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Before I say anything else I want to remind everyone that I have NO financial connection with Alaska Bowhunting Supply – nada, nothing, none whatsoever. That includes the “Ashby” broadhead. Having ‘no skin in the game’ I’m free to say what I’ve found about any product I’ve tested.
As for shafts, the Grizzly Stik has, by far, the lowest damage rate of any production carbon shaft tested, and a damage rate significantly lower than any other production synthetic shaft tested. Can one build up their own carbon shaft that’s more durable? Absolutely. An ordinary carbon shaft can be Internally Footed to produce a shaft more durable than the Grizzly Stik, but achieving that degree of durability requires a correctly designed IF, not just a section of smaller diameter shaft or a hardwood dowel shoved into the shaft. It’s a lot of effort and, by the time one has worked up a well-tuned arrow design, not an inexpensive operation in itself. Indeed, the first dozen will likely have cost well more than a dozen Grizzly Stiks, or the new Momentum shaft.
Both the Ashby and Nanook broadheads are designed for one purpose; top performance, sharpness, retained sharpness, durability and absolute reliability on every shot on every class of game hunted under all impact conditions. Are they worth the price? I’ll address that this way. While I was guiding with Gordon Cormack Safaris in Africa we had several Bowhunters but, as is the case for most PH’s, the bulk of our clients were rifle hunters. We always corresponded with our clients about what ammunition to bring, stressing the need for use of only the best premium bullets. Nonetheless, every year we would still have clients showing up for a hunt that was costing them many hundreds of dollars a day, often shooting top dollar rifles sporting high dollar scopes that cost more than many rifles, and then they would bring the cheapest ammunition they could buy at WalMart. As a consequence many of these folks wounded and/or lost game due to bullet failure. In Africa, you draw blood and you pay the trophy fee; more hundreds of dollars. What’s the point? It’s the bullet that kills, and minimizing the odds of having a failure requires the use of only the best bullet available. For the bowhunter it’s the entire arrow system that must perform. Just as for bullets, minimizing the odds of having an arrow failure requires the use of only the best arrow components.
Cost? Today most all hunting is an expensive proposition. Start adding up the total cost of everything you do to put yourself into position for that one shot, from the magazines you read to learn new tricks and tactics and the gas for truck for pre-season scouting to the licenses fees you pay and the clothes to keep you hidden and warm. In Texas, unless you’re a land owner, you’re probably paying for a hunting lease or a place to day hunt. If you’re after elk even the license will be expensive if you’re out of state. If you’re using a guide anywhere you’re spending big dollars. Bear, caribou or moose in Canada or Alaska? Break into the piggy bank, big time. Starting to see the point? The cost of using premium arrows and broadheads become a relatively small percentage of your total hunting expenses. Spread that cost over the life span of a premium arrow and it becomes a truly insignificant expense.
How long will do premium arrows last? I still have half of the very first dozen ‘premium arrows’ I ever bought. They are Sweetland Forgewood shafts, purchase in the early 1960’s. Compared to other arrows of the day they were truly expensive. At the time one could get a ‘complete kit’ to make a dozen POC arrow for $4.00, from Herter’s. That’s about 1/9th the cost of that dozen Sweetland Forgewoods shafts.
The Sweetlands originally wore Pearson Deadheads. In the mid-1980’s the broadhead was change to the 190 Grizzly. Back in my early days of bowhunting it was my custom to put dots on my arrows, between the fletching, for each animal killed with each individual arrow. Each of the remaining Forgewood’s from that first dozen wears at least 5 dots, and most have far more dots than that. Were the ‘premium’ Forgewoods worth the ‘extravagant price’ I paid for them? I think so.
As for bows I don’t consider myself a bow freak. To me the bow launches the arrow and then its job is completed. The bow I’ve taken the most animals with, just over 300, is a straight end longbow I built myself. Does that mean I don’t care how a bow shoots or how good its performance is? Not at all. I have many other bows; way too many; and I’ve gone through many bows that I no longer have. Some were pricy, and some of the ones I still have were not inexpensive, like my Border longbow, Border recurve with 2 sets of limbs, and Thunderbird T/D longbow. None of my Hill Longbows were exactly inexpensive. But today I’m looking more and more at the high-performance bows. Why? I’m getting older. I can no longer shoot many of the bows I’ve used in years past. The draw weight is becoming too much, but all is not lost.
Some of today’s modest draw-weight top-line, high performance longbows (which usually command a top dollar price) can produce the same (and sometimes greater) velocity with the same weight arrows as the much higher draw-weight longbows I once shot with ease. Is the cost of a bow my major consideration or is it the ability to continue launching arrows at a level of force that I’ve come to have total faith in as being “enough”, when used with the ‘premium’ arrow setups I prefer? No, cost it is not the overriding factor.
For the record I’m getting ready to try out a Carbon Nano. Will it be the bow I’m now looking for? I don’t yet know, but it is worth a try … and ABS will let you try before you buy, and they even pay the shipping. Does anyone else make an offer like that? Not that I know of. That tells me they have a lot of faith that you’re going to be impressed with the bow’s performance. Will the performance be impressive enough to make it worth the cost? Time will tell.
Don’t misread any of the above. I’m not saying that the equipment from ABS is the best in the world, nor am I saying it isn’t. I will say they make top quality products that have performed extremely well in the testing … and they ask a top price to go with it. On today’s market there are more great broadhead choices available than ever before … and there are also the worst broadhead choices ever available (at least in my lifetime). Today’s choices available in shafts is expansive and, just as for broadhead, some are great and some are not.
Equipment cost is a relative thing, and how personally valuable the particular equipment is to any individual depends on what he’s looking for and what he values most. If that Carbon Nano bow seems too expensive check out the price of the top line compound bow, fully set up. Which bow do you think will have the lowest ‘upkeep cost’ and which will still be giving the same great performance 30 years from now?
Whether any piece of equipment is worth the price asked depends on each person’s expectations, needs and aspirations. A high performing bow and a top performing arrow setup is expensive but having equipment that meets your every expectation, need and aspiration is priceless.
Ed