Current News

 Ashby Bowhunting Foundation Newsletter

December 2023

President’s Message

Rob Neilson with Cape Buffalo in Zambia

The Houston Safari Club Foundation Convention is slated for January 19-21, 2024. We will be in attendance and hope to see you there. While we have been working with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department putting on detailed workshops for years, our message has evolved to an improved and simplified Plan A/Plan B regarding hunting arrows. While this has been on our website for a while, we will be putting on a workshop slated for 12:00 noon on Saturday, January 20 at the convention, rolling out this simplified message to the public for the first time. Everyone operates with Plan B every day, they just don’t think about it, i.e., spare tire for your car, first aid kit in your hunting pack. The feedback we have had so far has been exceptional and it helps all bowhunters see through marketing haze from the countless “promotional hunters” whose sole agenda is to sell a product. We have already seen a manufacturer incorporate our Plan B statement into their marketing campaign which is fine, as being copied is the ultimate compliment. Merry Christmas and Happy 2024 to everyone.

Good hunting and as always, have a nice day.

Rob Neilson

Donations​

The Ashby Bowhunting Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) education and research organization. 100% of your donation will go to the Missions of Ashby Bowhunting Foundation. No salaries are paid by the Foundation. We realize there are many worthwhile organizations out there, and greatly appreciate your consideration and support.

Newsletter Tip

You will hear us talking about “ABI”, which simply stands for Arrow, Bow, Indian. All three must be in tune and that requires you to practice maintaining muscle memory for consistency and accuracy which is part of Plan A before you ever step foot in the hunting woods.

Events

  • 2024 Texas Hog Hunt - Fundraiser for the General Operating Fund is underway and two existing or new donors will be selected on January 15, 2024 to participate in a hog hunt with Troy Fowler and Rob Neilson in the spring of 2024.

2024 Texas Hog Hunt - Two donors will be selected

I had been failing at killing big pigs with my bow and had tried every broadhead on planet earth. My change to single-bevel broadheads and heavy arrows was a game-changer! Troy Fowler

Ashby Bowhunting Foundation is offering two hunters an opportunity for a two-day hog hunt in Texas with Troy Fowler, aka Ranch Fairy on YouTube, and Rob Neilson, AIC of Ashby Bowhunting Foundation. This hunt will take place near Columbus, Texas on a private ranch in early 2024 – dates and schedules to be determined. All meals, lodging on ranch, stands with pre-baiting are part of the hunt. Donors who participate in the fundraising for the Ashby Bowhunting Foundation General Fund are eligible.

More information

From the Field

Rugged Country - Be Prepared for Backcountry Emergencies!

Jim Shadid was enjoying a day scouting for elk north of Durango, Colorado back on September 3, 2023. According to relatives, he had no pack and no route or itinerary filed with friends or family. On September 11, 2023 this update was posted: 

After 8 days of tireless searching in the vast and dense San Juan Mountains via multiple advanced rescue helicopters, drones, horses, highly trained K9 dogs, many many volunteer hikers, motorcycles, ATVs and many prayers, La Plata county SAR will cease the daily Search and Rescue operations to find our Papa who went missing in the mountains on Sunday, September 3rd after what was supposed to be a short period of scouting for elk. There have been very few clues as to his whereabouts and what happened remains a mystery.

He still hasn’t been found. Thousands of man hours were spent looking for him in very difficult terrain. The entire search could have been avoided if Jim had used a satellite messenger with the tracking turned on. His location, down to a ten foot circle, would have been known and the search team would have reached him on September 3 or September 4. They would have spent all their time reaching him rather than searching for him. That may have saved his life. 

I’ve been using a SPOT satellite messenger for many years. The initial cost of the SPOT GEN 4 unit is currently $100 and the monthly fee is $11.95. This is the most cost effective satellite messenger that I’ve used and I’ve found it to be reliable more than 99% of the time. Others prefer the Garmin InReach product. It is more expensive initially as well as monthly. I’m sharing what has worked well for me with thousands of hours in the field.

I’ve spent the last twenty years filming and studying mountain lions weekly in really remote, wild, and difficult terrain. Nobody is going to walk by me if I run into trouble. Most hunters would say the same thing, especially the DIY hunters on public land. We owe it to ourselves, family and friends to share a route, itinerary and use the tracking feature of a satellite messenger to transmit our location on a regular basis. 

Why go through this effort and expense? Hypothermia is the number one killer in the backcountry. More than 80% of backcountry deaths are directly tied to hypothermia, something that is completely preventable. If your location is known, and you need assistance, the time it takes for help to arrive could easily mean the difference between life and death. To prevent hypothermia you’ll need proper clothing and I highly recommend an SOL Bivvy XL. It is smaller than a pop can and weighs just 6.6 ounces. I’ve slept in one down to 15 degrees F and stayed completely dry and warm. I’ve also used it several times for shelter during a thunderstorm. It kept my pack, all of my clothes and boots and my dog dry.


This is the process I go through for every backcountry adventure, whether it be hunting, fishing or filming mountain lions:

  1. Turn the SPOT unit on in my driveway and press the I’m Okay button AND turn the Tracking on. The tracking stays on until I return home. 

  2. When I arrive at the location where I’m leaving my vehicle, I press the I’m Okay button again. My two emergency contacts know I’m starting to navigate by foot at that point. The tracking continues to update my location every five minutes.

  3. When I return to my vehicle I use a custom message: David is back at his vehicle and driving home. If an emergency occurs past this point, they know it is vehicle related. 

  4. When I’m back in my driveway I send another I’m Okay message and send a text to my emergency contacts that I’m back home. 

  5. My emergency contacts respond with one word: Confirmed. At that point the adventure is complete. 

Like a pilot using a checklist, I do this every time I’m headed into the backcountry, whether for an hour, half a day, full day or multi-day trip. If Search and Rescue gets a call, they simply need to reach me rather than wasting time looking for me. For more information, check out the Ten Essentials Plus system I’ve been refining since 1971.

David Neils

Doc’s Ramblings

Dr. Ed Ashby and an Asiatic Buffalo taken with a prototype Ashby broadhead

Now, I want to pass along my personal thanks to each of you who have donated to ABF, and an exceptional thank you goes out to our Ashby 100 members and our monthly donors. Though the Board members and I continue to be the major donors to ABF, your support has been, and continues to be, crucial to keeping ABF’s doors open.

ABF’s President, Rob Neilson, has gone above and beyond, spending countless hours filling numerous slots in ABF’s daily operational needs. Currently, all of ABF’s operation is conducted by the Board members (all non-paid volunteers) and the donated services of Rebecca Wright. The day will soon come when ABF will farm out all those 'back office' needs to paid consultants. Rob and the Board members can then devote more time to expanding ABF's planned testing projects (many of which are all set to go), increasing our Texas Parks and Wildlife partnership participation, and start reaching out to additional States’ wildlife organizations. 

I am amazed at what ABF has accomplished and its impact. Today, I see more discussion between individual bowhunters about using proper equipment, restricting their shots to ethical shooting ranges and shot angles, and using Plan B arrows, on social media than I ever expected to see in my lifetime. I even see discussions of the skip-angle and angle-of-attack of broadheads, broadhead mechanical advantage, arrow FOC, bare-shaft tuning, the benefits of single-bevel broadheads, tissue resistance to penetration, and the importance of achieving a pass-through shot. Discussions like that were unheard of just a couple of decades ago.

Once ABF gets a reliable, continuous source of funding sufficient to meet our daily operational needs, our impact on expanding hunter education, ethical hunting practices, and reduced wound/loss rate will be substantial. We can each be proud of ABF’s accomplishments to date, and none of it would be possible without you; each of you are The Man in the Arena.

The Man in the Arena, Theodore Roosevelt

April 23, 1910

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”