2023 Eastern Shore Maryland AFI Duck Camp

 

I was fortunate enough to have been chosen one of the four veterans to participate in this unique opportunity.  It had been many years since I last hunted ducks, and being a motivated DIY'er I had never been on a guided hunt before.  

I can't say enough about the great experiences I had with Wingman Guide Service.  Joshua Bourne runs a fantastic operation, and it is evident his service is a passion, not just a business for him.  

I arrived to a wonderfully furnished house and made to feel welcome by a truly family run operation.  I was provided with a snack of bacon wrapped marinated jalapeno duck poppers as we enjoyed lively conversation around the blazing fire pit.  After a hearty feast of mashed taters and pot roast for dinner, all the prior service vets discussed our "war stories" probably a little later than we should have stayed awake.

 

At 0300 Joshua was up early whipping up a fine breakfast complete with potatoes, eggs, toast, sausage, and hot coffee.  We were ready to hit the water by 0500 well fed and excited for the adventure.

The weather this day was challenging, but our capable guides knew an area where they had not pressured birds and their knowledge of the vast marshes proved invaluable.  After the 30-minute boat ride we started to put out our set just at first grey light.  Soon we were nestled in our little floating island between two decoy sets and ready to watch the skies.

Lack of wind and clear conditions made it challenging to predict the travel and direction birds would come in, as they pretty much had any angle they wanted.  

Soon we were rewarded with birds and had several good opportunities in these really bright and clear conditions.  My shotgun wing shooting was a little rusty at first, but I was finally rewarded with a lone bufflehead that came streaking in over my direction just over the water and swinging from left to right was I fold it with a single blast as the others watched.  That one did feel good!

We ended the morning with six birds along with a interesting bluebill duck in the mix.  

Getting six birds in tough "fowl" conditions was pretty successful!

I had to bid all adieu fairly early to pick up my son from school, but I thanked Joshua and his son for such a super time and great guide skills.  Said goodbye to my new veteran brothers from the hunt.  This BHA AFI program and the generous donation by Wingman Guide Service was a great experience. I highly recommend and thank all involved!  

2023 Traditional Maryland Puiblic Land Deer Camp

 

Well another year in the books for the annual western MD trad deer camp.  Only 3 traditional shooters this year due to a variety of reasons including illness etc. 

 

As usual it was a hard hunt in the hungry public woods, but the group managed to again draw blood when my brother Chris shot this little 8 point and we had the meat pole in use again. 

 

 

 

Cold weather had them moving.

 

I passed up a 2 inch spike who ran a doe and fawn within 10 yards of me on the first day and lots of small bucks chasing out of range the rest of the hunt.

 

 

 

Dan brought some Polish beer from New Jersey and we ate well.  Roasted a leg of lamb on the fire one afternoon.

 

Was a good time despite the low turnout.

 

 

Another Try for Longbow Bear in MD - Almost!

 

After 5 years of hunting the one week, no scent no bait, MD bear season in the past without a single sighting even...I got a good shot at one and a lucky bear was educated.  

 

 

The Terrain was a steep Mountain area that has a fire trail running parallel to the ridge line about halfway up.  There is an old abandoned farm and orchard downhill from the fire road and steep hardwoods above.

3 of us went in the fire road at first light.  Walt went uphill first and set up along the ridge.  Brent and I kept going until we reached the access to the farm.  I went uphill and set up in this bench area.  Just walked in and straddled a blow down near the root ball.  No cell service at camp but signal up on the mountain so I checked my phone, and of course that is when I heard a branch snap.  Brent had gone down the fire road that turned around a bend from where I went up and was still hunting.  He must have pushed the bear, but he never saw it.  

 

 

I heard something running about 60 yards out and tried immediately to see if it was "brown or black".  It was black! The good-sized bear looked like it was going to pass above me at about 35 yards on a good trotting gallop pace and I had a window.  I thought this maybe my only chance at a shot so as he past a lane I actually pulled back to ¼ draw, but then let down.  This is when it took a right and started coming down!  I went from afraid it would never get close...to Oh my gosh it is going to run me over in a second!  It was still quartering towards me and about to go parallel at only 10 or 12 yards when I drew and picked a spot behind the front leg and the arrow was on the way.  I heard a crack and watched in horror as the bear looked towards me and I watched 2 halves of my arrow fly just over the bears back! I said "SH*T" out loud as I reached back and got another arrow on the string.  The bear had meanwhile taken to or 3 fast bounds and stopped about 25 yards away quartering hard away and looking back at me.  I was flustered by this point and I wanted to try another shot fast and forgot to pick a spot in all the excitement.  This was the shot I want back!  I aimed at the entire bear and watched my arrow go up over it's rear end and thunk into a tree.  I watched the rumpling rear kick up leaves as it careened downhill out of sight towards the thick hedgerows of the farm below the fire road.  

My view of the first shot. 

Wow, you don't know excitement until you are at full draw on a predator that close on the ground!  WOW~!

The results of the first shot. You can see the business end of my arrow stuck in that log behind the fletching end.

 

 

After I dug my second arrow out of the tree (having a pinned head really helps get them out of a tree without the glue line breaking).  A doe actually came up and snorted at me from the tapping of my chisel tipped file to dig out the Hill head...I guess she thought I was a woodpecker and got in close to investigate. I tried to head way down the valley and head off the bear but never got to see it again.

I am pretty sure I caught a glimpse of another bear on the last evening hunt but again I could not get ahead of the animal i spotted way ahead in a valley.

Now I am excited to get back in 2 days for deer camp!

 

 

My Hill Style Longbow Journey Movie

 I decided to play around with editing a video of my longbow journey.  I had fun putting it together with years and years of old practice film and photos.  Who was that young fellow at the beginning?  Thanks.

Braised Vension Shanks Recipe

I've been experimenting lately with ways to make my deer butchering more efficient.  Last year I decided to vacuum pack and freeze these two deer shanks whole instead of trimming and grinding it for other uses as I would typically do.  Researching Osso Buco recipes, I decided to give the basic principles a try with a whole shank instead of cutting them into rounds.  I was very pleased with the results.  Because I had a squirrel quartered and frozen, I decided to also add that to the recipe and even a tough old squirrel came out sooo good!  I may even do a repeat of just squirrel if I can get a few more.

This particular cut of meat from a wild deer is about the toughest and most sinewy chunk of meat to cook.  It is even a chore to cut it from the bone to feed the grinder!  

The first step I took was to coat the meat copiously in salt and pepper, one could also coat with the flour at this point.  I heated up the iron skillet on the outdoor BBQ to sear it, so as not to smoke up the kitchen.  A couple teaspoons of olive oil in the pan.  Next time I will use a larger skillet also.

 

After browning I de-glazed the pan with a little venison stock that I had previously canned. I poured everything into a large casserole dish with: 

1 cup of wine (I used persimmon wine I had made)

1 cup of garlic sausage Prego tomato sauce.

cup or so of diced carrots

2 cloves of minced garlic

Half a small sweet onion diced 

1 teaspoon of thyme.

1 teaspoon of salt

Ground black pepper

teaspoon of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of minced parsley

1 small can of diced tomato

1/4 cup of all purpose flour

 

Here is everything ready for the oven.  I put the pan in covered at 325 degrees for around 4 hours. 

 

You could also use a heavy dutch oven, but since I was at home I used the Corningware.  This recipe would also work well in the ground slow cooking at camp which I intend to try at some point.

It came out of the oven looking like this:

This dish was super tasty and tender.  I was highly pleased and even the squirrel came out fork tender and so very savory.  The liquid was just the correct thickness for a light gravy.  Pair this with some rice, noodles, or some mashed potatoes and you have a super home cooked meal I would venture to say that even those that "do not like venison" would probably enjoy!

Early Season Success

I rarely end up with a deer on my first hunt of the season, but this year it all just came together. I only had a few hours to play because my wife had some social engagements with friends so I stayed close to home.  It was close to 8am and already around 70 degrees as I was nestled into a brush blind.  It was half pit and half brush and I had to stand to see over the front cover.  I was leaned back against the back wall when a doe with 2 spotted fawns came by.  I did not want to shoot mama with two fawns so young and dependent so I watched for a while as they fed around me.  This is the conditions of early season hunting.  The thermacell waft smoke and I was contented to watch the show.

Then they perked up and I noticed another form coming from the timber.  It was another mature doe.  This one had no spotted fawns in tow and sported a grey coat as she was in the midst of changing into her winter attire.   

Now this was looking up.  She came on in facing me, then after an eternity was broadside.  There was a problem though as the two other fawns were behind the doe.  Ugh, maybe this was not meant to be.  Watching for another eternity, I finally had my opportunity.  I drew, picked a spot and watched in horror as my arrow sailed over the doe's back!  No!

Well now everything was alerted and looking directly at me.  I froze.  After some time I decided to try to get my follow on arrow on the string which I was successful at, but the deer were really spooked.  They were there though.  I surprised myself again about the unobtrusiveness of the Hill Style longbows twang. 

For what seemed like 2 eternities we all froze.  Finally one by the one the two fawns went back to nibbling the browse, then the mama.  Finally my grey gal went back to feeding.  Eventually she fed broadside once more and I successfully drew and burned a deep hole.  Really bearing down, I let fly and saw a good hit.  Maybe 2 inches higher than I wanted and the arrow penetration seemed shallow, though I knew with that angle it probably hit the far shoulder / leg.

I sat down and relaxed listening after the crashing ceased.  Maybe 10 minutes later I thought I heard thrashing but the mind can play tricks. 

After my self imposed 45 minute wait, I started out.  

There she was a scant 60 or so yards from the shot.  It was a good double lung shot with the 190 grain ribtek.  I was impressed with the holes.

By the time I got her back at the house I was a sweaty  mess.  She weighed 95 pounds dressed out.  I got to work processing and getting her quartered and into my meat refrigerator.  I'll be doing some canning again!  It is a great start to the year.

New SUNSET HILL Blog by Nate Steen

 I am so happy to learn that Nate Steen of Sunset Hill Longbows and leather has a new blog where he will periodically post information.

Here is his welcome message and profile info.:

Hello, I'm Nate Steen. I welcome you to my blog, where my goal is to discuss Howard Hill style longbows, Wood arrows, and Leather goods. I'll discuss as time permits, their use in the hunting woods and on the range, passing along wisdom shared with me by John Schulz. I welcome your comments to share the knowledge of HIll's simplie method of shooting and his simple archery tackle and how it can be used to bring joy and success in your archery endeavors. 

 

Welcome to the Sunset Hill Longbow and Leather blog

 Good day all,  welcome to my not so serious blog site, where I will occasionally, as time permits, post information concerning Howard Hill style longbows, Leather goods, and other information as it pertains to the Hill method of shooting a longbow.  I'll also discuss my own Sunset Hill Longbows and tackle.  My goal is to share information to help others understand more fully the simplicity of this style of archery equipment and the simplicity of the shooting style that goes with it. As John Schulz once said,  "Simplicity is Elegance" and we will definitely use that approach with this blog.  Simplicity of tackle, of shooting technique, of the entire approach to shooting a longbow and enjoying the flight of a well-shot arrow to it's mark. Keep checking back and see what I or others will add... Have a great day shooting the LongBow!

 

If you enjoy longbows and the Howard Hill legacy, Nate is the man.  Check it out:

https://sunsethilllongbowsandleather.blogspot.com/

Refurbishing Vintage POC Arrows

 Refurbishing Vintage POC Arrows

 

I recently helped an older friend of one of my Great Uncle sell some of his archery gear.  Mr. Porter hunted several times and even had Bob Swinehart as a house guest on one occasion. The man was a true Hill devotee even down to pinning his HH broadheads onto the shafts. 

Well, I decided to refurbish several groups of the old Port Orford Cedar (POC) shafts and I was amazed at the quality.  These shafts were very straight.  I soon discovered the nocks were old and brittle, but after replacing a few I shot some and they were also surprisingly durable.  Hmmm...Right then I decided to put those arrows back in business.

I first redid some of the old glass shafts and I had a Post on that here: 

 First I carefully heated and twisted off the old nocks.

Then, I scraped the fletching off trying to be careful not to gauge the wood.  i used sandpaper to get off the old glue and any quill that was left.

I re-dipped them up to the pinned Hill heads in white rustoleum. Glued on some new feathers and put them on the feather burner trying as best as I could to match the "French curve" shape of these classic Howard Hill feathers.  

One of them was inscribed with "The Spirit of Robin Hood" so I masked that off with scotch tape and peeled it back when they were dry.  That one may hold some luck in the future?  I used the gentleman's multi-fletcher and gave the straight clamps a slight offset.  Just like the originals.

Some had the fletching still pretty solid so I just painted those with a foam brush up to the feathers.  The blue ones were really cool.  All had the pinned Hill heads.

These are ready for a stout bow and a short shot!

These pair up well with my new Howard Hill Wesley Special 62@28 I picked up that has the classic black back and white belly. Old wood, back in service!

 

Refurbishing Vintage Fiberglass Arrows

I recently helped an older gentleman liquidate his archery and bowhunting inventory.  In the collection were various early fiberglass arrows.  The nocks were brittle, the heads were rusty, the fletch was all but destroyed.  These arrows intrigued me because they felt pretty heavy.  A particular batch of 10 were woven brown glass shafts with the number "11" as the only marking.

I decided to try to put these back into service.

 

 

The project was such a success I decided to start on these #10 shafts also.

Here they are the #10s with the fletching removed and sanded lightly with 100 grit.

Here are both batches completed:

I read and actually heard from the gentleman himself that a common complaint was that the shaft would split upon hard impact.  Swinehart didn't care as he said he, "had a lifetime supply".  I decided to foot them with a inch length of aluminum arrow and epoxy that on for a stability collar.  

The project tuned out well but the spine was a little much for my current Northern Mist longbow.  So I will keep them for later.  I have plans to work into a higher draw weight bow in the future now that I have made my transition and have been shooting left handed for some time.

Squirrel Pot Pie Recipe - Tender and Delicious

Hunting squirrels is always a fun endeavor but some are reluctant to pursue the bushy tails with a passion because of their tough constancy.  I found a solution and a recipe that makes me want to load up the back quiver with all my cast away arrows and hit the woods.

When I grew up my mother would bar-boil the critter quarters for 20 minutes or so to tenderize before breading them with flour, salt and pepper, and baking in the oven.  They were good this way but still a chewy undertaking.

Lately I have been doing a lot of canning of my deer, chicken, and pheasant and I decided to can a bunch of squirrel quarters. The result after the pressure canning was fall off the bone tender meat.  

At a big camp out 3D bow shoot I was at I decided to make some pot pie and the results were so amazing I shared the meal with several camps that agreed it was goooood eating!

Canning the squirrel has many benefits including making it tender, giving you squirrel broth, leaving precious space in your freezer, and storage for years without freezer burn.

Here is how I made the meal.

First take the quart of squirrel pieces and pour off the squirrel broth into another container for later use. De-bone the meat taking care to leave no bones or fragments.  This is fairly easy as the meat is falling off the bones.  The hardest part is keeping the small vertebrate out from the back pieces. Set the meat aside as you prepare the rest.

Next, heat up your cast iron dutch oven or large sided skillet with lid to medium heat.  While this is heating, slice and dice your onion and add it to the fry pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and saute until the onion is tender.  You can also add your veggies in at this point.  Out on the range I found this chicken of the woods mushroom growing, so I put a few tender pieces in my cargo pocket.  I sliced these thin and sauted them with the onions. 

Then, add the de-boned squirrel meat, salt and pepper, minced garlic (about 1 clove worth) and heat all for another 5 minutes or so stirring.  Since I had only one pan, I removed all this and set it aside, but if you have another pan melt the 1 tablespoon of butter and add the flour stirring constantly until you have a rue. Once a nice brown color is reached pour in the squirrel broth you saved, and while stirring smooth add the meat mixture in until it is nice and thick and bubbly. I also added a splash of home-made raspberry wine at this point.

Remove from heat.  In your clean dutch or lidded pan place the first pie crust and pour the entire mixture into the center of the pan.  Leaving a ring of exposed dough like this:

 Next put on your top crust and smash/pinch together the exposed ends with your fingers.

Now you have this:

I used charcoal briquettes in the fire pit and placed about 15 of them on the lid and a little more under the pan.  Rotating the pan and lid until I got a nice even brown.  Maybe about 15-20 minutes baking time.

It came out like this!

Wow, it was good!

I will be canning all my squirrels from now on.  Happy Hunting!

 

Ingredients:

1 quart jar of pressure canned squirrel quarters  

half an onion diced

veggies peas, carrots, celery or add ins (for this recipe I only used sliced thin chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms I found along one of the courses)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 pie crusts

diced garlic about 1 clove worth

Salt and pepper to taste

The Value of Moving Target Practice

It was a blustery day in late November of 2014, and I was perched in the early morning hours atop my climbing stand.  I was tucked against a large trunked chestnut oak bordering a line of mountain laurels.  It was rifle season in Maryland, but I wanted to connect with the longbow. As stiffness and chills started to take over and the morning waned, I stood up and tried to stretch for the sunlight that was slowly warming the frosty leaf litter below.  Behind my stand I heard crunching, and turned to see a 6 point buck feeding along the line of shrubs.  I knew a shot behind my stand would be tough, but I felt it was doable.  I leaned out far and slightly canted the slender Schulz made Howard Hill Tembo completely vertical.  I had not practiced this cant much and pulled the shot due to alignment issues.  The arrow sailed and struck the unsuspecting buck in the hind bottom roast! Oh No!

I don't know why, maybe the quietness of the longbow combined with the impact point, but the buck turned and ran toward me.  I quickly drew another arrow from my back quiver and from so much ingrained practice, had the arrow pulling back to anchor as the deer ran 15 feet from my tree at a full tilt.  I focused hard behind the shoulder and the arrow was away.  It was a blur and my mind caught movement of the arrow, but it appeared to me that I had shot over the shoulder.  I drew another arrow and the buck stopped 87 yards away and I let fly again.  The buck bolted.

This scenario came to a happy ending for the hunter when we found my buck with my arrow in the chest.  As it turns out that running shot did connect.  A wounded deer that would otherwise have been suffering was killed cleanly.

 

Since then, I have made it a point to practice all manner of unorthodox shots as well as work on hitting moving targets.  The Hill style straight end longbow excels at being forgiving of these unorthodox shots.  

Some will say that gaining proficiency at these kinds of shots takes extra-ordinary talent, or that it is unethical to take these shots at game.  I can say that I have no great reservoir of archery talent, nor am I a one of a kind the likes of a Mr. Hill or Schulz, but I have gained a comfort in hitting moving targets that gets better with practice.  As evidenced by the scenario above, this skill is at times ethical and a benefit.  The last item is that this type of practice is darn fun!

There is no need for a complicated set-up or area to practice hitting'em moving.  Having a person throw for you is great, but not a necessity.  Simply tossing a tennis ball or kickball and using rubber blunts has worked well for me.  Having a slight hill also helps.  

Recently, I worked up a simple cable and pulley system for a cardboard disk that was fun.  This target was made by gluing simple cardboard circles together and zip tying it to a pulley from my porch railing to the ground below.

Practice focusing on the smallest part of the target as you can.  Keep that concentration as you relax your fingers.  

Practice always makes these types of shot easier.

I also practice some unorthodox techniques like the reverse cant, and turning behind shots.  

This type of practice is fun and can benefit you in hunting situations.  Don't let the "nay-sayers" stop you from trying.  This type of hunting practice used to be common, but now there is a definite static hunting trend.  Don't let them limit you.   

Take a look at Gene Wensel in these old videos of him and companions hitting big old bucks on the run.  It can be done, and done responsibly by getting proficient. 

 

You never know when this will pay off.

Enjoy!

Nate Steen of Sunset Hill Longbows Demonstrates using a Back Quiver Video

This is a very good informative video for anyone who wants to learn how to use and reap the benefits from using a back quiver in the Hill style for hunting.

Cooking, Preparing, and Eating Deer Ribs (Venison Ribs) with a Pressure Cooker (Insta-pot)

One of Fred Bear's "famous game recipes" as related by several publications from those like Glenn St. Charles and Bob Munger was flame broiled sheep ribs over an open campfire.

Here is a photo of Mr. Bear roasting some sheep ribs in 1954 from Bows on the little Delta: 

 

Ever since seeing those photos I have tried to cook deer ribs, but most attempts proved terrible as the white chalky fat leaves a paste and coating in your mouth well after the meal.  Deer fat is much different from sheep in taste.  I came across a tip from a fellow about boiling the ribs in coffee to render out the fat before roasting or BBQing.  I tried this and it actually worked well, though I blew through many pots of coffee. Later, I got the idea of using my pressure cooker and use only 16 ounces of coffee in the bottom instead.  This proved to be a super method I wish to share.  

I have also roasted them over a open fire successfully, but it takes diligent trimming and a slow roast to render out all the fat.

 

I typically use a cordless sawzall to cut away the ribs from the hanging deer.  I cut down parallel to the spine, then down removing them away from the sternum.  

Next I will wash off any bone chips or blood and try to remove any bulk fat that is easy to cut away. I also cut away and sections shot through.  These sit in my refrigerator most times for several days to age as I process the other part of the deer. 

Next, I cut the rib slabs big enough to fit in my pressure cooker.  Sometimes this takes some creative arranging and trimming to get them to fit. Then pour in 16 ounces of coffee to the bottom and set the cooker for meat/stew setting for 40 minutes. 

Once pressure is released I drain the ribs and coat with a dry rub / or some BBQ sauce before putting them in my smoker for several hours around 225 degrees. 

At the end they are delicious!