Finally getting back at it!
Well it’s been a while since I took some time for myself. Been getting out hunting hogs a lot lately. Here is one of my exploits a short while back.
Well went out last night _beoootiful night I might add. Sat on my feeder for 4 1/2 hours. Man I had a small boar come running in fast – he hit the clearing looked around and I guess he thought it was darker than it really was cause, he ran out in the middle – stopped looked around then ran for the other side lickety split. A small sow was with him and she was faster than him. It was funny to watch. This was a 7:53 PM…
At about 8:25 I heard pigs all around me They were moving in the shadows but not coming in to the feeder. I could hear them moving around sniffing and the occasional grunt. Finally at 8:53 4 piglets (not from Winnie the Pooh) came barreling in to the feeder, followed by 2 sows. I was using my Malibu triple pack and I could see them as if it was daylight. I drew on the biggest sow but just as I got to anchor she turned and faced me (still eating).
Had to let down and wait – not long and she turned sideways giving me a great broadside shot at 17 yards. I had picked up some of the Magnus I’s in 160 grain and put in an insert – 202 grains when finished. I drew and released – heard that old familiar thud and they were gone. I could hear the sow I shot moving through the thick stuff to my left and pretty soon I hear a loud squeal – then nothing. I sat there for about 30 minutes then got down. When I got to were I shot her – there was blood 1 foot from were I hit her. About 3 feet from that it was a river – I tell ya the wound channel from those 1 1/2″ blades was amazing. She went 25-30 yards – no trouble tracking her at all. I had hit mid left shoulder and exited low at the elbow on the opposite leg.. heart shot. She went about 150 lbs… she was so fat I couldn’t believe it.
Pic of the fatty!!! 
Back in the saddle again!!!
Well its been a while but here I am back to doing some story telling.
This one is about a hog hunt years back and it goes something like this… I had just started to use the longbow exclusively as my weapon of choice. I practiced hard and long to become proficient and confident in my shooting abilities. I was able to hit almost everything I drew on at yardages out to 50 yards. Now I practiced a lot shooting to 50-80 yard targets almost every night so a 50 yard shot was easy.
I had packed up and decided to go on a canned hunt just to see how effective this bow (longbow) was going to be on animals before deer season rolled around. My brother and myself went to a preserve in Pennsylvania to hunt hogs. Now I know – canned hunts suck but, we were allowed to hunt them without guides or even anyone tagging along with us. I had never hunted hogs before in my life but, I had done my homework.
To keep this short I will get back to the story.. I had taken my time to tuck myself into a stand of locusts and wait by a waterhole. Shortly after, a rather large sow and a bunch of piglets trailed by 2 small boars came down off the side of the mountain. They came over to the waterhole and started wallowing in front of me. I just watched – never even drew on them. Comical as h_ll to watch.
They got bored and took off. I saw movement above me and noticed a small band of larger hogs running up a trail that skirted the side and came out well below me. I managed to get myself down on the edge of this trail before they got there. It was a 23 yard shot when a large -265 lb. boar broke out and presented a shot. I drew and released in fluid motion. I watched as the arrow flew to hit its mark but, the arrow disappeared right before my eyes. Then I saw red, foaming out the side of the hog. At first I thought it was my arrow fletching but, it gradually got bigger and bigger. The boar ran to my left about 10 steps turned and came back and fell over dead. WOW!!!! This longbow is devastating I thought to myself. I had heard horror stories about guys using 44 mags and having hogs run for a long time and never expiring until they had been shot many more times. Here I had done it in one shot.. Well that was my first intro into the effectiveness of my longbows. I have never looked back and have been fortunate enough to have taken many big game animals with my longbows since. I hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come – it still gets me excited when I even think about hunting with my bow.
Doug McCoy Traditional Archery
It’s been a while since I sat down at my computer. Dang internet connection has been giving me fits.
Well I ended up getting a new bow – a Dryad Hunter… all wood and man is she beautiful! Have to admit that she spits out an arrow as fast as a good portion of the glass backed bows on the market today! Mike and Jason do an amazing job on theses bows and the price is great! If you have an inkling to try an all wood bow you can not go wrong with Dryad – upstanding fellows that make a great product. This is my main bow for this years hunting forays. Getting ready for a hog hunt as soon as it dries up a little then on to deer… Will keep ya’ll posted!
Moose hunt 101-Continued
Headed out to one of my favorite spots in hopes of seeing some moose. On the way in I heard some splashing in the pond that I was going to skirt around. Hoped it was a moose and not a beaver. When I got to the end of the pond it was just getting light enough to see – MOOSE! Just a cow and calf but what the heck… still moose.
I made my way around the pond to an area that I had set up the year before – there was a tree that had been uprooted by the wind and this had created a large hole and excellent cover for me. I climbed down in and got myself settled. After about an hour I heard movement just out in front of me. I was ready!
It took about 25 minutes for the animal to get close … I could even hear it breathing now! Then I caught a glimpse of it through some openings in the bushes. It was a moose, couldn’t tell what – cow or bull but I did know it was big.
I watched and watched – waited and waited. The moose finally stepped out into a larger opening and I could see it was a bull. He was now around 4 1/2 – 5 yards from me and I was pumped. Take one more step and I got YA! He stood there for another 10-12 minutes – breathing exceptionally hard or maybe that was me! Then all of a sudden it stopped. I waited another 30 minutes -nothing! I climbed out of my blind and went over to the spot he has been standing at. Huge hoof prints in the earth but, he was gone! I did not hear him leave at all. How can a 900 lb. bull moose leave and me not hear him go? I can not explain it but he did. WOW what a great first morning! Got back to camp and told everyone and they asked me why I didn’t try a shot. I really didn’t feel good about letting an arrow fly and not having confidence enough in the shot so, I passed. My decision but, it may have cost me any hope of harvesting an animal this entire hunt. That was something I was willing to accept.
Later you will get the rest of the story!
Back after being disconnected for a while
Well it’s been a while since I was able to get back on the internet. Bought myself a place in the country and slowly getting settled in my new surroundings.
Ever have one of those years when it seems as though not much is going your way? I am beginning to think that this is my year!
Trying very hard to get back in to shape shooting my bows a lot but, it seems that I am getting a cloud in my left eye. This is not a continual thing but it is happening. Wife says it’s my allergies and I am beginning to believe her. So now I take allergy meds and hope that helps!
Got a new bow a few months ago but, due to my move I wasn’t able to shoot her very much. Have gone back to the old straight end longbow and wooden arrows. Love the looks and feel but, it is taking time to get back on to them. I have had some shots that were in my opinion “Great Shots” and then again many that were crappy as well. Guess I need to examine my form. Can’t be the equipment – right?
I did notice that I tried to change my stance as well. That probably has more to do with my problem than anything else. (Just analyzed this as I am writing this.) I have used the same stance (until lately) for more than 20 years! Guess “Some Timers” is getting more prevalent. You know some times you remember!
Oh well – still having fun getting out and shotting about 50-60 arrows a day. The odd day I can hit a 4″ circle consistently out to 30 yards with about 95% of my shots. Other days I get about 35% in and 40% around it and the balance all over the place.
Well I will keep on practicing and shooting. Wife even comes out to cheer me on – so she says!
Moose hunt 101
It was moose season again and I was pumped. I had been practicing an awful lot over the past year. I was confident in my abilities and my equipment.
Well the day finally came around – I had all my gear packed in no time flat and was off down the road. I had arranged to meet my buddy and another fellow that we had agreed could accompany us on this years’ hunt.
We got to our area that we usually set up our base camp in and proceeded to get our tents set up and camp somewhat organized.
That evening we sat around and strategize about the next days hunt. Bows were ready – arrows and lunches all in our packs and set to go.
Morning came but took forever – at least that is how it felt. I was really pumped this year. We got up at 4:00 AM and made a quick breakfast, ate it even faster then headed out to hunt.
We had laid out a fairly good pan for the days hunt. Both my buddy and I were going to work two large swamps then try to push any moose toward the other fellow who would be waiting in a clear cut area. This would allow him to get s shot in a clear area without fear of hitting limbs, twigs or any other kind of brush.
We positioned him at the far side away from us and downwind.. then we headed out for our 2 mile trek to the swamps. It took me longer to get to the area than I had planned for so, I immediately started to work the area hard – weaving back and forth pushing ever onward. I kicked up a cow and calf after about 20 minutes and kept on them the best I could. They seemed to always be about 85-100 yards in front of me as I could hear them crashing brush almost constantly. It took maybe 3 ½ hours of hard pushing but, I was almost there..they were still moving in the right direction. Finally I climbed up and out to the clear cut section that the other guy was sitting on. The cow and calf had crossed over maybe 12 yards from where we had told him to sit.
I thought to myself – man we got one down – no way he could miss that shot! Well I got over the other side and found the guy perched way up in a deadfall tree. I asked him if he shot and he couldn’t even talk to me. He was so shaken – I immediately thought he had gotten Buck Fever and missed. Finally he came down out of the tree and I got this out of him. “ I never even saw the moose – a bear had come out and walked almost right at me. I got so scared I yelled and threw my bow at him to scare him away.” I did notice that he did not have his bow in his hand. I turned and there was his bow about 15 yards in the clearing. I walked out and got it for him and asked why he didn’t shoot the bear. He told me he didn’t even think about shooting it with his bow. Guess he climbed the tree after he threw his bow. I finally got him calmed down enough to walk out to the main trail. His head was bobbing and weaving a lot looking for another bear. When we got back to camp both my buddy and I got a great laugh over this. To which the other hunter asked us to drive him in to town (28 miles) and drop him off so his wife could drive in and get him. He didn’t want to be in the woods anymore. Believe it or not but, he quit hunting and shooting his bow all together that day.
P.S. – I did manage to get a moose the next year. Story to follow.
Longbows can keep ya humble
Over 30 years ago I had the fortune (maybe it was misfortune) to be shooting at a friends’ house. I always thought myself to be a very good shot. Had won many tournaments barebow style with compounds. (2 years only.. have to qualify this first off) anyhow I digress.. I had been shooting very well this day and my buddy told me he had a bow that he doubted I could even hit a target with at 15 yards. Now, this was a challenge if I ever heard one! Being as cocky as I am, I told him I could shoot any bow after a couple of quick shots to feel the bow out. I would show this guy he was out in the field all alone on this one.
He went in the house and came back out with a HUGE!!!!! longbow – this thing was 72 inches long – 68 lbs. @ 28 inches and WOW! Now I could handle bows in the 85# + range so I wasn’t worried at all. I pulled out an arrow and drew – man it drew easy – no let-off or break in the draw. I anchored, then released. Hit 5 yards in front of the target. took out another arrow and drew back – released -DANG – over the target this time. OK – I got this thing figured out! Nocked another arrow – drew and released – hit 3 feet to the right this time. Closer to the target but no cigar.
To make a longer story short – I shot over 50 arrows at that target and hit it once! I was humbled to say the least. I looked at my buddy who was in hysterics (Real Funny) I asked him if he could hit the target – he drew and smacked it dead center. MAN THIS INFURIATED me. Not at him but at myself. I looked at him and asked him to sell me the bow – he laughed and told me no. I kept on him and finally he gave in. I gave him my compound and told him to sell it. I went home, and for the next 6 months I shot 150-200 arrows a day out of it. By the time spring came around I was ready and entered in several archery tournaments locally. Now here is the kicker – I was the only one shooting a stick so I had to compete against the compound guys (barebow) the same guys I shot against with my compound. My first shoot I came in second place!!! Man did I feel good. It was a heck of a lot of work to get there but I never ever regretted it nor have I looked back since. This is one of those stories that continues – Come back for more when ya’ll have a chance.
Another of the greats
Ever wonder what it takes to become a great? Great in anything I mean? It takes dedication, perseverance and plain old stubborness. Well I got 1 out of 3 so I guess I am on my way. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to shoot with some very good archers. Some well known and others not so well known but, great none the less.
I have shared stories and campfires with many more still. One that comes to mind is from back maybe 12-14 years ago… (Mind tends to wander in and out of years.) I was out shooting at one of the local ranges competing in a sanctioned shoot for the IBO. Now I was really never one for this IBO stuff but I wanted to get out and shoot a bit. I was out there with several of my buddies and we were having a blast. We usually clowned around so much the serious shooters (Compounders) would get very upset with us and start telling us to shut up and keep quiet. Well I have never been one to take orders barked at me like this so, we got worse and worse. It was getting so bad that we could hardly shoot ourselves now from all the laughing and carrying on. We never let up – kept it up even after the shoot was over. Finally we decided to start the BBQ and get something to eat. So a little later we were all eating our dogs and burgers when an older fellow came over – asked if he could sit with us for a spell. we all told him sure – as long as he didn’t get offended easily. He replied that was not going to be a problem.
We sat there talking , laughing and still carrying on for quite a while when a rather large guy came lumbering over. Now I had seen him with several of the guys who were yelling at us to quit the fooling around. Hmmmm – was he gonna come over and cause trouble. Well I was up for it! Knew he could kick my butt bad but, I figured I could get him with jokes before he knew what hit him. Up he walks – goes over to the fellow who had joined us – shook his hand and thanked him for the help he had offered earlier. Then he looked at us and told us that the next time he saw us at one of these shoots that he wanted to join our group. He told us he was so turned off by his buddies and their attitude that he almost went home early. Our clowning around and carrying on was the only thing that kept him there. He laughed all the way around cause he heard us but, also he heard every derogatory thing his buddies were saying about us. (We did end up shooting with this guy later on and we had a blast.) The other fellow that had joined us we found out was none other than the coach for the Canadian Olympic archery team from the late 70’s. I never knew but, we did become friends and continued to shoot together as often as we could after this initial meeting. He was a great guy and his wife would come and join our group as well. This man was one of the most humble men I had ever met in my life – boy was he a good shot… His name was Don Jackson and I am proud to say he was a friend in archery.
Ever wonder why???
As I get older and wiser (I hope) I find myself starting to ask why more often now. Could it be I am getting more cynical about just doing what others tell you or things you have been taught or even talked in to?
Like why is it that we feel the need to buy more and supposedly better equipment? Will it make us better shots? Doubtful but, for some I guess even something so slight as the mental boost can be a great help. Archery is 90% mental and 10% physical.. Archery not hunting!
I am going back to the old stlye bows I started with and guess what… I shoot them far better and more consistently than R/D or hybrids longbows. Now I have nothing against these bows as they are great shooters and some are pushing the limits of the lower end compound bows now,as far as speed goes. But there is a downside to all this – speed accentuates errors in form and release. If you make a small error on a bow that is spitting them out at 220 FPS the arrow travels so fast it nor the bow can help you recover. A slower bow on the other hand can help – especially if the limbs are longer. I know this all sounds like horse pucky but, I am a living example of this. I am a fairly consistent shooter but, every once in a while I have a shot that goes quite far off its’ mark. When I use the old straight end lngbows I may not be able to hit my arrows all the time but, all my arrows are in a good group and far more often than with Hybrid R/D bows. I owned one of the best made and fastest Longbows that I have ever had the pleasure of shooting – it shot my arrows out at 226 FPS – now these were light carbons but they moved.. Hit a hog with them and it didn’t even slow down!
Went back to my old Howard Hill bow and was amazed at my accuracy – it was back to that of when I was 20 years younger and shot in the neighborhood of 150 arrows a day. Now it is most likely my style of shooting that is best suited to the straight end longbows but, I can not be the only one that can benefit from this.
Caribou in Shefferville, Quebec.
It was a few years back – guess it was 1986 when I ventured up to Quebec. Myself and my best friend had been planning this hunt for 2 years. Neither of us had ever been on a fully guided hunt and really did not know what to expect.
The flight up there was eventful to say the least. When we took off from Shefferville in the twin Otter it was fairly windy. We also had more gear than I thought we should have but, the pilot seemed confident that we were OK so I went along. I sat up front with the pilot. We took off from the lake and got in the air easily but, we were not gaining enough altitude to get up over the high ridges that surrounded the lake. We climbed a bit but the pilot was now flying extremely close to the side of these monster hills and we could look out and see them REALLY CLOSE! He was a very experienced pilot, and was using the hills to block the wind so he could shoot over them with less resistance – Whew we made! (guess you already guessed that)
We had an hour and a half flight to our base camp. We were to share the camp with 8 other hunters from all over the USA. When we got closer to the camp we could see caribou in long lines below us. This was going to be fantastic.
Now you can not hunt on the day you fly in but, our guide asked if we wanted to go across the lake and just climb up on this plateau and watch for caribou. We were ready for this. We scooted across the lake and had to climb up the hills to get to this huge flat plateau. We went to the extreme western point and just sat there. Within maybe 10 minutes we heard the unmistakable clicking of the hooves of the caribou. Next thing we knew, we had cows and calves all around us. Some as close a 4 feet away. We saw in the neighborhood of 150-200 caribou in less than and hour go by us. WOW!
Next morning we got up – ate a big breakfast and jumped in the boat. Our plan was to go up the lake and find some caribou. We hadn’t made it more than 100 yars when we saw 3 large bulls swimming across the lake in front of us. Our guide asked if we wanted to go after them – both myself and my buddy replied yes… immediately. He pulled in a small cove and we jumped out and started running to this peninsula that they were swimming toward. We got there and my buddy set up further in than I. After about 10 minutes we saw them coming. I was tucked tight into a small bush and my buddy was behind some bushes. This big bull walks right along this path that was not 5 yards from my friend. The bull gets along side him and he draws – the bull saw him move and bolted! The bull ran and skirted around him and came right in front of me. Now this bull was stopped and looking back at my buddy so I had a great broadside shot at him – 14 yards. I stood up slowly and drew as I rose. The arrow came to anchor and blammmmmm – I released and saw my arrow hit the lake beyond him.
He took off at breakneck speed and hit the water.. he swam for about 100 yards and expired. The arrow had gone through his lungs and he stilled managed to go that far. We got in the boat and off we went to get him. We tied a rope around his antlers and dragged him back to camp. When we got closer we could hear a lot of hooting and hollering. The other guys had witnessed the whole scene as it unfolded in front of them.
When we got to the boat dock – they all ran over and hauled the caribou out of the water for us. They were shaking my hand and congratulations were thrown around. Then as fast as that, they all disappeared to try their luck. This was our first day in camp – this story will continue as it goes on and on. Come back for more later.
