Thread: Arrows will fly

I have used Fred Bear recurves, and used a Fred Bear Company made Jennings compound. He owned a bow shop in Gainesville, FL, and while they made bows there, the real draw was his museum. He had collected junk from all over the planet. He had his biggest bears in there, and all sorts of taxidermy stuff. He is dead now, and some company bought his museum and moved it to St Louis or somewhere equally miserable. Missed my chance to walk those halls and listen to him recount the real stories. He was an idle of mine growing up and I read whatever books I could get my hands on. Had a 35lb recurve of his that I learned on. His father’s name was Harry Bear. He would release as soon as he came to full draw, mostly. He built ground blinds. Nerves of steel when it came time. He was real close when he took his bears, in fact the big polar bear he got was actually hunting him. The Kodiak was spotted from a helicopter and he ran up and hid behind a boulder and got it as it past by. He got an elk and placed it for bait to get him a huge grizzly. He shot birds as they flew past. Went to Africa, shot a tiger in India hunting on elephant backs, all sorts of things. All using recurves.

Having said all that, I would trade all of the recurve and compound bows made today for what I have today. A nice crossbow. These devils are wicked fast and shamefully accurate. I have allowed people to take their very first shots and they all score a bullseye with it first shot. Bad shoulders do not enter the equation. I think you should consider getting one as they eliminate many of the issues involved.

Even a fast bow can be jumped by a wiley old doe. They first dip, then whirl and leap. The dip is the tricky part as I have seen my arrows pass just over top. No amount of silencing will prevent them from hearing that string slap. The good news is they don’t all duck.

If you ever get a crossbow, be careful to remember to load an arrow and definitely remember to keep your thumb below the string.

Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

They definitely have a will to live. I have gutted a few with the heart blown into chunks and they had still ran 200 yards.

one doe I whacked years ago did just that , and into an open field and I almost didn't find her , there were small bushes out there and she managed to elude my eye sight as she ran off and was out there about 150 yards from where I heart shot her ,nested up like a quail dead as door nail ...
i will never forget a buck that was a bit similar except for the shot placement ,he was running a doe and stopped for a split second and as I let one fly he lurched forward . I looked for a good while and was pretty sure he didnt get out of the field , sure enough like a quail and still alive there he was all bedded up under a real small cedar ....
they can run far and hide real well when they are in the wounded escape mode