AHAMO ARCHERY CLUB

June 14, 2002
April 2002 Newsletter

CLUB OFFICERS
President:        Jim Chandler   (537-8058)
Vice President:   Bill Lewis     (498-9364)      
Secretary:        Dave Wise      (498-0186)
Treasurer:        Dave Holthouse (291-0211)
Trustees:         Bill Rhoades   (932-0417)
                  Ed Rebarich    (345-7608)
Sergeant at Arms: Greg Thomas    (625-2697)
News Editor:      Lee Pereksta   (592-3856)
3D Coordinator:   Mike Vandeman  (332-4625)

Indoor range phone (734-7272)

Key Dates to Remember

    July 1        Club meeting 7:00 Indoor Range
    July 6-7      Ahamo 3D - outdoor range
                    setup Sat July 6, 8AM
                    register from noon to 3pm Sat
                    reg from 8AM to noon Sunday
                    clean up 2:00 on Sunday
    Tuesdays      Outdoor  Americn Round League
                    Mike Stanners house 7:00

June Club Meeting

The June meeting was attended by 9 members. We discussed the upcoming 3D, the last 3D, and purchasing 3D parts. One new member was voted in at the meeting.

New Members

There was one new member voted in at the meeting: Doug Kleist. Welcome to the Ahamo Archery Club

Bow Hunter Education

This was in the Omaha World Herald: The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Outdoor Education Division has scheduled a series of workshops across the state to train persons interested in becoming bow hunter education instructors. Call Mike Streeter, (402) 332-5487.

I highly recommend calling that number. Being a bowhunter education instructor is a very rewarding experience and it is a great opportunity to promote our sport.

Leagues

Outdoor Leagues are being held on Tuesdays. Leagues start at about 7:00. We will be shooting an American Round, which is from 60, 50, and 40 yards. Mike Stanner will be letting us shoot in his yard again. Please come on out to shoot, it’s a lot of fun.

Mike’s address is: 11222 Kentucky Road in Papillion. His phone is 592-3308.

Next 3D Shoot

The next 3D will be on July 6 and 7. Most of our targets are still up, so it it won’t take a lot to finish setting up for the shoot. Set up is from 8:00 to noon Saturday and we start shooting at about noon. All members are invited to come out to work and/or shoot. Our 3D’s are a lot of fun.

There is also a work party on Sunday to take down some of the targets and put the tents, tables and chairs back in the shed at the YMCA camp. If you can make it to help clean up, those work parties are not difficult - and with a lot of help they only last a short time. Tear down starts at about 2:00 on Sunday.

Newsletter Items

If you are a club member and have an item for sale, send me the information to put in the newsletter. Also, if you have an interesting deer story or any archery tips you would like to share with club members please send them to me for the newsletter.

My Email address is: hunterlee@MSN.com

For Sale

From Scott Bailey, (896-1514):

I have three bows to sell

#1- Hoyt Cyber Tec with Timberline fiber optic sight and Hoyt tm hunter style rest. Specs on bow are 60-70 lbs--- 26-29.5" draw length--- versa one cam--- forest floor camo--- XT 2000 split limb w/ limb savers --- RT. hd.---$495.00

#2- Hoyt Pro Tec Target Bow---40-50 lbs.---27-30" draw length---accu wheels--- LX pro limbs w/ limb savers and shock fins---red fade to black riser---RT. HD.---$495.00

#3- Browning Excellarator bow---45-70 lb---29-32" draw--- Rt HD. --- wood handle---dual cam---comes with sight,peep, tm hunter rest,quiver, arm guard, broadheads, release, 1 dz. arrows, foam target--- $199.00

Several of these bows will be going on e-bay soon so please let me know if anybody is interested.

Bow Press Article

The following is a pretty good article by Bob Ragsdale about using bow presses.

How much damage can be done mis-using a 'bow press?'

That is a very good question, because much damage is done that way every day.

In the early days they were not really even used or necessary. Eventually they became necessary and were quite crude. Until about 10 years ago when the bows started getting shorter and shorter along with low brace heights you could merely back off on the weight bolts until the bow got sloppy enough to just remove the bowstring but finally virtually all got to the point 'they were no longer field serviceable.' When bows were not so tight and highly pre-stressed we thought nothing of taking our bows down on the tailgate of the pickup with nothing but one Allen wrench to change cables or whatever and putting it back in just a couple of minutes. I really hate those days are gone, what a pain in the tokus they are now by comparison.

When bow presses started hitting the pro shops by necessity I assume every manufacturer experienced what we did which was beginning to have many dealers whining and complaining that they 'received a new bow with a bent handle riser.' Yeah, sure, but what could the customer service person do over the phone, tell a dealer who has been in business 20 years that he is stupid or lying, and that no final inspector would let a bow past him in that condition? You guessed it, the bow companies just has to EAT those bows and let them get away with abusing them with their bow presses. We had many laughs looking at bows so warped sideways. (most bent side to side) they would bend the box when put back in them. 'Sure it was shipped to them like that.' On the earliest presses available, all grabbed the handle in the throat of the grip with a steel cable and then drew the bow downward by the grip with both limbs blocked. I can't tell you how many bows we saw with deep steel cable grooves cut into their plastic grip returned under the warranty that were accused of having a 'factory defect.'

That's 1 of the 2 secrets, when putting pressure on the bow to flex it be certain your fixture grabs the handle in 2 places, one on each end and never in the center. The next part has grown more and more complicated as the bows have not only become shorter and shorter, BUT THE LIMBS HAVE PIVOTED BACK AND BACK so much on many models that limb tips really don't flex back toward the archer anymore, they flex more toward each other than anything else.

Earlier, the press's roller contact point for each limb was just placed AS FAR FROM THE HANDLE AND AS NEAR TO THE ECCENTRIC as possible so as much of the limb as possible was exposed to be flexed. Damage was and is still being done to both handles and limbs when there is only 'an inch or 2' of limb exposed and people expect it to flex without breaking the limb or bending the handle. So basically the 'hotter rated' bows now have virtually no limb area exposed to work with.

About all I can say is that once you become aware of the overall situation you know what to look for in a bow press design and how to be cautious with any design you use. Conclusion, many presses are 'not up to the job' on short bows with 'pre-stressed laid over limbs' and if you try to flex a limb over only a small area of it's length it is either going to break it or permanently flex the handle instead. Forget what the handle is made of or how it is made, when abused like this it is academic.

Most archers are much too quick to jump to conclusions and to accept unsubstantiated claims by others. PLEASE let me suggest to you that it is NOT WISE TO MAKE ANY CHANGE WHAT-SO-EVER without first asking either yourself or your mentor, "IF I MAKE THIS CHANGE, HOW MUCH IMPROVEMENT AM I GUARANTEED WILL BE INSTANTLY ADDED TO MY ACCURACY LEVEL WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF EFFORT ON MY PART?"

You asked, and now you have another person's point of view. Hope this helps you further enjoy your archery recreational time, mention my name when next you, your group or your business has need of an instructor, speaker or product evaluation. Bob Ragsdale

Deer Season is approaching:

Only 3 more months until deer season opens. For those of you that will be hunting next year, it’s never too early to start preparing. Now is the time when you should be practicing with your hunting bow and starting to get your gear together. If you are thinking of buying a new bow or arrows - do it soon so you can practice with them on a regular basis.

If you do not have a place to hunt yet, it’s also the time you should be beating the bushes looking for farmers to ask for permission to hunt.

If you don’t anticipate finding private land to hunt on this year - there is always the Gifford area. Giffords has a trespass fee of $50.00 but it does have a pretty good deer population.

Finally, don’t forget to review the permit requirements and to familiarize yourself with all of the new bonus tag rules.

Bonus tags will allow you to take a couple of nice doe while waiting for that big buck to pass by your stand.

P.O. BOX 460945, Papillion, NE 68046-0945, USA. (402) 596-0505 . webmaster@sportsmansweb.com