer. Once the shot is made, get it out REAL QUICK and point it in the direction that the deer is running. When you can't hear any more sounds, carefully align the compass as if you were taking bearing on a landmark. Even if you don't hear it "crash," you have an "approximate" bearing on the most likely direction to follow & find it. Especially useful when in a tree, because things look so much different from up there.
100% of the time do this. It will make life better. I like your yarn tip but there is a draw back of sorts. That only tells you what the wind is doing where the bow is. Milkweed will tell you what it is doing over there where your bow isnt including thermal pull. Using both would be a good thing in my mind.
 
100% of the time do this. It will make life better. I like your yarn tip but there is a draw back of sorts. That only tells you what the wind is doing where the bow is. Milkweed will tell you what it is doing over there where your bow isnt including thermal pull. Using both would be a good thing in my mind.
It still amazes me what the milkweed does after it leaves you, going around trees and such, sometimes even coming back past you. On an elk hunt I watched it leave going one direction and a little later coming by again. I don't get that from yarn.
 
Milkweed, talcum powder, powder "puffers" require extra motion to check wind direction. A small problem when in a tree, but a BIG problem when on the ground. Find a fly fishing web site, & buy some Antron Yarn. Dental floss, or even knitting yarn will work, just not as good. Antron Yarn separates a bit better, & catches the slightest wind movement. Cut a length & girth hitch it to the top loop of your bowstring. Now you have a wind direction indicator that you simply have to look at, without digging into a pocket or pack to get. I got this idea from G. Fred Asbell's book, Stalking & Still Hunting- The Ground Hunter's Bible. Here they are on one of my Widows & Silver Tips:
View attachment 83355
If I may digress, I like your bow storage method so much I did the same thing in the unfinished portion of my basement.
 
Yep, it works! I have a complete unfinished basement-it's my "man cave" where my workshop is, & the 5 metric tons of hunting gear are stored... along with the REAL BOSS'S seasonal decorations, momentos from the kids, and a multitude of cooking & baking gadgets...I got bows hangin' everywhere down there...it's a good thing that she doesn't look up when she's down there! ;)
 
Are we not going to mention the fact that he said to purposely step in deer poop as cover scent? I mean why stop there, go full Arnold and rub it all in, lol.
 
Are we not going to mention the fact that he said to purposely step in deer poop as cover scent? I mean why stop there, go full Arnold and rub it all in, lol.

heard a guy once tell a group of hikers who were complaining about chapped lips to find some fresh deer poop and rub it on their lips. When one of them asked if that would make them feel better he said “no but, it would sure as heck keep you from licking them”
 
Here's another one-knee pads ain't just for saddle hunting, especially if you're a more seasoned (i.e. old) hunter like me. I wear mine every time I go out, & I hunt 70-80% of the time on the ground. They keep you from banging your knee into that unseen rock, root, or stick that's just below soil level, keep you dry, & they keep those old arthritic knees warmer & more limber! ;)
 
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