Del Jolly started a website called Trend in Trad. His vision is to have a website where anybody can get information about clubs, shops, and ranges quickly and easily for their state. He just started the website and needs all the help he can get. If you can help him with information for your state please shoot him an Email at deljolly@trendintrad.com.

For each state Del has attempted to interview the states traditional organization leader. Below are excerpts from his best answers.

Traditional Leadership, by Del Jolly

In no other time in history has this idea been so important. With our country's uncertain direction in such an uncertain time, our nation could use a dose of unity. It's quite apparent our appointed leaders are greatly divided when it comes to our nations current affairs. Whatever our leaders stance may be, they are united by one thing- They all want what they believe is best for their America.

I recently attempted to conduct interviews with OUR leaders. As a traditionalist, I wanted to ask some questions to the people we have chosen to lead our traditional archery/hunting clubs or organizations. I believe the men and women who choose to use traditional equipment are the type of people leaders should be made of. The type of people who won't settle for the easiest way out. The type of people who are more intrigued with the history or challenge of shooting a longbow or recurve than using the latest piece of equipment. The type of people who unite and work hard to keep this tradition alive. Below are some of the best answers to these questions. To read some of these interviews in their entirety please visit www.trendintrad.com . Click on each state and hopefully that leader has responded. To read an in depth response to each question, please visit the Oregon link. Rich Thompson went above and beyond with his informative answers. 

I would also like to include some expert advise from Blake Fisher the President of Idaho Traditional Bowhunters. I believe Blake really hits the nail on the head when he explains the importance of unifying.

"I would encourage you to get involved/aligned with a national organization like Compton or the Professional Bowhunters Society. These groups have the membership already to start reaching out and changing archery." Blake Fisher I.T.B.H.

I hope you enjoy the questions below.

Rich Thompson, President of Traditional Archers of Oregon

The Traditional Archers of Oregon was formed to represent the interests of traditional archers at the state level with Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Oregon State Police and International Bowhunter Education Program.

All members are encouraged to participate in informal business meetings concurrent with regular annual events. Annual events include, but are not limited to:

• Annual Banquet hosted by affiliate clubs in various locations throughout the state in January each year. Activities include displays, vendors, guest speakers, dinner and business meeting.
• Annual Golf Shoot held in early April.
• Annual Pope Young Shoot held the last weekend of July each year in Brownsville, OR. There is ample room for long distance shooting at the Battle Clout, Wand and assorted novelties throughout the day, Saturday. A potluck dinner and business meeting is held Saturday evening. There is a 50 target trail shoot held on Sunday, followed by an awards ceremony where the Overall Men's & Women's high scores are recognized on vintage trophies dating to 1936.
• Traditional Archers of Oregon also partner in the Western States Rendezvous held each Memorial Day weekend and the North American Longbow Safari held each 4 th of July weekend. These shoots are alternately hosted by the participating states or provinces throughout the west.
• Members are kept informed of club activities, traditional archery events, legislation and regulations affecting seasons using several tools. Newsletters are mailed on an as needed basis. The Scroll, published quarterly, provides an opportunity for members to 'tell their story". Members that are on-line can use our website, www.taoregon.com , to keep up to date with events and pertinent information.

Details of these events and activities can be found on our website.

Edward Sneyers, former president of Ohio Society of Traditional Archers

Mostly word of mouth and anyone buying their first trad bow from an Ohio bowyer is given a free one year membership. the rest is word of mouth and Internet sites with boards and we also have our schedule in our TBM state shoot add.

Ethan Rodriguez of Tennessee Traditional Archery Society

I honestly see Trad archery with a much stronger foundation in 30 years. Although I don't know how many people will stick to trad archery. I think trad attracts a certain personality and many people are more centered around the destination, not the journey. And I honestly don't know if that is all bad.

Bobby Graham Jr., president of Traditional Bowhunters of Southern West Virginia

An average person can contact just as many people day to day as a celebrity spokesman can. If the average person will just take the time to share some insight, wisdom, or just talk for a bit on archery and how it makes them feel, they will create more of a bond than a figure that is out in the public eye can. Average people are who built the legacy of traditional archery by their hard work, hunting genius, and plain welcoming personalities. Fred Bear wasn't a clothes model, but from all I've read and seen, he had a very personable attitude, and people liked that about him, he made them feel no matter who they were, they were a friend.

Debbie Keeling, President of Traditional Bowhunters of Texas.

In Texas we have a huge population of Javelinas. Mainly in South Texas and in the Hill country we have a lot of exotic such as Blackbuck Antelope, Axis deer and Red deer. Our South Texas Whitetails are a huge draw as well.

Brian Henderson of Pyramid Archery Society Traditional (Illinois)

The best hunting experience is not the harvest but being next to mother nature

More turkey hunting stories

Turkey season is still going strong and for some it is just about to get started. Below are a few more pictures of our recent success. This has been a good year for me.

Since I had already killed two birds this year I was going to let Danny shoot that morning. When he said he was going to hold out for a nice tom I brought my bow because I am NOT that picky!

After a little calling and having some hens within feet of our blind we spotted a tom behind us. We thought it was a jake because of its little beard, so Danny took the camera and I grabbed my bow.

Hunting in the mountains gives the turkeys an infinite amount of places to hide. If a wounded birds gets his wings he can be danged near impossible to find. So I decided to try out one of those Bullhead turkey broadheads. The results were devastating.

The tom gave me a 15+ yard shot and I hit him right above the caruncles. He started flapping and running off so we exited the blind immediately to chase him and shoot again if need be. We did NOT want to lose a bird in the mountains. The chase lasted about 75yds, he had expired, and bled A LOT.

A short video of the hunt:

The first night was a bit of a scouting expedition but we still managed to get within ten yards of two really nice toms while still hunting. Didn't even come close to drawing the bow back though, they spotted me making the slightest of movements. I KNOW BETTER! Rookie mistake, but we found where they roosted and were going to back in the morning with the blind.

Next morning no less than 50 turkeys were absolutely going nuts on the roost. Of course the main flock headed the other direction, but we had these four young toms/jakes come to check us out.

My brother-in-law (Kelly) has become a danged good shot in the year that he's been in to archery, and I fully expected him to kill a bird. I didn't take into account what a little "turkey-fever" could do to a guy's shooting though. You can see a blur of yellow that was his arrow in this picture. He was about 4 inches in front of the turkey. DANG!

Turkey season has started or is about to start in many states across the country. The Nebraska season began last Thursday and I was fortunate enough to get to go hunting. Early season is always a special time to hunt because the turkeys are still in their large winter groups. Later in the season when mating occurs more frequently it can be difficult to call toms away from their hens. But early in the spring those big gobblers are more apt to investigate a call because receptive hens are not as abundant.

So we set out with quite a bit of confidence for the opening day of the season. On this particular property the turkeys began roosting in the power line towers this year, which they had never done so before. With over 100 birds roosted in one of those towers, we snuck as close as we could without being seen and set up our blind and our chintzy little decoy. This early in the year I am not too concerned with the looks of my decoy. In my observation, later in the season when the birds have been hunted they seem to be a little more picky about the decoys.

The gobbling that morning started off intense. Not only did we have that flock of over 100 birds sounding off, but we had groups of toms from all directions coming towards all the commotion. There were, at times, no less than 50 toms all gobbling at once. We figured it wouldn't take long before a group or two decided to come check out our calling, which paled in comparison to the noise that the real turkeys were making.

After about an hour we had a group of four toms come by. I killed this turkey with my Mohawk longbow, a CX Heritage 150 arrow, and a Simmons Shark broadhead.

If we could have recovered the turkey we probably would have had many more shot opportunities that morning. Groups of toms continued to come to our calling but got nervous seeing the dead turkey and never came close enough for any shots.

Below are some more pictures of the hunt.

The power line tower in the background is just like what the turkeys were roosting in.

The big tom on the right is the bird that I killed.

One of the many groups that came no closer because of the dead turkey.

Over the years I have had the privilege to meet a lot of the great men and women in traditional archery. Though I never met Jack Howard, I received a letter from him in the later years of his life. As you can read in the letter, he was near the end of his bow making days and looking to sell bows outside of his own shop. He sent me this letter along with information about his bows and a newsletter. I just came across this letter as I have had a few of the old Jack Howard bows come through my shop lately. As I write this I just sold a 60# Gamemaster Jet in beautiful condition. It is truly one of the best bows ever made.

One of my biggest regrets over the past 16 years of owning this business is that I didn't sell bows for Jack Howard. At the time I simply did not have the money to stock his bows. It was a shame. Anyway, I am sure that you will get as much joy in reading Jack's words as I did when I came across this package.

You can download the entire package in a .pdf by clicking here, or you can click on the individual pages below to view them in your browser.

-Tom Clum

I would like to congratulate Wapiti bowyer Keith Chastain for completing a 15 year quest to kill an Arizona coues deer with his bow. Keith used his own "Duggan Special" Wapiti takedown and Woodsman broadheads for his hunt. Congrats on finally getting your coues deer Keith!

With the start of the new year I figured it would be fun to share some of the bow statistics from 2009. In the past year we sold 330 recurves and longbows, not including kids bows or novelty bows. Though I don't have complete stats for all 330 bows, it still gives us a decent sample to look at.

Average weight: 50.63lbs @ 28inches
Average length: 61.05inches
52% recurves, 48% longbows
54% were used, 46% new
10% were left handed
58% were one piece
April is the busiest bow selling month, December is the slowest
We sold more Spirit bows than anything else, followed by Rampart, Mohawk, Wapiti, Bear, Hawk

To the right is a graph representing the # of bows we sold at each pound of draw weight, from 29lbs up to 72lbs.

October 19th, 2009

This was sent to me by my good friend Tom McCormick down in Iowa. We have exchanged many Emails about a lot of different topics. When it comes to whitetail deer hunting, this man flat out knows his stuff! Below is an Email that he sent to me about decoying deer.

Check out our website specials page for a great deal on Montana Buck decoys! You will not find a better price on this discontinued model of Montana Decoy.

Enjoy...

Decoying Deer
Tommy,

I wanted to send you information on my decoy "strategies". First some background info.I have been using a decoy for 17 years now.  I started off simply using a Delta 3-D target (with good success!). I have tried to read everything I can on the subject and have attended EVERY seminar on decoying at the Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois deer classics.  I'm not doing to go into great detail on the "why's" of doing things a certain way.just trust me and do it!

Best decoys:  Carry-Lite and Montana Buck. ALWAYS use them as a buck. If you use the doe decoy, often other does will stomp, snort and blow everything out of the woods. I have NEVER shot a buck over a doe decoy, but I have shot at least 6-7 does over a doe decoy (two in one afternoon back in 1998). I have used only a buck for the last ten years, with no negative results. It was about 50/50 when using the doe with positive vs negative reactions.

I have experimented A LOT with the various urine based scents on the market and using them with the decoy. Bottom line.don't waste your money.

When getting your new decoy, wash it very well with scent free soap and let it sit outside for a few days. Using rubber gloves, give it a "mud-bath" two or three times and simply wash off the mud with the hose. After a few days spray it down two or three times with a scent killer spray. When I transport the decoy I wrap the main body with a large plastic garbage bag so that I NEVER touch it with my bare hands. I keep the bag around the main body of the decoy when I carry it into the woods and take it off and put in my backpack when setting up. The Carry-Lite is a real pain to set-up, however, once its set up it stays that way always.

It is next to impossible to take your Carry-Lite into the field and put it together. It is very time consuming and noisy to do so. I put it together and leave it assembled all the time. I never use it as a doe, so I glued the antlers in place.

You WILL LOSE the ears and tail carrying into the woods. I always remove the ears and tail and carry them with my foot stakes in my cloth bowcase. I have a little mesh bag I store the ears and tail in and the stakes fit well in a "double" scent free athletic sock bundle. Keeps everything quiet that way. I carry the decoy over my shoulder with a blaze orange vest over his head and neck so I don't get shot.

I thought the Montana decoy was a "joke" when I first saw them. After several years of my friends using them I gave one a try. On my very first hunt, a 150 class buck came into it. I have been sold ever since. I use the Carry-Lite on most hunts due to the "full-body" look. On long walks I use the Montana. The Montana will smell "new" when you get it. Let the sun bake it. I let it sit outside for a few days and spray it down with no scent spray. I store it in cedar chips so it has a cedar smell to it instead of a "cloth smell". Always use gloves when handling the decoys.

My Montana folds up nicely and slips into my cloth bowcase with my bow. I use scent free tube socks to store the stakes inside the case.

Most "EXPERTS" don't use decoys until November. I start early, due to experimentation over the years. I shot a 157inch buck on October 12th that wanted to KILL the decoy. Most early season encounters are friendly, such as "who is this new guy". In November, however, it gets personal.they want to destroy the thing!

Set-up:  Set the decoy UPWIND from your stand and have it face directly at you. I set mine EXACTLY at 20 yards so the buck with circle down-wind of him to face him head-on. This gives me a 10-15 yard shot. They come into the decoy at around a 45 degree angle, never directly "head-on". If you remove the antlers from one side, they will attack the "weak-side". My Carry-Lite has been knocked over at least 6 times over the years! I have shot three bucks that jumped and turned and came back to fight the decoy again with blood pouring out of them, not knowing that they had been arrowed. One of those I shot a second time because I thought I must have missed!

Rattling: I only rattled in two bucks during a 10 year period. I simply quit doing it because I was convinced rattling "didn't work". I now use a rattle bag with the decoy and have had OK success. Morning seems to be the best time and the decoy will give the buck a "visual" to bring him the "rest of the way". 

Grunting: I use a Rod Benson grunt call made in Michigan. I have called in over 50 bucks with that call and use it a lot. The use of the decoy really brings them in close with the grunt call. Did I give you a grunt call when you were at the Clinton wrestling camp?

Set-up: Most hunters use a decoy in the open fields. It works the best when deer can see it from a distance. I use it in the deep woods also. Just as long as it doesn't startle them when coming down the trail.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Tail position.you can't change it on the Montana, but you can adjust it on the Cary-Lite.  Have the tail positioned at a 90 degree angle to the body (pointing straight back from the deer). I have used real deer tails and have used white plastic strips on the tail to produce "movement" in the wind.  Just use the tail that comes with it and don't bother with other options. The use of tail movement was "big" several years ago, but most experts are now recommending no movement. It seem to drive the buck "nuts" when the decoy doesn't move.

You will be amazed how many deer don't see your decoy. That's when grunting will help. I have friends who tie fish line to a bush by the decoy and tug on it if the buck doesn't see it. The movement of the bush and noise causes the buck to look.

Ground blinds: The deer will never pay attention to you in the Double Bull when you have a decoy placed 20 yards upwind.

Summary:  My 2nd, 4th and 5th biggest bucks were all shot over a decoy. They add a ton of fun to your hunts just by observing the reactions of the deer that see them. It can be a REAL PAIN to lug the Carry-Lite into the woods at times. But when they work all the effort pays off. I have had friends drop arrows, have stands "creak" at the wrong time, miss the deer with the first shot and still get the buck due to their  "fixation" on the decoy. From October 10th to January 13th, 99% of my hunts are with a decoy!!!! I have at least 10 friends who now use them with the great success.

Please pass the above info on to Tom Sr. and Danny.

Good hunting Tommy!

Tom McCormick

October 10th, 2009

Blood, Sweat, and Llamas
To say my elk hunting career isn't the typical beginning to this long tradition would be an understatement. It pains me to say it, but I could be considered the trust fund kid of elk hunting. Which my Dad takes pleasure in reminding me of every year.

Each year my Dad, Lee (a long time friend and original member of our 3 man hunting group), myself and the occasional elk hunter who has seen the product of our hard work, go on a 10 day elk hunting trip with llamas. We (and when I say we I mean my Dad and Lee) own 4 llamas. The four llamas, Dante, Scooter, Feathers, and Licorice are truly great animals. Each has their own personality uniquely different from each other. Dante is our lead animal, very stoic and strong. Scooter is the powerhouse, sometimes I think he can haul as much as a Clydesdale. Licorice reminds me of Andre The Giant in the movie  A Princess Bride, a little slow yet very lovable. And finally Feathers who is happy to regurgitate his cud and spray it on anyone who even ponders the idea of approaching him. Each animal is a gilded male (neutered) and each has his place in the pecking order.

Having successfully used our two llamas for the first time we jumped on the chance to acquire two more. You would be surprised how easy it is to find people giving away llamas. A co-worker of my mother-in-law owned Licorice and Feathers, he was as pleased to get rid of them as we were to have them. The new, untrained llamas saw how hard Dante and Scooter worked, which made their own training a breeze.

The benefits of being born to a elk hunting legend (in his own mind) are brought up annually. Even if they weren't I can't help but think of how lucky I am. Without the llamas we wouldn't be able to responsibly hunt as far back in the wilderness as we do. I simply would not have the confidence to hunt where ever, and I do mean where ever my body can take me. With a split hoof made much like an elk's, llamas can go almost anywhere an elk can. This completely alleviates the little devil that pops up on your shoulder saying "Do you really think we should kill an elk all the way back in this hell hole?"  

Some people  have asked  "Why llamas and not horses?" In our opinion, the two biggest reasons are the cost, and 1000lbs of nervous muscle. The year round maintenance costs for a llama is less than half that of a horse. If the cost of a horse isn't a problem (remember I am just a blue blood of  elk hunting,  my bank account could bring a grown man to tears) then maybe riding a horse that spooks will convert you to llamas. Over the years I have known plenty of hunters whose horse has spooked, tossing them for a loop. 

Horses are big and strong enough to do what they please with their rider. Llamas on the other hand are roughly 400 lbs and don't spook easily. Since you can not ride a llama there is no chance they will buck you off. I have personally seen a sow and her two cubs walk within 100 yards of our llamas, the only thing they did was an alarm call. The best way I've heard  a llama alarm call  described is that it sounds like a lunatic laughing uncontrollably. 

Just to be clear,  I am not saying that getting hurt by a llama hasn't happened, I have just not personally heard of it or seen it. I also understand that not every horse spooks, but unless you are fortunate enough to use good horses, they can be flat out dangerous. 

I owe much of my elk hunting success to the animals that make hunting deep in the wilderness a possibility. Using our 4 llamas is a privilege  that I am thankful for. I always try to remember how lucky I am to have these great animals. And if I ever forget, all I have to do is wait until the following bow season for my dad, "a guy from Detroit", who early in his hunting career thought wild elk to be as elusive as the unicorn, to remind me of my inheritance of his blood, sweat and llamas.

~Del Jolly

Several other thoughts: Even though we train our llamas to pack all our gear, I always carry my bow and arrows in my hand.  Losing the most important tools for dispatching elk on an elk hunting trip can bring rain to any parade. I also learned the hard way to spend the extra money on quality arrows that don't break if they ricochet off a dandelion. I bought dozens of the cheap arrows under the mind set that arrows break (only because I buy the cheap ones) when they hit the ground. Now I only shoot Carbon Express Heritage 250s. The extra money spent up front far exceeds the money lost in the long run. These arrows are by far the best I've found. Of the thousands of arrows I've shot this summer I can only remember breaking two. One at the Colorado Traditional Archers Society shoot on the Iron target course, which breaks any arrow if you miss, and one was scratched pretty deep off of a rock while shooting at my local range in Golden. 

So when packing with llamas, I suggest caring your bow. It is also well worth the extra money for quality arrows, such as the Carbon Express Heritage shafts. 

October 5th, 2009

The Practice Really Paid Off
Danny, my brother, and Del, a good friend, are two of the elk killinest guys that I know. Each has killed 4 bull elk in the past 5 seasons. They are part of the 20% in the saying, "20% of the guys kill 80% of the elk". We met Del early in 2009 and immediately became good friends. The shared love of elk has a way of creating friendships.

From the time we met until the opening weekend of elk season, the three of us hit the range several times a week. We started at 7am and were usually the only ones on the range. We loosed thousands of arrows together - Danny shooting a recurve, and Del and I shooting longbows. We really grew as archers, but not as fast as we grew as friends. Danny, who has always been a good shot, had a shoulder surgery which forced him to become a left handed archer for the time being. In the 5 months as a lefty he caught up to me on the score card (which really irks me, and Danny wallows in the satisfaction of knowing that too). By the end of the summer we were all shooting better than ever and feeling pretty cocky about the upcoming season.

Two weeks in to the season Danny and Del continued on their elk killing ways. Each taking one shot, each shot resulting in a dead bull elk (this year they both got their smallest bulls ever).

Danny used a Rampart recurve with a Grizzly broadhead, 600 grain CX Rebel Hunter arrow with 200 grains up front. He obtained a complete passthrough on a double lung shot. Danny followed a 200 yard heavy blood trail. Del used a Rampart longbow with a Snuffer broadhead, 620 grain CX Heritage arrow with 200 grains up front. Del took a quartering away shot, received about 20 inches of penetration, and had a 300 yard sparse blood trail.

Me? Well...I was biding my time (right). The final evening of my 2009 hunt the three of us finally got to elk hunt together for the first time.

Del, who plays the bugle like a magical flute, and Danny were calling behind me as I slowly moved towards a large herd of elk. I will admit that I flat out missed a cow earlier that evening. I was mad at myself and embarrassed that that would happen in front of my new hunting buddy. But I didn't have too much time to be mad. A spike was making his way right to me. I tried to clear my mind of the earlier miss as I drew my bow on this spike, who was quartered away at a steep angle. The snow was coming down and my hands were freezing. It was hard to let go of the bowstring. I stared at the point on his side which would bring my arrow to the far front shoulder. I was telling my fingers to let go but they were so cold and stiff that it was hard to do. The shot was a little further back than I was wanted, but not by much. The arrow was steeply angling towards the front shoulder, it was still a good shot.

The spike hauled the mail when I shot but none of the other elk around seemed to care. With the shot placement where it was we all agreed that I probably got one lung, and that it would be wise to allow the elk time. We decided that instead of blowing all the elk out, who might take the spike with them, we would come back and look in the morning. We didn't spend much time looking. 200 yards from where I shot we found him.

I used a Mohawk longbow, Grizzly broadhead, 550 grain arrow with 200 grains up front.

The pack out was short and sweet. We talked and joked on the way out and had a good time. It meant a lot to me that Del came back the next morning to help look for the elk and pack him out.

The practice really paid off this season. The three of us all felt a great deal of satisfaction knowing that we put in the time before the season and that it served us well. We have started hitting the range again, and probably will several times a week until the next elk season.

~Tommy Clum

On another note, I used some new game bags this year from Caribou Gear. They pack very small, are ultra light, and kept 100% of the bugs off. We will have them listed on our website in the near future. In the meantime check out their website: http://www.biggamebags.com/ . I have not seen another game bag out there that has it all, light, small, 100% bug free, and still be as tough as these bags were.

August 23rd, 2009

Blog Introduction: Colorado Antelope
What better way to start off the RMSG blog than with a successful hunting story. In the future this blog will serve as a way for RMSG to write up about anything we think is interesting. Including hunting stories from ourselves and our customers, product reviews, tutorials, you name it.

Anyway, on to the antelope...

Just south of a little town that nobody wants to visit, and over a little hill that nothing seems to live on - there lies a water tank. Danny and our good friend George (left) found the tank after driving for hours without seeing a single antelope. Except for one little stretch, far off the main road, there is not many antelope in this area. Danny and George got lucky to find this little honey-hole. Their exploring paid off, and hopefully this place will make for excellent hunts in the years to come.

On their first day of hunting Danny and George had a herd of antelope come in to their Double Bull blind set up. George won the coin flip that night, meaning he got to be the shooter. With his Gary Bassett recurve George made a great shot, and killed a beautiful "over-the-counter" public land buck.

It is really nice find a low-pressured hunting area on public land. But it's even better when you have a successful hunt. Congrats to George on his beautiful buck!

~Tommy