AHAMO ARCHERY CLUB October 15, 2003 October 2003 Newsletter CLUB OFFICERS President: Bill Rhoades (932-0417) Vice President: Bill Lewis (498-9364) Secretary: Dave Wise (498-0186) Treasurer: Dave Holthouse (291-0211) Trustees: Ed Rebarich (345-7608) Steve Murphy (291-7554) Sergeant at Arms: Dick Sousa (592-8045) News Editor: Lee Pereksta (592-3856) 3D Coordinator: Mike Vandeman (332-4625) VP of Indoor: John Terfone (738-1692) Indoor range phone (734-7272)
Key Dates to Remember
Tuesday Nights: Indoor leagues - 7:00 November 3 7:00 Club meeting,indoor range
October Club Meeting
There were 9 members at the October meeting. We discussed 2004 shoots, the remaining 2003 shoots, and had a great cook-out. We had plenty of Hamburgers, beans, salad, and even cookies for desert. Thanks to John Terfone for cooking and to those that brought additional food to the meeting.
New members:
There were no new members voted in at the October meeting.
3D News
There is no new news. The last shoot is over and the next shoot will be an indoor 300 round in November. We decided that it will be a turkey shoot, where we will give out Turkeys and Cornish hens as awards.
Indoor Leagues
Indoor Leagues have already started. If you’d like to join or just shoot along with the league, stop down on a Tuesday Night at about 7:00. Leagues are a lot of fun and keep your shooting form in shape to be ready for that big buck when it comes along.
Hunting season News
Five members have harvested deer (that I know of) as of this newsletter. In addition there was one turkey shot. Congratulations go out to the successful hunters.
Ahamo gives an award each year to the largest buck shot as well as deer awards for all deer harvested.
The following is the start of (hopefully) a long list of success's that will be in this column by the end of the year. Please call Lee Pereksta at 592-3856 to report your deer or Email Lee at hunterlee@msn.com. Your name will be added to the newsletter, and you will get a deer award at the end of the year at the annual banquet.
Ahamo 2003 Successful Hunters John Terfone doe Lee Pereksta doe Mike Vandeman doe Nick Tramp 4x4 Ken Peel 4x4 Ken Peel doe Joe Swanson turkey
Big Buck Contest
If you get a buck this year and want to enter it in the Ahamo big buck contest just bring it down to a club meeting. Lee Pereksta will measure it for the club big buck award. The measurement will be ‘unofficial’ and there is no need to wait for the ‘drying’ period.
Past winners follow:
2002 Mark Seip 147 4/8 2001 Tom Riddle 128 3/8 2000 Tom Riddle 138 4/8 1999 Dick Sousa 144 2/8 1998 Dick Sousa 146 5/8 1997 Steve Murphy 133 0/8 1996 Gary Burnberg 129 3/8
New Deer Check Station:
You may have noticed that there is a new deer check station in the area this year. It’s Frank’s tree house at 6500 Railroad Ave. The phone number is 402 731-3298. There was a note in the announcement I saw saying the address was also 17th and Drexel, and that it was 1.5 miles from Gifford point.
Rifle Season Dates:
Bill Lewis reported that Game and Parks has a new system for determining the dates of Rifle Season. It will always be the Saturday closest to November 13th. That makes it November 15 to November 23 this year.
Deer Story:
Here’s another deer story. This one is a fresh story since it’s from my doe this year.
Dick Sousa and I headed to our stands at about 6am to set up while it was still dark. Dick was hunting about 200 yards from me, in a stand I had just put up a couple of weeks prior to the start of the season.
This was only my 2nd time out this year and the first for Dick. He was planning on hunting one of my stands until later that morning when he would get down and set up one of his trees. This was the first time I had hunted the stand I was in, and the tree was a little larger than what I normally would set up in. The rope that attaches to my stand and goes around the tree, just barely fit. In fact, when I set the tree up a few weeks prior, I had the rope from my stand as far open as it could get and had to cut some of the bark away from the tree to get it to fit. The bad thing I found, was that my safety belt just barely fit around the tree. It is a single loop belt that I wrap around the tree and then put one of the ends around my chest (more on safety belts later). Because of the tight fit, I had very limited mobility in the stand.
I wasn’t happy when I heard a deer bound away as I got close to my stand. I followed my standard routine and walked past my stand towards where the deer ran, to hopefully keep it from going a short distance and taking note of where my stand was. I then walked back to my tree and probably took much too long setting up. By the time I got my camo on, put my bow holder over my belt and tied it to my leg, put my rattling bag in my pocket, put my grunt call and binoculars around my neck, hid my pack, climbed the tree and set up my portable stand, and finally hauled up my bow and got ready go hunt, there was only about 15 minutes before legal hunting time.
When I could see well enough, I locked my release to my string and settled back to wait and watch for a deer. I like to stand while I hunt with the lower limb of my bow resting a bow holder that’s tied to my leg. It was light enough to hunt a little after 7:30, and at about 7:40 I heard something coming and watched as 2 doe walked across a large ravine about 60 yards from me. The easiest place to cross the ravine was about 20 yards from me and a good place for a shot, but these deer were just too far away.
I saw nothing else until about 8:00, when one of the two deer came back and crossed over the ravine at the trail closest to me. I was trying to decide if it was large enough to shoot, when the second deer appeared out of no where and was clearly larger than the first. Since I had a bonus doe tag and really like venison, the decision to shoot or not to shoot was pretty easy. The hard part was waiting for the smaller deer to look away from me so I could draw without being seen. The doe I wanted to shoot kept looking back at something I never saw, and eventually it gave me a perfect shot. I drew back, aimed low in the chest just behind the leg and released.
The arrow disappeared into the deer and it was off like a shot. It was in a very open area, and I was able to watch as it ran in a half circle around me and just dropped to the ground. After it went down, it never moved. I got my binoculars out and stared at it for a while and never saw anything move. I still waited for 10 minutes and then quietly got down. I looked for my arrow, didn’t find it, and started following the blood trail to the deer. After about 10 yards I found about a third of my arrow (the part with the broadhead) on the ground. about 10 yards further I found part of the back half of the arrow. When I got to where I thought the deer had fallen, I only saw a lot of blood. After a moment of panic, wondering if I got down too soon, I saw it just on the other side of the brush in front of me. It was where I saw it fall, I just hadn’t gone far enough.
I first got out my tag and marked the date with my knife. Then I got to work field dressing. I was done at about 8:30 when I was to check in with Dick on my portable radio. Dick hadn’t seen anything except a few squirrels. I let him know I had gotten one and would be heading back to the trucks as soon as I finished hanging it up and washing it out with a little spray bottle I carry in with me.
Dick had a deer cart that at first I thought I didn’t need. He quickly talked me into using it and I was really glad I did. He got down a little early to set up one of his stands, and to help me get my deer to the trucks. The cart was great. It was light and easy to pull, and held the deer just perfectly.
We got the deer to the trucks, took a few pictures, and I headed to the butcher. I was glad I shot it Saturday morning. For my money, BIG Meats does the best job of butchering around. If I get my deer during the week or Saturday morning I take to BIG. If I get it Saturday night or Sunday, then I take it to Van Fleets. Van Fleets does a fair job, but I really like the vacuum packaging that BIG does, and the size of the steaks. Each package is just perfect for a single meal for my wife and myself.
Safety Harnesses
Now a little on Safety Belts. The belt I used when I shot my deer was an endless loop strap. It’s easy to use. You just throw one end of it around the tree, loop it back through itself, and put an end of it over your chest and under your arms. Because it tends to slip down, I have a Velcro strip sewn above the pocket of my coveralls. I put the safety belt under the Velcro to keep it from slipping down and it works pretty good.
Since I’m a bowhunter education instructor, I have seen quite a few videos on tree stand safety and how important a safety harness is. We teach the class the importance of treestand safety, and how most accidents happen getting into and getting out of stands. When I hunt, I get my belt on as soon as I reach my climbing height and rely on it while I set up and take down my stand. However, I feel a little guilty telling my class how much better a harness is than a belt, and showing safety videos on harnesses when I only use a belt.
Two weeks ago I finally got a harness. This one is pretty secure. It’s made by a company called fall woods and is fairly easy to use. I visited a sporting goods store and added a couple of mountain climbing clips (called carabiners), that I use to hook the rope to the tree with. With the clip I don’t need to wrap the rope around the tree and back through itself before hooking the harness to it. Now I consider it just perfect. It hooks up quickly to the tree, and I can be secure in a matter of seconds. I’m still as careful as possible when I leave the ground, but now I feel a little more secure than I was with just the belt.
There are many different types of harnesses and safety belts available. The important thing, no matter what you use, is to follow the instructions that come with it, and never do anything that will jeopardize your safety.
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:
1 dozen 3-28 ACC’s. Uncut with 2 dozen nibs. 1 dozen of the nibs are 100 grain, the other are variable weight that can be adjusted for the weight wanted. $100.00 - Mike Vanceman
Hand made Electric Meat Grinder. Heavy duty and great for deer or any meat. $125 or best offer. Call Mike Vandeman 402 332-4625.
Wanted:
The refrigerator at the indoor range is still dying. If anyone knows of a used working one the club could have please contact a board member. - Thanks
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