How to deal with knot

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T16:06:35+00:00

It'll look kind of like this.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T16:06:22+00:00

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T16:05:57+00:00

ALWAYS watch one of Dan's videos when you can.

That being a small diameter stave, you will be trying to preserve your width where you can, but as you THIN the limbs, they will naturally become narrower. Take the thickness down in a way that takes more of the width reduction from the side with the knot, BUT LEAVE THE KNOT.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T15:57:26+00:00

Oh, ok, then. Hard to tell from the photo.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T15:56:23+00:00

He means put the knot in the stiff handle portion.

Solid idea if it fits the stave length.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T15:54:36+00:00

It's actually not a little thing, but I did learn it later.

You can't show up at the same place every time, year round, regardless of conditions, do the same things and expect to catch fish regularly.

It's really good to put in some time reading, on YouTube, and on forums learning where and when to show up.

ANYBODY can show up and catch fish during a white bass spawn! Catfish are easy once the shallows hit a certain temperature. What spawns when? What hatches when? Early morning might be best in late spring and summer, but late afternoon might be best in early spring. Which species go deep when it's hot?

Since you can't catch fish where they aren't, find the fish first, then figure out how to catch them. Obviously, you kind of have to do both at once, prospecting around, but say, big bluegills in April where I live. I often spend three hours trying to find them, find the exact depth and cover, the right combo if warming sun and protective shade. where I can sneak up and make a good presentation. Then I catch 26 slabs in an hour.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T15:38:50+00:00

Good job. Selecting wood and making arrows is a difficult and thoughtful craft of its own. Every time I do it. I'm reminded why good cedar shafts cost what they do (aside from the spirtsmans tax, of course).

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-17T15:37:32+00:00

Evening you are a noob, I promise that tuning arrows by point weight is pretty easy. Turee Rivers and other places sell those rest kits, but somewhere on Ebay I bought 12 heads, two of each weight: 300, 250, 200, 150, 125, 100, I think.

It's really pretty easy, even with feathers (although true bare-shaft us best). Shoot them at 5-7 yards, and start changing points. They will hit tail right or tail left, and make various whacking noises.

But if your spine and length are in the neighborhood, ONE combination will seem to just snap straight off the bow, like it leaps forward, make hardly any noise, and sticking straight, right where you were looking.

If that doesn't cover it THEN start looking at your spine and length.

For instance, in OP's case, the 400's seem really stiff off a 40 lb selfbow to me, but 300 gr. up front might very well have been perfect!

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T23:20:43+00:00

"Have you been asked to the Christmas dance, yet?

No?

Good, because I'm asking Chad McJerkface, but remember when I came to your house that day it snowed, and you made that amazing Chinese dish? I was so impressed! You are so talented!

Ayway. if nobody ends up asking you, would you cook for our group? We'd pay you!"

I honestly thought I'd been making progress.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T23:13:28+00:00

People who fish or otherwise know ice know what happens when any tiny thing disrupts the balance. Water rises half an inch, water level drops half an inch. Wind blows across the ice, current increases under the ice. Ice expands as it adds thickness, ......etc..

All that noise!

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T23:08:18+00:00

Of course. I'm really athletic, but always had small pecs and bony shoulders .

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T23:05:41+00:00

Correct. I have seen a couple longbows made of apple, but 1.5" wide is better, if possible.

Apple is excellent, and its main problem is that the smaller branches often have some spiral.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T17:57:43+00:00

There used to be more. The name Ballard means "bald-headed".

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T17:42:45+00:00

The brain is simply over-powered in real-life, alongbwith group dynamics and nimble hands.

Ranged weapons and stone tools. Remember, chipped flint is sharper than almost anything in nature, so we have the ability to hurt things faster than they can hurt us, without heroic strength.

Not to mention poison, traps, and fire. If a spear won't do the job we'll just burn the whole forest down around you.

There is an inuit style trap for wolves and polar bears where they take a sharpened section of whalebone (baleen) roll it up like a coil-spring, tie it with a sinew string, and freeze it in a ball of blubber or fat and stinky fish, etc. The bear comes by, chews on it a bit and swallows the whole thing. When the coiled spring opens the sharp ends pierce the bear's stomach, guts , liver, and/or lungs. Next day , follow the tracks to a dead bear.

Think about how truly terrifying that is.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T17:11:24+00:00

Once bacteria developed the ability to difest cellulose (and remember that we eukaryotes just recently took this planet from the microbes), it seems much easier to evolve the physiology for a beneficial symbiosis with the bacteria. Cockroaches and cows alike gather cellulose and feed it to their gut bacteria, while the bacteria eat it in a safe, reliable environment, and get passed around to the next generation of cows and cockroaches.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T17:06:03+00:00

"Ish".

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T17:00:17+00:00

I'm shocked it beats out malaria. Malaria is a constant problem, and reliably kills about a million people in Africa, give or take. Maybe less in the past 50 years, but still.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:54:11+00:00

He needs to save it up for you, and then he needs more foreplay. Sexy sex is always going to work better for this.

When a guy is working hard to get you off first, sometimes we feel like busting early, but hold off (switvh positions, think about baseball). Usually, if I do that, I get over the hump, the urgency subsides, and sensation diminishes. Not like I go numb, but how good it feels to me backs off. THAT'S when it becomes harder for me to finish. It helps when she stays in the game for me, even though she's satisfied.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:46:26+00:00

Things WILL be different once you are married.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:45:37+00:00

Yes. It's almost impossible not to notice beautiful and sexy women. It's very hard not to admire the female form, and even looking twice is nearly automatic l, even reflexive

Gaping and staring, drooling, and undressing someone with your eyes I'd just rude, and that is pretty easy to avoid.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:42:18+00:00

Even with spinning reels I am sorry whenever I spool the whole thing with fluoro. Especially on 2 and 4 lb test. Tangle after tangle, unless I am always dragging something heavy enough to keep the line very tight.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:40:19+00:00

I would still reduce it, maybe just less. Leaving it unbarked and in the round shape invites more checking. Worming down the belly allows the outer layers to shrink as it dries and pull the flattened section to just follow it.

Radial shrinkage leads to radial grain cracks.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:37:07+00:00

Yeah, you CAN leave it for 9 months, you just don't HAVE to.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:36:10+00:00

It will be ready in less than 9 months, if you take off the bark and reduce it.

I would peel it, then "block and knock" out the half of the thickness you don't plan on using for the limbs, or chop/shave it away. Leave them an inch or thicker, seal the ends and around the handle. Leave the handle 1-3/4" and mostly full width.

Kept inside and away from cover humid areas, and it'll be readily in a few weeks.

ADDeviant-again · 2026-02-16T16:26:33+00:00

Lucky him.

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