New to hunting – in wheelchair – need advice

[Brad]

If you kill a buck and want to put it on a nice plaque, get in touch with me and i will do a free plaque mount for you, you are a true inspiration to myself and others and I love the attitude you are displaying, that will get you a long ways in hunting just by itself!

[MOBIGBUCKS]

Welcome to the Beast You are a serious inspiration to me!! I hope you kill a bunch of deer this year; keep us updated how your season is going.

[magicman54494]

I'm not sure I can give you any advise but I will welcome you and wish you much hunting success!

[Matt3]

Here is a quick link for some netting ideas. Pick a size and it should do great. You can order from many places this is just one that has them.

http://www.armysurplusworld.com/display ... mentID=245

[ Post made via iPod ]

[exojam]

So I finally had the chance to do some practicing from my Ameristep Doghouse Blind and below are my thoughts and issues.

1) The blind did not come with a shoot through mesh front window as is shown in every picture for the blind and even on the cover of the box (but due to number 4 that is OK).

2) I found that I have to position myself in the very back of the blind to shot (my wheels were just a few inches from the back). Now I will try my best to explain what is taking place here. One my first two shoots my right arm (draw arm) was heavily pushing against the back of the blind, because of this it just did not feel right shooting. So what I did is to open the very top of the “door” by about 6 inches, doing so allowed me to go to full draw and feel comfortable doing so.

3) On those shots the draw back itself had to change because I was in a confined area compared to when I just practice outside of it and really could not bring the bow forward and down. Now it seems that I have to hold the bow straight out and just pull with my back. Also, when I am full draw the top limbs are very close to or are touching the front of the blind.

4) Even if the blind did come with shoot through mesh in the front window I do not believe I could using because when I am drawing the bow back my arrow is already “out” of the blind.

5) Since I will need to keep the doors top section down a few inches to allow the draw to take place I am going to search my basement for some black fabric I have (or should have) and put some velcro on it and the blind so nothing can see me from that area.

6) I will also need to find something to hang my bow on so it does not need to sit in my lap the whole time I am in there.
All in all not a bad little blind (only one I have ever owned) and with a little modification I think I should be all right and I hope my thoughts above are somewhat coherent. Glad I tested in the yard and not out in the field.

Matt, thanks for the camo information.

James

[oneflag]

A few suggestions.

I am familiar with the blind you bought. I find it very difficult to fold up and put back in the bag.
I would not hang your bow from that style of blind. Try a bow stand like the 3D shooters use.

Wearing black while in a blind is a good idea. When I take my daughter hunting and we use a blind, we wear a thin black balaclava (facemask).
She also wears some cheap black gloves because she can not sit still!!!

Someday you may want to invest in a Primos double bull blind and have help setting it up prior to season.

[exojam]

Oneflag,

I agree that blind can be a pain to fold up. After shooting from it that day it took me quite a bit to get it folded. I had to come back into the house and watch a youtube video and then I was able to get it in about 20 seconds. On the hanging of the bow in that blind, I did try a little hook where the two poles meet at the top but I did not like the way it “worked” so I canned that idea.

Now if I can get my bow back from the shop so I can practice some more since I am running out of time until the season starts. It has blown up on me twice so far but that is a story in itself. I am just glad I have only bruises to show from the thing.

James

[oneflag]

Now if I can get my bow back from the shop so I can practice some more since I am running out of time until the season starts. It has [glow=red]blown up[/glow]on me twice so far but that is a story in itself. I am just glad I have only bruises to show from the thing.

James

What?

[exojam]

I will try to make this as short as possible but cover all of the facts.

First, I have never dry fired the bow, never pulled it back with no arrow and never used my fingers.

I picked up my bow around the beginning of August and the shop had it set for about a 41lb draw. I used it for about two weeks and shot probably 40 arrows a day with no issue.

One day I did hit and arrow with another while trying to work on my grouping. In hitting the one arrow the nock did break.
I took the bow into the shop the following Monday to have the draw weight increased to 50 pounds and have the nock on the one arrow replaced. I then took everything home and shot about 10 rounds with the new draw weight. On the second day I did no shooting, on the third day I had shot about 6 arrows and on the 7th arrow upon release the limbs came flying off.

I took it to the shop that day and showed them what happed. The top limbs had broken on the bottom side where they go into the pocket and the top wheel bearing was damaged. The shop felt it looked like a dry fire from the looks of things and I explained I had an arrow in it. They also thought I could have hit my wheelchair with the bow during this, but the folks who sold me the bow watched me shot when we were setting it up and there was never any mention that it looked like I was close to my chair with the bow. After leaving the shop and coming home to look for the peep, I found a 4 inch section of the fletching of the arrow broken and about 10 feet away from where I was sitting. I called the shop and informed them of this and he felt I could have been using a compromised arrow.

About 3 weeks later the parts are in and the bow is fixed. I go back to the shop to pick it up and make sure everything is working fine. This time the owner watches me shot and again there is never any mention of me coming close to my chair with the bow, only the placement of the string on my nose while shooting.

Two days later I am practicing in my yard and when I went to a full draw the limbs come out again. This time the bottom limbs are broke in the same manner as the top was in the original occurrence. I again take it to the shop and show them what happened and again he questions if I dry fired the bow and again I state I did not and this time no broken arrow (since it failed before the fire).

I know I am new to archery but when I looked into it before being paralyzed years ago I already knew the rule of never, ever, ever dry fire a bow. I also approach the bow as a deadly weapon since it is and do not horse play with it.

So he called his PSE rep and this time instead of sending parts they asked that the whole bow be sent back to them so they can look at it.
Now could I have down something to cause both of these occurrences, maybe but I just do not see how. I honestly believe that if something was so wrong in my form that a dangerous situation could occur, the 3 guys at the shop who watched me shot would have pointed this out.

I did not take any pictures of the damage since I was in a state of disbelieve after both occurrences and I just wanted to get the bow to the shop to let them see what had occurred.

When either this bow is fixed and returned or they arrange for me to obtain another one I will ask them to watch me again for a longer period of time to make sure and double check I do not appear to be the cause of this since I do not want it to happen again to me or need the shop to repair another broken bow.

James

[oneflag]

I’m curious if you got your bow fixed!

[exojam]

No it is not fixed as of yet.

I spoke with the PSE rep last week and he stated they would be shipping a new bow either Thursday or Friday (of last week). As of this time I still have no confirmation the bow has shipped after communicating with both him and the shop owner yesterday. I also spoke with the shop owner and he has no other bows (PSE Brute X) of the 50lb style I could get from him.

I did discuss with the shop owner about a refund and he went on about how he would be losing money and I explained that he would still be getting a new bow from PSE and I did not understand how he would be out anything. His response was the “time” he has put into this.

I am really trying to be patient about this but I am running out of time to practice (still have not shot a broad head at this time) and just do not like the fact that the shop owner will not even entertain the possibility that something was wrong with the bow. First it was the “dry fire”, next it was the compromised arrow, next my wheelchair, next me torqueing the bow because I had them move it from a 41lb draw to a 50.

I don’t know, maybe I am reading too much into all of this but in the end I just want to go out and shoot and so far I have been without the bow for more than half the time I have owner it.

James

[NatureBoy]

Hang in there James. What's the name of the shop, btw. Sounds like bad business if you ask me. I know a few good ones around here if you need references.

[exojam]

Nature,

At this time I rather not say what shop it was in an open forum. My reasoning for this is since I just do not know if I somehow may have caused the issues both times I rather not throw them under the bus (per say). Just some of the things that the shop owner has said does not sit well with me and leaves me with a bad feeling. I really should just follow my gut instinct on this but maybe since I am new to archery I am going further than I normally would (hope that makes sense).

I just called and left a message for the rep since the shop is closed today and my thought is if they cannot guarantee that a new bow will be available to me by Friday I will be heading out to get another one and request a refund on the original. This time I will be heading to a Big Al’s in Seabrook who was recommended to me by the head of the archery section of the Westford R&G.

James

[cwoods]

Hang in there James.

[exojam]

Well the rep called while I was out and stated they shipped the bow yesterday and it will be in on Monday. At this point I will just wait until then and go and get it.

Unless I have some good time to practice before the 15th I feel any shot taken will have to be 30 yards and under. I just do not want to wound any deer by not getting good at a 40 yard shot.

James