the shitty patient problem

I AM a shitty patient. Hatez being sick, not at 100%. Even though I am not bedridden, I am not running WOT currently: more like ‘limp mode’. Its this damnable Drippy Schnozzz,,,, GRRRRRRRR

But I thought I would add some visuals and other deets to a previous post for y’all. (I need to distract myself from the discomfort of illness.)

Introducing Kuài yá (快牙) Fast teeth.

the name is Chinese,(she was made in China after all.) but she is based on the Mongol Horse bow (Loosely, mind you, No horn belly, no sinew back, but otherwise, right there. The Siyahs don’t ‘catch’ like they do on other style horsebows.) 54″h, 27″ draw@35# Kinda short for me, but I do over-draw it and get a touch more speed.

And here you have My Da’s Bear Bow, that I took ownership of a few years back.

No name, Never really thought this one needed one, even though it’s very much a family member. This bow put food on our table many times in the past. This one is 56″ 28″draw and 45#.

Note, both are strung for the modeling session: they do NOT get stored that way. Fact; the Grizzly there, had spent almost 4 years ‘strung’ while in storage, and NOT hanging, but setting on her bottom limb. It has a slight twist to it now and even with mild heat applied, I have not been able to straighten it out. It doesn’t seem to effect her, but does make me worry some.

Now,,, a bow is a peice of art, beautiful in the curves and what not, but the real deal is what gets sent down range.

Here are close-ups of my two ‘walking’ and ‘Hunting’ points. (I use bunny busters too, no pic of those in here.)

Both are 125grn, slight difference in length, but they fly the same. Whats different is AFTER they bust skin.

That’s 1 1/2″ of razorblade that open up after passing through the outer barrier. Chances are it won’t pass through, especially if through the ribs. The bodkin point,,, well, its likely to go clean through and leave a nasty channel, where the ‘broadhead’ will (Redacted for the sensitve bambi lovers) The Bodkin is a three blade, or I think the Brits called them Triads,,, Not a brit style mind, but not a flat ‘viper head’ either. (Old English Bodkins were typically square in cross-section, and diamond shape in profile. And VERY heavy, but long bows had the power to drive them.)

And I tune my arrows. When I was a kid, we didn’t have a clue about this stuff and just shot whatever shafts dad brought home. Most were uncut aluminum shafts. 32″ long, and no idea what the frellin spine was. My draw length is 28″ and those extra 4″ hanging off the riser always caused some ‘things’ to happen out front. I compensated, and still managed to get “ok”,,,

THEN, My cousin showed me how to tune my arrows.,,, Length, finding the correct spine, finding proper ‘forward of center’ balance, bare shaft tuning, fitting proper weight points, adjusting weights for off spine shafts,,,

Suddenly, my pattern went from Minute of Barn, to minute of Bullseye. (I kid, but my patterns DID tighten up and quite a bit.)

Well, me being me, I wanted some gear for tuning, and when I went online to see,,,

O!

M!

F’ing!

Lord!

Bullshit! Dio says,,, I can make that shit for next to nuthin!,,,

And I did.

My shaft measuring tool

The shaft center/balancer is in there to. That little square thing on the right. The weight is exactly 1 kilo of lead. Making the measurements was done with a micrometer and patience.

When I buy shafts, I will buy them in double dozens. Strip them of those cheezy palstic vanes they use these days(hey, I am a traditionalist,, I like FEATHERS!) then start the tuning process, Out of 24 bare shafts, I probably end up with 12 that are near to identical. Those will be set up for ONE bow,,, The other 12, if they are close enough, will be set up for the other bow I decide that by the spine rating. Fast teeth likes a 600 spine, loosey goosey arrows. Grizzly Bear likes em closer to 400. (spine, how much the shaft deflects, in Inches, with a 1Kilo weight attached in center hanging on 28″ between ends. 500, shaft deflects 1/2″)

I don’t shoot as much these days. I haven’t bought nor tuned an arrow in 6 years. I did recently refletch my ‘walking’ arrows,,, They were looking a little worn.

Walking arrow: my term, but its where I walk through the woods, shooting stumps or whatever (non-living) target takes my fancy. Two points of improvement: My fast instinct shooting improves. second: it trains Dawgum to not freak the F! out when the arrows fly. Voodoo was awesome about this,,, He seemed to have some instinct for partner hunting, and never flinched at any shooting; firearms or bow. (and I could tell you stories about that dawg at the shooting range,,, he was a trip!)

Cosmos,,, not so much,,,sigh,,,, (actually, if I have a bow or gun in hand, He won’t even go with me,,, sorta,,, he trails along behind me, 50-100yds and is skittish. Gonna take some time and work to get him over that.)

So, there it is. My current ‘arsenal’ of pointy stick hunting things, I shoot from fingers, Amer-indian style, bare fingers, no tab. only TWO fingers, which confuses some people, but I feel I am more accurate that way. And with Fast teeth, I shoot off knuckle; No riser or rest on her. There is a tab made for that, I do use it (or just a leather glove): those fletchings can/will cut to the bone if you don’t. I wanted to learn thumbring shooting, but arthritis in my hands made that impossible. I’ll keep using the fingers: it works for me. Besides, I can. accurately, get off 6 shots in 5 seconds using my two fingers. Why mess with a system that ain’t broken, eh? (in re-read, this sounds ‘fast’ and like I am bragging: I’m really not,,, Think about it like this. Hold your breath for 5 seconds while exercising. Its actually a bit of a time spread. and when things are happening in a hunt situation, 1 second is a LONG time. I might get off a second follow-up shot,,, maybe,,, Usually not)

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