stikbow hunter emag nov dec 2009

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DECEMBER 2009The end of the year and a new beginning.

G, day folks, welcome to the finaledition of Stik-bow Hunter for 2009. I hope it has been an enjoyableyear with many fine walks in the bush with stick and

string in hand. As most of you will be aware by now Ihave taken over the editors role of Stikbow Hunterfrom Guy in an attempt to keep this fine magazinerunning and build it to even bigger and better thingsin the future.

First, I would like to say that without the tirelessefforts of Guy Curtis we would not be at the stage weare with this magazine. It was Guys vision anddream that started this off and I hope with him still onboard that I can help bring his vision for this maga-zine to fruition. Together we have come up with aplan for the future that will hopefully culminate into aprinted magazine hitting the news stands around thecountry. I know this is still a long way off but with theever-growing support for traditional bow hunting inthis country I really believe it can happen. So with allthat being said I hope you will all get on board withme in thanking Guy for his outstanding work on Stik-bow hunter to date. Good onya mate.

Now a little about me. I started hunting as an eight year old when I got my first air rifle. From thereit moved on to rimfire rifles and then into bows. I started off with a little 20# fiberglass Longbow and

still remember the first rabbit I took with it. I then progressed to the dark side and got a compound,which I used to take my first pigs and goats. From there I went back into rifles and shotguns through-out the rest of my teens. It was when I was in my early twenties that I met my wife and developed aninterest in training, breeding, judging and field trialing German Shorthaired Pointers. So for the nextfive years I spent all my available spare time away at trials or shooting ducks, quail, pheasant andpartridge. From there I got back into bowhunting after a mate at work took it up again so I went outand bought the latest and greatest in Compounds and set about familiarizing myself with the world ofbowhunting again. I managed to take some more bunnies, goats, foxes and even a deer with thecompound but soon found myself looking for more out of my time in the bush. A lot had changed inme from my earlier hunting years and now I found myself really looking for the thrill of the journey notthe kill at the end. My Dad had started playing with Trad gear so on one of our goat hunts I took upthe challenge of trying to take a goat with the Trad bow. From that moment on I never picked up the

compound again. I had found the passion that I had been missing. Its been a frustratingly beautifulthrilling journey thus far and one that continues on. So thats me in a nutshell. Hope I havent boredyou too much. As for the magazine well all I can say is that we will be working really hard to bring younew and exciting things as often as we can and with you the readers continued support I know it willhappen. So for now I hope you have a safe and merry Christmas along with a great new year.

Cheers,

Matt

Freelance Contributions - Email submissions to the Editor, [email protected]. Submissions must be in word

format and be accompanied by high quality Jpeg photos (usually 3000 pixels wide/high or larger are sufficient).Alternatively, send files on a CD to; 6 Claredon Drive, Melton South, Victoria, Australia 3338. Include your postal address ifyou would like it returned.

EDITORIAL


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Features

Bowhunting Adventure: Its Been A While Wayne Hinton

Bowhunting Adventure: Northern Swamp Hogs Otis Drum

Bowhunting Adventure: Hell West and Two Up Darren Amos

Bowhunting Adventure: Filling The freezer Mark Pitts

Regular Departments

Editorial: Matt Curry

Whats In Your Pack: Matt Curry

Manufacturers Interview: Outback Broadheads

Gear Review: Badlands Diablo Backpack

Health And Fitness: Teal

Build Along: Kanga Custom Bow s

CONTENTS

Cover Photo: Mark Pitts; Patience

Location: Upindi, QLD AustraliaPhotographer: Paul Rea

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It was a long seven hour drive in my old ToyotaHilux and as I turned off the bitumen for the lastfifty kilometres of baron black soil plain, thethoughts of harvesting a few feral goats was freshin my mind, as previous hunting trips out this wayhad proved quite successful over the last fewyears.

The landscape out here in Western Queen-

sland is quite flat and barren; comparing it to goatcountry down south would make the statement ofchalk and cheese justified.

Although smaller groups of goats can be foundalong the prickle bush bore drains, getting in closeenough for a shot can be quite a challenge espe-cially when there is minimal ground and flora cov-erage. It brought back many fond memories and Imissed this type of country, the flat sparse blacksoil plains of Western Queensland. I had oncelived here many moons ago when I was young

and drove a grader for the local council. The sun-rises and sunsets are breathtaking to say theleast, especially when the horizon is transformedinto a sea of red, clearly caused from the dustsediment which floats around, suspended by thewinters cold South Easters which blow constant atthis time of the year.

The first few days it was all hands-on helpingout with the annual muster and separating wean-ers from their mothers amongst other regular prop-erty maintenance chores. I slept well at night from

a full days work but still had time to play out oldmemories of the pigs and goats I had shot with thebow on this place and tomorrow morning wouldmaybe add a few more memories of good huntingtimes.

The morning came quickly and as I headed offto a creek on the far side of the property, thesound of pea grass rushing against the bull bar onthe Hilux filled the still morning air. I finally reachedthe creek and turned the old diesel Hilux off and itcame to a rattling, shaking stop as old diesels do.

In the still dark morning, the first noise that couldbe heard was the calling of kid goats to theirmothers, no doubt alarmed from the approachingnoisy vehicle. It was a lucky morning I thought tomyself, I wouldnt have to spend the first fewhours looking for goats they were here and herein numbers by the sounds of it.

The sun suddenly broke the horizon and thefaint outline of the creek could be seen and even

better, a small mob of goats walked along thefence-line about 100 yards in front of me. Thelead billy turned in my direction and stopped hislittle mob, probably trying to focus on the unusualshape 100 yards down the fence-line where hewas headed. If I was a goat Id head back to thesafety of the creek, I thought to myself, so Iquickly headed off keeping as low as possibleand just maybe with a little luck, cut them off atthe pass before they could regroup with the mainmob, which I could now see located in the pricklebush creek.

Wayne Hinton heads back tofamiliar ground to chase some goats

with his Checkmate recurve

BY WAYNE HINTON


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The tactic worked well and as I looked for somecover to await the ambush for me and my Check-mate recurve my heart was pumping, the legswhere in oxygen debt, but somehow it all began tocome together. The small mob made their waycarefully towards me, I looked at the lead billythrough my binos and agreed with myself he wasgoing to be taken if the chance came along, not for

his horn size but his big, long haired black coat,which would look good on some future back quiv-ers I had in mind to make.

The small mob stopped about 30 yards fromme, they seemed to stall and call out to the mainmob, awaiting their approval to come in and jointhem. I had to make a move as I could see all thegoats starting to become agitated. Maybe I hadbeen spotted by one of the lookouts or maybe theywere just curious about the smaller mob coming into join them. Its now or never, I picked a small

prickle bush in front of me which would put me atabout 12 yards from the big black billy. I laid flat onmy stomach, head down and didnt stop crawlingto look until I head butted that little prickle bush. Islowly raised my head; damn they knew I wasthere alright, with a couple of nannies rising totheir back legs to get a little extra height for a

clearer look. Youre only going to get one shot atthis, but be confident, its only 12 yards. Its funnyhow everything goes in slow motion when youdont want it to.

I rolled to my back and quickly armed theCheckmate and brought myself to a kneeling po-sition all in one movement. Drawing back, I re-

member the large white spot of hair perfectlyplaced in the lung area, thats the spot. Thebarred four-inch feathers flicked past my nose ontheyre way to putting another feral goat to rest. A100grn brass insert, with a 100grn steel adapteralong with 130gns of ribtec broad head up frontentered and exited the billy with the minimum offuss. The big billy staggered a little and wentstraight to ground. At that point I looked throughthe mob for a small kid for the cooking pot but noshot presented itself. Then a large white billy ranover to see what all the commotion was about.

Yes, black and white quivers would be a goodcontrast I thought.

I armed the Checkmate again as he proppednot 10 yards in front of me. I drew back and letthe feathers pass my nose for the second time inquick secession.


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True to the first shot it was a quick short death forthe Billy. The days hunt had lasted all but half an

hour at the most.

I had a good couple of hours ahead of me skin-ning and dressing out the meat and if I started nowthen maybe I would be finished before the fliesmoved in. The property dogs would eat well for thenext few months especially as they had just fin-ished six weeks of mustering and were in workingdog frame.

I headed home that afternoon, as a huge stormfront moved in. This type of country only needs aninch or two of rain to make the black soil roads tooslippery to drive on. I had plenty of time drivinghome to reflect back on the mornings hunt andrealise how lucky I was to add a few more memo-ries to my ever-growing traditional bow-huntingjourney. It sure has been a while since I started.

Footnote:Id like to take this opportunity and would like to

personally thank Guy for the hard work he andothers have put into Stikbow E-Mag. Australia

really needs a Mag for traditional bow hunters not

just to share stories and news but to promotegrowth of the traditional way.

Was good to hear Matt will be stepping in andwish him well with the new challenge.

Thanks Guy and Matt.Cheers Wayno.


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Like most readers, I am also keen to see what

other Traditional Bowhunters carry in their packswhen out hunting so I thought I would start a littlesegment as titled above. I generally carry quite abit of gear with me to cover most scenarios I mightfind myself in. Even though I normally go away onhunts with others we very rarely hunt together pre-ferring to hunt solo for the day so I like to know Ihave most bases covered with whats in my pack.The pack pictured in this article is a BadlandsSuperday which carried all the gear in the pictureas well as plenty of room for meat. So lets have a

look at Whats in my Pack.

PACK:Badlands SuperdayCAPACITY:1850ci or 31lt.

Small lightweight plastic sheet (ideal forgame preparation)

Jetboil Personal cooking system. Great forall water based or dehydrated meals as wellmaking a nice hot cuppa.

Sea to Summit kitchen pouch containing tea,coffee etc as well as flattened half toilet roll

and Sea to Summit folding cup. First aid kit containing all the usual stuff

along with hospital grade wound dressings. Game bag (big enough for whole deer car-

cass) Myall skinner, bone saw, Mora skinner and

boner, medium and fine diamond file andGarmin Gecko GPS. All on top of game bag.

2 BIC Lighters and small LED torch Soldiers water filter Space blanket and instant heat pads. Survival band made of about 4m of para

cord. Hand made by Derek Webster from theTBGA bowhunting forum.

Truglo bino bivy with Vortex 8X42 binos Bag with spare bow string, judo points and

allen key for limb bolts. Tape measure Camera mount that fits over nock on arrow. 5 watt UHF radio Silva compass

Not shown in the picture, but what I also carryare water proof matches, flint fire lighter and spare

batteries for GPS and torch. I also have a PetzelMio 5 headlamp that I usually carry with me. Thepack contains a 3 litre hydration bladder that Ialways fill. I like to carry plenty of water as you

just never know how much you will need. A lot ofthe gear I carry may never need to come out ofthe pack but I believe its vital to have the rightgear for if and when something goes wrong.Given we hunt in pretty remote areas havingsome basic survival gear could mean the differ-ence between you or your mate coming backhome safe and well.

The Editor shares the contentsof his regular hunting pack


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Having made the transition from rifle to bow thisyear, I was a little slow off the mark gettingamongst the action, with the huge learning curvethat is 'trad'. Becoming bored with firearms and theease of kills, I looked for more challenging outdooractivities, and somehow came up with traditionalarchery.

My usually excellent spring fed creeks on anow abandoned station, where getting hammeredearly in the dry by every man, dog and rifle, andso, I needed some new spots. I was put ontosome low lying swamps about one and a halfhours out of town by Clinton Miller who had re-cently left Weipa to travel abroad. And boy do Iowe him a beer!

Its mid August, and on first eyeing theseswamps I thought I was in wonderland! My firstouting to the new area saw me pushing throughchest high dry grass in large, open, treeless areasthat I had previously not seen on the cape. It washot, windless, and I felt I was getting no where.What I saw next had me giggling with excitementlike a lottery winner watching his numbers comeup. I came across a large body of water. Long,

green, lush grass filled vast shallow reaches

of its arms and small open pocketsof water littered the deeper areas. Four leggedblack bacon littered its reaches as they grazed,dug, rooted and wallowed their way along theshallows. heads totally submerged as theyseeked reeds, weeds, roots and shoots, withnothing more than their periscope ears flicking

from side to side to scour the radio frequenciesfor....me! But I was making no noise, except ofcourse the childish laughter in my head. How-ever, as I looked on with a grin to make anyclown jealous, a large boar separate to thegroup scented me when he came up for air, andin an instant, pigs exploded everywhere! Runningin every direction, they seemed to dance acrossthe water like characters of a Disney film. Whitecranes looked around confused while their smellyswamp friends disappeared into small shrubsand shadows, as ripples settled back into the

calm reflection of blue sky and white powderyclouds. Then... silence. And that was the end ofthat... but I would be back. I analyzed andreanalyzed everything that had happen ten timesover as I pushed on back to the car. When I hadfinished analyzing, I planned. Planned my attackfor my next showing at swamp no.1!

Otis Drum makes the trans i t ion from r i f le hun t ing to Tradi t ional Bowhunt ingand shares a great tr ip he had among st the Northern QLD Swamps.

BY OTIS DRUM


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Driving on to the second of three swamps Clin-ton had pointed out, all within a 5km circle, Ipushed a track to a nearby dry paperbark swampto get the car out of the long dry grass and into asafe parking spot without too much flammable ma-terial littering the ground. This year I have seenmore smoke than John Wayne's revolvers, ashunters burned every square inch of accessible

land, and the last thing I wanted was a nice walkhome from my new hunting spots. As a result ofthe burning, and lack of long dry grass, I haveseen quite a few plains turkeys this year.

From the dry swamp I walked the final few hun-dred yards towards my GPS mark to seewhat else there was to hunt. I really wasn't thatinterested in this spot as I had just been to (in myexperience) the worlds greatest pig swamp! Whatmore did I need! What I found was a more se-cluded series of paperbark lined channel like arms

filled with weed, water and the unmistakable odourof 'my goodness there must be a thousand pigsaround here somewhere', and it didn't take long forme to find what was making that smell. The thincouple of meters of paperbarks that lined theedges of these channel like arms gave excellentcover for getting in close. It also housed about4624million mozzies that tried in their best to sendme loopy with the itch. Stalking in amongst thefallen twigs (as quiet as an elephant on bubblewrap) stepping into the light at just the wrong mo-ment, consistently inconsistent wind and gettingsprung by an unseen boar saw me getting towithin range for a good archer, but with my ability(or inability) I wanted to be within 15m. Especially

as I was new to this, and still looking for my first'trad kill'. A couple of nervous shots over the nextcouple of days saw me miss a few pigs high, butremarkably these pigs were willing to take one forthe team, and didn't mind standing around andgiving me another go. One mob I followed for agood few hundred metres. Each time I put in astalk I was either seen, heard or smelt, and each

time they trotted just metres up the arm and set-tle into 'heads down, bums up, mode again. Evenafter a couple of failed shots they would not ven-ture more than 30 metres ahead before stopping,looking around to see what this moving tree was,then back to eating.

I finally got into a good position. Standing be-hind a tree, I watched as a mob of forty odd pigsof all sizes that I had just scared away with a pre-vious stalk, started to feed in my direction. Theywere coming along the far side of the arm, about

15m across, and stopped directly opposite me. Ipicked out a good boar 10m out and broadside.Some football size squealers grunted their way towithin a few feet of my possie, so I took mychance before they blew the horn and sprung meagain. I drew back my newly finished glass long-bow to take my shot at the broadside, head downboar, not picking a spot I saw a big boar, aimedand... my arrow again flew high, just over hisback and drilled a little sow in the hip. Pigs thistime split. Her first quick squeal, and the boarswarning grunt had short porky legs in overtime.My sow walked gingerly to the far side. Now 25mout I grabbed a second CX350 and put one justin front of her hip quartering away.


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The mob, now either side of me, split in all di-rections. I got to my feet and ran in the generaldirection of the wounded boar, only to find myselfright in the middle of grunting balls of scared andangry fur rushing past me, as pigs ran in all direc-tions to get away, and me pretending I was ondancing with the stars. I have since decided thiswas not the best option, and will now give

these critters their due time to get out my way.Once the commotion had settled I went looking formy young boar but in the long grass was forced tocome back and blood trail him for about 50m, hewas well and truly expired. A nice young boar ofabout 55kg, better still, the one I was aiming for!

By this stage its mid September, and theswamps are drying quickly up here. One is stillpowering on as it gets daily feeds of salt waterfrom a tidal river close by. However, this swamp isswamp no.3, hunted by all and with very flightypigs. I had, the previous week put in a good stalkwith a friend of mine to about 25m. The pigs weretotally oblivious to our presence, however, onlyopen ground separated them from the last tinyshrub that hid our wide eyes and pumping hearts.Neither of us prepared to take a shot, and impossi-ble get in any closer without my invisible super-

hero cape, we decided to take a wide berth of 200-300m upwind of them to their other side, as theswamp didnt allow us to go downwind. It was ouronly option so we gave it a go. Almost back on theswamp on their far side to cut them off and work intowards them, but obviously having winded us,they cut quickly between us and the swamp,across open country towards a dry paperbarkswamp a few hundred yards over. Almost.

On the way out the following week I checkedout a couple of downed scrub bull carcasses I had

been told about. I was surprised to see neither had

been touched apart from the usual dingo andbirds of prey getting into the soft bits. I saw adingo but he had already spotted me and wasmoving off as I approached, probably heard medry reaching as I came from down wind of the 3week old carcass. Leaving the bulls and headingback out to my new favorite swamps I cameacross a mob of 20 odd young scrub cattle. I was

surprised not to see a mature beast among them,not even a cow.

I approached well hunted swamp no.3 to finda mob of maybe 25-30 mixed size pigs grazingthe far side of the swamp. The noisy 'flamingos'once again leaked the secret of my approach,and so the feeding mob, looking around to seewhat the fuss was about, lazily walked out of theswamp and hid in some small shrubs beside thewater.


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I watched them closely to see if they would stayput in that shelter until they felt comfortable tocome back out, or whether they would move on toother grounds. They didnt venture more than 50mfrom the water, so I decided to give it a shot. Thebrolgas had flown already so I had clear sailinggetting around the swamp and closing the gapquickly to about 50m. The wind was coming from a

nasty angle but for once it was consistent. I creptaround hugging the edge of the swamp and somesmall shrubs. Five or six medium sows had madetheir way back to the swamp edge, and hadstarted to venture back into the water to feed. Therest of the mob, consisting of some medium sizedboars, large sows and big numbers of suckers,were a little more reluctant. I took my boots off andcrept the shadows to a little tree on the watersedge. Still 30m out but with no easy way of makingthe next tree without being sprung I decided towatch and see what would happen, taking a few

photos while I watched. The wind was threateningto blow their way at any moment, but for once itjust kept on coming from the south east., my scentmust have been just out of the reach of the sowsback in the swamp. I couldn't go anywhere.

I could only see one boar worth trying for andhe gave me no opportunity to get near him as theothers would have winded me had I thought abouttrying, so I sat patiently under my tree on the wa-ters edge and waited to see what would unfold. Asow and her suckers not more than a week oldand about the size of a coke can came wanderingmy way. Gorgeous little things, saddle back in col-our, with black front and back and white throughthe middle. I stood up and hid behind the treeready. With most of the mob now coming back outof the bushes I weighed up my options. Getting tothe boar was out of the question. I contemplated

catching one of the suckers to take home for apet, or take out a sow. A larger sow now camewandering along in my direction. As they came toabout 5m a sucker spotted me. The tiny thingbraced and froze and the following suckers andsows followed his lead, not knowing what it hadbeen spooked by. Knowing I had been busted, itwas now or never. I drew back and lent slowly

out from the tree and released, hitting a goodsow high from 5m, getting a lung but taking her inthe spine. She went down on the spot. She was agood sow of about 45kg.

The remaining sow and her suckers ran forcover, while the largest pig in the mob, a full sow,came to investigate. She was bigger than theboars, though I would say the bigger/wiser boarswould have split earlier. She came in close fora bit of a look see at her mate lying on theground. I had been told by my old boss that they

will do this sometimes but had never experiencedit with the noisy thunderstick hunting. I took theopportunity that presented, this time picking aspot, and double lunged her with a pass throughfrom about 6m. She ran off into the scrub but Iknew she was going no where. A large pig, longin the snout and around 70kg. She was a greatpig for a sow.

The wet season is now fast approaching so Illbe busy making some new bows in the car portready for next year. One thing is for sure, I havehad some great times on these swamps thisyear, and next year I will be there much earlier,looking like a tree and doing what I can to getsome more of these Cape York swamp hogs onthe ground. Having fun in the sun on some greathunting trips I hope. Space, bush, wildlife.Theres nothing like the great outdoors


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Otis and his s ol id Boar


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NAME: Allan Woodward

BUSINESS NAME: Outback Broadheads

RESIDENCE:Ballarat, Victoria

Stikbow Hunter(SBH): Just to start with mate,thanks very much for taking the time to answer afew questions for us. How did you become inter-

ested in Bowhunting?Allan Woodward(AW): I have always been inter-ested in bows and arrows from my earliest child-hood memory, and bowhunting is for me, the maininterest in my life. I guess I will always be at heart,that little kid who never grew up.Some still might think of me as childish, LOL.

SBH: If you had only one animal you could hunt,what would it be and why?AW:Thats a hard question, and I am wondering ifI should answer it based on what I hunt the most,which would be rabbits, or the one I usually huntwhen I go away on holidays, that would be pigs, orthe one I think the ultimate bowhunting challengein this country, with out a doubt in my mind, Sam-bar deer.All hunting is good hunting, and each animal is, inits own way, fun and a challenge to bow hunt.I guess it would be deer hunting that holds themost interest for me. I am not very good at it, buthave had some little victories on very rare occa-sions.

SBH:What is your current range of broadheads?AW: Currently, I make 4 types of OutbackSupremes,

130 Supreme double bevel

125 Supreme single bevel

220 Supreme Fe (steel ferrule)

Tradition (a glue on version )

3 variations of the Outback Shikari:

Shikari II (110 and 125 grain )

Shikari IV (4 blade in 125 /140)

Stealth II (solid unvented 2 blade)And a small game blunt: The SGB

My Outback Broadheads web site has a technical

specifications page, where all the Outback broad-heads can be seen.

http://users.ncable.net.au/~woody/Tech%20Specs.html

SBH: What made you decide to start making youown broadheads?AW: I wanted a broadhead that weighed 125grains, was accurate in flight, had a 3:1or betterpenetration profile, was strong and screwedstraight into the inserts in modern arrows.No oneelse in Australia was making broadheads thatsatisfied all these design features, plus night shiftmaintenance electricians can get prettyboredI started playing around with hand made prototypes and began developing what eventuallyevolved into the Outback Supreme broadhead.

SBH:What has been the major contributing fac-tor in your designs?AW: I pinched ideas from better men than me.

The three main influences are from Howard Hill,Fred Bear and Ed Ashby. The ideas of each haveall been inspiration in certain aspects of Outbackbroadhead designs.

SBH:How long does it take from start to finish tomake one of your broadheads?AW:Too long..I spend far too much timemaking them and no where near enough timeshooting them. Probably about 3 minutes, butthat may be improved soon.

Just a little insight into Allan Woodwards Outback Broadhead Business

Manufacturers Interview


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SBH: Where do you see the broadhead makingindustry in Australia going in the next 10 years?AW:I am always trying to improve the quality andkeep the purchase price of Outback's fair. I havea few ideas yet on improvements that need doing.My ambition is to make a broadhead range thatare tough, accurate and razor sharp from manu-facture, at or around the $5 price range. It is good

that there are a few broadhead makers in Austra-lia, as buyer choice and the competition betweenus must bring on improvements for Aussie bow-hunters to benefit from. Any design change in abroadhead is terribly expensive in re tooling coststo set up, I just hope that Australian bowhunterswill continue to get behind us and support Austra-lian broadhead makers, ( BUY AUSTRALIAN) sothat we can afford to re invest and make the im-provements we all would like to see happen.

SBH:Is there anything you can let us in on aboutany new designs coming up?AW:My latest design improvements are machinebeveled tanto points on most of the Supreme mod-els (except the Supreme Fe, which are still tantopointed by hand) and very soon, I will start doingtanto points as a standard feature, on the Shikariand Stealth models.

This should help make the tips even strongeron very hard impacts. The new Outback Traditionmodel, which is a glue on version of the Supreme,

may be of some interest to all the traditional bow-hunters out there who are crafting their own woodarrows.

SBH: Thanks very much Woody, hopefully that willgive our readers a little insight into what goes on inthe world of Outback Broadheads.


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SPECIFICATIONS:(as stated on the Bad-lands web site)

WEIGHT: 2lb 8oz

DIMENTIONS: 23x14x10CAPACITY: 1900ci (31lt Approx)POCKETS: 6HYDRATION: 100OZ (3 Liters)CAMO:AP OR MAX 1

Much to the dismay of my beautiful wife I amalways on the look out for the ultimate fit in huntinggear with back packs being no exception. Everytime another new pack turns up I just get that lookthat says here we go again. Having always likedthe look of the Badlands gear and already having

a 2800 I decided it was time to upgrade my currentday pack for something of a little better quality thatwould handle slightly heavier loads. I like to carrya fair bit of gear with me and like a pack that canalso carry a bit of meat if I happen to get lucky.After checking out the Badlands site and reading afair few online reviews I settled on the BadlandsDiablo. This pack seemed to tick all the boxes.Plenty of pockets, great capacity, water proof,quiet and had an external frame to help supportthe weight. Added to this was their hypervent sus-pension system that held the pack off your backfor great breathability and a lifetime no fault war-ranty.

Upon receiving the pack I set about trying to fitall my gear in. I was able to fit all the gear I carry(see below for full list of gear) in the outside pock-ets leaving only my game bag, bone saw and Jet-boil in the main compartment. I was very happywith the way the pockets were organized althougha couple more small zippered internal pocketswould have been handy. With a full load including

3 litres of water the pack sat very nicely on theback giving a very good, well balanced feel. There

was no feeling of any sag from the weight withthe external frame doing its job to perfection. Abit of adjustments on the straps had the packfeeling like a part of me. The shoulder straps andwaist strap were very well padded making for anextremely comfortable pack.

Keen to try the pack out in the field a four daygoat hunt was organized. With the weather pre-dicted to be in the low 30s and a good chance ofbagging some game it would be an ideal opportu-nity to put the pack through its paces. All I cansay is the packed performed flawlessly. Itbreathed really well with the hypervent suspen-sion and you could really feel the breeze blowingthrough between the pack and your back. I alsohad the opportunity to load it up with meat givingthe pack an all up estimated weight of about 10kgwhich it handled brilliantly. At this weight it really

didnt feel any different and I was confident itwould handle more with ease.

The Editor takesa look at the Diablo

Backpack by Badlands


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I know it sounds like the perfect pack but I didfind a couple issues which were more me relatedthen pack related. Being relatively short at 55 Ifound the pack started to feel a little long after afull days hike with the bottom corners where theframe stopped sitting on top of backside. Thiswasnt too bad and I could live with it but my big-gest concern was I could not crawl on hands andknees with the pack on. I found once you got downthe pack would ride a little higher making it impos-sible to lift your head with the back of your headpressing against the pack.

If I was a few inches taller I would not have aproblem with this but as I am not likely to growanymore it became a major factor. This was a bitdisappointing as I was really liking this pack plus Inow had to go home and tell the wife I needed an-other pack.

So after all was said and done what did I reallythink about the Badlands Diablo day pack?

PROS.Quality: ExcellentCapacity: ExcellentOrganization: Very goodComfort: ExcellentLoad carrying: Excellent

CONS; As stated above the only negatives Icould find were due to my height not so much thepack itself. The pack would be ideally suited tosomeone 57 or above. I would have possibly

liked a couple more small zippered internal pock-ets for organizing some of my small items. If Ihad to be real picky I would say the hydrationtube exit is a real pain in the proverbial and coulddo to come out of the top instead to make gettingthe bladder fully in and out for cleaning a lot eas-ier.

All in all a fantastic pack capable of handling any-thing you can throw at it.


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Mind Over Muscle is a business for helping youto get your body back on track. Whether your un-

well, in poor health or have had an old or new in-jury that has never been rectified by many visits tovarying therapists and doctors, Mind Over Musclehas a very different technique to get you back ontrack. Peter is a fully Diploma qualified SportsKinesiologist/Personal Trainer and myself (Teal) aQualified Fitness/Pilates Instructor with training inClassical Ballet.

We use a newly developed treatment calledSports Kines io logy. This incorporates Corrective

Exercise with Kinesiology. You may have heard orexperienced Kinesiology but not understood how itworks. By looking at the overall health of the body,we can determine why the body is not in a bal-anced state. First and foremost a full assessmentof you is taken to get as much information aboutlength tension relationships of your muscles. Thisis not your typical gym assessment. Sports Kinesi-ology works on you as an individual and not onmass of the population. We are all different all thetime!

To gain more knowledge of what is happeningto you with the variance of the length tension inyour muscles we use muscle monitoring as a biofeedback mechanism to obtain the data from yoursystem. This is the Kinesiology part of SportsKinesiology. This information will come from 4 sys-tems in your body, Structural, Chemical, Emotional

and Electromagnetic Fields. These componentsare the basis of health and well being which af-fect the balance of your body functions.

Mind Over Muscle has taken a deep interestin hunters due to my personal development inbecoming the huntress. I have recognized theneed for reaching out and providing a service toyou where you can feel as if you are finally tar-geting the core of what is not working for you.You maybe suffering from depression, emotionalissues, physical ill health and unable to deter-mine exactly what is wrong with you, allergies,

sleep disorders, hormonal imbalance which alsoaffects weight and moods, lethargy, anxiety, si-nuses, heart issues, as well as training to get youfit to hunt and or fixing an injury. Dont forget theother part of your family too. Learning difficulties,ADD, ADHD, and the list goes on. We can assistwith almost everything and bring some kind ofcomfort to you that you have not obtained before.

This month we are looking at the basic mus-cles associated with drawing your bow and yourbody being hunt ready. It is easy to walk out the

door with a back pack and bow in hand and along drive to get to the perfect spot. However themuscles need preparation for the activity ahead.So we need to look at warming up the musclesand stretching them before engaging in the draw-ing of a bow or the hike out.

1) Loosen your spine; it cops a real workout everyday so get it fluid and ready withcat stretches. You can do this on the spot anywhere.

Teal takes us through some basic stretches to set you up for a day in the bush.


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2) Roll Down by tucking your chin to your chest and roll down to the floor and roll backup again.

3) Neck Stretches; these muscles work right through to the front & back and through toyour shoulders


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5) Quad Stretch; these muscles work hard when climbing back out of your hunt with aload.

6) Pectoralis; Stretch to open out the chest before you start pulling your bow.

7) Rhomboid Stretch; which is the muscle that works hard in the bow pull

Mind Over Muscle teaches and treats you at home if you live within our region of The Southern High-lands NSW. For out of areas please call our office and speak with us. We have an overnight accom-modation to assist the hunter traveling thru and seeking treatment. Mind Over Muscle will be providing

a mobile service in each state by attending the largest city. All bookings are taken over the phone. Anyquestions please call us on 02 48852490. Happy Hunting!


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Photos by Wayne Atkinson

Old Ute up in th e High Cou ntry

PSE KUDU 50#@28

Cascade Golden Hawk

BryceCampbellLongbow


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Off with his head mate and leave him besidethe fence, we will get him after as we are only 300metres from camp still in the dam paddock.Sneaking around to find the bigger Billies throughthe Mulga we spotted them only 100 metres fromDanes billy poking around, some chewing away atthe Mulga and some just travelling. One largewhite billy caught my eye stretched out standing

on his back legs pulling away at the branches only40 metres from me. Steadily I made my way intorange with minimal cover only to have him moveand rejoin the others further into the Mulga stand. Iwatched as they were all regrouping and walkingtowards Danes billy and thought I will cut them offup further. Around the edge we go again and metthem in the Box gums where they were going tohopefully walk past me. Here they come. My whitebilly hopping along with a limp was up near thefront of the small mob, cover was poor and theywere weaving all over the place and finally came

into range at 30 metres broadside. Crouched low Idrew the longbow back as Old Whitey steppedclear of his mates and let loose a carbon thingyarrow only to watch it sail perfectly right behind hisfront leg and into the dirt behind him! Hell thatmust of been close, one lucky goat. They were offback the other way now, back into the Mulgaagain. I picked up my arrow that had white hairstuck in the broad head ferrule and regathered mythoughts. Dane was laughing at me and I was notimpressed with my shot.

TAKE TWO, follow them up and yep the bug-gers are in some not so great country with moreBillies to contend with. A few photos taken and wewill let them settle I thought. Lets go boy into theMulga deeper up further and have a look. Therewere goats everywhere through there all feedingand we constantly had nannies, kids and smaller

Billies within 5 metres or less of us unaware ofour presence.

As we worked our way back with the wind inour faces towards camp I lost Dane somehowand ended up in front of my Old Whitey matefrom before and a few others feeding. Anotherlarge billy caught me out and curious to what I

was, he started walking in my direction bringingOld Whitey with him. As the first billy caught myscent he bolted and Whitey did the same, how-ever poor Old Whitey stopped briefly only 15 me-tres away slightly quartering on and I sent an ar-row straight through him. He managed to make it30 metres before he bailed up and I was surethat the shot was good and waited for him to ex-pire as the blood trail in the red dirt told a story ofits own. Tough these goats I thought as he thenlaid down to make himself comfortable, I closedthe gap on him again and put a swift end to his

day, I had secured Old Whitey.

Dane arrived on the scene as dark was start-ing to set in and we made a bee line for his billyand with both heads we made tracks for camp fora well deserved drink and feed. You certainly did-nt need a fire as the temps were high and it wasjust pleasant sitting back enjoying the stars thatshine so bright in a Hell Western sky.


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Awake early to the sound of Dane putting thebilly on and knocking up breakfast (the lad waskeen as it was now his turn), whilst enjoying thestart of the day with a coffee spatters of white andblack started to appear around us heading to wa-ter at our camp site. Dane keeping an eye on themwas now even more keen to shoot a billy over 30inches after Old Whitey nearly hitting 36 inches.

Dane I said we will get you one today mateI know it. Today it was cooler with a stiff breezeearly due to clouds starting to develop possiblylater into storms and as we headed off into theMulga in search of our quarry we both were full ofexcitement. All was quiet, absolutely nothingworthwhile at all. This is no good Dane, theyarent in here so lets hit the dam and wait for a lit-tle while to see if we have any visitors. On theway back I glassed the open country revealingsmall mobs way out under lone trees with no

chance of any kind of a stalk and decided that ifthey are thirsty they will come in. Now positionedon the dam we waited hoping something wouldcome in, this was not to be as only a few nannies,kids and roos were in for a drop.

In the ute Dane, we are off exploring, we havegot to find these goats mate they aint comin tous. We headed for the eastern boundary into apart I had never seen before, only to reveal smallisolated mobs of goats and only one decent lonebilly way out on the open country headed flat outfor the safety of the Mulga stand. Ok I thought wewill hit the northern boundary up near a usually dryold dam in that mongrel country, real thin Mulga,Box stands and pulled open country. Hard stalkincountry when lots of eyes are everywhere. Wepulled up short with the breeze right and slowly

made our way in until I pulled Dane up.

I lifted the

binos to give me a better view of two black Billieson the edge of the pulled country. Well Dane,you get either of them two mate and you willnearly hit the 40 inch mark. We waited until thenow three Billies started to mooch off slowlyaway from us out on the flat. Dane mate all wehave to do is keep em insight I thought until wehave any chance of cover. Away we went head-

ing towards the dam when another billy stoppedme that was hiding behind a tree, he was wellover 30 inches also and hadnt seen us yet. Danethen said is that a goat in that TRAP. Well yesmate it is and he is a goodin too!

Now what would you do if one decent billywas in a trap that was not trapped as the door

was wide open I ask you? Go try and trap himDane and I bet you dont get him. Also in thetrap was a young nanny that was on heat andshe had her head jammed through the mesh.She was stuck fast with only her back legs on theground and thats why all the boys were hangingaround helping themselves. The white billy couldsee Dane easily coming as he was the onlygreen thing for miles up there and was on edge.Dane closed the gap to the entrance of the trapand it was a Mexican Standoff as Whitey wantedto come out, Dane wanted him to come out and Iwanted to shoot the action with my camera of the

billy making a break to freedom

TO BE CONTINUED


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I think that my fianc knew by the excitement inmy voice, that the answer to her usual questionthat occurs during my post hunt phone call onroute home after a week in the bush was going tobe a little different to the usual I came close or Isaw a few Followed by the But did you get any-

thing? which for us traditional bow hunters is sooften followed by an unusually positive Nah, but Ihad a good time. But this conversation during my11 hour drive home, from the pay to hunt propertyUPINDI located in Glenlyon on the Queenslandborder was going to be different, as I had securedmy self some game to Fill the Freezer.

I arrived at the Glen Lyon dam on the Wednes-day morning, after chasing deer since the previousSaturday on a northern NSW property to no avail. Iwas met at the dam by a friend of mine Paul Rea

who guides at Upindi. After a quick catch up weheaded out to the property stopping at a high pointwhere Paul ran me through what had been seen inthe different areas on view from this vantage point.

I was quite hopeful of seeing some game as Paulwas coming up with some good information onthe where abouts of particular game.

Upindi is mostly inhabited by goats and pigsbut there are also rabbits and foxes to keep youon your toes. As far as the lay of the land theresa bit of everything from lake flats to rolling hillsright up to some fairly steep climbs all covered ina variety of bush from open grass lands, openpine lots and some dense scrubby bush.

We headed to a camp spot right on the lake ina very picturesque setting. I was keen to have a

good camp myself as I was testing some newgear but theres also the option of a well deckedout cabin. We set up an open tarp camp and thensat through the heat of the day discussing somenew gear I had acquired recently. Its alwaysgood to have an in depth chat on gear and bowswith fellow trad enthusiasts and this one was nodifferent. Hearing different views on products andtechniques is always worthwhile. As the sunstarted to lower we gathered our kit and gearedup ready for the evenings hunt and at this point itwas evident it was going to be a good few days

hunting as there was already goats coming todrink at the dam within view of camp.

Mark Pitts and Paul Rea head to

Upindi in search of pigs and goats.

BY MARK PITTS


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We jumped in the 4x4 and headed off to anarea of small pines. The plan was to hunt downtowards a few dams in the area and check themfor pigs. We spotted a small mob of goats instantlyfrom our vantage point on the crest of a small riseover looking the area with a few other mobs spot-ted in different directions but we settled on thismob and continued with the plan. The goats were

moving towards us and the wind was blowing fromright to left from the goats so we would be ok. Paulhad spotted a billy in the mob and I was more thanhappy for him to go for it as I had spotted a youngblack billy leading the pack. Paul went out to theright as his billy was on the other side of a fencebordering the track. I lost him as he entered thepines and at that time I was doing the same on myside of the track with the plan to do a bit of a loopand close in just in front of the mob and let themfeed up for a broad side shot at around 15 meters.As I closed in on all fours using a fallen pine as

cover I spotted my intended quarry and as quietlyas I could on the fallen pine needles and dry earthI got into position in a hunched over kneel, this isperfect I thought to my self as shooting at un

alerted game gives you time to really concentrateon that spot and shut everything else out.As thebilly came into a clear shooting lane I rose upslightly, he was still unawares as I started the firstconscious part of my shot cycle. Drawing I cameto anchor subconsciously with the second

knuckle of my thumb positioned into the grooveunder my ear and my top finger settling in thecorner of my mouth, hand tight in against myface.


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At that point I had already started the secondconscious part of my cycle by repeating to my selfin my head AIM,AIM,AIM Then THUMPthe last I saw was my yellow fletching being swal-lowed by the black hair over the billys chest im-mediately putting him down ,then another THUMPas Paul put an arrow through his billy. Goats raneverywhere unsure what had just unfolded. I

quickly knocked another arrow and had anothershot at a startled billy but this fell low resulting in aclean miss.

We both emerged from the cover and after re-trieving both my arrows we set up for some photosand as Pauls billy had left with the rest of the mobwe gave it a bit of time while butchering my goat.After skinning him out completely and placing himin a fancy perforated zip up pillow case liner from k-mart .We continued on and came across thesame mob further on. The wind was good and weboth got in real close. Paul signalled to me he did-nt want to take a shot so I eased passed him andhad a 10 m shot and it looked really good but

when the mob scattered and I found my arrow Istarted to second guess what my eyes had previ-ously seen, there was no blood on the hit sightand the arrow was clean except a slight greasyfeel to it . We were both puzzled as I had seen thearrow zip through the goats vitals the mob hadpushed through a fence and were starting to move

off when I spotted the goat I had just shot stand-ing pretty much on its last legs so I got in positionand took a shot from 25 m it hit high catching thegoat in the neck, not an ideal shot but it did put itdown on the spot and allowed me to finish it offquickly. About 10 m in the direction we had ap-proached from was several patches of good lungblood from the goat and the shot looked good

from the marks on the goats side so we couldntunderstand why it hadnt expired quicker but itjust goes to show all shots are different and eventhe good ones have different outcomes some-times. We removed the legs and continued on.We found Pauls billy piled up in the bottom of asmall creek and as the light was fading fast wedecided to take some pictures the next day aftera morning hunt, so we headed back to camp andreflected on the evenings activities. While Paulcooked up some bacon on the fire I took pride infurther preparing the meat I had collected this

was very satisfying thing to do while watching theflames flicker in the fire and hear stories of pasthunts and future hopes to pursue game in differ-ent places.

The next morning saw us up early heading outto check an area where Paul had recently seen agood number of pigs, there was quite a bit of signbut no pigs were seen but a lot of fun was hadstump shooting along the way. Stump shooting isone of the joys of hunting with a Traditional bowand also provides plenty of practise at the sametime. By now the cool morning air had long goneand had been replaced by a clear hot day perfectfor checking dams ,we found some goats on onedam which after a long crunchy stalk on the dry


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ground was ended by a near miss under the chestof a young nanny! Oh well good practice I thoughtto my self, as I retrieved my arrow from the hardsoil.

I had another long stalk on three goats whichsaw me run out of cover at around 70 m and pro-ceed to belly crawl in the open to try and close thegap as the goats were moving while they fed it

was taxing to try and get within shooting distanceand then after a while one of the goats seemed tojust spook, I dont think it was from me as theywere looking in the opposite direction but whoknows the wind could have swirled for an instancealerting them to my presence. They trotted off, sowe went on to try for another mob which wasnt faraway, I was continually amazed by the number ofgoats and there for opportunities on this property, Imessed up the next shot on a nanny on the edgeof a mob I got on to at about 20 m and in frustra-tion I watched the arrow sail harmlessly over its

back. At that point we decided it was a good timeto head back to camp as the sun was bearingdown with all its might so thats where we headed.

After a good drink of water which tastes sogood when your out in the bush we spotted twogoats feeding on the flats out to the dam a quickplan was hatched and I moved round to cut themof while the fed back round a steep cut that randown to the water. When they came into view Itook the steep down hill shot which didnt go asplanned it fell low and ricochet up into the goatsback leg luckily this hit the femoral artery and thegoat didnt get far and I was able to put anotherarrow in to seal the deal and so close to camp, thiswas ideal as I could take the whole goat back tocamp and leisurely spend the afternoon butcheringand making full use the meat some of whichended up in a camp oven and was cooked by Paulinto a culinary master piece of back straps slow

cooked in onions, garlic and onion gravy withsweet potato carrot and normal potatoes it was agood feed and was much appreciated after along days hunt.

After that feed and a good nights kip I packedup my stuff and departed on the long trip homethoroughly satisfied with my few days at Upindi.

Thanks Paul for another good hunt.


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Rob Swanson, a gentleman from Alaska askedme if I would build him a bow? Of course I said Iwould. So I started on a Bogan 3 piece takedown longbow with 3 1/3 of reflex and 1 1/2 ofdeflex. Rob decided Tigerwood for the riser, Red-heart and Yew limbs with Ebony wedges and limbbutt overlays with Antler tips.

I started on the riser and tip overlays first withthe materials I had at hand whilst I waited on theover stuff to arrive.

The redheart has a couple of real ugly knotholes and some worm holes but I still should beable to get the limb lams from it. Here is what willbe the lams after ripping them to width and thenresawing on the bandsaw.

Next it's time to grind them to thickness andwith a .002" per running inch of taper.

I worked on the Wedges next. Started off withthese.

Owner and bow yer of Kanga custom

Bow s, Russel l takes us step by step

through a TD Longbow Bui ld


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Then onto the belt sander making sure I had asolid backing. Then after an hour of careful sand-ing I had these. I will add you have to get the ta-pered ends paper thin so a lot of care is neededas they will break if you look at them wrong.

Next I started on grinding the lams down withthe first set going down to .295" thickness . After

this I taped up and marked the center line on theglass. I also put the limb material in the heat boxfor an hour to totally dry them out. While theywhere in the box I prepared the form, by giving it agood coat of paste wax and covering with plasticwrap. I then took the material out of the box andplaced them on the bench in order they will beused in the lay up.

Next its time to mix epoxy. I use Areomarine400 as it has a stronger bonding strength thanSmooth On and 1/2 the cost, but it is runny so Ihave to add about a teaspoon on Cabosil tothicken it up. The Cabosil does turn the epoxywhite but it will dry clear. So once we have the ep-oxy thoroughly mixed it's time for the glue up. Ap-plying epoxy to all joining surfaces then flip themonto one another making sure it's epoxy to epoxy.

Now add the bamboo and wedge. Next comes theReadheart. Now add the final clear glass. Transferthe stack to the form, add the pressure strip andsecure with filament tape. Then add another layer

of plastic wrap, the air hose and the top of the

form and secure the bolts. I use a hand pump forthe pressure and add pressure in 3 stages first to20 psi, wait a few minutes then to 40 psi, wait afew minutes then finally to 60 psi. The reason Ido this is to allow any trapped air bubbles to es-cape. I also check to make sure nothing hasmoved at each stage. Once I have the 60 psi Iagain double check and make sure nothing has

moved. I then scrap the excess epoxy downaway from the laminations, while doing this Icheck again to make sure nothing has moved italso makes it easier to break off the excess oncethe limb come out of the heat box. Once I amsure nothing has moved I place the form in theheat box and take note of the time as it will be inthere for the next 4 hours, once the 4 hours areup I turn the heat box off, leave the form in thebox for a slow cool down.

Next job once both limbs are out of the heat

box I will re-tape them and start shaping them,drill the holes plus mark the string grooves I willadd that before marking out the limb profile I didcut 1/4" off the butt end. Next I will do thegrooves, drill the holes, put her together for thefirst time, tiller her and check the weight. If allgoes well I will get the first tip overlay and butt

overlay on as well. Ok string grooves done.These are not Rob's limbs but it's how I do the

grooves. I start off with a triangle file to do aguide groove, then using a round file completethe groove. Now for the holes I use a drill jig toget them perfectly accurate.


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Time now for a test fit and tiller to see how shehas turned out so far. On the tiller tree she waspulling nice and even without any twist, just theway I like it. Well so much for the good news. The

bad news she is under weight. I blame the ShamWow guy for this. She is 49lb @ 28". To get her upto weight ( 55lb @ 28 ) I will have to pike the limbsan inch. Taking an inch off each limb should giveme 7lb.After piking the limbs we ended up with a64" bow 58lb @ Robs 29" draw.

Next job was to taper the tip over lays, thenrough up the phenolic. Next it was time to shapethe tips, rough them up, mix up some epoxy, andlay them on the tips holding them down withspring clamps. Then pop the limb into the heatbox for a couple of hours.

Next I can finally get to start shaping the riser.There is still a lot of material to come off the riseryet. In between shaping the riser I also got the

other overlay onto the other limb. After another90 minutes on the belt sander the riser is finallyat rough shape. So after 5 hours of hand sandingplus the 2 1/2 hours on the belt sander roughshaping the riser this is what we get. Next up westart applying the finish sanding in betweencoats. A final light sand, another coat of finishthen buff with 0000 steel wool and paste wax toget the finished final product.


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stikbow hunter emag nov dec 2009

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