New Bow!

I got back from vacation on Saturday. The fam and I had a great time, but it was good to get back. On Sunday I went out and shot alot of arrows through my Bowtech General, and I have to say I was shooting it really well.

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Well, on Monday I talked to my friend Robert who is in the market for a new bow. I decided that I would go to All Star Archery in Lewisville with him on Tuesday and help him pick one out. I was not really planning on shopping for myself, as I just purchased my Bowtech General last year and it performed flawlessly last season. I killed a buck in Kansas, a buck in Texas and 3 does in Texas. All of the animals dropped within eye sight of my stand. I have never had that happen before in the past. I was however, very interested in shooting the Elite Z28, as I have heard and read alot of good things about the bow and the company.

All Star Archery had one Z28 in a 28" draw length at the shop, imagine that, just my size. The guys in the shop put a rest on it and let me shoot it a few times. The bow was every bit as good as had been reported. It had a very smooth draw cycle and smooth shot with little to know vibration. It also was lightning fast. That being said, I decided not to buy it, because if I was going to buy the Z28 I wanted to get it in Ninja black and All Star only had it in Camo. Also, I did not like letting the bow down, it really seemed to jerk my arm off.

Robert had the shop set up 4 bows for him to shoot, the Mathews Reason, Bowtech Admiral, Hoyt Turbo Hawk and the Hoyt Alpha Max 32. He shot all of them quite a bit and gave them all a good test. Robert originally went to the shop with the intentions of buying a Mathews, but after shooting the Hoyts, decided he liked the feel and was more comfortable with them. His only dilemma was whether to buy the Alpha Max or the Turbo Hawk which is about $300.00 less.

The whole time I was looking at the Alpha Max 32 that they had set up for him. It looked so sexy, it was the all black model, and it just kept calling to me. I have heard alot of great things about the Hoyt Alpha Max and you see the guys on tv shooting them all the time.

To make a long story short, when Robert was taking a break from shooting I picked up the very light Alpha Max 32 and let a few arrows fly. Wow! that bow was awesome. I thought it was smoother than the Elite all the way around. The draw cycle was very smooth, with a deep valley (much deeper than my Bowtech General) and a nice hard wall that allowed me to anchor perfectly. There was no hand shock or vibration and the bow was super quite. The grip felt perfect in my hand, all in all the bow just fit me perfectly.

I was going to let Robert make his decision between the two Hoyt bows, but he was waivering back and forth. He told me to buy the Alpha Max and I didn't hesitate. As usual I go to a store, shopping with someone else with no intentions of purchasing anything for myself and guess who walks out with a new bow, me! Robert is a smarter consumer than I am, as he decided that he needed to sleep on it and do a little more research before he decides between the 2 bows. He had the guys at the shop hold the last Alpha Max for him, it has 60 lb limbs and is the model with the black riser and camo limbs.

I am very excited about my purchase, and can't wait to get it set up. I am going to put my HHA optimizer site on it and probably my Vital Gear Kazaway rest. I will buy a new Fuse stabilizer for it and probably get a new Fuse quiver.

Last night after working out, I wanted to keep my shooting practice routine going so I shot about 30 arrows through my General. I shot it great, the whole time thinking to myself "Why did you buy a new bow? This one is great!" As anyone who knows me can attest, my weakness is shiny new toys. I feel comfortable knowing that the new Alpha Max will perform everybit as good this season as the General performed last season. Number one it is a great bow, just as the Bowtech, but more importantly this being my 7th year bowhunting, combined with the amount of practice I have put in and the success I have enjoyed, my confidence in my ability is what will ultimately allow me to get the job done this coming season.

Vacation Time!

Sitting in the Miami airport, waiting on a plane.  Wishing the magazine stand sold my new favorite hunting magazine, Eastman's Bowhunting Journal.
I am looking forward to this trip to the Bahamas.  Hadley is really excited so it should be fun.  It will also ne nice to get away from work for a while.
I brought the book Backcountry Bowhunting by Cameron Hanes to read on this trip.  From what I have read so far, this is an excellent book.  It really makes me want to go out west to chase elk and muley's!
I will give my complete thoughts on the book after I finish it.

Not Much Going On In Brady

We got a little bit of work done in Brady this weekend, but we did not accomplish a whole lot. I did not put out any trail cameras, or move any stands. My dad and I did locate a couple of new stand sites and I will go back down in August after I get back from the Bahamas to put up the stands.

I did put out some Deer Blocks in my hunting areas to try to get the deer coming to them. I have never used these in the past, so I will be curious to see how or if they work. I put out six of them in different spots around the ranch.

We only saw 4 or 5 bucks this weekend. One was a 10 point that looked pretty good for July. Hopefully by the time he is done growing he will be a nice trophy candidate.

Sorry, I do not have any pictures or anything exciting to show, but I am starting to work on some videos that I will post on the site very soon!

Off To Brady For The Weekend

I am going to be making the trip to the ranch I hunt on in Brady, Texas this evening. It will be the first time I have been there since March or April. I need to go check on the house (last I heard a Raccoon had gotten in and decided to get him something to eat, but that problem has supposedly been taken care of.) I am going to put out some game cameras, probably near the protein feeders, and see what kind of headgear the bucks are wearing so far. I will probably drive around and do some scouting/ filming. I also plan on relocating a couple of tree stands and looking for new areas to hunt this year. Most of my “secret” honey holes have been discovered by the other hunters in my club, and they love to sit in them!

I am excited because I have not been able to shoot my bow since last season. I left it at the ranch. I am going to get it this weekend, bring it back home and start practicing. I am also thinking about replacing the string that came on my Bowtech General with a Winner’s Choice or possibly a Fuse string. I will probably get me a custom string, I am thinking black and blue, like the colors of BGO, but not sure yet. I will keep you posted on what I decide to do (as if anyone cares).

I will post game camera pictures next week if I get any good ones.

What Camcorder To Buy

I am in the process of trying to figure out what camcorder to buy before this coming hunting season. My head is spinning. There are so many things to consider when buying a camcorder, and all of the information can be a bit overwhelming. I am currently using a Panasonic 3ccd camcorder that records to mini dv tapes. It has served its purpose, but I am really wanting to get something a little better.

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There are so many things that I want in a video camera, but I do not want to spend $4,000 to $5,000 to get it. The main reason that I want a new camera is that the Panasonic that I am currently using does not have an external mic input . I have gotten by using the onboard mic built into the camera, but the audio lacks a lot to be desired. As you know filming hunts outdoors there are a lot of ambient sounds that I would like to capture. The built in mic is just not powerful enough to capture that. Also there is no way to put an effective wind screen on the mic, so I end up with a terrible wind noise on my videos.

For years I have thought about getting the Canon Gl2. The Gl2 is probably the most popular camera for filming hunting and outdoor footage. I visit huntingfootge.com quite a bit and most of the better videographers on that site swear by the GL2. The Gl2 is considered a prosumer model camera and I believe runs around $2,000.00 new. Really the main hang up I have about purchasing the Gl2 is the size of the camera. I do not have a camera man in the tree with me, so I have to do the filming of my hunts by myself. Even with a really good tree arm, I do not know if the size of the Gl2 is going to be more difficult to work with than the smaller consumer model camcorders. The other problem with the Gl2 is that it is only a standard definition camera. I am not really sure if I need a high definition camera right now, but my feeling is that if I record the video in high definition it will always be available to me at that resolution at a later date when I do have the need for it.

That brings me to the Sony FX7. The Sony FX7 is a prosumer model high definition camera that is priced about the same is the Canon Gl2. My main problem with buying the FX7 is that I have had some problems with Sony products in the past and swore that I would never buy Sony products again. Well I may have to go back on my word.

Then there is the Canon VIXIA HF S100. This is a nice little camera that looks like and is the size of more of the camcorders that you see everyday. This camera is intriguing to me for two reasons. First it is an HD camera, and second it has dual flash memory. The dual flash memory has its advantages in my opinion. The biggest advantages are, no more mini dv tapes and it is easier to get your footage from the camera to the computer. However the draw back to it is that it is not going to have the manual focus ability (or ease of ability) as the Gl2 or the FX7 and with the camera being so small like most camcorders it is hard to eliminate shake and vibration when you are not using a tripod or camera mount. Also the cost of the Canon Vixia HF S100 is about $1300.00. when you get into that price range, you may as well start considering one of the prosumer models.

The FX7 like the GL2 has everything that I want and probably more than I need. I am not sure that it will perform in low light as well as the Gl2, but again unless I spend quite a bit more money, I am not going to get the perfect camera. I am only shooting video for my own personal enjoyment as well as sharing my experiences with friends. I hope to one day put video on this website to share with anyone that cares to watch. I am by no means a professional, or for that matter a good amateur, but I am very interested and enjoy filming and would like to become better. I worry about becoming a better videographer and catching footage of some really unique and memorable moments and then not being able to do anything with the footage because of poor video quality.

I hope to make a decision on this in the next few weeks and I will keep everyone that is interested informed on what decision I make. Instead of worrying about upgraded my equipment I should probably focus my attention on the many hours of video footage that I already have and try to make something out of it.

Heartland Bowhunter; Style and Substance

I have found a new hunting show that I am really impressed with. Many of you may have already seen it, but I just found out about it the other day while listening to an episode of Bowcast. The show is called Heartland Bowhunter. The owner/ creator of the show, Jeff Simpson was on this particular podcast discussing his approach to the TV show and the reasons that he left his real job to start a TV show. I was very impressed with what Jeff had to say, so I immediately went home and set my dvr to record the series.

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The show is actually in its second season and I believe that it just started a week or so ago. So far I have only seen episode 2 of season 2 in its entirety. I have also watched the season 2 trailer on their website HeartlandBowhunter.com. I cannot pin down exactly what is so intriguing about this show to me other than it just has a certain feel to it unlike any other hunting shows on TV today. On the Bowcast podcast Jeff explained that he was really into the photography/ videography aspect of the show and it is obvious. It appears that these guys care just as much if not more about the video quality and production of the show. Don’t get me wrong, there is still great hunting action and great deer as in all hunting shows, these guys just take it to a new refreshing level. Everything they shoot (by shoot I mean film not kill) that makes it to the final cut seems to be perfectly framed and composed as if you were looking at a fine picture rather than a video.
Another thing that stands out to me is that Jeff and his team is really focused on telling a good story. By telling a story I mean by both the dialogue and the camera. They get all of the shots that let the viewer feel like they are part of the hunt. When I use the word “hunt” I am talking about all that goes into a hunt, not just the actual pursuit and killing of an animal. In my experience the best things about hunts are the little things. Sure killing a big buck is great, but there is so much more that goes into the hunt itself other than killing. The actual kill is the icing on the cake, but that part usually happens in a few minutes, the real memories and stories come from the companionship shared with your hunting party and all of the sights, sounds and beauty of the animals and area that you are hunting. Up until this show I think that Realtree Road trips were the only show that was doing a good job of telling a story, which is why it is also one of my favorite hunting shows.
I try to video all of my hunts and know that doing what the Heartland Bowhunter team is doing is really hard work. Granted I am self filming my hunts where as these guys generally have a hunter and a cameraman, but to achieve the artistic quality that this show has takes vision and talent. Just look at their website and it is obvious that these guys have a since of style that is not common in the hunting industry as it stands today.
If you want to see episode 1 of season 2 titled “Velvet” you can stream it in HD quality from the site Bowvidz.com. I am looking forward to watching the rest of season 2 and I am going to order the season 1 DVD on the Heartland Bowhunter website. I am really jacked up about this show, and if you like a little style along with your substance then you will enjoy it also.
Side Note: The website bowvidz.com looks like it is going to be a really cool site when it gets more of a following. I am not sure if it is owned and operated by Heartland Bowhunter or not, but I did find out about it on their website. I am going to look into it more and will write about it in an upcoming post.

Going To Kansas Again!

Just found out today that all non resident applicants drew a tag for either sex whitetail in Kansas. It looks like Robert, Shane and I will be making another trip in November. I hope to have the same success that I had last year. This year I am going to be more selective, I hope to take a true pope and young class buck this year. The buck I got last year was big and old, but he was only a 7 point. I also am going to make a better effort to film my hunts this year. I am really looking forward to another great week or two of hunting. It is about time to get the Bowtech out and start practicing!

(The picture above is of me with the 7 point buck I arrowed last November in Kansas)