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Paul — I see that you live in WA State, so you have elk. Do you plan to hunt elk with this set-up? I’d say you are marginally in business for deer, so long as you don’t hit heavy bone or encounter another penetration-limiting situation. But for elk you short of the mark. First you want to get the minimal heavy-bone penetrating arrow weight of 650, then worry about FOC. But aha! as you’re increasing overall arrow weight, by adding it mostly up front you get higher FOC as well as greater weight, a no-loss deal. I’d normally say that you can’t get EFOC, 20%+, with POC. But here is where shooting short arrows can help, insofar as you may be able to find some POC shafts at your draw length that have sufficient spine to handle the weight. If you can afford a 3-pack of 225 Tuffheads I think it would be money well spent, assuming you also can afford more shafts if what you have don’t show enuf spine. And if you want to stick with wood and need to buy new shafts, I recommend Sitka spruce or Doug fir, esp. the former, as vastly superior to good old POC when it comes to spine and weight. Although draw lengths differ by 6 inches, you are I are shooting about the same draw weight; all three of my bows are 52-53#. My deer arrows are about 700 grains with 25% more or less FOC. My elk arrows are 790 with 26+ FOC. And I have no problems with high trajectory, dropping arrows, or accuracy. Both, I should mention, are carbons. And with Tuffheads they go through elk like warm butter. With woodies the best I’ve been able to get so far is 21+ with Sitka spruce and 300-grain Tuffheads. Just some stuff to think about, though I realize that your situation and mine, and our needs, likely vary. It’s all fun. Dave
in reply to: A little shooting On an April Afternoon! #49841Ahh, you Banana Belt Michigan guys! Green leaves all around, wearing shorts. Here this weekend we had blizzard conditions and night lows in the teens. You might as well be living in the Caribbean! :P:D
in reply to: ATVs on public lands #44210Troy – I know from previous discussions here, and in person, that it’s really difficult for folks not from the West to understand the magnitude of the problem. Anyone who owns hunting property can magnify their ATV trespassing, littering, and vandalism problems by several thousand and get some idea of it. The only saitsfaction I get from having motors run me out of all my favorite places in recent years is knowing that hunting success rate among ATV hunters is just a fraction of what it is for folks who hunt traditionally, that is via muscle power. And they will grow weak and ill and die younger from lack of exercise and exhaust fume inhalation. It is real, and it is serious and a big part of the problem is the legal loophole that doesn’t require visible ID plates on ATVs. Put on a helmet with dark face shield and nobody can ID you. That’s the big push now–visible ID plates on the front and back of all OHVs so that the bad guys can be brought to justice. With turkey season opening this weekend I know absolutely that I will have hunts messed up by people sitting down on motors and riding where they shouldn’t be, so it’s much on my mind. Tough enough to get a high-odds shot at a turkey with a longbow. Impossible with jerks running around everywhere on motors, stopping long enough to call, then motoring off to keep doing the same every few hundred yards.
in reply to: Bow Building 101 – Osage Selfbow Part 1 #44072In several dozen wood bows I built, not a one came out “just so” and was a keeper. So I gave up at least for now. But Clay knows what he’s doing and I have the proof–a very lovely snakey Osage selfbow (one he built in a previous build-along here) and I never thought wood could be so good. While it’s a bit stiffer drawing than my Shrew, it doesn’t stack, no hand shock, quiet, accurate, and fast for wood. I will definitely kill an elk with it one of these days. Thanks for sharing your skill and experience, Clay. Dave
Wolf, I’m sure someone else will come on who can help you with the numbers, which I cannot as I simply use the chart too. I’m think that aside from the chart there’s also a formula somewhere in the Ashby Library. In any event, the FOC numbers are merely a reference, a handy reference but have no direct bearing on the physical world. That is, you can go ahead and tune your arrows with as much weight on the point as possible without losing perfect arrow flight. And there you are. The shorter the arrow, aka lever arm, the tougher it is to get good foc. So if and when you buy new arrows you might consider leaving them a little longer for this reason. I now leave mine 1.5″ long and 2″ or even 3″ won’t hurt accuracy so long as the extended tips don’t mess up your instinctive sight picture. Best luck and enjoy the challenge. Dave
in reply to: It's getting CLOSE! #41897Finally saw a local turkey, about an hour ago and less than 300 yards from the cabin: a lone turkey. It’s a modest start but a start nonetheless. Onward then, into the fog …
in reply to: oak shafts #41404I have some compressed to 21/64 that I killed two elk with (same shaft in fact) years ago, using 125 gr. heads. For heavy weight and toughness they are great. But that weight works against FOC (which I didn’t know about back then) and I found them very difficult to keep straight so quit using them. Perhaps thicker shafts would stay straighter but there is such a thing as too much weight. Today I prefer light shafts and heavy points to get the necessary weight.
in reply to: Chek-Mate strings. #36344in reply to: Thanks, Dave! #36340Wayne and other friends, I am not leaving the site, which is the only hunting site that holds any interest for me. I’m merely stepping down as moderator because it was getting to be “too much.” I’ll still be lurking around to upset the apple cart with my rants and rank opinions, but now as a player rather than a coach. Thanks again to everyone for your well-wishes, as opposed to wishing I’d fall down a well. 😛 Cheers, dave
in reply to: Chek-Mate strings. #35112I tried an SBD string on my Shrew and was so pleased I ordered SBDs for all my bows–including a 1968 Bear K-Mag and an Osage selfbow — with backups, and tossed all the others. Best-made strings I’ve ever used, minimal stretch, and lots of extras like color choices, installed silencers, and wrapped ends for recurves. Definitely worth trying, but it takes a couple weeks to get one as all are made custom and they don’t keep stock on hand. Like so many other small trad businesses, the service is personal and sincere. Hard to find fault of any sort with these folks.
in reply to: ASAT CAMO ANYONE? #35107I like the larger pattern. So many more intricate patterns just blend together at a distance. However, it’s far too light for hunting where and how I hunt. Reminds me of urban camo. A good compromise is the old military camo pattern which also has bigger pattern that resists blending together but is darker. But incrasingly I wear only plaid tops and dark solid color bottoms and haven’t been caught yet. I put all commercial camo in the category of “It works great but is absolutely unnecessary.” Just an opinion …
in reply to: binoculars vs spotting scope #34235Another vote for binos … but what size? I own some large Zeiss-Jenna 8x that have excellent low-light vision, but rarely carry them hunting because they’re so big and heavy. I have a great 15-45x Bausch & Lomb scope and never carry it, even when hunting pronghorn. Not to say there aren’t uses for these powerful optics — my wife and I use them a lot for watching wildlife from a distance. And all the trophy hunters we see in videos like them for hero props :P. But for me, the only optics I feel are essential to trad bowhunting are high-quality shirt-pocket minis. While you can get these in higher magnification, they tend to be shakey visually, and have poor low-light vision. I love my Zeiss 6x minis and almost never wish I had more with me. Lots of choices, but whatever you decide on get the best you can afford to save eye strain. I’ve always bought the cheapest of most everything, of necessity. But not optics.
in reply to: Adhesive for tip inserts/carbon #33153What Jason said. I use point glue for the inserts, and hot-melt for screw-in adapters. In both cases, esp. with the points and adapters, it’s critical to clean both parts before gluing, with rubbing alcohol or acetone (use a q-tip to get down inside the shafts and points). Vodka would probably work (for cleaner, not glue) but I don’t keep the stuff around. 😛
in reply to: Looking for a good broad head #32724Mike — Fletcher (Rick Stillman) of The Feathered Shaft is making these up for me. Shafts are single-tapered 23/64 Sitka spruce, fletched with 4×3″ (not A&A). I used test shafts to determine the proper spine for my 53# Shrew at 85# for the 300 Tuffhead. In order to keep the weight down to not much over 700 grains total, it took a while for Rick to collect a batch of shafts with low weight and the required spine, and even then he got only 9. It appears FOC will be 20-21%, which may be about the highest possible with wood and not that shabby. The whole battle is to find wood with high enough spine without killer weight. If these shafts perform as expected (based on shooting test arrows), I’ll put in a standing order with Rick for more of the same, as he’s able to collect them. I’m thinking, without any real knowledge, that perhaps a new generation of compressed shafts could be the answer to higher spine without excess weight, for greater FOC. Dave
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