January 1975 by National Field Archery Association

JANUARY 1975 60d

I-3 David Hughes II se I

■a I

S a

la.

mliWTi

Small Game: The Endless I

“ 1

l 1

Dean Pridgen I

C '.J

E4SON F ■X

• A. XV

............................................................................... ................. ........................................................................................ -.

■

the arrow shot ’round the\Norid Since 1946, Easton has been the leader in design, production and development of quality arrow shafts... shafts that have been used by archers to set all high-score records and to win all major tournaments throughout the world. This was most recently demonstrated at the 20th Olympiad, held in Munich, Germany, where Easton arrows were usddby all participants from countries around the world. ■ Jas- 0 p ,g^on 'Oc

^err>be.

iKESdfe ' 91<06

■r

Td IL VHlzTX

Official publication of the National Field Archery Association, Route 2, Box 514, Redlands, Calif. 92373. Phone (714) 794-2133. Published monthly by the National Field Archery Association.

Dan Gustafson Ruth Hathaway Clark Miller Peggy O’Neal Sonja fensen

Editor Advertising Coordinator Assistant Editor Production Typography

NFAA OFFICERS Ervin G. Kreischer, President 827 Floretta Dr., N.W. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107

John W. Durham, Vice President 2406 So. 19th St. ■ Ft. Pierce, Florida 33450

E. Pat Wingfield, Immediate Past President 1330 Byron Dr.,No.4E Salinas, California 93901 Wm. H. Wadsworth, Bow Hunting Chairman Boy Scouts of America No. Brunswick, New Jersey 08902

Ervin W. Belt, Executive Secretary Route 2, Box 514 Redlands, California 92373 (714) 794-2133

Subscription rates: $5 per year in U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. Foreign subscriptions: $7. Special rate to dealers (U.S.A, and Mexico only): $2.50 per year subscription in lots of five or more sent to one address. Order must appear on dealer’s letterhead or order form. Single copy 60 cents.

Advertising rates on request. Second class postage paid at Redlands, CA; and additional mailing offices.

Articles, stories and club news must be submitted for publication showing name and address of the writer. All statements are those of the writers, and may not conform to the editorial policy or views of the magazine - or the editor. Deadline for copy: six weeks prior to the month of publication.

Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 to: National Field Archery Assn. Rt. 2, Box 514, Redlands, Calif. 92373

archery

JANUARY 1975 VOLUME 47, NUMBER 1

COVER: Dean Pridgen looked very happy for a man who had just lost the NFAA Pro title in Golden, Colorado. We interviewed him that day, and the results appear on page 41. (Photo by Dan Gustafson)

Features David Hughes Up Close/ by Phyllis Butters 8 Stringwalking the Compound: The Hughes Method 13 Beagles and Bunnies I by Ed Meyers 18 18 Small Game, Big Fun / by Dick Sage 20 Evolution of a Tournament I by Phyllis Butters Talking with Dean Pridgen / by Dan Gustafson, Editor 40

Personalities What’s Your Problem? I by Freddie Troncoso Strictly for Bowhunters / by Dick Sage Teaching Archery / by Cook Predika

4 6 38

NFAA Speaks 24 25 29

Points / by Erv Kreischer HQ Report / by Erv Belt Bowhunter Bulletin

SUBSCRIBE TO ARCHERY Keep current with 12 issues of ARCHERY filled with technical tips, personality profiles, hunting hints and nationwide activities of bowhunters and field archers. (U.S., Canada, Mexico) $5.00 per year Name_______ Address City

(Foreign) $7.00 per year

State

New Renewal

Zip

Mail with check to: ARCHERY, Rt. 2, Box 514, Redlands, CA 92373

9S W®

FREDDIE troncoso

Meandering Broadcast Freddie: 1 am a bowhunter and have a problem. I cannot get broadheads to fly well from my bow. Here is my set up. 1 I shoot a 62 lb. Pearson Mercury Hunter and draw 29 in. 2. I like to shoot 3 fingers under as I find this gives me excellent groups with field points. 3. I have tried three types of broadheads, all with poor results (Bear Razors, Little Shaver 3-blade, and Pearson Deadheads.) 4. I mount broadheads on jig and spin them to make sure they are straight. 5. My nocking point for field points is just shy of % in. above horizontal. 6. 1 shoot aluminum arrows, with plastic vanes (3) and Martin Flipper rest well off the shelf for vane clearance. 7. Field points enter the bale straight, both bare shafted and fetched. When I shoot three fingers under, however, broadheads windplane all over the place. I would really appreciate your comments concerning this particular problem. I would not like to go back to convention al finger placement as I just do not shoot as well and really pinch the arrow nock, 1 do not recall this problem with conventional finger placement, but it might have existed. The pro here just keeps telling me to switch broadheads. Well, besides going broke doing this, I really have my preferences as to which heads 1 like. Is it possible that the problem is in my nocking point? Should I move it? My broadheads are straight and I am perplexed watching them plane as close as 15 yards away when the same arrow

with a field point flies very well and “straight as an arrow." Help!

James J. King

. Thank you for your letter regarding the planing of your arrows. You did not provide full particulars on your equip ment. Ill assume your bow is 62 lb. at 28 in. This makes it 64 lb. at 29 in., correct? You also forgot to write down the size of arrow shaft you are using. I sincerely hope you are using at least 2020's or even 2219’s for broadheads. Sounds to me as if your shafts are slightly on the weak side for the added weight of the heads. Another factor which will aid in the steerage ofyour arrows is helifletched fletching! Use heli-fletch clamps and this will definitely help! Try the heavier shafts first.

More Crossbow Info Freddie: In answer to your request for reader information on crossbow fabrication, I can highly recommend the following book: The Crossbow: Medieval and Modem, Military and Sport ing: Its Construction, History and Management, by Sir Ralph Payne, published by Bramhall House, New York. Part II consists of 27 chapters, 112 pages on construction and management of crossbows, medieval; Part III — 13 chapters, 69 pages on construction and management of crossbows, modern. Continued on page 31

TEL TALE NOCK POINT Used by champion Jack Lancaster Keep string-peep in alignment when using our J.C. release-aid. ORDER R-10 FOR ALL RELEASES Please state your nock size.

$2.20PACKAGE OF THREE "In life balance and rare the thing. In arrows it is the same thing. BRIGHT WAY **x ground base feathers provide it for the best of arrows."

FIRST IN QUALITY AND RESEARCH

PATENT PENDING Ask about our double Nock Points for finger-shooters.

J.C. mFG. co.

TEXAS FEATHERS IACORPORATED •_________ BROWNWOOD, TEXAS 76B01

6435 West 55th Ave., Arvada, CO 80002 Phone: 303 - 421-2646 DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS INVITED^

JANUARY 1975

DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT! Are "all automobiles the same" or "all recurve bows the same"? Of course not! All compound bows look similar just as the two pictured here. However, design, tuning, and purpose are poles apart. One is for TOURNAMENT SHOOTING and the other for HUNTING! If two compounds made by the same company can look so much alike and be so different, think how much difference there can be between compounds made by DIFFERENT COMPANIES! Companies marketing

compound bows are springing up like "mushrooms in a dirt floored cellar." Don't be fooled into believing all compounds are the same just because they have wheels and cables. Following are a few of the differences between the two bows pictured here in design, purpose, tuning and optional equipment available. Both bows are equipped with our light weight alloy handle section. We also offer these bows with impregnated wood handle sections.

LIMB SECTION OF TOURNAMENT MODEL • Choice of white glass or black glass. • Choice of adjustment range of 15# to 25#, 20# to 30#, 25# to 35#, 30# to 40#, 35# to 45#, 40# to 50#. • Needle bearing eccentrics standard equipment.

TUNING OF THE TOURNAMENT MODEL • Every Jennings compound bow is weight checked, nock point installed, and test fired by our final assemblers. • We go a step farther with the tournament model. We tune your bow for finger release or release aid, high or low wrist hold, three fingers under and to your size and length arrow.

Both models also available in impregnated wood handle sections.

I am sure you will agree that the above pictures do not show the many subtle differences mentioned in the copy. They do not reflect the years of research and effort that precedes the appearance of a good compound bow for either hunting or tournament shooting. At Jennings we maintain a research and development department second to none in the industry. We have cycling machines, shooting machines, electronic timmg devices (accurate to >/«

fps), bow and1 arrow weighting devices (accurate to 1/10 of a grain), strain gauges and some test equipment we don't talk about. We have data terminal to the biggest computer west of the Rocky Mountains and executives and employees in our company with the knowledge to use it. Yes, ALL COMPOUNDS ARE NOT THE SAME!, there is a little more to one than meets the eye!

Compound fflow O archery

HANDLE SECTION OF HUNTING MODEL a Grip section completely insulated from the metal for cold weather use. h Grip resigned for pulling heavy firny- weight bows. o Ew-G.’esvstic plastic finish in re-.sw red black or green and black camo colors. Fully adjustable rest carriage standard equipment. & Wire -lipper rest standard equipment. LIMB SECTION OF <4 HUNTING MODEL o Black glass only. (Few hunters want to flash white limbs at deer.) • Choice of adjustment ranges of 40# to 50#, 45# to 60#, 50# to 65# and 55# to 70#. Ladies hunting weights on request. • Camo paint job optional. TUNING OF THE HUNTING MODEL • As with the Tournament model, the hunter is weight checked, nock point installed, and test fired by our final assemblers. • Bow is tuned and balanced to a standard three finger release. • All archers know that "nitty gritty" tuning is very personal but your Jennings will come to you in very shootable condition. A,

HANDLE SECTION OF TOURNAMENT MODEL “ ® Small diameter "low torque" grip section. © Electrostatic plastic finish in a choice of White, Banner Blue, Astro Blue, Black, Red and Chrome Yellow. e Choice of either high or low w'rist. o Drilled for sight mount. G> Cushion plunger standard equipment. • Your choice of arrow rest.

10945 Burbank Blvd. North Hollywood, Calif. 91601 213 - 980-0380 5

^®®

Thoughts about tropies-and sportsmen.

SAGE

■What is a trophy? Is it that fine male animal with the W impressive antlers; or, is it that small doe just ready to embark on a breeding spree that will add two fawns to the herd each summer? The answer is that it could be either, or both. Yet even in this enlightened age of deer management the bowhunter that bags a doe is apt to be labeled a “meat hunter” while the hunter bagging a buck is a real “sportsman. To this I say nuts! To me the word trophy does not bring visions of a fine deer rack on the wall. Rather, it brings back the memories of a hunt where, with the odds against you, you managed to outwit a wild animal in his own house and under his own rules. The antlers are merely the visual trigger used to spur the recalling of the hunt itself. Furthermore, in this day and age of excessive deer populations, every animal judged huntable by the professional game managers should be considered equal. In other words, it’s the hunt, not the game taken that determines whether an animal is a trophy or not. ■ This does not mean to say those hunters seeking the largest and most impressive animals of a specie are acting improperly, far from it. Because these animals are usually warier and are certainly far fewer in abundance, the hunter who seeks them has simply stacked the odds further against himself. He has made the personal choice to really “do it the hard way” when he takes his bow in search of the true patriarch of the herd. But, and this is important, he is no better sportsman than the hunter who brings home hoi the doe and thus keeps the deer explosion under control. Get the point? This topic is timely to me, because as you may know, I was recently elected to membership in the Pope and Young Club. The local company paper elected to publicize the event and, try as I might, I had a hard time getting this point over to the editor. Although I am proud to have “made it” after many years, my pursuit of record class animals has little to do with whether I am a good sportsman or not. Conduct, not results, is the nroner proper r.ritAr»/x« criterion. This is being written on the eve of the 1974 deer season in New Jersey. Tomorrow, along with 30,000 or so other New Jersey bowhunters I will take to the woods for another season in pursuit of our superabundant whitetails. Naturally, I’ll be

-■'11

IJHF11 '< Try T'

i.dl looking for the biggest buck I can find and I probably will do so until the tail end of the season. In this manner I spend more time afield, observe more deer in the woods, spend more time watching all the other animals in their natural habitat. Also, I will be able to join my partners in their efforts, help them track their quarry and aid in the long haul back to the car. If I have sufficient time available to hunt until the last day of the season, I will probably pass up the lesser animals until the very end. If 1 fail to bring home some venison it won’t be fatal. But, if I decide to bring home a nice tender doe on opening day, in my book I will be no less a sportsman. Others have written, and I agree, that many of the hunters able to travel far and wide in their hunts should be known as “fortunate” hunters rather than trophy hunters. If in their travels they manage to bag a magnificent specimen of the specie they seek, so much the better. Let’s remember the trophy is the memory of the hunt — the rack is simply the visual reminder. On sharpening that broadhead

Broadhead sharpening is one of the most vital chores the bowhunter must perform if he is to hunt successfully. My own technique has been to use a file and work for a serrated edge because the keener “razor” edge is more difficult to obmin and maintain in the field. Recently though I’ve switched t°a fine grinding wheel to get a thin, tapered edge followed by3 hard Arkansas stone to finish the job and the resultshave been most gratifying. In the field, of course, I have to fall back on he file or a “honesteel” but, given the choice, that ground edge plus the stone is hard to beat. JANUARY 1975

The problem with a file is the tendency to develop a wedge shaped edge which cannot be sharpened as keenly. The grinding wheel removes this metal and gives a more acute *vee shape to the edge. I can shave hair with this edge and, with a bit of rustproofer, it will hold up until used.

Notes from a bear hunt

Four of us spent 17 man-days trying to stalk a bear in the Adirondacks during the past hunting season — score zero for the hunters. Once again we were reminded that stalking a bruin is great fun but it is a mighty tough way to put a bear rug on the floor of the den. We were in good territory. We saw fresh tracks and plenty of other signs. What we didn’t see was that big black hulk pawing through the beech leaves in search of fallen nuts. We did see some mighty beautiful country and, if the real truth were known, we probably did too much roaming when the forest floor was too dry to move quietly. We did see a few deer, even managed an unsuccessful shot, but the real objective of the hunt managed to remain unseen. Like the old Dodgers of Brooklyn, however, wait ’til next year. A better point for a blunt For many years now my favorite blunt point has been a 38 calibre shell casing slipped onto the end of a 11/32 shaft. Not only was it a real shocker, but it was simple to make and fairly durable. Then, along comes Hugh Rich with a suggestion on how to make it better that really works. Here’s his idea. First, before putting the casing onto the shaft, flare the open end ever so slightly to make the opening a bit larger. Second, after securing to the shaft by knurling or prick-punching in three or four spots around the casing, take a hammer and flatten the shell rim all around so that it is flush with the rest of the casing. The result is a concave end and a parallel sided point that catches better and is easier to remove from a stump. Best of all, breakage is greatly reduced. Must admit I was a bit skeptical but, nevertheless, I gave it a try. So far this season I’ve broken only one tip whereas I used to bust off two or three every time I went out. Try it, you’ll like it, and thanks to Hugh Rich.

the shape of things to come...

PRO MEDALIST T/D 2 THE ALL NEW

"World's Most Accurate Tournament Bow!"

*’

The finely sculptured magnesium handle, snap-in interchange able limbs, plus many Medalist exclusive in novations may well shape future bow de sign . . . Just as Hoyt original torque stabilizers changed the concept of bow design more A than a decade ago ra . . . the Medalist g T/D has proven itself ■ by winning 5 out of 6 1 Olympic Medals — a ’ solid victory for the I all new shape of the Medalist! 4

NEW interchangeable snap-on grips

Now T/D 2 brings you super-refined accuracy you’ve never experi enced before!

Small game time is now

Each year about this time the typical bowhunter is in the doldrums. Deer season is past and chucks are still three months away so what’s to do? Simple, man. Get that deer tackle and go out for small game. If there is snow on the ground, so much the better. Now I wouldn’t recommend this as a way of keeping the kids in meat for the winter unless small game populations are pretty high in your locality and you’re a top shot. But, if you want to have a ball, get your buddies together for a rabbit hunt just after a light snow and you won’t regret it. All it takes are some blunts, some warm clothing and a sharp eye. Bunnies show up against the white background but, as you might suspect, they seem to be aware of this and will bound out more quickly than they do when the ground is bare. But, they can be seen, they can be hit, and if you do bring one home, it is mighty good eating. But you can’t do it in an easy chair by the fire (Editor’s Note: For more of Dick’s hints on small game hunting, see his feature article in this issue.)

ARCHERY

Enjoy a new thrill—try the new Medalist T/D 2—at your authorized dealer now.

WM) 11510 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD • BRIDGETON, MISSOURI 63044

Up elose with David Hughes

i II

I L O

y I

■Jetting to know five-time NFAA barebow champ David wlHughes isn’t easy; there’s much more to the man than the happy-go-lucky exterior we see on the archery courses. Part of Dave’s story is elation, covering four consecutive national barebow titles from 1967-1971 and the still-standing aggregate record of 2693 from the 1969 Watkins Glen tourney; another part is despair, a two-point overall loss at Ludlow in 1972 and a surprising second loss at Aurora in 1973; finally, there’s his return to glory at Golden, Colorado in the 1974 Nationals. This is the David Hughes that all of archery knows about — or rather, these are the achievements we’ve all heard about. But neither bow nor arrow alone can four-spot a 50-yard target; what interests us is the third factor in making the scores - the man behind the bow, one who is a living legend in archery. Christmas of 1962 was a happy one for an Irving, Texas household when 15-year-old David Hughes received his first bow, one he’d been begging for since Dad traded a .22 for a bow and some arrows that fall. That year young David took his first deer, but more on that event later. Come spring he was out shooting field targets and soon he was well on his way as a barebow archer. Why barebow? Think back - there just

From the top: Back home and wearing the unofficial national barebow trophy, his Texas belt: with his parents; with his youngest daughter, Tammy, age 3 and a budding champion; conducting a bowhunting seminar at the American Sportsmen’s

I 8

JANUARY 1975

Almost everyone in archery knows his records, but few really know him. There’s more to the man than five national titles or four in the spot.

weren t any sight shooters around in those days. So the first two steps were accidental. What followed was no accident. David shot all that summer, went hunting in the fall, and headed for the field courses again in the spring. He averaged 285 at the 1964 TFAA field championship to place sixth in the intermediate division. One year later over 100 points were added to that score as he averaged just under 400 at the 1965 state tourney for his first victory. Immediately young David switched to open and was in B class all year. By state tourney time in 1966 he was solidly in men’s open A class and took third-place honors. He was 19 years old. Soon it was 1967 and the start of the big ones, tire NFAA Nationals. But on the local front, a new rivalry was forming, and the friendship, if no longer the competitive rivalry, remains to the present day. Texas breeds champions, archery and otherwise, and by no means was David Hughes the only barebow shooter around. From Waco, Texas came long, lean and lanky Rick Gilley, and Rick knew an awful lot about barebow shooting; he was then the TFAA champion. He and Dave swapped tournaments wherever they went, State, Sectional or National, and they gave the freestylers a run for their money, too. When Dave placed second to Frank Gandy at his first Nationals, 1967, Rick was third. Then Dave won the Nationals in 1968, set field and animal round records at the State, and Rick beat him at the Sectional. The 1968 Southern Sectional was where the freestylers got together and organized a post-tournament money shoot, and Dave and Rick were the only two barebow archers entered. Dave won it and Rick took third. All this time they shot in invitational tournaments all over Texas and took turns winning, but they never kept a tally. Then Rick won Cobo Hall in 1969 and switched to freestyle, and the TFAA newsletter ran a poll. Gilley had one Sectional and one State to his credit, Dave had one Nationals and one State, and they were even up for the rest. They shot together for three weeks out of four over a two-year period, and if anyone had an effect on the barebow shooting of the David Hughes we know today, Gilley was the man. Back to the 1967 Nationals in Jackson, Mississippi - the first one for Dave Hughes. He was shooting three-fingers-under, using five anchors, and called himself “a gap shooter, not a string-walker.” But he did walk the string for four short targets on his high anchor. Frank Gandy used two anchors and walked tire string on every target. When petitions against string-walking were presented at the tournament, Dave even signed a couple, and he justifies that today “I could have shot within 10 points of my score there without string-walking. I only walked the string on four easy tsrvefs so instead of aiming one inch below die dot at 15 yards I could string-walk and aim at the dot.” But the next year: “I walked the string every way 1 could. If one guy can do it and win like that, it’s time for you to try

archery

it.” At Jackson in 1967 Dave averaged 516 and placed second behind Gandy’s winning 2691 aggregate. In 1968 Dave came to the Nationals in Salinas, California, and he describes it: “That was my year. For three days I led the A freestylers and brought their attention to barebow shooting again.” All that stringwalking must have paid off — he posted a 518 average to win his first national title with a 2593. Overall his aggregate stood second behind a single freestyler. He went home to liis own State tourney where he set some records that still stand, a pair of 536’s on the field and hunter rounds, along with a 532 animal score, to beat all the freestylers there. Dave describes himself in 1968 as “feeling like King Kong and wearing a 9',i hat” but 1969 was still to come. This was Watkins Glen and his biggest year for glory. There Dave Hughes fired 542 and 538 for a 1080 national field record, a 526 and 539 hunter, and a 548 animal round. As for the remaining national barebow records, Frank Gandy holds an identical 1080 hunter and an unassailable 560 animal fired at Jackson in 1967. Dave shot his lowest score of the tourney, the 526 hunter, on a day when his bow broke after 12 targets, but it seemd like things just couldn’t go wrong for him that year. He says, “Even with my bow breaking everything just fell back together. It was one of my happiest tournaments.” He won the Nationals again in 1970 and 1971 and it looked like this would go on forever until a fellow named Dennis Cline came to Ludlow in 1972. Dave lost the tourney and the title on the last arrow of the tournament, a 16-yard shot at a standing-up chipmunk. It was a thriller; Denny let down his arrow six times before he let it fly to the center of the kill zone. Gone were the years of glory, and for tire first time David Hughes was experiencing the agony of defeat. He took it like a champion and now he recalls; “The best man won that year, and 1972 was the best competition I ever had, definitely.” It was the beginning of a rivalry and a friendship of tire Gilley-Hughes proportions. Came 1973 and the Nationals were back at Aurora again. Dave remembers; “I had fun at Ludlow and at Aurora too, but I just didn’t shoot good. It was the worst Nationals I shot in my life. I wanted to shoot well and I knew I had to, to beat Dennis, but I didn’t bring it with me, I left it back in Texas. I was shooting well when I left but everything just came undone.” He was proud of only two of the five rounds, a 532 on the first hunter and a 540 animal but it wasn’t enough to top Cline’s winning 2616 aggregate. Last year, at the top of a mesa behind the Golden Mesa Recreation Ranch in Colorado, Dave Hughes returned. He brought with him an Olympus compound that proved immeasurably handy in the wild Denver wind and he fired 533 and 528 field, 527 and 500 hunter, and a 536 animal to finish 96 points ahead of his closest competition with a 2624

From left: With his five National bowls and four trophies; with friends Ricky and Bobby Hunt and John Nowell; with bow hunting buddy Lloyd Baron. Says Hughes: “For years I ve been trying to break Lloyd of the habit of believing every thing he reads, but no luck. I hope you will dedicate this article to Lloyd, because / hope he believes this!

aggregate. Dave Hughes was back in the record books, and some He’s prouder of his National tourney amazing records they are. t records" than anything else in his tournament archery career, having attended eight Nationals and won five, placed second three times. In consecutive Nationals, he won by 17 points, 34 points, then 140 points twice, lost by 2 and 22, and won by 96 in 1974. He didn’t attend the Southern Sectional regularly, but he has won three of them, placed second twice, and holds field and animal 14-target records, a pair of 272’s, while Rick Gilley has a 278 hunter. Dave’s state championship competitive history is a story in itself. TFAA used to award a roving trophy which had to be won three years in a row for an archer to keep it. They don’t do that anymore; it sort of disappeared after Dave won two in a row. In all he won 7 consecutive state titles in barebow class A. Of the 11 tourneys he attended he was first eight times, second once, third once, and placed sixth as an intermediate in Iris first year. Some tournaments stand out from the rest. The 1968 State was one to remember, when Dave set some records and beat all the freestylers; the 1969 Watkins Glen tourney is unforgettable; and of course he’s pretty happy about Denver 1974. But which tournament really started it all? Go back to Jackson, Mississippi in 1967: “My first National championship — that’s the one that really turned me on and taught me what competition was.” Since then, Hughes has been the competition-maker in barebow archery. You can’t talk about Dave Hughes without saying at least as much about his bowhunting as his tournament shooting: “I hunt just as hard, if not harder, than I ever thought about shooting in tournaments.” To his credit Dave has four big ones and is looking for one more mount to match up with his five National bowls: he has a javelina, two deer and a ram. He’s proudest of an Albuquerque buck which at 210 pounds and with a 9-point rack missed Pope and Young by eight points. It was a running shot from 67 yards which hit the deer in the fourth rib, and the deer dropped after running only 70 yards. Besides the two deer mounts in his trophy collection, Dave had 25 more going into the 1974 hunting season. Of the 25, he remembers shooting at only two deer more than twice. One was another Sandia buck that Dave shot at 90 yards. The other was his first deer, the one he bagged at the age of 16. Hunting season in Texas opens on October 1 and lasts until January 1, and during those months Dave misses one weekend, maybe two at tire most. When he says, “I hunt as hard as I shoot” it’s no joke. He starts practicing for hunting season on Friday - the Friday of the Nationals. After the Nationals, the next big one is that buck in the woods. Hunting season also provides a little help for tournament shooting; “My hunting is probably the biggest thing behind my tournament shooting. Coming in from the woods I stump-shoot, and I shoot as many arrows in a week of hunting 10

as in a week of practicing. That keeps me strong going into tournament season.” And there the similarity ends. Until January 1 there’s no other thought of tournament archery. Dave’s hunting bow at 60-65 pounds is a good 20 pounds heavier than his tournament equipment, and his bowhunting style differs too. For hunting he draws more arrow, pulling over 29 in. compared to his 28-3/8” draw length for field shooting, as he anchors further back and more heavily into his cheek. And for bowhunting he doesn’t walk the string or even gap-shoot; he shoots pure instinctive, bowhunter style. Of the 27 deer he has to date, 23 were taken in Texas and four in New Mexico, obviously, his two favorite hunting areas. At home it’s the Thurber Ranch where he hunts with buddies from the American Sportsmen’s Club; out-of-state it’s Jerry Saint and Dick Groves who have the honor of trying to keep up. Dave’s favorite hunting partner is his father, no matter what the location. Hughes bowhunting is a family affair, the way Dad got Dave into archery in the beginning. Father and son did everything together, and that’s why Dave had to have a bow, too. “1 guess Daddy had to take me, because he couldn’t stand to see his boy cry. Besides that, he always wanted to.” That’s how the Hughes family came to hold the all-time record for deer in the 12 years since Dave’s 16th birthday. With David’s 27, his father’s 25, and 13 more captured by his mom, that makes a total of 65 among three people. Indoor shooting is the least of Dave’s archery concerns, mainly because after hunting and the outdoor tournaments there just isn’t time. He does manage to get in a few hours of indoor practice from August to January, then when hunting season ends he practices every day until time for the Las Vegas tourney. In 1970 he managed a first-place finish in flight No. 1 at Vegas, but on indoor shooting he comments: “I never

JANUARY 1975

amount to much there because I've had only three weeks of practice.”

Duane for the first time at Denver, where Duane took second place in open barebow shooting a compound bow. Dennis Cline he describes in one word —. tough — and two-time champ Cline is the one Hughes admires most of all: “Of course, because he’s the one that beat me twice. Let’s face it, going into the last three Nationals Denny hasn’t been shooting all that good, but he’s got go-power. In ’72 he was shooting pretty good coming in but the Nationals turned him on. In ’74 I knew he would be the man to beat but I also knew what was going to happen whether Denny was shooting good or bad. He’s tough — that’s the way he is.”

Besides that, he shoots freestyle indoors, not barebow. His reasoning: “After hunting season I have to do something to keep my form up for outdoor shooting. Freestyle helps out with form, and it’s never failed to help my aiming. I shoot freestyle indoors because there’s more money in it, and then when 1 go outside and have that big round shaft in the spot instead of a little pin, and the arrow goes in the spot, it makes me feel better. And that makes me shoot better.” Something else about indoor shooting ties in with Dave Hughes on the field courses — you just can’t make as much noise inside ,Cobo Hall or the Las Vegas Convention Center as you can on a field range. While some people call Hughes a cut-up on the courses, most of it’s a facade, a masquerade. The noise, jokes, laughter are to Dave no more than a way of relieving tension. To his way of thinking, everyone ought to be that way: “I think it helps ease the competition, not just for me, but for the guys I’m shooting with. If I can’t tell a joke or talk while I’m shooting or walking up to a target, if I have to sit back and be quiet, that’s pretty grim.”

Al fuller finished fourth in open barebow at Denver this year, his third Nationals and his second consecutive fourth-place finish. Dave was impressed by his concentration and his attitude, because when Al misses an arrow, it doesn’t show. Nothing shows on Al fuller; not bad shots, or close arrow calls, and there’s no griping or dishumor. fhe potential is there and it impressed Dave Hughes: “fhere’s a guy I appreciate shooting with. When he comes on the range he has the straight face for serious archery, and all that gets better is his smile.”

Dave remembers this year’s Denver tourney as the best time he’s had at a Nationals yet, and it showed in the shooting. Besides that, it says something for the fellow barebow archers he shoots with. Hopefully they’ve learned that there’s more to this man than the jokes and laughter, more titan great ability. The friendships have a lot to do with what goes on in barebow at a Nationals. Dave recalls as his favorite foursome in national competition the one made up of Denny Cline, Wayne Woerdich, Al fuller and himself from Aurora 1973 - a year that Dave lost.

fhere’s one man that Dave Hughes rates above every other barebow archer going, himself included. That man is another five-time champion, Cal Vogt. Cal is tops on the courses or off, says Hughes: “Fantastic is the one word I have to say about Cal. He’s the best shooter in the U.S. today who’t not using a siglit, and that includes me, Denny and the whole shooting match. Anyone who can shoot the scores he does without walking the string, shooting one finger over, is super-tough. And besides being one of the finest shots I’ve met, he’s one of the nicest guys.”

Dave rates as some of the best barebow shooters today Dennis Cline, Duane Chaney and Al fuller. He shot with

Cal beat David by two points at Aurora in 1973, and he outscored him one year at Las Vegas, too. Dave maintains that

ARCHERY

Cal keeps on being first because he works at it. He has one tiring on his mind - winning. That’s what Dave had on his mind when he came to Denver this year, and it paid off. He recounts the years when nothing could go wrong (1967-71), the one that caught him by surprise (1972), and the year he just wasn’t ready (1973). Dave brought a whole lot of motivation with him to Denver along with that Olympus compound. Most of it was sheer desire to win: “I don’t like coming in second.” Who would, with a reputation like his to uphold? From tire 1968 Nationals to the 1972 Southern Sectional, Dave suffered no barebow losses, though he did lose a few tourneys shooting freestyle; between the 1972 Sectional and the 1973 Nationals he was beaten only five times in all the tournaments he attended; and now he’s undefeated since the Buttercup Open in 1973, where he lost to Cline on the heels of the Aurora Nationals. In 1974 our champ had a lol of support: “Usually people come up to me and say ‘Go get ’em, Dave, you can win this thing.’ This year all I heard was ‘Gotta get that belt back, David.’ ”

Concentration helps and this year Dave had it, despite the clown he shows on the outside. It’s something he works at all year round, and he tells a funny story about that: “The concentration you need to shoot good barebow scores helps with hunting, too. When you’ve got that big buck at 50 yards you must have self-control to draw back and make a good shot. I feel I can handle myself in either situation so I don’t get nervous anymore. My heart still goes boom-boom-boom when I see that deer, but at least now I don’t have to find the bathroom as soon as 1 make the shot.” Part of the reason Dave can concentrate so well is the people he likes best to practice with - Bobby and Ricky Hunt. Dave’s already mentioned that he doesn’t like to finish second, and the one thinghe hates worse than gettingbeat is getting beat bad. When he’s shooting with archers like Bobby and Ricky, they really put it to Dave to keep up. And like the Hunt family, Dave practices seriously, far more seriously than his tournament shooting.

Most of his field shooting comes in practice sessions, not tournaments, This year there were only five scores on his handicap card before the Nationals, and two more after. One of the five was the State and another the State sectional. Says Dave, “I feel I need to be out on the range figuring out where my problems are, not at a tournament trying to shoot a record score.”

This year Bobby and Ricky Hunt were out on the ranges with him to introduce him to the compound bow for stringwalking. When they came in, John Nowell was there at Trophy Archery Lanes in Fort Worth to straighten out any problems with equipment, accessories and arrows. At the Denver Nationals, Mary Nowell was up till 5:30 Monday morning refletching Dave’s arrows which had passed through almost every bale on the mesa. People like these fill most spaces on Dave’s list of folks who’ve helped him through the years. Part of the reason everyone is so willing to help David Hughes is that Hughes himself has helped so many people. His natural ability to coach any archer, of any age or shooting 12

style, is nothing short of his natural ability for barebow shooting. Under Dave’s coaching, bowhunting buddy Marlin Hogue went from bowhunter class C to class A during five months of 1974. Timmy Holt, who placed second behind Mike Flier in amateur men’s barebow at Denver, has a barebow shooting style identical to Dave’s. Since they’re fellow members of the Irving Bowhunters Assn, and have done a lot of shooting together over the years, where else would he get it but first-hand? Right now Dave donates a lot of time to the local chapter of the American Sportsmen’s Club by doing seminars on bowhunting and competitive archery, a program he initiated three years ago. David Hughes’ devotion to the sport of archery goes a lot furthern than a National tournament. In the 12 years since Christmas of 1962, Dave’s seen a lot of the comings-and-goings in our sport — a lot of them were his own. Now tiiat he’s back with a fifth National win at Denver, what can the future hold in barebbw archery? For one thing, the joy of competition: “The barebow division will never be gone as long as people enjoy shooting without having someone try to cut your throat. The men I’ve shot with for the past three years wouldn’t take one thing from you; there’s no better sportsmanship in any game.” How about the Pro Division; Dave thinks about it but maintains he’ll never shoot freestyle in a National tournament, that will always be reserved for barebow. If the pros have a barebow division that’s something else to think about, but he even has his own ideas on that: “I think the pros should get their money but they should get one of those bowls, too. I 'wouldn’t take all the money that’s been paid in the Pro Division or the PAA for any one of my five National bowls. It only takes a few days to spend the money; I’ve had those bowls for six years.”

Besides the five national bowls Dave cherishes his national barebow records. He also cherishes the memory of a very great lady who helped him out all the way. We told you there’s more to the man than appears on the surface, and Dave’s feeling toward his Grandmother Harper brings forth the man we don’t often see: “There was a time when 1 had a couple of bad years and I got to shooting quite a bit, spending a lot of time at the range, and the fammily wanted me to give it up for a while. But Grandma Harper always said. ‘You’re doing right, son, go ahead and keep on doing what you want to do.’ At State in 1974 she died the night after the first round. I got word and it shook me up, but I finished. I got back and said, ‘Grandma, we won it.’ That’s one reason I won’t shoot the State barebow next year. It’s going to rest a year with her.” It’s probably for his late grandmother as much as for two little girls named Laurie and Tammy that Dave Hughes keeps working at his biggest archery ambition of winning more National tournaments than anyone else. Which means he’d better keep going at barebow as long as Cal Vogt is around in the bowhunter division.

And what about a 560 barebow score? Dave says, “We all like to dream ... sure I’d like to shoot a perfect. My biggest aim now, though, is to win enough stuff and be a good enough . guy to make the Archery Hall of Fame. I want to make it just big enough so when my girls grow up and have kids of their own they can say, ‘Grandpa really did something in his day.’ ’ JANUARY 1975

How to Stringwalk the Compound Bow The Hughes Method by Phyllis Butlers

^Wenver 1974 was the Nationals

where David Hughes came back, marching in with an Olympus compound bow in one hand, two more of them for backup bows in tire other, and also armed with an abundance of just plain determination. Five days later he left with his fifth national barebow title, the three compounds (two of them unused) and a big Texas smile. He’d not only won his division to avenge two consecutive years of losses, he’d beaten all tire open freestyle finger shooters as well. Who thought it could be done, anyway? The compound was critical enough for a freestyler to shoot, so what made this barebow shooter think he could make it work for stringwalking? Answer in two words or less — Bobby Hunt. Four weeks prior to the Denver tourney, Bobby tuned Dave’s compound for stringwalking, and asked Dave if he wanted to win the Nationals, and said he could show him how to do it. Dave wasn’t too sure about that deal; he’d already tried stringwalking another compound and broken two sets of limbs and several cables. He’d seen other barebow shooters try it, had used a compound himself for hunting, and neither set of results impressed him much. To be completely honest, he was scared of it. Dave admits, “My first ARCHERY

drought was, if this works, it’ll be beautiful. But I had my doubts.” The doubts were eased as Bobby and Dave shot together at least 18 hours a week in the four weeks left before the Nationals. Every time Dave ran into a problem Bobby would stop his own shooting to help him out. Three times he tore down die bow Dave was shooting and watched him put it back together by himself, so that if anything went wrong at the tournament Dave wouldn’t have to run across die ranges saying, “Hey, Bobby, fix my bow.” It wasn’t all clear sailing by any means; in the beginning Dave was

!!■ 3 ■ "j

disappointed with his arrow flight and had problems getting off the string. But Bobby kept him going, they kept experimenting, and it finally paid off. Tire first round Dave shot was a 522. Tire next day he had a 532. Now he looks back and says, “I fell in love with it — I wouldn’t shoot anything else now.” A third man who had a hand in getting Dave Hughes, the compound and stringwalking together was John Nowell at Trophy Archery Lanes in Fort Worth, Texas. We talked to all three of them — David, Bobby and John - to find out what it takes to make it work. They all agreed that the main thing is, you can't successfully stringwalk a compound on knowledge of barebow shooting technique alone. Someone has to be available who understands all the features, mechanics and tolerances of tire bow. And no one can just take a compound off the shelf and set it up for stringwalking if they haven’t been through it before. Having been through it once, anyway, these three men are ready to provide a few starting points for others to begin experimenting with. To begin, here’s a rundown on the equipment setup that helped David win at Denver. His compound bow is the aluminum-riser Zeus model by

Dave and Bobby Hunt check the tiller on his bow.

Olympus, with a standard grip. The bow peaks at 51 lb. and relaxes at 40. Stabilizer is a 36 in. standard Olympus model; arrows are X7 1816’s cut to 28-3/8 in. and fletched with three right-helical parabolic feathers and Bjorn nocks. His 10-strand string is made from Dacron B50 with 18 lb. monofilament serving. Dave uses a built-out Hoyt Pro Rest and a stationary, below-the-arrow clicker. Also one Kant-Pinch tab, without the “Kant” because Dave cuts that off. The number-one recommendation was unanimous: set up a compound so its relaxed weight is the same that you are pulling with a stick-bow. Dave was used to holding 40-42 lb., but he first set up his Olympus at about 36 lb. When the bow relaxed over, the string felt a little mushy and he couldn’t get as much finger tension as he was used to, so he couldn’t get a good release working. Hughes started adding pounds and when he finally got up to the 42 lb. he’d been holding before, his release was back to normal. Holding the same weight with his compound as with a recurve, Dave got increased speed plus increased score. The second thing they did was change the pulleys on Dave’s Olympus from the No. 3 size recommended at his draw length and holding weight to No. 5’s, two sizes larger. That served to

accommodate the varying draw lengths inherent in stringwalking. Dave draws a full 28-3/8 in. for his longer distances up against tlie nock, but when he slides the string for the birdie target or 15-yarder, it shortens to about 28 in. That’s because the resulting string angle at full draw puts the nock of the arrow in front of his hand, which is a couple inches down the string. Next they started adjusting the draw length of the bow, first setting it so Dave would hit the stops coming through the clicker on tire birdie shot. Then Vs in. was added to the draw length, which allowed a little play on the birdie but insured that the bow would break over all the way on the longer shots against the nock. It makes a visual difference of about 14 in. on the pulleys. For the short compounds like the Olympus, try pulleys that are 2-3 sizes over the standard recommendations, and start off with a bow set up for a slightly longer draw length than your actual draw. Proper tiller and string height are important factors that require extensive individual experimentation, since they vary for each draw length. For his draw Dave added 5/16 in. in tiller to make the bottom limb stiffer, taking two full turns on the bolt to crank additional poundage into that bottom limb. Once the tiller is straightened out, the idea is to try different string heights to get the bow to where it’s quick and quiet. Dave’s Olympus is a little louder than normal, but that’s because he’s shooting

Dave’s stringwalking technique is exact.

more pounds than the 35-40 limbs call for, with 51 lb. relaxing to 40 lb. Finger tension is the most critical factor in shooting a compound bow, since the bow is so short and the string angle at full draw so sharp. Dave cautions against using as much finger with the compound as with a standard recurve, and notes that those who pull a lot with the bottom finger will have trouble stringwalking a compound. He says the best solution would be to use just one finger, but even Hughes hasn’t tried that yet.

What he does is start with three fingers on the string, the top two heavy and the bottom carrying jus’ a little. As he gets back to his anchor he loosens up on the bottom finger until it’s just resting on the string, eases up on the top one and lets the middle finger carry the load. As Dave started changing tension on his bottom finger he found he had to move Iris nocking point down also. But the less finger on the string, the better off hell be. The biggest problem that barebow shooters have adjusting to the compound bow is coping with the narrowing gaps for stringwalking. They’re used to a wide-gap system where you can be above or below the dot aiming and still hit the target. If Dave’s above or below that dot when he shoots, it’s going to be a marginal error, so he shoots at the dot on every target, like a freestyle shooter. Dave took about one full inch off his gaps when he changed to the compound, going to his fonner 25-yard shot to hit the birdie target. That brought everything so close together that he had to change from No. 21 monofilament for his serving to No. 18. He found himself shooting high of the dot at one spot and low of the dot just one strand down with the No. 21. So he switched to No. 18, uses one anchor, and the farthest he travels from the nock is about 114 in. for the birdie target. He aims on the spot for every target, shoots the 80 off the shelf and aims spot-on for that, too. Positioning nocking points on the string is important for the compound stringwalker, again because of that sharp string angle and varying crawls down the string. Dave uses two noksets and likes them with about 1/8 in. of play when the arrow’s in between. That allows JANUARY 1975

enough but not too much room for string angles even when he’s 114 in. away for a birdie shot. If they’re too close together the result is a pinched nock and a sloppy shot, or on a hot day the nocks will come crooked or loose. Dave also keeps his Bjorn nocks “just snog” on that string. At 51 lb. peak he would have felt a lot more secure with a 12-strand string at Denver, but he found his nocks would then be too tight. So he slaved with the ten strands, since he never worries about making a string change, anyway. The confidence comes from knowing the equipment setup. At a tourney in Little Rock. Arkansas, he had to make a switch just before the 80-yard target, and he swiftly changed strings, shot the 80 and 70 just out of the five low, cranked the bow up a pound and put the next two shots in the middle. On the subject of arrow rest they all agree, the barebow-compound shooter must have a flexible, not a solid, rest. Dave personally never uses anything but a Hoyt Pro Rest on any of his bows, and John Nowell explains why: “I’ve never seen a barebow archer shoot anything but a Hoyt and shoot a really good score. The Pro Rest has a built-in feature that no other rest has — it’s got deflection both horizontal and vertical, which is very important in stringwalking. For example, if Dave comes down hard on the string on a short target, or has to lean over to shoot in a gully, he’s going to pull more on that bottom string if he doesn’t watch it. With the Hoyt rest, it gives, and he still scores. With a solid rest the arrow is out.” A fairly new rest which works the same way is the Springy Rest, having both horizontal and vertical flexibility. It’s available in 15 and 20-25 oz. models, and the barebow shooter can select one not too stiff, so Dave’s thinking of giving that a try. Right now his Pro Rest is built out about 3/16 in. to accomodate tire Olympus compound that’s cut that much past center. Arrows are something for the individual archer to decide on through experimentation, but Dave’s had enough success with Iris 1816’s out of 51 lb. to suggest trying a thick-walled shaft first. The stiffness will make it more forgiving and without the kick a lighter arrow might have. Any small loss in speed is ARCHERY

Dave made his own adjustable clicker from window blind, and built up his Hoyt rest.

r—-XL

Above: Eccentric appears this way on a short target when Hughes has walked his full l‘/2 in. down the string. Photo was taken at full draw and the position of the tape indicates bow is about '/> in. short offull breakover because of short er draw. Below: Eccentric at full breakover. It looks like this on longerdistance shots because finger position is right under the nock and draw length the longest.

well worth the gain in stability, since getting good arrow flight at every distance has long been a perennial barebow problem. We mentioned at the beginning that there’s more to successful compound stringwalking than good barebow shooting technique, but when the bow’s

set up and ready, the background in barebow helps. The Hughes stance is famous for its leaning-backward posture, breaking wrist, and downward-positioned right elbow. No wonder it’s well-known, because it’s been around for a while. Says Dave, “I’m shooting the same style now I shot in 1969, I always have. The only difference this year is it’s working good again.” Dave tries to shoot as relaxed as possible, and to him that’s what the leaning back does. He has no particular stance but simply walks up to a target and positions himself wherever it’s comfortable, keeping tire right foot extra-steady because that’s the one that carries most of his weight. Hand placement with the Olympus is amazingly simple; Dave says, “There’s no way I can get into that handle wrong. I come into it straight ahead with the heavy part of my thumb into tire center of the bow, then let my wrist break down just a hair.” With his stickbows he always shot a high-wrist handle, but Dave found he could hold steadier, aim easier, and get more consistent archery from the bow by breaking his wrist down a little. Walking the string for a barebow shooter is like setting a sight for a freestyler, and Dave takes it just as seriously, and works at refining his system just as hard. He’s never used the stitches on his tab for stringwalking; he chooses to count servings instead. He says, “A freestyler won’t set his sight 1/16 in. or 1/32 in. off, so why should a barebow shooter guess by a stitch or something? That’s his sight he’s setting every time. One strand on this No. 18 monofilament will throw me from a center dot to a middle five, and if I push it a little I’ve got a miss.” So Dave slides that tab down real easy and makes sure it comes right to the tip of Ills fingernail. When Dave comes to full draw his left shoulder is pushed back toward his neck and outside. His thumb goes behind his neck and as his anchor comes into his face he makes sure his head doesn’t move since he sets his hand into his head and not the other way around. He anchors good and solid before he looks at tire clicker on the side of the shaft, and pushes out with his left arm and until it disappears under the point 15

New from MAA Merchandise items now available from Headquarters <MEMBER

License Plate Holders S7.00 per set

■ Wl FIELD AflCHERYA55?T£-1 z-liore. Dave at full draw. Note that the middle finger carries most of the load, and the third finger is relaxed. Below: Solid thunb-behind-the-cheek anchor contributes to a naturally breaking wrist and downward sloping elbow.

(HO 1 L J

Western Style Belt Buckles (bronze finish). S5.00 each

It Leather Money Folder

SI .50 each Mail your order to: NFAA Route 2, Box 514 Redlands, CA 92373 Include 50tf handling fee. California residents add 6% sales tax.

I Please send me

I I

| |

License Holders Belt Buckles Money Folders

I Enclosed is S I| Name.

I Street

j City_ | State. b

I I I I I I

Zip

I I I I I i

of the arrow. Then it’s Stop Everything! The point of the arrow moves to the spot, Dave starts aiming, and if his thoughts were out loud we’d be hearing “middle-middle-middle.” The forefinger of his bowhand sticks out front like a flag, subconsciously pushing a hole in the bottom of that spot. Dave’s arrangement for aiming is a unique one that testifies to the seriousness with which he approaches his barebow archery. When a single serving on a string can change a perfect

shot Io one that’s less than good, fine aiming is an insurance must. And trying to aim off something as big as an 1816 shaft in the center of a white spot just isn’t close enough for Dave Hughes. So he takes the top round of his arrow shaft and butts it against the bottom round of the spot to form a perfect figure eight. It’s a little more complicated but a lot more consistent. That’s the winning form that made an unbeatable combination with the Olympus compound bow. Now that Huglies has made history again at Denver, and considering the way he did it, you can be sure there will be lots more compounds showing up in the barebow division next year. It's just like the year that a gap-shooting Dave Hughes met a string-walking Frank Gandy in Jackson, Mississippi: “If one guy can do it and win like that, it’s time for you to try it too.” This time the barebow shooters will get on the compound and stay on it, predicts Dave. Timmy Holt is the perfect example of what can be done; Timmy shot his first compound ever, a bow set up mid-week by Ricky Hunt at Denver, and his last three rounds with the compound outscored his two opening rounds shot with a recurve. Tire big advantage for the barebow shooter is the speed of the compound; Dave maintains he never aimed out of tire five at Denver. The disadvantage is a more difficult setup, but it’s difficult, not impossible. For the women in barebow, its rewards could be immeasureable. Dave notes that “everybody’s problem in barebow right now is yardage and having to change anchors. If the men have that problem with 38 lb. bows, the women will have twice as much. But they’ve got the compound now.” And he firmly believes that any barebow shooter willing to donate a little time, patience and drive can shoot the compound bow. The important thing is not to be afraid of it. Dave is taking odds on it: “There’ll be a bunch more of us shooting compounds at the Nationals next year. They’ll get on it and stay on it; remember that when 1 first shot one I wanted to throw my hands up after one week. Maybe if we took all their sticks away a month before the Nationals JANUARY 1975

THE HUNTER'S EDGE! could be

YOUR EDGE to a successful

bowhunt

.. •*>

Javelina trophy taken in Arizona with Carroll's Compound.

fits.* Colorado black bear taken with Carroll's Compound.

The Carroll's Compound Hunter gives you a definite edge by increasing your effective range, speed and penetration!

Try one out at your nearest Carroll's dealer or contact Carroll's

direct—

(Uarrull’s ^rtljerg products 59*/2 South Main

ARCHERY

Telephone (801) 259-5549

Moab. Utah 84532

Virginia beagle and the ubiquitous bunny by Ed Meyers

ttlje’s up!” yelled my hunting partl*ner, Will Walker, as the three short-legged beagles opened up on a trail that was slightly cold only seconds before. I shifted my freezing feet from a patch of old snow and peered out across the narrow sage field into a thicket of dead blackberry briars and scrub pine. I couldn’t see Will but 1 could hear him shuffling about. “Hold your place!” I shouted back into the snow-sploched wind. “You can bet he’ll double back today! It’s cold as hell on those ridges!” But by then the dogs had faded on into the next hollow, their voices echoing thin in the icy air. They were proving to be the best three beagles out of a litter of six. Old Mac, their father,

Big fun can come in small packages by Dick Sage

■ 4

■

-LX

7 ... '

r j";"

Above: Old fence rows make fall and winter worthwhile. Opposite: Author with three cottontails, interest ed observer. 18

• yiention bowhunting and your '•^audience automatically thinks deer. This is not surprising since this specie is without question the quarry of most hunting archers. It has all the necessary qualities: widely available, a most wor thy adversary for the bowhunter and relatively large size, making it a substan tial target. In short, bowhunting is deer hunting to a vast majority of people. But not to me. As much as I respect tire deer of all animals the whitetail is my favorite quarry - I spend more hours and get as much total enjoyment from the cottontail rabbit and the woodchuck. The longer seasons, of course, have a great deal to do with this circumstance but I’ll take off for a

was somewhere behind me, rustling through the brushpiles. He’s too old to join in the main chase, but he’s still the best jump dog I’ve ever seen. All four dogs belong to Will, who has developed a hobby of breeding fine beagles and breaking them in exceptionally slow. We’re both ardent bowhunters, and it takes special training to get a dog familiar for a silent kill. As the chase grew louder, 1 walked toward the middle of the field, double-checked my arrow for its proper nock in the bowstring. When you’re after cottontails with a bow you really have to stay on your toes. In fact, being able to hit one on the run with a pack of beagles hot on its tail can be likened to chasing a Greyhound bus down an interstate highway on foot. But on a return, with a good slow dog pushing, the cottontail usually goes into a lope. This is the time for your bow to go into action. “Heads up!” Will's voice vibrated

Hunting Smah Game rabbit hunt in December as quickly as for a deer hunt in October. As for chucks, they rank with trout fishing as a springtime recreation and for me, that’s a pretty high status. My early rabbit hunts were without hounds, not by choice but because they were not available to me. We hunted rabbits by stalking and, surprisingly, we became fairly adept. This adeptness applied more to getting shots than scoring because even though we spotted a fair number before they spooked, seldom would they sit through the ordeal of having an arrow pointed at them. But we did get some and we even made an occasional lucky shot at a running target as well. The overall situation was aided by our ready access to a farm with good rabbit cover and lots of rabbits. We learned rapidly that the rabbit must be pursued differently with the bow than with a shotgun. JANUARY 1975

from the thicket. “He’s going to break the corner of the field!” Sure enough, 1 whizzed around just in time to catch a slight glimpse of something brown and furry cannonballing across the edge of the field some 25 yards to my right. In a mechanical fashion 1 chinned the arrow, drawing as the bow moved up. I shoot instinctively, because a sight would only hinder me - the speed of a running rabbit is too great. In less than a second the arrow made a soft thud and the furry streak rolled end-over-end a few feet and stopped. I ran over and picked up a nice fat cottontail, my third out of an hour of hunting. Checking the hit, I found where the arrow had slipped quietly through the bottom of the right shoulder, punctured the heart, and cleared the rabbit. A few feet away I found the shaft buried in dead leaves. Over the span of 12 years. I’ve bowhunted bunnies in and around the

southern portions of the Virginia Piedmont area. On this particular day in early December, Will Walker and I were covering a part of his father’s 200 acre farm near the small community of Snow Creek, in Franklin County. Looking at a Virginia map, the first thing you see is that the county forms the apex on a four-county triangle. The other three counties — Pittsylvania to tire east, Henry to the south, and Patrick farther west — add greatly in making this section of the Old Dominion state one of the best rabbit hunting areas around. Much of this

-z.

■

country is rural, and landowners are farmers with an ear of their own for a sweet chase and a clean kill. As a result, a lot of the land can be used by the hunter just by asking and giving proper courtesy to fences and grounds. Will and I have hunted together for eight good years. Aside from a regular job operating a computer in nearly Martinsville, he works his father’s farm and raises some first-rate beagles. I’m news editor of a small weekly newspaper in Stuart, a small town about Continued on page 26

■

The

Endless Season Our original effective technique was to stalk very slowly and quietly along the hedgerows and in the overgrown fields, never moving abruptly and al ways watching intently in all directions. We were especially cautious in areas where we had previously scared out a bunny and it often resulted in a repeat occurence. About the only unpleasant thing about hunting this way was the need for frequent “eye rest stops” because after an hour or so, it felt like your eyes were going to pop. Tire constant staring into dead brown grass looking for a dead brown rabbit could get mighty tiring. Often the rabbit would be spotted only because we could see his dark, shiny eye standing out in the otherwise neutral background. Nevertheless, it was always a thrill when we did spot one, sometimes almost under our feet. We often reacted by jerking the bow into position so rapidly the rabbit scooted ARCHERY

off leaving a foolish looking archer devoid of an opportunity to get off the arrow. Our results were always better in the early fall when the rabbits were more plentiful because we got more close shots but we saw more in the early winter because they were far more visible. In the latter case, however, they were also more difficult to approach and the shots were at longer distances. A favorite spot of mine was along the partially filled Champlain section of the old Erie Canal just south of my home town of Mechanicville in New York. The canal was about 25 yards wide and

our technique was to walk the top of one bank watching closely across the canal towards the undergrowth on the opposite bank. The first hour of a new snowstorm when some snow was already on the ground was fabulous. Every rabbit, it seemed, was out to eat his fill and was clearly visible against the snowwhite background. Early evening, after a heavy snow the night before, was almost as good. Of course, a shot across that canal often meant wet feet or a long walk around until the canal froze solid. Continued on page 32 19

Evolution of a Tournament i;

1^k .'

f/E

*' ■■

I LM

J'i

In a decade, the New England Open has grown into the second biggest event in indoor archery.

I i

The two of them were born to’ gether, Hall’s Arrow Indoor Archery Range and a tournament called the New England Indoor Open. It was December 19, 1964, when the grand opening of New England’s first (and still the only) automatic indoor archery range was highlighted by a $200 guaranteed purse tournament, a single PAA round with a $5.00 registration fee. The locale was 291 West Middle Turnpike in Manchester, Connecticut, the site that lane operator Art Hall had chosen for expanding his arrow-making facility into a full-fledged archery busi ness. The first lanes newsletter described the new spot as “9,000 square feet devoted to archery, conceived and con structed by archers for archers.” The same philosophy applies to the tourna ment, an event that’s grown, made changes, and grown again, with ex-

pansion geared toward doing more for the archer. The early years of pure archery enjoyment progressed swiftly to tense professional competition, and not sur prisingly, to three consecutive years of record turnouts. On March 15-16, 1975, the 11th Annual New England Indoor Open will be the second-largest indoor archery championship in the United States, carrying a guaranteed purse of $6,500. There’s $4,050 cash to be split equally between two divisions of limited and unlimited pro shooters, and the remaining $2,500 represents eight ama-

Editor’s Note: As we go to press, it has just been announced that the NFAA Professional Division is sanctioning this year’s New England Indoor Open, and that the total purse is now $7,000. More details will follow in next month’s issue.

1964

teur championship trophies and over 40 archery merchandise “door prizes” to be awarded by chance drawing to non-scratch winners, both open and amateur. While 1975 won’t be the first time that finger and release shooters have toed the line together at a New England Open, it will be the first time they can do so without controversy. It happened before in the early 1970’s, the days before AAC and equipment rules and fingers-only in PAA competition. The ten-year history of the New England Open is a showcase of legendary archery names and achievements that fore shadowed the rising importance of today’s tournament. The opening-day money shoot was limited to 18 archers who shot quali fying rounds to gain their berths on the championship line. Two women and 16 men qualified, and top money in the modest $200 purse went home with then NFAA freestyle champion John Rudy of New York, who registered a 290 on the single PAA indoor round. Four months later (April 1965) JANUARY 1975

Hall’s Arrow played host to a $400 PAA-sanctioned money shoot that was the first such event for New England. Forty-one archers -------- ’ and again —3 ccompeted the champ was John Rudy, this time with a 297 that established a new competitive PAA record. The next year saw Connecticut’s ownwin as Norm O’Kane of Manchester took top money in the $500 tourney with a score of 288 with Rudy second at 287. Then they were prefixing the title with “annual” in 1967, when a New Yorker named Leo Baldwin fired a winning 294 in another S500 event, attended by 50 shooters from several states outside as well as within New England. The signs of rapid growth, set the scene for seven more years of partnership with the PAA. It was called the “fourth annual” in 1968 and that was the big one. A guaranteed purse of $1,000 paid 20 places for men, a 100% payback for women, six New England amateur titles and to top it all off, the added dimen sion of a pre-tournament archery semi nar conducted by “Gentleman Jim” Pickering. Tournament sponsor Art Hall recalls that year as the one when “every top pro in the U.S. was right here in New England.” And they were — archers like Vic Berger, winning a shoot off with Chuck Jordan after the two carded a pair of 298’s Pickering, Jim Ploen, Bill Koerner, Jim and Lucille Stametz, pro women’s winner Maggie Owens, and a host of others. In a way number four was really the beginning. Once over that magical $1,000 mark for prize money there was no stopping the growth of the New England Open. Already the site of some of the nation’s finest archery, the tour nament became even more fiercely com petitive, the scores even more brilliant than superlative past performances. The names listed as competitors in this “local” tourney read like a “Who’s Who In Archery”; the achievements are archery history.

1965

1964: Witmer John Rudy, Henry Bomhard, Norm 0 'Kane, Dick Marks, Ronal Beem, Jim Barker, Paul Micholas and Bob Bouldsbrough toed the line. 1965: Rudy won it a second time. 1968: Bill Bednar, Ed Gaffney and Jitn Pickering with sponsor Art Hall.

Connecticut’s Gina Konopaska fired a stunning 293 to walk away with first place among the women pros and set a new tournament record. Gina would later have a share in a different kind of archery honor, as she twice reigned as New England tournament queen. In 1970 Danielle Jackson was crowned to start that new phase of the tournament. More perfects came in 1971 as Hollis Webster, Jim Gardner and Bill Robinson all hit the 300 mark and had a dramatic shootoff for first place, eventually won by Webster. But this was a year ahead of action taken to disallow release aids and/or compound bows in the PAA phase of professional archery com petition, and following Webster, Gardner and Robinson were four men tied at 299 and four more at 298 before we get to the only two money winners that year to do it with fingers, Jim Ploen and Benny Tirado with a pair of 297’s. The next year it was fingers-only but just as much action, with Norm O’Kane winning a four-way shootoff against visiting pros Frank Pearson, Dave Jackson and Al Lizzio. Speaking of good archery scores, Indiana’s Jody Hansen made it five 297’s as she added hers to the heap and took the women’s pro title. Two years later in 1974, Jody captured another first place and shot the only New England Open RobinHood on her way to a winning 291. The women had made their presence felt before, however; it was back in 1967 that the first indications of great ness came from Ann Butz. Shooting in a tournament that offered a guaranteed purse for the men and only a percentage 1968

Jim Ploen started it all in 1969, when he won the tournament with a perfect 300 score, the only archer thus far to record a perfect with fingers in New England Open competition. Ploen fol lowed that up with a second win in 1970 this time a 298, for an impressive two-time victory. That year was a good year for the women, too, for in 19

ARCHERY

-x plW

1969

payback to the women, Annie elected the tougher phase of competition and came close to picking up some of the men’s cash when she wound up in a four-way tie at 284 for a single 7th-place award. The amateur competition grew to championship proportions over the years and has contributed much to the tourney’s success. The number of ama teur awards increased from none to six to eight as the shooters proved their worth through attendance. For several years running they con stituted a solid third or more of the tourney’s total attendance, and in 1974 they were just one shy of an even 50%. In 1966 Ed Gaffney was the single amateur winner; then in 1967 Connecticut’s Ron Machia and Pennsylvania’s Lucille Stametz took the first pair of titles with 284 and 276, respectively, and by 1968 the amateur competition had expanded into a tradi tional battle for the New England titles. There were many outstanding per formances, but the most consistent was Connecticut’s Barbara Brown, who took five consecutive titles from 1968 through 1972, and a pair of third places in 1973 and 1974. The high spot was Barbara’s 290 in the 1970 event that topped even Nancy Pfeilmeier’s 285 which won women’s pro competition. The New England Open drew ama teurs and pros alike from all over the nation. Steve Lieberman came in 1970, firing a 291 for third place behind a pair of 292’s from Connecticut archers Chris Labucki and Roy Konopaska, and in 22

1971 soon-to-be Olympian Maureen Bechdolt recorded a 263 for fourth place in women’s amateur competition. Somehow those amateur titles stayed pretty much in New England, and no small share of the credit goes to last year’s winner, Butch Johnson of Massachusetts. Butch won his division in 1973 with a 293, but the 1974 tourney was the eye-opener, as Butch fired a tournament high of 299 and topped men’s pro winner Earl Bosdock’s 298. The six years from the 1969 tourney to 1974 saw many changes in the tournament’s structure as the sponsors strove to give the archers what they wanted. In the beginning there had been just open scratch competition (1964); then there was, briefly, a barebow division (1966); a few years of per centage paybacks for the women (1965-69); and the official addition of an amateur division for the New England indoor titles (1968). And as the $1,000 purse mark was passed, there came years of experimentation with money breakdowns of guaranteed awards for both men and women pros and the question of merchandise prizes and handicap divisions. One year, 1970, was a scratch-scores-only tournament paying 20 places for men, five for women, and 136 shooters came. In 1971 they tried paying both scratch and handicap money, with 12 places for men, three for women, and six handicap cash awards, and there were 141 shooters. For 1972 it was 20 places in scratch money for men, five for women, and six handicap awards of archery merchan1972

dise, all top-line bows. That year 165 archers participated. In 1973, I?4 shooters competed in a major tournament that offered only a single handicap award. The S3,500 in cash and merchandise awards that year went to scratch winners through 40 places for men and 10 for women. The one handicap award and a “shooter’s door prize” were all that was available to non-scratch winners. Surprisingly, this is the year that had the biggest effect for future New England Open tournaments, and the tournament report that year stated: “The 9th annual New England Indoor Open is now history with the largest attendance to date ... 174 archers from 16 states shooting for 58 scratch places and a single handicap award. The facts show that archers want to compete and will travel to a scratch event where the possibility is good for making money if they can place in the top 40. We are elated about the success of this year’s tourney . . . the 1974 New England Open will be a 84,500 SCRATCH tour nament!” Because of the energy crisis, it didn’t turn out to be a $4,500 tournament but a substantial $3,000 purse did go into a scratch-only event. Never one to let matters rest, however briefly, our spon sor came up with an all-new idea of giving away merchandise as “door prizes” that could be won by pro and amateur shooters alike, the winners’ names to be drawn at random from among all non-scratch winners. Over $1,000 in merchandise was given away that year, and it worked - 177 archers made the 1974 tourney the biggest and best New England Open yet.

And that’s the way it will be in 1975, with $4,050 cash to be split equally between the pro limited and unlimited divisions; $2,500 more in archery mer chandise “door prizes”; and eight championship trophies for the amateur hopefuls.

■ J

Also part of the 1975 event will be some of the “extras” the New England Open has picked up over the years, like the traditional Saturday-night New England banquet, the selection of a tournament queen, and perhaps even an archery seminar like the ones Pickering, Ploen and Berger have done in the past. With the demise of the Cobo Hall tourney this year, the $6,500 New JANUARY 1975

1969: Jim Ploen, the only one to shoot a 300 with fingers. 1972: Norm O’Kane who won after a four-way shoot-off, with queen Janice McDonald. 1973: Vic Berger and Barry Weinperl at the shoot-off. 1974: Jody Hansen with her Robin Hood.

1973

England Open will be the second largest indoor archery championship in the nation, and it’s earned the honor well. As often happens, there’s a price tag on this success. One thing that the New England Open won’t be this year is PAA-sanctioned. Obviously it can’t, since the tourney is featuring an unlim ited division. It’s a strange development, since the tournament was founded on PAA ideals and the lanes itself is still a stronghold of conventional finger shooters for New England. Compound bows and release aids have not pro gressed in this area at anything close to the pace they’ve taken in the other New England states. Art Flail agrees with that: “We don’t have any unlimited shooters in our area but that’s no reason to continue to exclude. This year, like all the rest, is an experiment. I don’t know how many there are, but I didn’t know how many archers there would be in 1964, either. So we’ll find out if these people like to shoot for money.” Of course there are many reasons for running a tournament, but contrary to popular belief, making money is seldom one of them, at least not when it’s over. Most of us are good enough mathemeticians to multiply the number of partici pants , times a registration fee to conclude that such-and-such a sponsor made out okay; a few are wise enough to calculate expenses such as adver tising, mailing, sanction fees, targets, and extra help to run the tournament; and only another lane operator would consider the effects of loss of business for two days while the tourney’s in

It’s a good thing Hall’s Arrow had other reasons for originating the New England Open — the tournament gives rhe area archers something to look forward to and a reason to work at their sport, and the local advertising draws attention to the fact that something’s happening in archery. The side benefit is being able to do something nice for people, and if a tournament like the New England Open is not a sure-fire monetary success for business during that particular week, it’s definitely good for business and the sport in the long run. Actually the original intent behind the New England Open, like the philo sophy that started Hall’s Arrow Indoor Archery Range, has not changed at all. Both were “conceived and constructed by archers for archers” and they remain so. As a lane operator, Art Hall says: “The PAA can afford to exclude; it’s a shooters’ organization, not a business. They can build their laws around the membership’s ideals. A lane must pro---jp.-

1974

progress.

vide for everybody’s needs, not just some.” Although every top pro in the U.S. was here for the 1968 tourney, the first $1,000 event, in the past few years PAA support of their Pro Tour shoot has dwindled into insignificance. Last year the PAA members numbered as few as 16 out of the total attendance of 177. That has a lot to do with a comment from Art Hall as a PAA tournament sponsor: “Years ago all the fine gentle men attending our tournament were PAA members, as I was, but now we’re all not. Some of the nice people stopped coming, some not-so-nice people started to come, and pretty soon it wasn’t so nice being a PAA member as it used to be.”

Out of a decade of experimentation, change and controversy has come the growth of a $200 money shoot into a $6,500 11th annual New England In door Open. No doubt there are people within the total sport who would like to see it fail, but it’s too late for that. The New England Open is more than a tournament that grew, it’s a tournament that out-grew. Our tournament has outgrown the days of $200 purses and 18 shooters and 280 scores; that happened in 1964 with the very first one. It’s also out grown the PAA, and that came ten years later in the aftermath of 1974. But one part of it remains constant, and that’s the name which has been with us all along — New England Indoor Open. New England? Here in Manchester, Connecticut, that we are. Indoor? There’s no denying the New England Open represents some of the finest indoor archery in the nation. And Open? For the first time, it’s open to all archers. - Phyllis Butters 23

NATIONAL FIELD ARCHERY ASSOC.

WnfflWby erv kreischer

Route 2, Box 514 (S Jf-''' s) Redlands, Calif. 92373 (714) 794-2133 NFAA OFFICERS Ervin G. Kreischer President 827 Floretta Dr., N.W. Albuquerque, New Mexico 8/1U/

John W. Durham Vice President 2604 So. 19th St. Ft. Pierce, Florida 33450

E. Pat Wingfield Immediate Past President 1330 Byron Drive, No. 4E Salinas, California 93901 Wm. H. Wadsworth Bow Hunting Chairman Boy Scouts of America No. Brunswick, NJ 08902

Ervin W. Belt Executive Secretary Route 2, Box 514 Redlands, California 92373 (714) 794-2133

BOARD OF DIRECTORS COUNCILMEN NEW ENGLAND Bradlee V. Starrett 460 Massachusetts Ave. Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462

SOUTHEASTERN Ramsey Cutshall 1000 E. Church St. Greenville, Tennessee 37743

MID-WESTERN Bennie Mooer 2600 Williams Great Bend, Kansas 67530

GREAT LAKES Roland Mantzke 1260 Constellation Drive Aurora, Illinois 60505

SOUTHERN Wilbur Corley 212 S. Purdue Claremore, OK 74017

NORTHWESTERN Jerry Brabec Rt. 5, 930 Westgate Dr. Billings, Montana 59101 SOUTHWESTERN George Chraft 6113 Fairwood Cr. Las Vegas, Nevada 89107 MID-A TLANTIC William E. Boyle Ontario St. Extension Canadaigua, New York 14424

NFAA 75 A second chance, plenty ofexcitement “T’he arrival of a new year generates renewed hope. There is exciting anticipation * of new opportunities and what they will bring. Fortunately, too, a new year affords a sort of second chance to address old problems which sometimes remain. Our year, NFAA ’75, promises plenty of excitement. To start the action our NFAA PROFESSIONALS will move into the spotlight at the Las Vegas Desert Inn Classic to crown our Professional National Indoor Champions. Certainly, this has to be hailed as an exciting new opportunity. It is, however, more than that.

I would liken it to the salmon’s return to the place of birth to spawn. For many, it will recall nostalgic memories of the birth of the Las Vegas tournament under NFAA direction, back about 1962. I offer congratulations to the management of the tournament and to the NFAA PROFESSIONALS, and add best wishes that this spawning run will be exceedingly prolific. 1 am delighted to announce that NFAA "75 will usher in the first opportunity for the United States to host the World Field Archery Championship Tournament of the International Field Archery Association.

I am especially pleased to announce that it will be held in conjunction with our U.S. Nationals at the Jay Peak Ski Resort in Vermont. Brad Starrett, New England Councilman who served as tournament chairman for the 1972 Championships at Ludlow, promises “this will be the best one, ever.” Certainly, there is new challenge here. No qualifying rounds will be required and competition will be opened to all NFAA amateurs. IFAA rules will apply.

I take great pleasure in informing you that word has been received from Bill Wadsworth, Chairman of the Bowhunting and Conservation Committee, that our NFAA Bowhunter Certification Program is now being finalized and will “go to press” in the immediate future. This is a very ambitions undertaking and its success will require an enthusiastic effort from many NFAA BOWHUNTERS. An important new challenge which concerns each of us is our budget. This, of course, relates to the national state of the economy. To “keep alive in ’75,” we will have to develop increased volume. Your Secretary, Erv Belt, has increased out field of merchandising items during the past few months to assist but a raise in membership dues will still be required.

F°r l'10se us wh° are concerned about old problems, growth potential of our AA offers an unlimited challenge. Under our organizational structure we are almost totally dependent upon volunteer efforts. The amount of “clout” or “drive” w re we can muster always depends upon the number of volunteers and what they can contribute. expansion will' reauim^ 3 stable n3*316 financial situa tion and a continuing membership situation

24 JANUARY 1975

BOARD OF DIRECTORS GEORGE McMAHON Route 3, Box 137, Gadsden, AL 35901 JAMES BAKER WOMASTAdOFr1SRHERAnChOra9e’ AK "5°7 HAROLCDHiLERd-'MeSa'AZ 85207

FRANKAADAMSFOr,Smi,h'AR 72901

How many years a member? Your association with this association.

DON W|iLUARlSCirCle' An3heim' CA 92807

&a&PEa&W1Y523 140. Sylvan Ave., Waterbury, CT 06706 ALLEN B. MANEVAL

5lDLKR1DBH%3U°C9kLLkrn- °E 1"60 JA8N%B^rE^YF' PierCe’FL 33450 1434 E. Lamar St., Americus, GA 31709 WENDELL KAM

JacWfIsher6" Honolulu- Hl 96815 MY^bSN ReUT?EnDGdE-

Ine National Field Archery Association wishes to acknowledge and express their sincere thanks for the following donations received recently for the Bowhunter Defense Fund: Hawaii State Archery Association S60.00; Black Swamp Bowhunters of Ohio $50.00; Maya Bowhunters of Calif. $50.00; CARPARAMA “74” of Wash. $15.00; Chilakoot Bowhunters of Minn. $25.00; Rochester Archery Club of Minn. $50.00; Marshfield Bowmen of Wise. $65.00; Tomahawk Archers of Mich. $100.00; Grayson County Bowmen of Texas $200.00; Granite Center Archers of Minn. $59.00; Mountain Top Archery Club of New York $61.00; Central N.Y. Bowmen of N.Y. $130.00; Fairmont Field Archers of W. Virg. $18.00; Kanawha Valley Sportsman Club of W.V. $99.00; Delchenego Rod and Gun Club of N.Y. $12.90; Wheeling Archery Club of Illinois $1 0.00; Long Bow Archery Club of Maine $5.00; Winnebago Archery Club of Iowa $64.00; Lakeside Archery Club Oregon $10.00; South Tahoe Bowmen of Calif. $50.00; Mohawk Archery Club of Iowa $150.00; Vaughn’s Sport World of Nevada $100.00; William Thomas, jr. of Mass. $3.00; Rev. H.A. Harrington of Louisiana $1.00; Dale Smathers of Wise. $1.00; Emmett Hathaway of Penn. $70.00; Floyd German of Calif. $5.00; Patricia Karaszewski of Ind. $5.00; Larry Schuh of N.D. $3.00; Jan Sasik of Penn. $1.00; Tink Nathan of Virginia $6.00; Albert Schneider of Wise. $7.00; Bob Rath of Calif. $4.17; Vale Lantz of Oregon $12.00; Mr. and Mrs. Jim Revis of Okla. $24.00; and Siegfried Senser of Germany $3.00. Contributions to date, including that part from the 1,417 bowhunter members, now exceed $17,000.

--di

it.

NFAA service pins Have you been a continuous member of the NFAA for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or more years? If so you are eligible to be recognized by the award of an appropriate lapel pin. You may apply directly to NFAA Headquarters or through your state association secretary. You must have current membership; no lapse of more than 60 days in any time during the period of your membership, and your membership never revoked. You are not eligible for any service pin prior to the pin for which you may apply for. Some who proudly wear their 30 year pins are Babe Bitzenburger, Henry Collignon, Roy Hoff, Don Seal, and Charles McKee. Those receiving their pins so far this year are: 25 years - Kitty Kote, Don Schram, Maurice Mendenhall and Lester Eide; 20 years - Hazel Cavanaugh, Don Heidtman, A. O. Heise, Chester Wohlhueter, Robert Rhode, Lee Slocum, Regina Wikle, James Simmons, Jim Dougherty, Walter Reuger, Del Schweitzer, Lionel Van Tassel, Jr., Viola Jindra, Joe McNutt, Harry Larson and Ida Mae Banta. 29 others received their 15 year pin and 47 their 10 year pin. Should your name have been among these? Ask your state secretary for your application or write us at NFAA Headquarters.

83634

Charter Pass, Oak Hill, Oswego, IL 60543

Rt. 1, Box 56, Zionsville, IN 46077 RAY H. BARNES 729 14th Ave., Coralville, IA 52240 JAMES MORGAN 2304 College, Topeka, KS 66611 GILTNER MEEKS Rt. 2, Box 222, Dry Ridge, KY 41035 HAROLD BARNETTE

CaVr^LL1 Lane' Shreveport' LA 71106 RFD 1, Lincolnville, ME 04849 PAUL J. DOUBLE ROBERTXnXTEMt’ Airy' MD 21771

LEE PATRIOT ’ ®ever’y' MA 01915 2440 Rebecca Layne, Niles, Ml 49120 WAYNE SANDERSON 222 W. 13th St., Hastings, MN 55033 ALTON DUNNAWAY 5127 Mattox St., Jackson, MS 32909 JAMES SCHULZ

d°o6uD« &3LV|2n" BORORF ” Great Fa"S- MT 59404

2024 No. G.l. Ave., Grand Island, NE 68801 MARLENE CRIM 5260 Burnham, Las Vegas, NV 89119 LA VERNE LAVOIE PAUL™ORREaShU3/ 03060 JOE BEGC3S AVe" LeOnia' NJ 07605 ^5L&-li?eBn6^LEmin9,On' NM 87401 lu3ke°c'wood' Ext‘ Cananda‘9ua' NY 14424

Rt. 1, Box 56-A, Arden NC 28704 ROBERT GANGL St. Anthony, ND 58566 R. L. ARMSTRONG JAMESWhR^VIs' Westervi,,e' 0H 43081 CHARLE^I LAKEthrie* 0K 73044

1977 Grant St., Eugene, OR 97405 JOHN HENNEBERRY NORMAN'cANOYWeSt ^*naston‘

°2892

P.O. Box 966, Clemson, SC 29631 CHARLES BLEDSOE 1701 W. 39th, Sioux Falls, SD 57105 JERRY WISE 301 Chickamauga Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37421 ROBERT L. RAGSDALE 201 N. White Oak Rd., White Oak, TX 75693 BOB DUNSMORE Box 528. Roosevelt, UT 84066 MICHAEL SLIVCHAK RFD, East St., E. Clarendon, VT 05759 WILLIAM K. BOLT 9345 Linton Hall Rd., Bristow, VA 22013 MEL DALEY 14030 Bear Cr. Rd., Woodinville, WA 98072 HARMON EUGENE BROWN WALTER8RUEGEtRnt°n ' ^ameron' WV 26033

P.O. Box 8. Ripon, Wl 54971 DALE E.McCAWLEY Box 883, Gillette. WY 82716 LT/COL. WALTER J. BRUG, JR. HQ USAFE, Box 5705, APO, New York 09012 CW2 ROBERT HASSON - OKINAWA USARPAC Calibrtn Agcy, APO. San Francisco 96248

ARCHERY I

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 30 miles north of Martinsville. To get into this particular area to huntk one need only get himself a Virginia roadmap and look up Route 220, which stretches north from South Carolina to Roanoke, Virginia. Route 220 passes straight through Martinsville. The kind of small game hunting you can find in this particular part of Virginia is really unbeatable. It’s good in the early part of the season (beginning November 17), but it becomes even better near its January 31 ending. In Virginia there are really two seasons for small game. The other is west of the Blue Ridge Mountain range which serves as a sort of “dividing” line. However, the only difference between the two is that the western season opens 14 days earlier (November 3) than the eastern part. In recent years, many hunters living west of the Blue Ridge, and therefore in the more northern regions of the state, have discovered that late season hunting along the Piedmont can be more fruitful and more comfortable. The four counties I mention here are located in tire upper end of the Piedmont, wliich is a warm air belt extending out of North Carolina. The winters hitting this area are

usually milder. And, with mildness and thinner snows, small game will naturally move more freely. The difect result of this is that the hunter can find more game and better hunting conditions at a time when game is holed up in colder climates. We were hunting farmland typical of most farmland in the area. A lot of tobacco is grown in the Piedmont and much of the land is left to lay fallow for long periods to allow for soil recovery. Sage fields are common. Also, timberlines are Lirin, since many of the farms have been cut over at one time or another. Brushpiles are usual holdovers of this and they’re plentiful along bordering sage fields. I have found this type of terrain ideal cover for small game. In fact, the field where I had just downed my third bunny was completely encircled with these aging brushpiles. I jacketed the rabbit and joined Will, who was by then pushing his way out of tire thicket toward a small ridge in front of us. We no sooner reached the top when Old Mac nosed out another cottontail from a large thicket on the opposite side of a narrow, meandering stream. I caught a quick glimmer of something brown splashing into the water about 50 yards below us. “This one’s yours!” I yelled to Will,

BRUSH BUTTONS • (Avy

just as the rabbit topped the bank of the stream on our side. But Will already had his bow at full draw. The rabbit must have seen us, because he hopped up to within 20 yards and immediately squatted behind a huge yellow pine. Disappointed, Will eased back on his bow and motioned for me to shoot. I shook my head to let him know that I couldn’t see the rabbit either. I tried to whistle Old Mac, but he was completely baffled, still sniffing the snow where the bunny had wisely crossed the stream. Finally, out of desperation, we decided to jump the animal ourselve. But as we moved, one of Will’s other dogs stumbled across the trail on our side. When she opened up, the cottontail shot from behind the tree like a bullet. Will fired late and the fiberglass shaft spiraled into the ground behind the rabbit. “I might have known,” mumbled Will, who scuffled down the hill to retrieve his arrow. The dogs finally scurried across the stream and on up the hill. We decided to wait where we were and let them hit the same rabbit’s trail and perhaps bring him back around to us. 1 couldn’t help being satisfied with the entire hunt mainly because of the fine area where we were hunting. Mountains not so

MID-NOX - FEATHERS - PORT ORFORD CEDAR SHAFTS CARLISLE LEATHER - BOWSTRINGS (Large Stock) EASTON SHAFTS - MICRO-ELITE SHAFTS - BIGAME BROADHEADS (Fit 5/16" or 11/32")- HI PRECISION BROADHEADS - X-7 SHAFTS S ARROWS (to X-7 dealers only)

WEST VIRGINIA ARCHERY SUPPLY

616 Chestnut Street. South Charleston, W. Va. 25309 ---------------- Phone: Code 304. Number 768-6091

r 1

SUPERS ......... $1.00 Per Pr.

STANDARDS ... ,90 pfir Pr.

SILENCERS

i ,!

KILBEAD’S ®

At Your Dealer

We do make very accurate and high quality

BOW LAMINATIONS $1.00 PR.

FEATHERS

’Tad? AZestytX.

TRUEFLIGHT IWy

company, in. MANITQWISH WATERS. WISCONSIN 54S4S

WRITE US

We have a stock of the best quality hard maple and a “«a ™opIe assen'>t,ly called “Superflex Actionwood.” •A. for short. Much of the hard maple is a kind of specially kiln dried wood we have found. It is very dry, stable and excellent for bow making. Many of the best owmakers, all over the world, use it in preference to ot.her wood. Write for price list. We maintain a stock mished laminations to help us fill orders promptly, intn be no better than the laminations which go uito it. We can supply some colorful woods suitable for land e use. We have standard Bo-Tuff (in white, black and S top a' ^so Urac glue and bow making instructions. ,.”LD master crafters company _______ 130 Le Baron St, Waukegan, Ill. 60085

26 JANUARY 1975

high, land not so thick, and plenty of game to point an arrow towards. It had stopped blowing snow and the wind had calmed a great deal. The unusual quiet spelled a storm and the hollowness seemed only to amplify the chase. With all the various ways you can hunt small game, nothing can match rabbit-time bowhunting. The odds for success are slim, but anyone willing to put a lot of time and hard practice into a bow can get caught up in some very different kind of hunting. The usefulness of dogs when bowhunting small game can’t, in my opinion, be overly stressed. There have been few times I can recall hunting rabbits without good beagle support. And, even on those rare hunts without them, I always regretted not having them along creeks, swamps, and in heavy brush. Very rarely will a bowhunter get close enough to a rabbit to catch him sitting. I don’t suppose I’ve taken over 15 in a still position in the 10 years I’ve used a bow. In short, you need those dogs. However, you don’t need just any dog. Will has explained to me several times about how he trains his beagles to a bow and it makes sense. Above all, he maintains that there is a considerable difference between gun and bow dogs in the field where it counts. “You’ve got to use the short, bench-legged beagle,” Will pointed out on a recent hunt. “Dogs with longer legs, even if they are good on the hunt and jump, will press too hard in a chase and give too much speed to a rabbit on the return. One thing you don’t need is a rabbit doubling back with his ears pinned by the wind and a pack of dogs nipping his rear. The return should always be slow, giving the bowhunter plenty of time to put his equipment into action.” This advice has worked too many times in my favor to be overlooked. Many gunhunters feel the same way about a return after the initial jump. As a result, the bench-legged beagle has just about taken over as the official rabbit champion. Obviously, one other type of dog is needed for any sound rabbit bowhunting results. I’m speaking now of a good, workable jump dog. Will s Old Mac has tilled the bill for us several ARCHERY

King. The toughest 4-letter word in archery. . King Quivers are designed for the archer who demands the finest. The finest in leathers, the finest in handcraftsmanship —and above all—durability King builds all of these quality features into each and every accessory item —gloves, quivers, armguards, belts Like our all new model 485 target^f.- • :..® quiver.

Constructed of Tieavy-duty vinyl with top grain cowhide leather trim and double-stitched — it will 9^ last and last. The King 485 has a big zippered side pocket, and holds 12-18 arrows comfortably. Available in black only. Send for your free catalogue and see the fine shooting accessories from King Sport Line. King Sport Line accessories are sold nation wide by leading Archery & Sporting Goods Shops

KING SPORTLINE 328 SO. CYPRESS AVE. ALHAMBRA, CA. 91801

SUPER FAST SUPER ACCURATE GUN TYPE Release Aid

MAJOR BREAKTHRU after years of tesfing. Jus? Approved by N.F.A.A. The SUPER ELIMINATOR

only $19.95 PAT. PEND.

PUSH

TO RELEASE

Features: • • • • • • • •

A(_L

N£W

push

B(|tfon

"SUPER ELIMINATOR" Release Aid

USED WITH ROPE FOR SUPER ACCURACY USED WITHOUT ROPE FOR SUPER SPEED ELIMINATES FINGER TENSIONS ELIMINATES ANTICIPATING RELEASE ELIMINATES DRAW FATIGUE ALL ALUMINUM BODY MACHINED FOR ACCURACY ALL HARDENED MOVING PARTS FOR LONG LIFE ONE MODEL FITS ALL LEFT HAND, RIGHT HAND, OR ANY ANCHOR POINT

Send Check or Money Order Now!

Dealers inquiries invited.

HOBBY HAVEN & SUPPLY 2 PINE STREET WHEELWRIGHT, MASS. 01094 (413) 477-6011

FREE DISCOUNT ARCHERY CATALOG From The Nation's Leading Archery Distributor • Guaranteed Service-All Orders Shipped the Same Day Received • Guaranteed Selection: All the 1974 Top Lines

•

Get Lowest Prices Possible PHONE WIRE

FOR FREE ILLUSTRATION CATALOG-. .A N 9E Ra Grand^H E RY.. O R P?OR AT ION

WRITE Box 130, Dept. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED

BUSINESS OVER 20 YEARS

stte-

NO COD'S J ;’. ' . y

0 check or

B i

' '

Ilonial Heights^

The ORIGINAL CO I7} Arrow

Straightener

THE OHLY ONE that 'REALLY WORKS'

---------- Id—

Pat. Ho. 29S4&14

Once again you can return your arrows to perfect straightness with this precision instrument. Proven by over 10 yrs of use with satisfaction fully guaranteed, the original COVY comes to you for the low price of $32.50. Comes complete with one bushing (Order by outside shaft diameter or supply shaft number.) Additional bushings available, all sizes, for $ 1,65 each. See your dealer or order direct. Include $ 1.25 postage. Calif residents add 5%

COVY ARROW STRAIGHTENER - P.O. Box 498 - Moraga, California 94556

Changing your address? T° ,make sure that you continue to receive ARCHERY at your new address, please notify us at least six weeks before you move. 1. Simply attach your old address label from a recent issue in the space provided (if you don't have a label, print your old address in the space, including your Zip Code).

2. Print your name and new address below, in cluding your new Zip Code.

I il

3. Mail this form to:

ARCHERY Route 2, Box 514 Redlands, CA 92373

Name flease prim

New Address j

\ J

City

.State.

Zip

seasons now. He’s about eight years old and he’s getting fat and lazy. Old Mac was once a very good gun dog and he could push a rabbit so hard that the double-back procedure would usually be shortened. This, by the way, is one reason many gunhunters stay with longer legged beagles. But gun shots are quicker. Now Old Mac is content with just probing and nosing out rabbits. He leaves the chase up to the younger dogs. This sort of thing is not common. Most jump dogs will join the chase, even if they only run a couple hundred yards and drop out. Will would like it better if Old Mac would at least follow the chase away from us, because he has that impossible-to-cure habit of jumping another rabbit while we’re posed and waiting for a return. What usually re sults is a wasted rabbit because the other dogs are occupied. The chase involving the cottontail Will shot at and missed slipped on for about 20 minutes. But finally the dogs topped the ridge again above us and we both stretched our eyeballs for the return. Will had just stepped up on a stump when, sure enough, down the hill well ahead of the dogs came the rabbit. He was in no hurry and if he stayed on course Will would get another shot. “Take him again,” I said, just loud enough for Will to hear. It was apparent that the rabbit was tiring and passing closer to Will in a more open part of the woods. Will balanced himself on the stump and set his draw. When the rabbit was about even in front on a good 20 yard slope the bow gave a sudden thud. Within seconds it was over. The arrow had followed through, striking the lop ing bunny about mid-way of the gut section. Impact on the hit twisted him around and neatly pinned him to the ground. The animal was dead before Will reached it. The dogs came on off the ridge still hot on the dead rabbit’s trail, and Will had to show them the kill to settle them down. Sight of the rabbit and a few sniffs around the kill area was enough to satisfy them. I looked up. By now, it was snowing harder and the ground was becoming white. We decided to call it a day and head back to the house for some hot coffee. The exceptionally flat, clear country Continued on page 32 JANUARY 1975

BOWHUNTER BULLETIN * .. ■-

The Issue of Deer Staruathn A Followup

-*■-

> ft

1 WK

Mife

7k___ f^n Friday, May 19, 1972, the Cranberry River deer yard ^^was again surveyed by a similar group. Surprisingly, the dead deer count exceeded that of the previous year with 294 animals tallied. There is no need to review the whole situation again, but here are a few things to consider: 1. The winter of 1971-2 was moderate in snow and cold until mid-January which, at that time, produced cause for some optimism about the deer herd, however — 2. The cold and deep snows lasted nearly a month later in the spring as evidenced by the fact that the count could not be made until May 19 as compared with April 29 a year before. 3. Once the severe weather began, the snow developed to a depth similar to that of a year ago and the cold temperatures were severe. Some folks reported that the winter was the coldest since 1936. 4. The deer yard was in extremely poor condition as a result of the depletion caused by the 1970-1 winter. ' 5. There was no extra supply of food as was provided by a cutting in the yards in the fall preceding the 1970-1 winter. 6. The long approach of winter allowed a greater percentage of the deer to get into the yarding area before the deep snows came. In 1970-1 the very heavy early snows trapped many deer in small groups away from the yards. 7. A feeding program was used near the lakeshore by a tavern operator using donated funds. Feed consisted of hay, hay silage, corn and cull apples. An estimated 200 deer were fed at the station. How much good the feeding did cannot easily by assessed. 8. A combined browse cutting and new growth promoting program was done by DNR personnel in the Flag yards some 2-3 yards south of the concentration of deer in the

ARCHERY

Cranberry yard. Some considerations noted are: a. Few deer made use of the browse cutting as compared with those in the Cranberry Valley, probably because b. The browse cutting began after the bulk of the animals had passed through the Flag yards on their way to the shelter of the Cranberry Valley. An earlier start could well have intercepted and held a great number of them in this area, relieving the pressure on down the valley. c. Until a comparatively few years ago, the major concentration of wintering deer spent the winter in the Flag yard where the cutting was being done. There is almost unlimited browse cutting which can be done there as the land is mostly county owned. Most of the land in the Cranberry Valley is privately owned. 9. There is somewhat better protection against severe winter conditions in the Cranberry River Valley due to greater evergreen growth and the protecting factor of deep lateral gullies. Undoubtedly the moderating effect of the lake plays a major part also. No solutions for the problem have been discovered, but several suggested conclusions can be made: a. Only a crash program of major proportions can improve the habitat of the area enough to give winter support to the deer herd which exists in the area. This herd is but a fraction of what existed in the area at one

Editor's Note: These comments represent a follow-up to the study conducted by Lyle Cowley and Ruel Fleming which appeared in last month's issue. We think their observations indicate the complexities involved in properly managing even a small deer herd as well as the type of active role conscientious laymen can play in game management.

BOWHUNTER BULLETIN time. b. Some means must be found to keep the main concentration of deer from the comparatively small area of the Cranberry Valley. It is not large enough area to support this concentration even though the winter might even mean destruction of the evergreen shelter cover in a part of the valley. c. The winter browse supply in the Cranberry Valley will never recover as long as there is a wintering herd of any size concentrating there. d. It might be possible that an artificial .•.inter feeding program in the Flag yard, spread about enough to avoid severe concentration, might keep- the civer from

moving into the Cranberry Valley. The Flag yard is much more extensive than that in the valley. e. Whatever program is to be used (it was apparent in 1972) must be started soon. Yearly depletion of the herd by starvation ■■ miserable and wasteful control of the number of ar,■■-.ah, which the area can support. f. Until such measures b«en developed and put into effect, there is nothin.? that can be done except to control the hard by exwt;r« ibeans, and the DNR should be allowed to exercise that control, by allowing rhe surplus deer to be harvested during hunting seasons, but this should, by no means, be an excuse for any footdragging operations.

Drug Arrows Banned The following was taken from the Federal Register on September 4, 1974:

"In July, 1974, a regulation was proposed which would restrict the type of archery equipment hunters may use on national wildlife refuges. The public was provided with a 30-day comment period and no comments were received. Accordingly, 32.2 General Provisions is amended by the addition of paragraph (g) as follows: (g) The use of any drug on an arrow for bow hunting on national wildlife refuges is prohibited. Archers may not have arrows employing such drugs in their possession on any national wildlife refuge. Effective date. This amendment becomes effective on October 4, 1974. F.N. Schmidt, Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

This represents a clear cut victory for the vast majority of

American bowhunters who wanted no part of pod arrows or drugs. Most of the drugs that could be used were illegal and were usually obtained in violation of Federal laws. Many bowhunter organizations spoke out against the use of drugged arrows, the so-called pod and the hypo-arrow. The Professional Bowhunters Society went on record against the drugged arrows in 1965, and the National Field Archery Assn, took a stand against the drugged arrow at its annual meeting in 1974. The Pope & Young Club does not recognize trophy big game taken with the use of drugged arrows. There was considerable pressure from a small group of Fish & Wildlife officials in support of the drugged arrow, but an opinion handed down by the Solicitors Office of the Interior drove home the final nail. The opinion said: "The drugged arrow or pod is the illegal use of an unlicensed drug." — Tink Nathan, NFAA Bowhunting and Conservation Committee.

Colorado Bowhunter Awards The Colorado Bowhunters Assn, will host a banquet and awards program at Henrici's Restaurant, Denver, Colorado on February 22, 1975. All big game animals taken between January 1, 1974 and December 31, 1974 will be eligible for entry in the awards program. Judging will be by Pope and Young score. Either a copy of the Pope and Young entry or measurement by an official P&Y measurer will be accepted. You need not be a member of the CBA to enter the competition. Deadline for the trophy entry is January 15, 1975.

A Bowhunter of the Year Award will also be given. Nominations will be taken until January 15, but the candidate must have been a member of the CBA for at least one year. Candidates will be judged according to: what they have done for bowhunting; sportsmanship and personality; number of

years in bowhunting; membership in other organizations; animals taken with bow and arrow; animals taken in 1974. Reservations for the steak dinner ($10 per person) must be paid by February 1, 1975. Send reservations to: CBA, 1125 Maple, Ft. Collins, CO 80521.

What’s Happening with You? We want to know what your bowhunting organization is doing for you and for the sport. ARCHERY will pay $5.00 for each contribution from a reader that we publish. Write us and

tell us <-■ about bowhunting news in your area, hunting regulations, coming J events. It's an excellent way to keep in touch With your fellow bowhunters across the nation.

JANUARY 1975

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

The book is profusely illustrated and the chapters on the construction of a crossbow are quite detailed and include: the revolving nut; trigger & lock; steel bow, bow-irons and stirrup; groove for the bolt; bowstring; windlass; and such things as fixing the bow to the stock, fitting the bowstring to the bow, and how the bolt is arranged on the stock. In the modern ’ section there are four chapters on the stone (bullet)-throwing cross bowstring manufacture; which are used in conjunction with two chapters in the “medieval” section. I don’t know the price of the book — it looks fairly expensive — as it was a Christmas present; nor do I know the date it was written or published. If your questioner can’t build one from this much detail, he should be able to find someone who can build it for him. R. R. (Tex) Shaeten

• Thank you for the information.

Teflon Sours® Freddie: Sure enjoyed your answer to Glen Fisher in ARCHER Y regarding sights and barebow shooting. Sounded a lot like those many people (myself included) who were never going to switch to a compound, but now have one. In another article it sounds like you had a good source for the heat-shrink Teflon tubing. Many people in my club would like to find such a source and hopefully you can help us. Chuck Gardner • I can furnish the teflon tubing to anyone interested. For information, write direct.

Facts on form

r 11

Freddie: I’m sending you some pictures taken of me at a recent archery tournament. I’m really interested in hearing some criticism on my shooting form. Unfortunately the front view pictures didn’t come out so well, and all you will have to go by is my back side. My main concern is tire way my left (bow arm) shoulder bunches up. Will this affect my shooting and how could I get away from it? Also my string arm (right elbow) is not in line with my bow arm, it’s kind of waving up in the air. Will this bother my release? 1 shoot split finger. My equipment consists of a Hoyt (57 lb.) Pro-Medalist TD with Hoyt rest and PSE panic button, Bear 312 magnum arrows with 4 inch Pro-Fletch vanes. My draw length is only 2614 so I only get about 52 lbs. out of my Hoyt. I also use a Wolverine glove. As of now I consider myself an average archer. I would like to be a good archer and the only way I can do litis is to practice and use the right fomt. So I would appreciate it if you would even be nit-picky about it. Everyone I’ve asked to help me seems to have different ideas about form, and the more I ARCHERY

ask the more confused I get. So please help me out! Oh, by the way, about having vanes come off, I’ve found that after you clean the shaft with paint thinner and let it dry, if you take Fletch-tite and put a coating completely around the top part of the shaft where you will be putting your vanes, let it dry (the thin coat should only take a couple of seconds), then fletch the arrows as you normally would. The glue on the vane sets through the coat and on the shaft and really maeks a tight bond. I’ve yet to have one come off.

• If you continue listening to all those comments and suggestions, you’ll probably end up a frustrated ex-archer before your time. The most important shooting factor governing good archery is EXACT DUPLICATION of each shot! This we must try to accomplish as close as humanly possible. The hunched shoulder position is one typically used by the occasional shooter or archers shooting heavy bows. For many archers, this position is more solid or stable and easier to duplicate than other shoulder positions. On the other hand, it is easier to lose proper back tension and more difficult to clear the bow string when using this shoulder position. (I know an archer named "Freddie” who uses the same shoulder position you do!) As for the high elbow position, again I refer to individual differences to justify your elbow position. There is no such thing as the “ultimate shoulder position "for all archers to use. You’ll have to find your own shoulder position which will yield optimum string clearance and can be easily duplicated. Remember that the elbow should be in locked position but not under undue strain! The high position of your elbow is one similarly used by one “Eva Troncoso ” who has done a bit offair shooting also.

Heavy string vs. light Freddie: I have been making my own strings for a considerable length of time and find that no two ever come out exactly alike. I also find that making my strings in a variety of strands changes the brace height of my bow. What advantage, if any, is a heavier string versus a lighter string for indoor shooting? I heard that one indoor champion uses 16 strands on his 30 pound bow. Any help is appreciated. John T. Horsbourne La Puente, California

• The first pre-requisite for making a good consistent bowstring is a rigid, non-yielding, Ist-class commercial quality string maker. Do not expect to produce exacting measurement strings on a set of wobbly bendable nails. If you add two or more strands to your strings, it becomes necessary to make your strings approximately 1/4 longer per each set of 2 strands added. The more strands, the more pounds of pressure required to stretch the string the same amount. I find that a heavier string is preferable for indoor shooting due to the greater stability imparted by the lessened slack or yield of the string upon release. There can be extremes in either direction. I find 16 strands a bit heavy plus the problem offinding a nock that fits correctly.

Perfect Hunting Partners THE ORIGINAL 3 BLADE HUNTING POINT. 2 1 /64 F errule

Easy to field sharpen - Get your game with a long time winner!

The BOW QUIVER

ARROW CLIP FITS ANY SIZE HUNTING ARROW

ONE MODEL F ITS RIGHT OR LEFT STURDY, LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION

WHIFFEN

L.C. WHIFFEN /CO., INC. 923 So 16th Street-Milwaukee, Wis 53204

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 of Franklin County had made our hunt less strenuous. But we owed a lot to the fact that there is a windfall of small game, making us cover less ground in the long run. The two of us had hunted approximately four hours and were still less than a mile from the house. The dogs were still active and would proba bly have hunted all day. But we had six fat rabbits and cold feet, both regular products of Piedmont Virginia in early December. Walking, I couldn’t help thinking of the enjoyment I’ve had over the years hunting rabbits and other small game in the Piedmont section. I love bowhunting of any cali ber, but all of us can’t get into the wilds of Montana and bag a pronghorn. We have to settle for something else usually something a little more com mon. I choose bowhunting small game, and I do it in an area any small game hunter would appreciate. You probably wouldn’t mount a Piedmont Virginia bunny but he makes a great stew.

At Your Dealer or Order Direct

DELUXE KWIKEE KWIVER

light, compact, durable streamlined— good-looking on bow • Permanantly attached spring gk

wira clip. • New propylene reinforcemeat plates tuaranteed ■gSL;

aiaimt breikife. • Riveted con-

affliction—strength without bulk. TlBBI

• New G-3380 cores grip jrrows

wRBf

firmly yet permit easy removal.

• Serrated bulldot l«ip on

bow

I:' at better ara.Smpoeeieriererywhere.Snipsn»p-on or off bow in a eecond. KWIKEE SILENCER— Beller than ever. 20% more wund ibiorption than any other silencer. Game will not flinch or lump at string twang.

i KWIKEE KWIVER

line”

KWIKIt MWIVtt CO./Mtt Peaceful Viney Reetf/Acme, Mkhlfin

THE ENDLESS SEASON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 One of the most unusual shots I’ve made on rabbits came at the end of a long, hot October morning during which I had not seen a rabbit. I was standing on the edge of a small ridge overlooking a grassy swale trying to find a target for one of my blunts when I spotted an empty shotgun shell. Aha, I thought, an ideal target and I let fly. To my surprise when the arrow struck close to the shell, up jumped a rabbit, hopping only a few feet before stopping to see what hap pened. My second shaft caught him in the shoulders. But these early hunts don’t compare with those since I acquired my beagles. Penny is currently fourteen and her understudy, aptly named Briar by her former owner, is nine. Penny is the pokiest beagle I ever saw. She gets so excited she hardly knows which way to go at times. Her only pleasures are eating, sleeping and chasing rabbits.

Together we’ve had some grand hunts and we’re looking forward to many more. Strangely, she has no in terest in any rabbits I’ve shot; in fact, she acts resentful the chase is over. But she loves to hunt and is ideal for the bowman. Her pace barely moves the rabbit and the usual shot is sitting or hopping — at a short distance if the hunter has properly positioned himself. Rabbit hunting with dogs is an art in itself and the artiness sure increases when using a bow. When a rabbit is jumped it usually circles, very- often passing back within a few feet of the spot where it was originally put to flight. The only function of the dog is to keep the bunny moving while the hunter's job is to position himself on the track the rabbit will follow so he can get a shot. While this may sound easy it takes a bit more effort to do. The cardinal rule is to get to the spot where the rabbit was jumped and stand quietly where it’s clear enough to see and shoot. Some rabbits will make small symmetrical circles. Others will run erratically in a “circle” a quarter mile in diameter — you never know - but the older, wiser ones generally make the bigger circles. Waiting out one of these wide run ners takes patience. Even though I know better, I’ll still try to cut-off the rabbit, usually unsuccessfully, rather than wait. Yet nine out of ten will complete their first circle close to the spot where they started. Waiting for a rabbit is exciting be cause you never know whether he’s twenty yards or two hundered yards ahead of the dogs. Sometimes the pitch of the barking gives a clue but more often it’s pretty much of a guess. Of course, the farther ahead he is, the more likely you’ll get a sitting shot. Converse ly, if the dog is on his heels, no bunny in his right mind will be relaxing while you get off your arrow. Like all hunting, rabbit hunting leads to some unusual occurences and the use of dogs increases the frequency of such events. Many times a rabbit has practi cally run into me while I tried fran tically to get off an arrow without shooting my toes off. Almost without exception rabbits pulling this stunt es cape unscathed although not without being saluted by the errant shaft. Continued on page 34

JANUARY 1975

ALLEN

1 J

the Original

COMPOUND BOW Knock Down Power

Other Bow Can Equal!

■I

® Hard maple handles in forest colors.

o Lightweight 31/2 to 4 lbs.

® Built in balance in the hand while shoot ing .-. . or when carried. & All models cut %" past center for perfect shooting.

® Still with 20-25% relaxation for the easy, pleasant, comfortable shooting Allen Compounds have made famous.

I.:.-J

® Optional accessories. Two Lines to Choose from: 7303 LINE ... standard maple core lam inated limb hunter; also the -15 Blue Target model. Draw lengths from 23” to 31”. Pull weights from 25 to 60 lbs.

7306 LINE ... all glass limbs with new laminated front face of epoxy bow glass-laminated durability. Draw lengths from 23” to 31”, and pull weights from 25 to 60 lbs. Black Hunter, Blue Target and Green Ladies’ and Juniors’ models.

7303 LINE Priced from

$215°° 7306 LINE

Priced from

^-15°°

Our survey of hunters experienced with recurves as well as Allen Compounds, shows average recovery rates on Big Game Hits to be nearly three times the rate of conventional bows. Run distance was reduced from an average of 172.9 yards to 60.1 yards.

That’s about as efficient as rifles; maybe better. Shock is added to hemorrhage to bring game down usually before out of sight.

Join the Conservation-minded hunters using Allen Compounds! You’ll have nearly 200% better chance of recovering your game using the bow with 50% more speed and penetration.

MODEL 7303 Brown Hunter

AI MODEL 7306 Black Hunter

Write for FREE Literature and Prices!

202 Wn.h

♦ AcLLEN ARCHERY

Washington Street,

Billings, Missouri 65610

Telephone — 417 744-2925 ARCHERY

Probably the most frustrating experi ence occurs when one rabbit is jumped but the dog switches to a second track without your awareness of the change. While you wait patiently in the locale from which the first was put up, the dogs chase merrily in a totally different area with no intention of circling back to where you wait. The real fun in bowhunting rabbits comes about when you have a party of four to six hunters and a couple or more dogs to keep the action in high gear. Two or three hunters post in the vi cinity from which the rabbit is jumped while the others try to station them selves on the probable track. On such occasions the rabbit often is saluted several times by the time it returns to its starting point. Just watching the fray is exciting and my wife, an archeress but a non-hunter, enjoys the chase as much as the hunters. Yet, through it all, I’m certain the rabbit populations of the world are safe from extermination if all hunters produce as few successes as those who hunt with the bow. Although short shots are the ones

that score most often, an occasional lucky long shot takes hold. A couple of years ago I was out with a friend and his young son. A cottontail was put up in an old orchard and barreled down along a hedgerow, stopping some distance away. The distance was long but I tried a shot with the youngster watching intently. A miss. Another miss. Still another. Through all this the rabbit never moved, possibly because the wind was very strong and he didn’t associate the noise of the shafts hitting nearby with anything unusual. As I drew my fourth shaft the wind stopped abruptly. I steadied my arm and scored a dead center hit at a distance later paced off at 45 yards. 1 don’t know who was more excited but only I knew how lucky I'd been. Blunts are totally satisfactoiy for the fragile-boned bunnies and a solid hit most anywhere will stop a rabbit in his tracks. My personal choice is a wooden shaft with a .38 calibre pistol shell case for a point. These arrows are durable, inexpensive and effective. Just paint

them in a gaudy and contrasting color so they can be located in brush and grass with a minimum of searching. I wax both shafts and feathers to protect them and use a bow quiver — an eight arrow model - because of the brush. Seldom am I so far from the car that I cannot easily and quickly replenish the supply if need be. I’ve never been forced to choose between rabbit and woodchuck hunting because the seasons do not overlap, at least in the areas where I hunt. Rabbits are protected except during the months of October through February, a period during which the chucks are sound asleep far underground. if a choice were forced, however, it would be a difficult one, for both rank high on my list. To me, however, chuck hunting has become a springtime sport with a late summer spurt after haying reaches its peak. Best of all is the very early season hunting before the foilage has become so dense that the chuck is effectively hidden. For years I’ve considered the April 15th through June 1st period tops and I

PATCHES Since 1941, we have offered fine

embroidered emblems at low prices. For quotation, send sam ple or sketch and indicate quan tity required.

fit all | started with Robin Hood, Stop by and see what's new in / archery at the NSGA show, / booths 2147-49. /

■

FRANK J. WAHL COMPANY Box 219-FA, Teaneck, NJ 07666 Phone 201-488-8393

WILSON-ALLEN 1 BOW TIP PROTECTOR fi Paient No 2968300

• Protects bow while stringing and holds string in place • Keeps bow tip in new original condition • Made of soft pliable rubber • Fits all bows

Manufacturers of W-A Brush Knock and W-A Arrow Nock Locks Wnte for FREE information.

WILSON-ALLEN CORP.

_°ox 204

WINDSOR. MO. 65360

60' Each

Tel. 816 647-3125

34 JANUARY 1975

(“

try to get out as much as I can. This is also prime time for trout fishing and fortunately, the two sports mesh togeth er beautifully. The trout are most active until ten a.m. and after four pan. while the intervening hours are best for chucks. Whereas it is often tough to find a good spot in which to hunt rabbits, this is seldom the case with chucks. Wood chucks are considered pests, a title far less deserved today than when horse drawn machines were used for farming and the numerous burrows were treach erous hazards that resulted in many broken legs. Nevertheless, the reputa tion continues with some justification and most farmers will welcome the chuck hunter, particularly if he is using a bow. As a side benefit, it is a great way to learn about good hunting areas for other game and to establish a farmer-hunter relationship that can extend into hunt ing privileges for the fall. Be that as it may, chuck hunting is an enjoyable and worthy pursuit for the bowhunter whether or not such secondary benefits accrue. Equipment for chuck hunting dupli cates that used for deer hunting because chucks are hard to kill despite their small size. An important need is to stop them short of their dens and this re quires a sharp broadhead and a solid hit. It follows that close shots are highly desirable for the chuck is a small target and very quick.

The ideal way to hunt chucks is by stalking before the grass grows too deep and thick to see them clearly. This means spring and early summer is tops with another good spell after haying begins. Chucks will abound in most any area where the terrain is generally hilly and soil drainage is good. These groundhogs need a dry spot in which to dig their dens. Areas just over the brow of a hill are most preferred and while many burrows are right in an open field, hedgerows also are prime spots, fortunately for the bowhunter who can seldom get a chance when the chuck is in the open. When hunting chucks I follow one of two basic techniques. Usually I stalk quietly along the hedgerows watching both sides carefully. This is particularly effective if there- are frequent dips which can conceal the hunter until he

gets very close. The second technique is applicable only in hilly areas and consists of hunting perpendicular to the hill lines and sneaking slowly over each crest while scanning the slope ahead for chucks venturing from their dens. Both techniques depend on spotting the chuck first and getting a quick shot before you’re discovered. Even if you goof that first shot all is not lost in hunting chucks for they will often duck into their holes when the arrow strikes and then pop back out to see what happened. This occurs most frequently when they haven’t seen you before the shot. The second shot has to be really fine-honed because seldom does Mr. Chuck offer more chan his head at which, to shoot. But the wise hunter dashes closer when the chuck disappears initially so the odds aren’t distorted drastically. Nevertheless, it really puts the pressure on the archer! A binocular is extremely useful for chuck hunting allowing you to spot the chuck from afar before he is alarmed. Usually some distant speck will be suspect but it can turn out to be a rock or stump, something that merely looks like a chuck. With the binocular you can identify such an object without sneak ing closer, thereby saving hunting time.

1 carry mine around my neck and tucked inside my camouflage jacket to avoid flopping yet keep it readily avail able. By taping the eyepieces into prop er focus for moderate to far distances, they are ready to go on a moment’s notice. On a chuck hunt I use them constantly to check possible targets. Effective chuck hunters wear camou flage and observe the same rules as deer hunters. I pay less attention to the wind but, nevertheless, when given any choice at all, upwind hunts are preferred. Even if scent is not critical, noise carries better downwind and sound is critical because chucks have good hearing. Some chuckers construct stands very much like a deer hunter. Some even have treestands. The location is picked in the vicinity of several active dens and a place of concealment is prepared to “wait it out.” I have no question such a method is effective if used during the early morning or late afternoon hours when chucks are most active. Chuck hunting to me is stalking and

REE! You Can Save

Extra $$$

SAME-DAY SERVICE ARCHERY ORGANIZATIONS FABULOUS MONEY SA VINO PLAN

o LAY AWAY ® CREDIT > B.A. M.C.

WiiirASiN 4718 S. Orange Ave. Phone 305 851 4440

Orlando, Florida 32806

BINDERS FOR ARCHERY MAGAZINES ■ Protect your magazines ■ Enhance your archery library ■ Large enough to hold 12 issues

PRICE $4.00 each

California residents add 6% sales tax. ORDER TODAY!

National Field Archery Assoc. Route 2, Box 514, Redlands, Ca 92373

ARCHERY

S ' •; •ft 3 ■ ■5*

r?J,

pts

,1 -A

II ■■

the only standing I do is waiting five or ten minutes after spooking a chuck into his hole. Whatever the method, chucking with the bow is a totally different sport than with a gun where long shots are the rule and the challenge. With a bow, the thrill comes from getting close enough to look down their throats. Years ago I was a dedicated rat hunter. No trip to my home town was complete without a sojourn to a dump about ten miles distant, even in the dead of winter. Certainly some of the fastest shooting I’ve experienced was in that now-defunct refuse disposal area and frankly, I miss it. It had to be good to warrant scrambling over that rotting, smelly debris on a warm summer nigh t, eyes popping sideways from staring at the area covered by my headlight, swat ting mosquitoes with one hand and wiping sweat with the other. I have no idea how many of the long-tailed rodents fell to my blunts but it was certainly in the hundreds. A typical evening’s hunt of two or three hours would yield about thirty depend ing on the weather and that’s about one every five minutes. Considering the mis ses which were frequent, it’s a lot of shooting.

But said dump has disappeared under the drive for a cleaner environment and a sanitary land fill, sans rats, is now in its place. The garbage is exposed less than 24 hours before it is covered and the rat population is nil. I’ve looked hard for another such spot but to no avail. Probably the most fantastic series of small game shots I’ve ever made hap pened in New Brunswick in 1959.1 had gone there bear hunting on what proved to be a wild goose chase. Guides were required and ours were incompetent as far as bowhunting for bear over a bait was concerned. They were skeptical about my ability to hit anything with a bow and firmly convinced I could never kill a bear. They may still remain in the latter frame of mind but I managed to erase the accuracy doubts and emphatic ally so! My targets were red squirrels and I knocked over six consecutively at dis tances from ten yards up to twenty-five yards. At that point I called a halt. My luck was certain to run out and the convincing had already been accom plished. Red squirrels are real abominations to the deer hunter. If they are even remotely disturbed, their usual reaction

is to scamper up a nearby tree perch on a limb with their backs to the main trunk, then proceed to tell the entire world what they think of you. It alarms me and I can t imagine that it doesn’t do the same to the deer. To me, these red rodents are proper candi dates for at least a saluting arrow and hopefully, for a fatal one. I don’t so include chipmunks which are far less arrogant and thus escape my attention. Gray squirrels are tougher targets for the bowhunter than their red brothers. They don’t hold as still for a shot and a blunt is seldom fatal. Broadheads are necessary to get consistent kills. Grays are generally more abundant in the hardwood areas whereas the red pre dominate in the softwoods where they feed on the seed cones from spruce, pine and hemlock. Certainly the best way to hunt gray squirrels is to take a stand in a known feeding area and wait. They are most active in the morning and evening but when it is misty or drizzly, they’ll be out all day. Our deer season in New Jersey is before small game season and we practically get overrun with grays while hunting for deer. We seldom have such profusions of them when they are the intended target. While the foregoing are probably the more popular and practical small game species sought by the bowhunter, there are others. Foxes, raccoons and bobcats are all potential targets for a well-placed arrow. However, none can be compared with those mentioned earlier in either abundance or huntability with the bow. Of all the desirable features of small gaming with the bow, the most attrac tive is the ease of participation and the duration of the season. In most areas, something in the small game line is huntable twelve months of the year. Never is there a need to mope around the house and lament because the sea son is over — as with deer. Another feature that rates high with me is that you aren’t through hunting after a successful shot — as with deer. Still another is that you can usually hunt reasonably close to home and even half-day hunts are feasible if your time is limited. You can hunt in groups without jeopardizing your success; in fact, you may even enhance your chances. Small game hunting with the bow has a great deal going for it and it’s a shame so few ever give it a good try.

JANUARY 1975

Something

you can’t afford to miss!

Something you can’t afford to miss is our rugged side mount BPE Hunting Sight which is machined from the highest quality black anodized aluminum. The side plate is guaranteed unbendable under any hunting conditions. Each of the 5 brass pins are color coded for quick reference.

The sight is perfect for use with compound bows in either right or left handed models. Ths HS-1 model is drilled to fit Carroll and Olympus bows or any bow drill ed for the Killian mount. The HS-2 is drilled for Wing bows having the side emblem and the HS-3 is a self adhesive model. Compare our quality and price at $10.S5 complete with screws and instructions. Please specify model desired when ordering.

-,s

..’J

The BPE Cushion Plungers have been used by Carroll’s Pro Staff in winning many local and state titles and are also being used by sev eral other leading bow manufactures. Check the winners—maybe they aren’t always using that "well known brand”. The BPE Cushion Plunger is machined from high quality brass with an oversize plunger to assure proper shaft contact. The Standard model comes with a solid brass plunger and is priced at $9.95. The Custom model comes with light and heavy ten sion springs and 2 Teflon caps (L&S). Price $10.95. Both models may be bottomed out for a solid pressure point if desired and come with wrench and complete instructions.

Our newly patented BPE Adjustable Cushion Arrow Rest is legal for Barebow and Bowhunter Com petition and was used by former National Bowhunter Champion George Bigelow, shooting a com pound bow, to win the 1974 Kansas State and Midwest Sectional Tournements in Bowhunter Class,

rii

The AR-1 model is basically designed for the hunter and fea tures a Teflon covered spring steel rest with adjustment for the amount of side thrust cushioning desired as well as center shot adjustment. All adjustments may be made quickly and easily while mounted on the bow. It comes with self adhesive backing for easy, no holes mounting and complete instruc tions and wrench for only $3.95.

u.s.. patent no. 3,828,757

^S| ■■

The AR-3 model was designed especially for the tournement archer and features all of the above adjustments plus greater vane clearance, retails for $4.50. Please specify model number and right or left hand when ordering.

Li Dealer inquiries welcome. Distributors write for quantity prices on these and other archery pro ducts. Manufactures-We have complete shop facilities available to manufacture parts to your order. All prices are suggested retail prices.

/««/

\<\

IXVy---- /si

BOB’S PRECISION ENGINEERING 325 GARFIELP I EMPORIA, KANSAS 66801 I (316) 342-3394 or 343-3783

ARCHERY

SOME OF THE 25 STYLES OF

SWEETLAND ARROW POINTS

TPn®@I!nSI®by COOK PREDIKA

When there’s only one H N

./ i

/nV

I I. u I"

Plus our new FISHING POINT Parallel 5/16” hole, 170 grain. Screw-apart style with strong blued steel body, stiff spring wire barb. 75t/ Each.

■. *■

‘"

FUR TRACERS An exclusive SWEET LAND product. They show up like a lighted candle! With self-adhesive, they are quick, easy to ap ply. Instructions included. $3.00 for 1 Doz. 4)4" strips. Specify White, Red, Yellow, Orange or Hot Pink.

Sweetland Archery Products 1010 ARROWSMITH STREET EUGENE, OREGON 97402 TELEPHONE (503I 345-0928

NFAA BOWHUNTER TOP AMONG SPORTSMEN 38

Cook: Being plagued with the age old saying of many teachers that, there s only one of me, 24 of youand no time,” I think I have found a way to have the students help each other in learning basic skill techniques and to help analyze form problems from the onset. I have found that “one of me” becomes 24 willing student-teachers! The class size averages about 24 students of beginning archers. Four archers shoot at each target and there are six targets in all. Each target has one student who is responsible for checking one form technique of the other students. Let’s say, target one has Marie checking stance, Fred on target two is checking anchor, while Bryon is checking bow arm on target three, etc. Each of the six “checkers” were appointed because they were strong in that particular form area. In other words, Marie has a good stance, Fred has a good anchor and Bryon has a good bow arm. I met with the six checkers before this venture was undertaken and went over each one’s form for acceptable variations and checking procedures. A form check sheet was handed out to each of the 24 students in the class. I used a variation of the form sheet you published in one of your recent issues of ARCHERY. The students to be checked (the remaining 20), then proceeded to rotate to each target to be checked on each area of form (be sure to have them rotate behind the shooting line). With a class of this size, meeting for a 40 minute session, it takes about two days to complete the check. The students enjoyed the change of pace and were directly involved in teaching the sport they were learning. I utilized this check within the first two weeks of class and plan on using this type of check three more times, spaced evenly apart over the semester. The items to be checked will be varied to meet the skill and demand of each individual class. I have found that this method enables the class to progress farther and faster than if 1 am the only one to check form, and is quite enjoyable for all concerned. Sally Ayer Fresno State University Fresno, California • Your method sounds exciting! I enjoy anything like this that gets the students involved from the beginning. / especially liked your getting the archers involved in a "progressive ’’ skill analysis. I would like to encourage other readers to send in their class organization plans or special events so we all can share ideas. Cook: I would like to tell Mr. Friedrich how we made our sights. We used the athletic department’s left-over supply of Dr. Scholl’s sponge squares. The sponge comes in large squares, about 6X6 or so. They are self-adhesive so can be readily applied to the bow and can be easily replaced when they become worn. We cut the pad into strips (you can get about 7 strips per square pad), then shortened them Vz in. and placed them on the bows. We used pins as a sight and tape placed on the side of the bow as the distance marker. We have used this method for some years and have found it a very inexpensive way to use sights. It is a rainy day project to redo the sights and repair any worn tackle.

Pauline Boivin Hudson, Ohio • Fantastic! I never thought of using foot pads. I purchased a square (not having an athletic department as handy as yours - good idea), and tried this sponge out! It is JANUARY 1975

of you, and 24 of them.

thinner than regular sponge but the ease of application and the self-stick makes up for the thinness. I found the sponge surprisingly durable! Cook: In answer to Dr. Friedrich’s question on “how can usable homemade sights be developed?” I would like to share the following. We took a coarse porous sponge (found at car shops, discount department stores, appliance stores) and then cut the sponge into strips to be placed on the back of the bow or on the inside if the bow was of lesser poundage. We used regular adhesive tape cut in two narrow strips to secure the sponge at the top and bottom. We then placed a long map pin (the one with a colored round head) into each sponge as a siglit. When the student was finished using the bow. he removed the pin and placed it, point into the sponge, at the top. This prevented the next archer from sticking himself. A piece of masking tape was then placed on the side of the bow. As a student determined his pin location for a distance, he marked the spot with a line and his initials. We averaged three people to a bow and this system served our purpose very well. The total cost of setting up a sponge-pin siglit is about 5 cents a bow for 30 bows. Sam Ellis Vermont • I took a few bows and as you instructed, set them up with the sponge-pin sight. I found that it works very well. There is no great hassle setting up the bows; it is inexpensive to do and works nicely. I found that a box of 50 pins with the colored heads runs about 49 cents a box so even if a few pins were lost from the beginning of class to the end, the replacement cost is next to nothing. Thanks for sharing your idea, it is great!

ELEVENTH ANNUAL NEW ENGLAND INDOOR OPEN ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP MARCH 15 & 16, 1975— $6,500.00 Guaranteed Single A.I.A.A. Round Shoot any one of five different shooting times: Saturday at 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. Sunday at 9 a.m., 12 noon or 3 p.m. OVER 100 WINNERS Divisions of Competition: $1605.00 Cash Men Open Fingers 20 Places 420.00 ” Women Open Fingers 6 Places 1605.00 ” Men Open Release 20 Places 420.00 ” Women Open Release 6 Places 5 Places Trophies Men Amateur Fingers 3 Places Trophies Women Amateur Fingers Plus $2500.00 in archery merchandise award drawings. Compound bows allowed in all divisions. Pre-registration received by MARCH 10th: $25.00 Open, $10.00 Amateur HALL’S ARROW INDOOR ARCHERY RANGE 291 W. MIDDLE TPK, MANCHESTER, CT 06040 ARCHERY

NFAA CUSTOM RINGS These high quality custom rings were specially designed for the National Field Archery Association. The finest materials and work manship have been combined to give the wearer a lifetime momenta of his sport. Use this handy order blank to order your fullyguaranteed NFAA Custom Ring, available now in both NFAA Member and NFAA Professional designs. 10K YELLOW GOLD RING Men’s SI 12.00 Ladies’ S65.00 10K WHITE GOLD RING Men’s $117.00 Ladies’ $70.00 NFAA MEMBER (Red Ruby) NFAA PROFESSIONAL (Black Sapphire) Man's Size-------- Ladies Size--------YOUR INITIALS____________

Name Address

City

Stale Zip----------------Due to fluctuating price of gold, prices apply through this month of issue only. C.O.D. Allow 7 weeks for delivery

JOSTERS INC. P.O. BOX 14593 LAS VEGAS NV89114 i

---------------- j 39

II I

Why is this man laughing?

In Ludlow, Massachusetts in 1972, suddenly there was Dean Pridgen, seeming to come from out of nowhere to defeat the freestyle field. In 1973, there he was again, at the top of the newly-formed NFAA Pro Division. Pridgen was the first man to win two consecutive national freestyle titles since Don Cavallero did it in 1960-61. The photo of Dean Pridgen on the page opposite was snapped just moments after he became the first NFAA Pro to surrender his national championship title. The scene was Golden, Colorado last July, the title went to Gale Cavallin, and for the first time, Dean Pridgen left a Nationals as a loser. So when we snapped the picture, we asked ourselves the same question which appears on this page. In search of an answer, we found ourselves lounging around back at the tournament headquarters hotel with Dean and Rosie Pridgen and John Williamson. Williamson had just been chosen NFAA Pro Division chairman, but his presence in the conversation interested us from another angle — as a manufac turer (Jennings Compound Bow), he is also Dean’s sponsor. Sometime during the discussion, we turned on our tape recorder and the results follow, almost entirely verbatim.

! »

1: i ’ii 40

Doesn’t make sens® when you consider Dean Pridgen had just tost hispro Hile at the Nationals. Until you read this interview. In a few words, characterize Dean Pridgen, the archer. WILLIAMSON: Dean has a real level attitude whether winning or losing; I’ve shot with them all and you are the coolest dude I’ve ever shot with - who cared. You’re there to win, you care. PRIDGEN: That’s right. That’s the only reason I go. A: Do you ever worry about psyching out other shooters? P: My mental attitude doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else. I really don’t care. They shoot their arrows and I shoot mine. If I psyche them out, it’s their problem, not mine. I don’t believe in pulling anything when you’re really competing hard and there is something at stake, money or a good tournament. I think the best way to psyche a person out is just to outshoot him from the start and about three or four targets down the line you’ve got him. W:If it’s the kind of personality that’s going to psyche out, they are going to psyche out themselves. You never psyche out somebody else. You’ll find that once you reach that level of championship archery, you are your own worst enemy. Mental discipline enables you to win. P: I remember something that happened to a friend last year this was lucky on my part naturally because nobody can be this accurate — but we were shooting a 65 yarder and 1 shot two arrows at three o’clock in the dot. I was shooting good, you know, just couldn’t miss. Everything had been going straight for a couple of days. It was on a field round and I pumped two and looked up there and said, “Where are

ARCHERY:

JANUARY 1975

JLJL1 those things going?” and he said, “Three o’clock in the dot.” So I reached down to my sight and turned it one number and I put two arrows in the middle of the dot and he liked to have flipped. Me, too, but I didn’t let him know it. He said, “It sure looked good, Dean,” and he talked about that for six months. Guy hits the dot at 3 o’clock, turns his sight and pumps two in the middle. Wow. Actually what he should have done is just realize that old Dean just got luckier than heck. But I think it bothered him. W:I guarantee it. It’s very entertaining when your competition begins talking to themselves. P: But shooters pick up things like that and ask, “Is it luck or is it the man?” Once they decide it’s the man, they’ve already psyched themselves out. Gale shot beautifully at this tournament (Nationals) and everyone thinks he’s just way out there. 1 stopped and thought about it, and I think that Gale would have won this had I not had any trouble. I think he would have left me at about six to eight points a day — I really do. A: Why? Sounds like you’re psyched out. P: Let’s see, the first day — and I was shooting all right — I had a 554 and 59 spots. The second and third days I had problems. I mean I really had problems - everybody else did too, but I had some super ones. And the fourth day I only had a ’48. I had 60 spots and he had 62, but he had a ’54 so that’s six points difference there. And on the animal, of course, he had no pressure and he could lose as many as he wanted to. He lost a couple but I don’t think Gale really cared about those, he could afford to and still win it in style. But in thinking about it, sure it’s windy out there and

you take pot luck, but I think the man has something going for him and I don’t think anybody could have come close without the excuses. I think the guy shot extremely well. W: 1 think it was Gale’s time to win. P: Right. A: Let’s talk about bows. Gale won with a Precision. Dean, you shoot a Jennings which John manufactures. Maybe we’re headed in a sticky direction here, but how much of winning is the bow and how much is the man? P: Who do you want to give the score, the man or the bow? Is that it? W: You’ve got to have a bow that will stay together and will shoot an arrow clean. P: The way I feel about it is — of course I’ve always shot for John — Precision has a good bow, and I’ve got a good bow. I know mine will shoot and Gale knows his will shoot. 1 think they’re getting up to where it’s a matter of personal perference. As far as bows go anymore, I have to give the man the credit for the scores. But you do have to keep it together, you have to have a dependable piece of equipment and by that I don’t mean the fastest thing that ever shot through the air. That’s good, but I need something that’s going to stay together. Not everybody can change a cable. I had to run for a back-up bow at the ’72 Nationals. Course I had an old hunter - big Leo. But I haven’t had any trouble lately. You’ve got to give the man the credit for the scores any more, and the bows are personal preference — not all bows, but there are several that are top line. W As a manufacturer and as somebody who has done a lot of

41 ARCHERY

with me for that summer and I went into the 530’s,, but shot everything that we could shoot and we were always out on that practice range. And I givehiiwa: lot' of wadis fe nce causing’ me to be like some ar<Si<fl® wire nsaEy shook tip. he that’.' tgi’dl s&rr.JI thick lier.ind' me and! It’d: itfiissam arrow -anil he’d cease me and Fdl get srvmiidfet 'lie guv ;»hat I’d turn around atari saty - f’e cr ly dwfetmius between you and .me is a little Itril more wspsrter.ise?’ J got bitter bows and .1 got belter and it’s a long ctww., but lie really taught me well. He gave

engineering on bow systems, I believe that, in the hands of competent archers and properly set up, there are four or five bows on the market capable of shooting perfect every single time. And if you have a problem most times you can fix your little problem if you are knowledgeable about your equipment. That’s a duty of somebody who wants to be a winner. He’s got to know what he’s doing.

[ I

They still ask the question, but it used to be the only question asked when you said so-and-so just won the Nationals. The question was: “What bow was he shooting?” Automatic assumption that the machine did the job, not the man. So few people were capable of shooting the scores that told them what was happening, that they just assumed there was some kind of black magic involved. But right now you’ve got 70 people out there who have all shot perfect or right next to it. They know what makes a perfect — it’s aiming. P: I go along with that. A: What makes an aimer, then? What made Dean Pridgen? Was it coaching? P: I’m self-taught, almost completely. But at the very first, in the latter part of 1968, we had a top amateur in Missouri named Vincent Lewis. He just did wonders for me. He brought me up into the 530’s with my fingers I shot my second official tournament, the state tournament in ’68, I entered in C and shot an A score with an old Ben Pearson Mustang 45 lb. hunting bow, freestyle. I had a moveable pin setting, old Hoyt rest and some 308 magnums I think, and 1 shot about 460, and got my A class rating. Vinny worked 42

me a lot of values and basics . If you’ve got the desire and drive you’ll team. J learned a lot from watching the rood shooters. Ed Rhode taught me a lot - hanging the thumb behind the neck. Man, that popped 25 points and maybe more on my score so quick. I tried it and it worked for me. W: J feel that basic form is the most important thing you can have as an archer. 1 think that’s what happened to a lot of people on the hill this week - they began to try special things because they were in difficult circumstances when that is the very moment that you should remember your form because that’s what saves you when you get in trouble. A: What would you say, what would you criticize, about Dean’s form? W: His bow hand - he’s still spreading his fingers out. That’s it. Everything else is perfect as far as I’m concerned. A: What about that? P: It works when it’s workin’l W:He’s won two Nationals and I haven’t won any. It’s been my experience, though, that when people see a champion archer shoot they copy his eccentricities. They focus on how he is different from other people. They often do not copy that thing that makes him win — and that is aiming in the middle. P: I see people on the range - they all start tearing up their equipment on this shoot and they’re saying, “Arrow flight, arrow flight.” The wind was blowing around out there and they were psyched out. They weren’t right — how can they expect their arrow fliglit to be right. W:That’s correct. P: Yeah, it’s too bad. They’re being blown around and people aren’t holding form, changing this and that, and the arrow fliglit just goes all to pieces. And these were pros. W: Looking for the golden rivet. P: One fellow told me at the Sectional where I was shooting as a guest, “Dean, your arrows are coming out terrible.” I said I knew it, but when I smooth out, they’ll smooth out and I’m not changing the bow a bit. When I can get in a calm place and get my form right those arrows will go down just right. Get in the wind and you can t get things down right, the arrows fly terrible. A lot of people think it s their rest and they start changing - I know a guy that changed three or four rests out there. It’s too bad because when the man’s fight, the bow’s right. I’ve always felt that the man adjusts, because the bow is not going to change — it s a machine. You work yourself into a team with it to do one thing every time the same. You’ve got to mold yourself in there. A: What did your friend Vinny teach you about form? P: Vinny had great form. He was a state amateur shooting

JANUARY 1975

r*-.

' ■

■

V: ;;

■I ig ;Sgi

J I ?

powerful scores at that time. 520’s could win all of it then, and he was popping 10’s and 20’s. Of course in a year or so we were all hitting 40’s. He had picturebook form and we went to every tournament together. I think that when you help another shooter it’s difficult to steer them away from your own style because you know about your own style. W: And it’s also what you believe to be best. P: Yeah, and you try to — it’s hard not to mold them after your shooting. A: What if Vinny had been physically your opposite? Was he similar in build? P: He was real thin, a little taller than 1 and a heck of a lot younger. But when he’d tell me something, I’d pay attention. He’s the type of person who can sway you. A: And you could adopt his form in terms of physical ability as well as mental confidence? P: I couldn’t reach as far as he could, but 1 could sure look like it. W: Basic form is basic form. P: There were a few differences. For example, he still heels his bow, whereas I just didn’t think that was the way to shoot. I thought that high wrist ought to be the way to shoot. I got better performance out of it and we had the same bows and everything, but he was accustomed to his way, too. W: You really have more of a straight wrist though, Dean, and that requires more strength to shoot it. When you drop the wrist the bones carry the load and it’s not muscular. P: I really think it’s amazing how some people can really heel the compound bow and still shoot the good scores with all that hand on there.

ARCHERY

w-Right. All I can say is they’re some archers because I sure can’t do it. can t either. I watch quite a few of them and I’ve seen some really top shooters do that. But I’m kind of a believer in fthat if h’s working good for you, leave it alone for a while. W. I see so many archers who make changes just before they go out on that range. A. Do you ever do that Dean? I realize that’s a loaded question because I know you changed your release here at the Nationals. W: Puff that cigar, Dean. P: Go on. A: Why? You had a string of three 560’s at your state, what, a week or two ago? P: Yes. W: Sounds like things were working pretty good. P: Let me put it this way. I shot a rope and spike since 1972, since I got my compound. I’ve shot lots of triggers in practice, but the rope and spike is there, I don’t care if it rains or pours, it’s there. Now when you get in a windy situation, if you’re properly trained mentally — that is, you’ve trained yourself to hold on the dot with your rope-spike back at full draw and under normal conditions you hold and when you’re on the dot, squeeze and get rid of it - but when the wind is blowing and you cannot hold on the dot, then you cannot get the rope-spike off. Your mind says “you’re not on the dot” and if you’ve properly conditioned yourself, it won’t work — that hand won’t come off. You have to forget everything you’ve been training for and start gapping or something to get the thing off. What I do with the rope-spike, I come around to a certain point where it’s almost gone and when I get there I just have to think hold on and then suddenly get rid of that thing. O.K. At this National I attended the Southwestern Sectional and the wind was tricky and we were shooting uphills I couldn’t believe — 80 straight up - and with all that to contend with I couldn’t get anything going for me. My rope-spike was hanging up on me and I knew with my type of training there was just nothing I could do in that kind of situation - the day before the Nationals. 1 came off that hill after the first 28 and a team of wild horses couldn’t have got me up there again. On Monday morning, I had all my sight settings and then Gary Cunningham came by and said, “Dean, try this trigger.” I said, “That’s all right, I’ve tried them all and I shot one for six weeks, and I get gun shy after a while.”

Anyway, he said, just try it. And he said it should shoot about a yard and a half high on the 60 compared with the rope-spike. So I set my sight accordingly and I pumped ten arrows right in tire dot at 60 yards, and I mean it was the most beautiful group I’d seen in quite a while and it just impressed the dickens out of me. W: The golden rivet. p, Reaily. It really impressed me and I ran over to the 20 yarder and I shot two to see if it was on and I didn’t care about anything else, I just went up on top of the hill. I had shot 12 arrows with that release. First target of the

Nationals was a bird, and from there on I shot a 554 that round with 59 spots. And that thing was working beautiful. There’s no way 1 could have done that with my rope-spike in the condition I was in. I just couldn’t get anything to go. A: Hadn’t you shot in the wind much before? P: That’s a different kind of wind up there than we’re used to. We’re used to looking up at the tree and see how much it’s blowing, where you’ve got something to guide yourself by. W: I found the best way for me to shoot that type of wind was to hold off. I experimented with unscrewing my pin and moving it over, with different drop pins and apertures, a lot of crazy things. You find that you have to learn not to see the spot. If you look at the spot looking through the sight it will blow your mind. I try to pick out another point on the target and that becomes what I try to hit and I ignore the spot. It’s quite a little feat of mental engineering. A: Dean, how’s that compare with your wind shooting? P: I am a gap shooter. When I said my mind wouldn’t let go of that release when you can’t hold on the spot — I meant when something other than yourself takes you off the spot. Clear? W: Right. You are conditioned not to shoot until it’s right. P: And when the wind’s blowing you around, you’re not right and you get hung on that. I do not cant. 1 gap and always have, because I think it’s more accurate. W: Yeah, basically it is. P: You don’t have degrees on the bubble to tell you so many degrees give me so many inches. W:I use quarter-bubble increments. P: Do you? I don’t like the bubble, don’t like to look at it. I’ve got a regular drop pin and all I see is that little pink bead and it could be at nine o’clock on the target and as long as I can hold where I’m aiming, everything is riglit. W:It was something up there though. 1’11 tell you what, at 80 yards for one of the few times in my life 1 actually held completely off the target. P: I did too. Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. A: What did you hold on? A piece of cactus? W:The edge of the bale, completely off the face. I know that my arrow is moving at an average velocity over that distance of about 210 feet per second and I figured the wind was blowing about 40 miles per hour, so I went through a couple gyrations and figured it would be a displacement of around 20 inches. P: You know I’d been shooting around there and I knew about where I was aiming — around in the three-ring. And when I walked up to the 80 yarder, I thought that arrow’s got to travel farther than it’s ever travelled — this is the longest one they’ve got and that last ten feet really hurts you because it’s really moving sideways. I looked at it and thought I’ve got to aim clear over there — if I lead the 60 in the three-ring I better get over toward the edge of the bale. You take a chance. Pull it up to the dot move it over to the edge of the bale and let go. W:We had 75 pros roughly shoot this tournament and I’ll bet if you took a poll of honest answers, you’d find that when they are out practicing and conditions become poor — wind and rain — 45 of them pack up their tackle and go home. They don’t like to shoot in the wind. P: Sure, it blows your mind, that’s why.

p.:?Tl?shoot in anything. But I don’t like to, it takes my

560 away from me, way away. It’s hard, too, it wears you out. You go 14 in the wind, it requires the energy of going 56 straigh t. W-Riglit it requires a great deal of strength and mental energy. But if you practice in it, you have confidence when you draw up in the wind. It’s mentally demanding though because if you’re aiming off the spot and that wind quits, you just blew it. A: What did this tournament do to your shooting? Will you continue with this release? P: 1’11 shoot it. When I find something that works forme, I’m going to shoot it until it stops working. I’m going to figure out — W:If nothing else, he's going to prove that wasn’t the reason he had bad luck. P: Yeah, I’m going to test it. t hink i;’s great and it’s working for me.

A: What part does Rosie play in your shooting now? We heard that she beat you. P: Oh, don’t even mention that. WiThat was in the wind, too, wasn’t it Dean? P: Yes it sure was. A: Where was that Rosie? R: Down in Joplin, Missouri. A: How badly did you beat him? R: Two points. P: Let me tell you about this. A: We’re listening. P: This was the surprise of my life. We went to a little local shoot in Joplin, 56 targets in the woods, a lot of nice targets, but some at the edge of the woods, like an 80 yarder, and was it windy there. Anyway, Rosie was down there and she had no other women pros to shoot with, and 1 didn’t have anybody. One guy wanted to get up a little pot. So Rosie says, “1’11 just shoot against you guys.” I said well if you want to get with the big guys just get your, money out. I was really riding her. She beat me 1087 to 1085. It was good for me. I learned you have to be careful what you say because someday you’re going to eat every word of it. A: A few incidents like that could drive a man out of the game. How did you get into archery anyway? P: Well, 1 enjoy it more than anything I’ve ever done. 1 was driving around in the county park climbing hills and I ran right into an archery range and didn’t even know what was going on - bales all over and no one there. I got out and walked around. 1 went home and I decided to buy a S39 department store bow and I told Rosie. She said I’d have the bow four or five days and it along with S39 would be gone in the closet. But I had the money hidden away. The bow came home. I shot it for a month and never knew what a nocking point was. Then I found a shop and got some help and met Vinny. That was the spring of 1968 and in the fall I shot that same bow and was shooting 450. A: And four years later you were a national champion. Why? P: Desire, I guess. I don’t know, that first National really awakened it. A: Yes, but certainly you had it before that. JANUARY 1975

W: Right, I shot with you in Ludlow and you were shooting for the middle. You didn’t want to go there saying, “I’m going to win this thing,” but you went there knowing you could if things went right. Is that correct? P: I don’t think I ever thought I could. W: All right, you thought, “No way I can beat all this talent?” P: But I thought I could get in that top ten - that’s what I was going after. And when I found myself on target number one, I sure didn’t want to go to number two. W: You didn’t deliberately drop some arrows because you felt like you were over your head. P: No. A: What got you to the Nationals? P: This friendship with Vinny. He was state champion and he was good. A: And you wanted to beat him, is that it? P: Well, we really hit it off — W:You mean you didn’t want to beat your coach? Boy, I busted my tail to beat the guy who taught me. P: It really got me when he’d laugh at me because I was missing. I remember every arrow he laughed about. In that respect he was responsible. He really gave me something to work for, let me know there was no way I was going to catch him. And that just turns you on. You just keep thinking, enjoy it buddy because my day is coming. I was really out to beat Vinny and I knew I would have to beat everybody else before I had a go at him. A: Rosie, how did you become involved in this sport? R: Before that I just stayed home alone on weekends. I couldn’t see before what Dean saw in going out every week, but when you start, you realize why. You know the reason I bought my compound bow? They had just been legalized and I had an old Mountaineer which I couldn’t string and

ARCHERY

my b Sa^ 1 '30U^lt a compound, he’d never have to string a8a'n' So I did, and when he saw the arrows come out of there, he was sold. wtlle s°1 bought one’ e verY fortunate in having Dean shoot our bow. He wasn t someone we picked out — he purchased one of our ows. When he won a national championship with it, I ed to him and he wouldn’t even let me do anything for m — I wanted to give him another bow and he gave me a ad time about it. You can’t help but feel sort of gratitude for a man who goes out and sets a new world record and wins a national championship with your equipment. A. How much practice, and what type does it take to keep man and equipment in championship tune? P- I shoot about three blocks from our apartment. I walk up there almost every night and I shoot from 50 yards out because if you’re hitting from 50 out, you don’t have to worry about the rest of them. Then I touch the short ones. VZ: He’s got no nerves. F: I don’t shoot long. I’ll shoot about eight arrows from each post and then I’ll walk up to those short yardages and shoot one arrow to make sure they are in the dot. I’ve got a little game I play with myself. First arrow is a dot - 1 don’t have to shoot another. But if the first arrow is out of the dot, I’ve got to shoot eight arrows from that stake. W: Funny how we work those out. I used to practice so that if I missed the spot, I’ve got to put three arrows in to believe it. If 1 miss twice, then I’ve got to put six in the spot to believe it. A: There’s a chance you’ll be there all night. Or all week. P: You can run until dark anyway. It’s a plus and minus game. \V: I have been there shooting by the headlights on the car. A: Dean, you won the first National you ever attended. How did that feel? P: Eerie. 1 really thought there was no way to beat all the big guns - like John. Williamson was one of the names I heard all over when I got to Ludlow. W: That’s what comes of talking a lot about yourself. P: No, seriously John, this was what I heard. So I was there to get in the top ten. Then I found myself on tire first bale. All of a sudden I find myself in the lead, and of course that lead came at the end of the tournament, so I really didn’t have any pressure as far as the lead was concerned, I just knew that I was going to be somewhere in the top five. It was eerie because I really didn’t know what 1 had done. I had never met the big people in the sport. The first one wasn’t really a pressure shoot, more of an accident and I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was two weeks later before I realized what I had done, then I suppose I really got the shakes. A- How had you been shooting before that Nationals? Any perfects, near-perfects? P- No, I believe I recorded my first perfect at the Nationals. W: Right, you and George Miller both got your first perfects there. Jim Quarles had shot perfect in his area. A- How do you account for that? Competition, conditions? p- I had been close. But being with good shooters and really concentrating — because they were — it was just the time for it. W:They just happened to be holding the Nationals that week. 45

FOR SALE

BOW HUNTERS! Black Copperhead Custom “Slicer” - “Ripper” and “Mag num” broadheads. Immediate delivery. Write Bowhunting, 15705 Schaefer, Detroit, Mich. 48227. tf

SUCCESSFUL BOWHUNTERS use “CENTIPEDE SILENCER”. Newest, most effective bow string silencer available. Over 100 “Centipede Legs” absorb string noise so game won’t jump the string. Four point string contact prevents it from vibrating loose. Send $1.00 to Sportsman’s Special ties, 485 W. Peakview Ave., Littleton, CO 80120. Dealer inquiries invited.

!■

NOCKS: Compare ours with any on the market. New butyrate nocks 100 for $2.00; 500 for $7.00 or 1000 for $12.00 postpaid. Sizes 11/32, 5/16, 9/32 and 1/4 inch. Colors: white, red, yellow, green, blue, orange, and black. For price list and sample nock send stamped self-addressed envelope. Blue Cloud Archery Co., 242 Walnut St., Ft. Collins, Colorado 80521

TARGETS. Complete line, Fast service. All NFAA - Field, Hunter. Big Game, PAA, Flint. FITA, NAA 4-color. Deer, Small Game. Novelties. Cardboard, paper. Free catalog. Finnwood Products, 516 Mill St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45215. Phone 1-513-761-0198.

EMBLEMS

EMBROIDERED PATCHES: Washable fast color emblems made-to-order in lots of 10 or more. 100 Archery designs with exact prices and full detail sent free to clubs. An thony Emblems, Box 7068, Grand Rapids, Mich. 495 lO.tf

Beautiful Embroidered Emblems at low cost to your club. For price list: ACE Emblems, 14314 Ostend Dr., La Mirada, CA 90638.

P: That’s it exactly. You shoot and practice so long and a score you haven’t attained before will come along, and it was my turn. You know the Nationals were in July and I only got that compound in April. W: And a hunting model at that. P: Yes, and it was so different from the recurve. It was doing a good job and the points were building and building, because when you get a new piece of equipment that works for you, your enthusiasm goes way up. I didn’t look for the 560, it wasn’t a goal, it just happened. As for the rope-spike, I picked it up about three weeks after I bought the compound. The compound had such a string angle that my ledge wouldn’t stay on the string — a 16-strand string — well, it was worn on the old bow. I really wasn’t too wise, kind of new at the game. I just bought the rope and spike. W: Yeah, we noticed how new you were, Dean. A: As the newcomer, did you wonder when the big guns were going to make their moves? P: I had never led. W:Well, the third day there were four of us, including you, tied for first. P: That’s right. Well, I was really loose because I thought any time now the bottom’s going to fall out and these guys are going to show me what it’s all about. W:Is that what it was, because it was a continual mystery to me with you sitting there puffing on your cigar and I’m

running around with a million electron volts of nerves. He’d just chew on that cigar like he didn’t care. I figured it was between you, Bobby Hunt and Gary Lyman. But you certainly were super-cool. A: That brings us around to where we started. P: Well. I’m not so sure indoors — that’s the worst. I’m not very tough indoors. Even when I’m running pretty slick — let’s say 1 get halfway through and I’m over my head — I’m shooting straight. And 1 look down the cards and there are thirty guys straight and I think well they’re not shooting over their heads like 1 am and just any time now .. . that’s it. That shakes me. A: It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. P: It just wipes my mind out. And when the first one goes out, the challenge is over. The challenge is the score and not the people for me. The challenge is the perfect. If I didn’t feel that way, I’d be concentrating on one person rather than one score. A: Are you feeling let-down about losing this year? P: People have asked me that. Let down, no. When I started this game, I lost a lot. My first win at Ludlow was so big because I had lost so much to get there. Losing is a very necessary part of winning, and when you do win, it gives it value. It’s good to lose. It stops you from getting big headed in a hurry. 1 was disappointed, but it gives me something to work for.

NOCK-RITE BOWSTRING ATTACHMENT

CLUB AND ASSOCIATION EMBLEMS REPRODUCED

FOR FAST

ACCURATE SHOOTING . . .

• Balanced three finger action ■ Smooth arrow release • Satisfaction guaranteed $1.00 Available at archery and sporting goodt daaleri— or write

NOCK RITE COMPANY 3720 Crestview Circle Brookfield, Wil., U.S.A. 53005

We are specialists in producing Club Emblem Dies, authentic in detail and club colors. Just send us a rough sketch with size-and colors desired. We will gladly advise you as to the least expen sive way to produce it. 64-PAGE CATALOG Medals, Pins, Charms, Keys, Trophies, Plaques, Jewelry. Write for Catalog A-71 MINERO-NEWCOME AND CO., INC. 251 WASHINGTON ST., JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302

ELIMINATE FLINCHING and other inconsistencies caused by finger releasing with Precision “Perfect Releases.” Each model offers different features for vari ous shooting styles; all are NFAA approved. Model MMel RS; RS, The RopenopoSpike, most popular to-

ss-jk’skw Model H: Held in a hori zontal position, drawn with index finger.

■

Model V: Vertical posi tion. drawn wilt, Index finger.

Model P. Horizontal position. Draw with ,ndo« finger, release by simply squeezing with sec ond 3 third fingers.

Model HV: Can bo used in either horizontal or vertical position: drawn with two fingers.

W. T

Pn^’cfrncvH^reliabf^hfah11 aiLd devel°Pmen*. PSE presents the Precision iallv for huntino — and Jith’Perf?rmance comPound bow designed especprice of /ess thin $175*'"' reSUltant cost savi"9s Permittin9 a true bar9in’

apt to cl<p due to th'e rope; horizontal hold.

A 1

> ) * A

NEW FROM PSE: A Low-Cost Compound Especially for hunters!

•»'

to operate, permits drnw\ ing wilh all three tinges. Horizontal hold

Model T: A horizontalposition trainer release designed for the novice

. '

,, /

hunter; docs not croduce a •■surprise” rethumb 4 index t-ngcr.

’ I J \_

Available in assorted colors and swirls; own IO, complete instructions ineluded.

Pro-Fletch Hunter Vanss Pro-Fletch Vanes are used by more bow hunters than any other vanes, and for all the right reasons. Like our famous Olympic Gold Medal Winning target models, o Pro-Fletch hunter vanes 8 a. provide superior accuracy and higher arrow velocity in a durable, all-weather fletching. Completely waterproof and unaffected by temper ature extremes, this space-age material far outlasts ordinary plastic, making Pro-Fletch the most economical vanes for all types of shooting. Easily installed using any fletching jig with Fletch-Tite, Easton 24SRTX Saunders, or 3M Scotch super- I strength adhesives, they absolutely will not come off. Available in white, red, blue, black, orange, or yellow; and fluorescent pink, I orange, or green.

Precision ' Shooting Equipment Mahomet, Illinois 61853

na^aia^^i'i?aL'rtnt|ii,n?hcderted desi9n features include allnew laminated limbs of wooden "Suoer-Flex — Action Core" and Gordon fiberglass with improved let-off for less-effort holding; magnesium handle for " light, easy control; a non-reflective black, black textured finish; and our PSE ! "Speed Brackets" for A superior velocity. And, most importantly, the Proficiency main/ / / features tains Precision’s tra-aS / / / like fully lamditional high quality. J0 / / inated limbs Rather than proz / and light-weight duce a "cheap’’ 2 / magnesium hanbow using / dies at a price $50. cheap parts, ■' 4? ' / $75 /ess than comwe offer Jk ' parable competition ! / This is possible for two reasons: First, we elimi nated expensive options de manded by target shooters, but unnecessary for hunters. // / And, Second, we achieve signif/ / / icant production-line savings by / / / producting only "standard-tune" / / models. / / Thus, the Proficiency is ordered by draw / / length and weight alone, and is available ' /in two fully adjustable weight ranges, 40-50 / lbs and 50-60 lbs, and in draw lengths from / 27” to 31” in whole-inch increments. / For complete information, contact your dealer / and check-out the Precision Proficiency — the ' only lot-cost bow with PSE-Engineered quality and performance.

Licensed under Allen Patent No. 3,486,495

Precision Shooting Equipment

Mahomet, Illinois 61853

PSE Arrows Quality you’d expect from a name you can count on! As with all Precision products, we use only the very best materials for our PSE Arrows — Our own Olympic - winning Pro-Fletch vanes, guaranteed not to come off. Attractive Easton all-aluminum shafts for higher velocity and dur ability — X-7, 24SRT-X, and XX75 in Super Target models, and green-anodized "game-getter” shafts in Super Hunter models. And, of course, famous “BJ” nocks and points. Go with the winners. For everything you want, in arrows and all your equipment, make sure everything you shoot is Precision-Perfect!

Precision Shooting Equipment

Mahomet, Illinois 61853

"This bow would have been very useful in India in 1963 when I was hunting Tigers from a thorn tree machan with the Maharajah of Bundi. It’s really meant for close-quarter work such as that.”

■1

1 . V5K45&A

The 52" Kodiak Magnum bow can be shot from just about any position the bow hunter can get him self into—kneeling, crouching, on a tree platform, in thick cover. It is the most popular short hunting bow in the world today. See the Kodiak Magnum and all the other Bear hunt ing bows at your Bear dealer’s. They've been proven on the game trails of the world by Fred Bear.

I Bi

Bear Archery, Dept. A-1 Rural Route One, Grayling, Michigan 49738

Send me your latest catalog. I do

do not

own a bow now.

If "Yes,” brand name

PLEASE PRINT

Name

Address

City State

Zip Code

archfov Division

VICTOR

comptometer

—

aR‘3OAAT1ON

Youi or

My age.