Pennsylvania Game News - May 2019 - 59

ging an arrow.

ALL-DAY COMFORT

Workers who spend all day in one
spot on a hard surface know the benefit
of having a padded mat beneath them.
The mat eases wear and tear on your feet,
knees and back.
Bowhunters who spend long hours in a
tree stand can experience the same pains
because they're confined to a hard metal
tree-stand platform that also can get cold,
making long sits uncomfortable.
So, add a padded mat. Search for a
material called "rolled rubber" that you
can find online or in many hardware
stores. Look for quarter-inch thick mats
for the best protection, without adding a
ton of weight to your stand.
Cut a section of mat to fit your stand's
platform and secure it with zip ties. You
can add it to a climbing or a hang-on stand
for maximum comfort.
Besides providing relief, and keeping
the cold from radiating into your feet, the
mat also makes your movements quieter.
No more squeaking boots or crunching
ice.

FEATHER THE STORM

Here's an oldie but goodie. Plastic
vanes arguably are the most common
fletchings bowhunters use today. They're
waterproof, so you don't have to think
about them, regardless of the weather.
But there was a time when feather
fletchings were the norm. And some bowhunters - especially traditional bowhunters - still like the look and performance
of natural turkey feathers on their arrows.
The problem with natural feathers is
they don't perform well in wet weather.
The water gets into the feather quills and
they fold flat at the shot, which can greatly
affect accuracy.
MAY 2019

Thirty years ago, bowhunters came
up with all kinds of tricks to protect their
feathers in the rain, including wrapping
plastic sandwich bags around their arrows
as they sat in a quiver.
But even better than that is using
hairspray.
Find some unscented hairspray and
coat your feathers liberally before a rainyday hunt. Then as the rain falls, watch that
water bead up on your feathers, rather than
soak into the quills.
Hairspray should protect your fletchings for a couple of hours in drizzle or
light rain.

LUBE WITH WAX

It happens every winter. You've been
cooped up for several weeks after hunting
season has ended and the weather outside
is downright inhospitable. Then, there's
a slight break in the cold and it feels like
the perfect day to head outside to fling
some arrows.
Well, the weather might be a bit nicer,
but it's still winter.
Your backyard, 3-D archery target is
probably pretty stiff, and it's sure to hold
tight the arrows shot into it. And if your
hands are cold, your arrows are going to
be slick.
Slick arrows are tough to pull out
of a stiff foam target. Archery industry
manufacturers know about this problem,
and they offer arrow lube specifically to
deal with it.
Most of us don't carry around bottles
of arrow lube, but we do have bowstring
wax somewhere in the toolbox. If you
don't, get some. You use bowstring wax
to make sure your string doesn't dry out.
But if you take that string wax and rub
it about a quarter of the way up the point
end of your arrows, you'll have just lubed
your arrows, making them a snap to pull
59

Pennsylvania Game News - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - May 2019