Q & A - Arrowbender

[PK_]

You always bring quality posts. Great write up man I always enjoy your .02

[greenhorndave]

Great bucks, pics and the context with each was outstanding.

[bigbucks1234]

That's a nice string of bucks AB!!!!! Thanks for the write up

[Matt Gill]

Nice collection of bucks man!!

[<DK>]

[Arrowbender]

Great write up! I have a question for you on your doe heard. Do you hunt any of your does, and what time of season, and how many do you take typically from The herd? I'm new to Kentucky, and we're allowed four deer, only one Buck. I'm going to have to shoot some doesb to fill the freezer, and from what I understand from the neighbors I have a pretty healthy population living on and around my property (seen a few in the yard already in the last month, but they're staying out of sight now that we moved in). Obviously I don't want to wipe them out and have no bucks come around come rut, so just curious how you manage them. Thanks!

Ideally I would like to get my doe meat from WI as there seems to be more there and it's a more balanced herd. But with the new CWD laws it is more difficult logistically to do so; so I will probably be taking at least one from my MN properties again this year.

Short answer is: I try to do it during "the lull" when things are a tad slower anyhow. I used to try to kill them in Sept. but now I really push for buck bed hunting then. Regardless, my goal every year is to kill at least one.
I have had to resort to killing it during pre-rut though. It is what it is......I can't stand not having venison!

[Ridgerunner7]

Good stuff. Very informative!

[wolverinebuckman]

Great write up! I have a question for you on your doe heard. Do you hunt any of your does, and what time of season, and how many do you take typically from The herd? I'm new to Kentucky, and we're allowed four deer, only one Buck. I'm going to have to shoot some doesb to fill the freezer, and from what I understand from the neighbors I have a pretty healthy population living on and around my property (seen a few in the yard already in the last month, but they're staying out of sight now that we moved in). Obviously I don't want to wipe them out and have no bucks come around come rut, so just curious how you manage them. Thanks!

Ideally I would like to get my doe meat from WI as there seems to be more there and it's a more balanced herd. But with the new CWD laws it is more difficult logistically to do so; so I will probably be taking at least one from my MN properties again this year.

Short answer is: I try to do it during "the lull" when things are a tad slower anyhow. I used to try to kill them in Sept. but now I really push for buck bed hunting then. Regardless, my goal every year is to kill at least one.
I have had to resort to killing it during pre-rut though. It is what it is......I can't stand not having venison!

Thank you! This confirms what I was kind of thinking myself. Hunt bucks in September, does in October, back to bucks during the rut.

[Kraftd]

Thanks for doing this AB. When I first started putzing around here your use of calls always peaked my interest and stood out to me. I've always enjoyed it much like you have, so always have my ears perked to your input. Great stuff! Good luck this season.

[Uncle Lou]

I just now saw this. Serious cuz, you couldn't even give me a heads up text. I haven't been on much lately and haven't even read it yet.

Now I will go read it.

But before I do, I will say this. First Mike, Helen says hi.

Second. My cousin Mike is a pretty serious, meticulous, and successful archery hunter of deer, and has been for a while. When he started reading about dan's teachings, I think he got even better. When someone has talent like arrowbender clearly does, and then gets a little boost, they get a little more successful, like he has demonstrated in his time on the BEAST.

Now I am going to go read this, and I hope you didn't soil our family name (which he can't hurt me there our mom's our sisters, and we have different last names )

[Uncle Lou]

Ok, in full disclosure AB is my cuz, but I have a couple questions. We spent a lot of time together in the summers when we were both youths, he is a little older and I used to visit his parents farm and I stayed on our grandmothers farm a lot in the summers.

What got you into archery hunting?

Was there anyone that influenced your early archery hunting career (because I did not see any of this coming)?

If it was Wamp (another cousin), is there anything specific you can recall, that you learned from him or others that you want to share?

[Arrowbender]

Ok, in full disclosure AB is my cuz, but I have a couple questions. We spent a lot of time together in the summers when we were both youths, he is a little older and I used to visit his parents farm and I stayed on our grandmothers farm a lot in the summers.

What got you into archery hunting?

Was there anyone that influenced your early archery hunting career (because I did not see any of this coming)?

If it was Wamp (another cousin), is there anything specific you can recall, that you learned from him or others that you want to share?

Thanks Lou for the kind words! (not the ones in the text, those weren't. lol)

I am not sure what actually got me into archery hunting. Probably the simple fact that once I got out of tech school and started working, it was harder to get together with friends to waterfowl and small game hunt so I started to bowhunt because it was more of a solo type of gig.

I was also quite a Chuck Adams fan back in the day. So he was for sure somewhat of an influence. I also thought Ol Dwight Schuh was the bee's knees and of course Fred.

Cousin Jeff (Wamp) was not so much of an influence early on but once we crossed paths on one of my most memorable hunts he definitely left his mark on me and some of the things I do now, including backing out on questionable hits, how to track gut shot deer the next morning and going after deer that are spotted mid-day during rut ( he killed his best buck by chasing down a 150" bruiser that he spied going through the neighbors yard on a Sunday afternoon by cutting it off by figuring out where it was headed).

And, Yes; the Beast definitely added a bunch of tactics to my bag of tricks, and added confidence to some of my existing ideas!

[Uncle Lou]

Did I mention Mike was meticulous

I was talking to Mike yesterday morning he was cleaning his roof, it had some mold on it. One day I stopped over during one of my family visit trips to MN and he was repairing a valve in the water purifier. I think I said why don't you throw it out and go to wal-mart and get a new one. I just got a look. AND, if you saw the addition to his house he built where he wouldn't hire a single contractor as they probably wouldn't do a good enough job, you would see his attention to detail. I am not certain if that came out, and I thought I would hi-light that. Some of us just do not have that. I am very impatient, I think many on here are similar to AB, so there is hope for you all. I'm just going to keep wondering around in swamps and hills and shoot whatever I have a tag in my pocket for.

And on one of your mentors Dwight Shue, they did a heck of a tribute in that July Bowhunter issue did't they?

Mike and I also spent some time talking about our late cousin Wamp. Wamp was something else, and since he was one of the older cousins in a pretty tight nit family, at 6', 7" most of us looked up to Wamp. Mike shared a couple Wamp stories with me, and I told him the first time I went to his residence in Waldo, OH, outside Columbus. Wamp was born in the midwest, MN I believe, he also had a different last name, as all our mothers were sisters. Wamps father was a very successful businessman who climbed the corporate ladder at Whirlpool. Wamp was born a rebel to all things his dad achieved, and besides the bottle for which he was fond of, he was born to be out west, and he was born to hunt.

Back in 1990, I moved to MI, north of Detroit, from Southern IL, St. Louis Area. Soon after I got settled in, I got in touch with Wamp and we began planning a visit, almost called it a hunt. I ended up down there in Jan 1991. I drove down in an ice storm ahead of a front, and by time we spent the night we woke up to frigid temps with high winds. Lovely conditions for late season archery from a frigid treestand. So we did what many Wamp excursions turn into, we had a good time.

When I first walked in Wamps basement, I was absolutely floored at the whitetail mounts on his walls in the basement, Wamp called it the CAVE. He had a way about living in caves, and trailers, and rather unsavory places. Did I mention he had a rebel streak against money, almost said success. Wamp was successful at hunting. Shortly after I married in 92, Wamp moved to Lander, WY. Mike's older brother, Louie, and I went out there elk hunting in 2000. What a trip that was, Louie shot a huge cow elk and we finished the pack out after a blizzard (in late Sept.) in the Wind River Range. Wamp had a quarter in a sled and we got a pick of him riding it down a mountain.

It was in 2008, Wamp had moved again to McCook, NE. Louie was out there in the area combining, I took a ride out by myself and met up with them both. It was hard to get up the next day, but Wamp took me out for Dec Muzzleloader. I had an either sex, either species tag (whitetail or Mule Deer). I missed the first shot, which was about 100 yds. Wamp called it bouncing and jouncing. That is where we drove around his friends ranch looking for them. Then we get out to close. So after I missed, it was fascinating to watch him guess where they might go. That is big country out there in SW Nebraska. When it came to hunting, Wamp was just a guy you listened to, you didn't game plan with him, you just listened and learned.

Well at about 2pm, or so. We stopped to eat a sandwich and I finally popped a beer. I knew what was about to happen. The hunt would be over and we were gonna get knee deep in some Budweiser. Gosh I hate Budweiser, hard to believe growing up in STL area, but that is what you did with Wamp. So anyway Wamp spots the group of doe Mule deer I had previously missed on. We were low, they were high. I dropped the sandwich, didn't really care for the beer yet. As I grabbed the gun and pulled up, Wamp says the one on the left. I don't know if he knew I was on the right, or not, but I swung over and dropped the one on the left, just like Wamp told me to. I wasn't really thinking about distance, Just grabbed the gun (my scoped Omega, it was first year it was legal to use a scoped MZ in NE), and shot. When we got up to it wamp shot down to a rock we were near and his rangefinder said either 220 or 202, he was talking with his friend who heard the shot and came out, I was dressing the doe out, she was big. We later estimated by the boned meat, 180 dressed, or around 250 on the hoof.

They kept talking like can you believe that, with a MZ, but they wouldn't tell me how far. It was more lucky than anything. Wamp was a good shot with a rifle, and he just kept talking about how amazed he was with what that MZ could do. It was so fun talking to Wamp the next year. He went and got an Omega, scoped it, worked up his load, which was similar to mine and hit one at 250 with it the next season. It was so fun to get the call. I answered, Wamp Said, "Well, I got to brag on you a bit". I said do tell. And then I got the story.

Wamp worked for a guide some in Wyoming. I believe the guys name was Bob Jacobs and had an area north of Jackson Hole. He took Wamp hunting, a trip Wamps father took him on when he graduated high school. Wamp was hooked on elk, and all things out West ever since. He helped many hunters, and I wish I had some lessons to share after all this typing, but I do not. He was just one of those guys that knew what the heck to do, and you listened.

Now that I jacked AB's thread up, I don't know whether to cut it out and start a new thread, or just leave it. Oh heck, I don't know what I would call it, so I will just leave it.

I basically left a tribute to another cousin, on my cousins thread. Since AB mentioned Dwight Schue, and they left a nice tribute to him in the Bowhunter Magazine in July, hopefully you can appreciate a little Wamp tribute in your thread. RIP Wamp, good knowing you and catch you on the other side.

[greenhorndave]

That was an awesome recount Lou. I think the placement is just fine, as it helps us understand your and AB’s family and all.

[Arrowbender]

RIP Wamp indeed!!