Re-Calibration Time

So I was out at Gator Bowmen with a strange impulse to mess around with the Equalizer today. Some random urge kicked in and I grabbed the compound, well, semi-random. I had been wanting to test the arrows I got from a friend of mine (CX-150, a narrow shaft vs CXL-150, a thicker shaft) and to see how significant of a difference there was between the Sweet Spot 4 release (back-tension) and the Scott Saber-Tooth release (caliper). I realized that I was out of the CX-150 shafts so it just turned into a comparison between releases at different distances.

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference between the two releases.
Alternative Hypothesis: There is a significant difference between the two releases.

Conclusion: There is. The Sweet Spot 4 anchors a bit better on me and even though the groups aren't as tight as the ones on the Saber-Tooth. In theory, a back-tension release should produce tighter groups, but when the release goes off whenever it wants, sometimes it goes off right when I don't want it to like when I'm trying to let-down or when a mosquito bites me and I twitch involuntarily. The Saber-Tooth caliper is really hard on the wrist and it's harder for me to anchor properly, but it goes off when I want it to go off. Only problem is that the string also moves from its usual place on my face (on the side of my nose) to in front of my nose. Many people do use the tip of their nose as a "draw check" on a compound. My problem is that I'm Asian and I don't have the longer noses that your typical Southern compound shooter has, but then again, there's less of a chance of me doing anything embarrassing to myself :)

One of My Big Aspirations

Here's a picture that's fixin' to go onto a shirt that I won at the last Long Hammock shoot when I had what must've been the shot of my day when I somehow struck the plastic easter egg without penetrating it. Now I can travel in style with a picture of the first deer I ever killed!


Oh there's also a couple of pictures from Conclave a few weeks ago, courtesy of Dr. K. There really should be a grad student version of Conclave! Maybe I should use what remains of my FGSO powers to create such an event. Heck, if overloaded undergrads can pull this off, why not overloaded grad students? Granted, undergrad forester culture is a lot more exciting than graduate culture here and it's a lot harder to find graduate students who appreciate a bit of rough 'n' tumble adventure! Is it me, or do my fellow graduate students seem to be much more at home at a liberal arts college than in the wilderness with a bunch of hunters?

How the Frequency???

So on Sunday, I was at a mostly traditional shoot at Long Hammock, which is out in Oxford, FL (northern end of Sumter county, just slightly south of Marion County) and I had what must've been one of the weirdest shots I ever took. I was standing about a chain (22 yards) from the target and took a shot and hit the plastic easter egg that was hanging on the target (see diagram below). Instead of penetrating the egg or deflecting to the side and hitting somewhere else on the target, my arrow flips end over end straight up and over the target. The easter egg (attached by fishing line tied to a piece of Serenoa repens stem serving as a stake on the other side of the target) also flies straight up and goes behind the target, at least the top half (attached to the string) does. The bottom half falls off, revealing some chalk and a prize for me :)

If this had been something like a 30 lb children's fiberglass bow with kiddie arrows with the rounded crimped-on points from 40 yards, I could see this happening because the shooter would have to lob the arrow into the target... But this is from a 56 lb @ 28" static-tip hybrid bow with a fairly heavy arrow with a sharp field point, a fairly strong front-of-center... and at a fairly short distance and a very straight trajectory. Any ideas what might've happened? There's several baffled archers (including a few with a relatively solid physics background compared to your typical Long Hammock shooter) that are trying to figure this out!

BEYOND Lethally Boring

I just thought of a new rating for my classes -- BLB for "Beyond Lethally Boring". There's not too much else to say about this besides the fact that my land tenure class seems to have stooped to even greater lows in terms of making me fantasize about being locked up in a sub-basement for days on end with a soldering kit, a printed circuit board, and 8086 assembly programming. This is the kind of boredom in the class where I can't even motivate myself to do something more productive (like going to sleep) because all the life is being sucked out of me just to make sure I pass this class so I don't have to take it again. It's the kind of suckiness in the class that leaves me feeling like a body looking for its spirit and in need of a blow-torch and a huge keg of propane to put some fire back into me. Only a few really bad books and movies reach these depths of hell for me. It literally took me doodling molecules of some of my favorite pesticides or their ingredients to bring me back from the dead and thinking about cool stuff like response surfaces in estimating stand volume, how to determine confidence intervals for strip cruise data, different techniques to scale up CO2 and evapotranspiration flux models while still remaining relatively parsimonious, and how to be an even deadlier archer under all light conditions just to keep me from going back to the Dry Lands.

I did a bit of practice for upcoming IKAC/Royal Rounds by going through the field range at Gator Bowmen. I had left campus a bit early to give myself a breather between land tenure (aka the suckiest class I ever took at UF) and the GSC meeting earlier tonight so I thought a bit of shooting would improve my pretty frayed nerves. I pretty much alternated between shooting 4 and 6 arrows at each target -- field standard is 4 arrows per target, IKAC and Royal Rounds are 6 per target during the non-timed rounds. I tended to take 6 shots on the longer (25+ yards) shots and 4 on the shorter targets. All I can say is, I'm pretty impressed with how well I can shoot Tehanu!

Grouping at 30 Yards

Now if I can only do this more consistently and at longer distances too... or better yet, shrink my groups even more!

Brim Fishin'

Here's a few of the highlights from this weekend, including bonding with Tehanu (the Chek-Mate Longhorn I've been waiting ages for), getting my hands on my first fishing pole and catching a handful of brim. As always, click on the title for the full barrage of pictures!

More later when my brain is actually functioning!

The Long Awaited Arrival: Tehanu

She's finally arrived after all this waiting! It's going to take a while to get her tuned up as the string stretches and I get used to this set-back grip after shooting handle-forward for a long time, but things are looking reasonably good. I'm getting a lot of nock-high flight and it looks like my best candidate for an arrow is a full-length Gold Tip 3555 Hunter arrow, although that may change as I get used to her quirks. Here's some stats on the new member of my family:
Make/Model: Chek-Mate Longhorn
Draw weight: 47 lbs @ 25"
Length: 58"
Woods: Pacific Yew limbs, Greybark Actionwood core, Chechen & Bolivian Rosewood riser
Name: Tehanu (after one of my favorite characters in Ursula LeGuinn's Earthsea books, this is one fiery little bow although I'm kinda relieved that I didn't have to go to 5575 Gold Tips. Certainly a fast one though, even if she's not shooting a stiff of a spine as some of my other bows for that weight.)

Long Hammock and Paynes Prairie

I think the pictures tell the story very well! I'm having trouble UL'ing the pictures so you'll just have to click on the title to see them this time!

New Member of the Family et al

Big News
I thought I'd just throw a heads-up that my family is fixin' to grow. More details as things unfold, including pictures. I'm more excited than a caffeine'd-up Pomeranian that's been let loose in the kitchen with a roast chicken (cooled to a safe eating temperature, of course) and mirrors within reach!

Writings
Speaking of Pomeranians, I really should do that little blurb on how I learned a lot about Southern culture from a little Pomeranian puppy. Maybe this spring break after I finish up giving my regression lectures and grading forest mensuration papers!

As far as other writings go, I'm still stuck, again with all the other stuff I've gotten myself involved in. Maybe though something will come up this spring break. I'm watching Tinuvion learn how to stop gap-shooting and to embrace his feral roots, feeling Imladrien's struggle with both a back-tension release and her conflicting urges of loyalty/honor and living for the moment, and pondering over Oroszlan's debate with himself about his identity even as he becomes more adept with manipulating wind and fire.

In my other projects, I'm also wondering how far is too far when it comes to parakeet vs human anatomy/physiology and random toilet humor and whether Tindariel's administering far too much Frontier Justice to help her best friend, Killer Parakeet. Then there's moments where I walk alongside a crafty doppelganger mercenary with an encyclopedia-like mind and a strange fascination with both crime-lords, knights, and anyone who's just power-crazed. And then there's the ambitious priestess who wants to be more than the High Priestess of the Eternal Huntress, but rather the Eternal Huntress herself. Will she ever reach her dreams or will someone or something cut her down?

Blackhawk Vapor 2000

I'm in the process of experimenting with some new arrows I got, some Blackhawk Vapor Hunter 2000, which are spined for 35-45 lbs. So far, from bare-shafting in my apartment, it looks like the uncut shaft with a 100 grain point seems to be doing reasonably well (ie, flight is fairly straight aside from some porpoising with a bias towards nock-high). I tried the 125 and 145 grain points and I kept going tail-left, indicating that the arrows were shooting weak. I actually had some trouble remembering which went tail-left and tail-right so I had to experiment with a combination that I knew was not going to work very well -- namely the 30 lb recurve with a bare shaft that I knew spined really well for the River's Edge Recurve I seem to have gotten rather fond of the last few months. It flew tail severely to the right and I confirmed it with a few replicates and taking my 40 lb longbow and putting that through. It flew idiotically tail-right so I knew tail-left meant that the arrow was spining weak. I actually like my arrows to spine slightly weak after realizing that dead-on spining or slightly stiff spining actually hurts me in competition. Of course, things are very likely to change once I get the ratty Bear-hair rest and strike-plate off my little Chek-Mate and replace it with a nicer rest and probably readjust the the nock-set. That might also help with the problem of my arrows constantly flying nock-high because the Bear-hair rest does elevate the arrow quite a bit. I can't wait for some non-windy, non-stormy weather days where I'm not going to be stuck in front of a computer for too many hours a day! I still have to fletch the rest of the shafts and put in inserts but I'm holding off on doing so until I get a good bare-shaft tuning after changing out that ratty rest.

TBoF 2008 Highlights

I broke my personal record (330/600) and finally broke 400/600 points, putting me in 5th place in women's traditional (any type of arrow, recurve or longbow). Here's some photographic highlights of the shoot. The title will take you to the Webshots site and clicking on this will take you to the full-quality site.

No Pitchforks and Torches Yet

I survived giving my first official Forest Mensuration lecture. It was a lot of fun giving a nice little statistics review -- nothing too fancy, just measures of central tendency and dispersion. I tried to balance between chalkboard work and Powerpoint presentations to keep everyone as alert and interested as possible early in the morning. I certainly had to keep an elixir of courage with me -- a bit of iced coffee -- to keep me going, although I think my movements may've made a few of my students feel a bit dizzy. I still have a few more lectures to give on confidence intervals, calculating required sample sizes, and basic linear regressions. It's definitely a whole lot of work doing this but it's a refreshing blast of air for me, especially with that rated LB class sitting on me like a moldy sack of potatoes.

One of the most rewarding moments was an e-mail from a student of mine. She thanked me for actually going through how to calculate standard deviation by hand and explaining the different parts of the equation. I guess some of the students do have pulses at 0830 hrs!

Cinco y media en la tarde...

Ok, so the title might not be the clearest of references but I'm listening to the Moenia cover (on their StereoHits CD... which by the way is a great CD, it's basically a cover CD!) of "Tren al Sur" by Los Prisioneros and for some reason that song made me think of the little trip we took out in Bushnell :)

Here's a few of the photographic highlights over the weekend but all of the pictures I took are in one of two places: 3D Circuit and Bushnell


A fine Robin Hood shot by one of our traditional archers. I think he would've been a lot happier if he had more arrows on hand!


Weird little compound bow that really caught everyone's eye(s)


Something about archers in trees...



I'm shooting a nice little Morrison Cheyenne recurve. It's just too pretty of a bow to not pose with!


Nothing like a nice ride on an airboat!


Even better -- some good, clean fun with my fellow archers!


And down the trail we go. Will we find any hogs, turkeys or squirrels for the pot?

X Marks the Spot

A rather eXciting shot after a day of shooting unusually badly (ie, averaging less than 16 points per target). Got this one at about one chain (22 yards). I definitely need to shrink my confidence intervals and get my shots calibrated before the 3D Circuit shoot and TBoF Spring Championships!

I Swear, I'll Get A Haircut...

If I can ever find somewhere I can step into without feeling my lungs wanting to collapse from toxic cosmetic stenches and not have to wait half a century amidst lethal fumes and utter idiocy. For today though, I had a blast practicing up on my rifle skills in hopes of taking out hogs and squirrels sometime this spring. I still prefer the bow, but never hurts to have a bit of firearm training!

Results of Too Much All-Bran Extra Fiber

I think the pictures (courtesy of another shooter at Gator Bowmen who had the misfortune of being on the range with me) explain it all. Maybe having that bowl of All-Bran Extra Fiber with sugar-free, minimal fat cappuccino flavored soymilk for lunch wasn't such a smart idea. Suffice to say I felt sorry for anyone who had to stand behind me because of all the stilled, heightened (to 9th level from 2nd level), maximized, enlarged Stinking Cloud (or possibly Cloudkill raised to 9th level judging from the lack of bugs around me) spells I was casting automatically.

Odds and Ends

Not too shabby for shooting at 45 yards... think I'm still shooting a bit stiff though, may need 145 grain points or get longer shafts. I don't feel too inclined to go back to 1816 -- it's a whole lot more economical to try and stay with one size (1916) as much as I can.


Chocolate With a Kick (aka Quasi-Aztec Style Hot Cocoa)
So recently I haven't been able to enjoy real chocolate very much. On the up-shot, my gut is finally starting to look less like a puffer-fish (darn, if only I can get my butt to also fit comfortably on my bike seat... still in danger of accidentally engulfing it if I'm not careful), but I'm still a long way from my goal of seeing my toes. Anyway, I've acquired a taste for a slightly exotic chocolate drink that one of my colleagues got me hooked on. Here's my recipe for it to make sure it doesn't make me grow like an exponential function. This'll make one eight ounce serving.

-- 1 tbsp unsweetened, un-dutched cocoa powder (more flavor and character... and it even adds a bit of much-needed fiber to my system)
-- 1 tsp (sugar-free) vanilla extract
-- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-- 1/4 tsp chili powder (pure chili pepper)
-- 4-5 packets of Splenda (possibly more, depending on how sweet you like the chocolate)
-- 8 oz mug of H2O

Mix dry ingredients together in mug. Pour hot water slowly into mug, stirring to avoid clumping and add vanilla extract.

The chili powder adds a very pleasant touch to the hot chocolate -- the heat complements the sweetness very well. Milk adds some richness to this recipe and actually tastes a bit better, but the water makes it a whole lot more compatible with my nutritional needs. I've yet to try it with soy milk, but I don't think I have the courage or the digestive fortitude to attempt that yet... if ever.

The Dunheasa Epic Crawls Ever So Slightly

I've still hardly made any progress on any of my non-academic writing, but I thought I'd share a small tidbit of the current story I'm working on, tentatively titled Imladrien and Tinuvion. I'm still sitting in the woods with our fearless little post-doc, wondering what on earth is going to happen next ;) Just a little reminder, this is the third "big" story in the Dunheasa series, the first two being Journey to Dunheasa and Telcontar Restored. There's a second untitled story on the burner as well, which I won't reveal much beyond the return of some of the Knight-Errants from Journey to Dunheasa. I'm not sure which one I'll finish first but I suspect that this untitled story will be a lot easier to complete.

Anyway, enjoy the tidbit of Imladrien and Tinuvion. The piece I put up for amusement (and ideas) is basically bits and pieces of compound bow training in the woods with an expert compound bow shooter and bow mechanic. For some reason, I keep thinking that the song "Lado Animal" by Moenia would be the perfect soundtrack for that segment -- the lyrics certainly have a bit of appropriateness but there's something else about that song that just seems to fit it in my mind.

Wish me luck surviving the process of writing a (mock) grant proposal, keeping in an LB rated class, and generally staying in one piece! And maybe someday Imladrien and Tinuvion and the further (mis)adventures of some of the Knight-Errants will finally surface from the depths of my imagination...

Did Someone Breed my Bows?

Or did my friend just put 4 of his bows on my bow rack?

All I can say is... those Black Widows are kinda growing on me a bit, especially the little greybark PSR on the bottom with the longbow riser on it. Apparently my longbow shooting of late has been throwing off my recurve shooting pretty badly by introducing some strange torquing that's caused my arrows to kick up and fly nock-low. Odd and very distressing. I need to spend more time practicing and less time sitting in or preparing for classes rated LB.