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in reply to: First EFOC Deer Down #44356
ralphs wrote: After non-recovery of my first hit on a buck with the trad bow,(a little high in the kill zone) I’ve had to rethink my entire arrow setup. I’ve read much of the Doc’s studies and am convinced that low FOC(12.30%) was the major factor in not recovering my buck. Had I read the Doc’s studies before… I beleive my experience would be different. I’m shooting 50# with a 29″ draw and 31″ arrow and a 150 gr Woodsman. I’ll experiment by adding a 50 or 100 gr insert.Total arrow weight will be 535 gr or 585 gr. My calculations (estimated) show I should get close to or exceed 20% FOC. I know that arrow flight is really important and from what I read this should not be too much of an issue with a 5″ flecthing Any suggestions??? Learning everyday and appreciate any help.
My first suggestion would be to bareshaft tune your setup. If you take a well tuned arrow and add 50-100 grains up front, you no longer have a well tuned arrow. Fletching should do two things: overpower the steering tendency of the broadhead and compensate for minor inconsistencies in shooting. It should never be used cover up incorrectly tuned hunting arrows.
I wouldn’t consider your current FOC low. The standard rule of thumb for decades has been 10-15% for hunting arrows. It’s worked fine for generations, and biologically speaking, the animals we hunt haven’t changed. My own hunting arrows are around 13% (plus or minus a fraction) and I’ve had no problem getting pass throughs on everything from midwestern whitetails to bull moose.
But in the end, confidence is key. When you’re getting ready to drop the string on an animal, doubting your setup is a bad thing. If a different arrow configuration (being well tuned, of course) is going to alleviate doubts about your equipment afield, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
in reply to: Here's my turkey #43355Congrats. Taking a fall turkey with archery gear is no easy task.
in reply to: pop-up ground blinds #37921As much as I dislike spending extra for the logo of some hunting show (or celebrity for that matter), I ended up buying an Ameristep Bone Collector blind this year. Cabela’s had them on sale for around $200. I’d have probably paid more for one without the logo. 🙂
I’ve been in a lot of blinds, and never really found one I liked. They either had zippers on the windows (which means you can’t open one and close the other if an animal takes an unexpected route) or the windows were so high that my upper limb would crowd the roof when I tried to shoot. Being 6’4″ with a 32″ draw, I need a lot of room in a blind.
I have to say, someone knew what they were doing when they designed this blind. It has no zippers on the windows, is constructed extremely well, has lots of loops for attaching brush, and has vertical shooting windows that make limb clearance even on very close shots a non issue.
in reply to: Stiff Side #37912Wood shafts (with the exception fo Hex shafts) are spined on the edge grain. When the arrow is nocked, the growth rings should run perpendicular to the bow string (i.e. string is up and down; grain runs left and right). If you nock your arrows and the grain runs every which way, I’d return them and buy from somewhere else, because the person fletching them didn’t have a clue what they were doing.
in reply to: Small Game Heads #35846For anything up to and including cottontails (ruffed grouse for birds), my favorite commercially made head is the Ace Hex Head. Anything larger than a cottontail gets a broadhead.
in reply to: Grunting 101 #35843BRUC wrote: Wondering what sound that the can is actually imitating?
Is it a doe in heat?
Bruce
That is correct.
in reply to: Shot Placement Question #34452David Petersen wrote: On the latter topic, one of the many reasons I rarely use tree stands is my discomfort with shooting down at a steep angle, which radically complicates gett a double-lung and/or heard shot. With a high entrance wound, no exit wound and the arrow still in, I’m surprised you got any blood trail at all. What was the shot angle on the buck re elevation?
According to his post, he was 14′ up and the deer was 16 yards away. Not a steep angle by any means. My stands are usually 14′ high, and my average shot distance on whitetails is 14 yards. With a broadside or quartering away shot, a double lung pass through is a piece of cake.
in reply to: Shot Placement Question #30668This may sound like an odd question, but did you hit him on the left or right side? Also, how many degrees do you think he was quartering away? 45? More? Less?
in reply to: Grns. per inch #18699Crystalshrimp wrote: How many grains per inch on an arrow would be reasonable for a 62″ 55lb. bow. I know there are lots of suggestions out there and I would like to hear your input.. 27″ DL….Send your suggestions my way….Should I be looking for total arrow weight or just load the tip up? Is 500grns. gonna be the safe bet on any hunting arrow set up.
Total arrow weight is what I look for, but gpi can give you an idea of where you’ll end up. If you end up with a finished, well tuned arrow that’s too light for your tastes, DO NOT simply load up with more tip weight. That’s a great way to end up with a heavy, poorly tuned arrow.
You asked if 500 grains will be a safe bet for a hunting arrow. In my experience — from deer to hogs, elk, and moose, absolutely.
in reply to: 1ST TRAD KILL!!! #18684Congrats on a fine doe.
in reply to: chek mate bows #10859I’ve owned four Chek-Mates over the years (one H1 and three H3s). Great bows that perform well above their price tag.
in reply to: Appropriate discussion? #55836Rogue wrote:
I agree with the above statement. Although I am more of a fan of 2 blades than 3.
Atleast the poster was willing to ask what could be done to improve his setup.
Another forum was posted a video of a immature deer being shot at 19 yards with a compound and expandables. Penetration was pathetic at best yet the thread starter was not willing to admit that his setup was somehow inadequate.I shoot 2-blade heads as well, although I’ve put enough 3- and 4-blade heads through deer to know that penetration was never an issue, at least for me personally. My paternal grandfather hunted for decades with a 42# recurve, swagged aluminum arrows, and 125-grain 3-blade heads. He rarely ever left an arrow in a deer — in one side, out the other.
I used to scratch my head at all these poor penetration stories on whitetails until a few years ago at the Compton Rendezvous. Ken Beck did a bareshaft tuning seminar where he spent an entire afternoon helping people tune their bows. Out of all the people I watched shoot bare shafts matching their chosen arrows that day, I can count on one hand the number that didn’t plane horribly, sometimes several feet at 20 yards.
A year or two later at the same shoot I met a gentleman with an ACS-CX longbow — mid-60’s in poundage as I recall. He was shooting very heavy wood arrows, and hunted with narrow 2-blade heads (Grizzly or Stos, I don’t exactly recall). I asked him how he liked the bow, and his response was that he’d shot two whitetail does broadside and failed to get a pass through on either. Here he had more energy and heavier arrows than what I used to shoot completely through a bull moose, but he couldn’t get one through a whitetail doe? After we shot for a while I understood the cause of his problem. I’ve seen snakes crawl straighter than his arrows flew.
In terms of North American big game, it doesn’t get much easier to penetrate than whitetail deer. The unfortunate fact is that too few bowhunters — both modern and traditional — properly tune their bows. And even more unfortunately, as a group we too often blame our equipment, when our own lack of proper preparation and execution is at fault.
in reply to: Appropriate discussion? #55321Dr. Ed Ashby wrote: There’s obviously a problem with the penetration he’s getting from a 55# bow. What problems do YOU see with his setup and what suggestions would YOU make as to things he could do to improve his setup? [/bold]
Ed
Short and simple: tune it.
If he’s hitting deer where he says he’s hitting them, there’s no reason he shouldn’t blow through them like a wet paper bag.
in reply to: Can I shoot this? #54152Is it Gilmour Keasey or Gilman Keasey? If it’s made by Gilman Keasey, that bow (or at least the bowyer) has a lot of history behind it.
in reply to: What Broadhead weight is better #50609jmsmithy wrote: Hi Guys
In my search for arrow nirvana I’ve tried a lot. Certainly for me, 5-5.5 in left helical fletch proves most accurate in general with my setup (50at28 BW PMAII). My question is where to go with broadheads. I’ve seen all weights and have done ok with 145 gr various 2 blades but intrigued with things like Ashby’s from Alaska bowhunter…How does 315 gr broadhead affect flight…has any body had experience with them. Ive heard nothing but good things but lot of $$ to experiment with. Thanks
If you take a well tuned arrow and change the tip weight, it will no longer remain well tuned. The shaft material, be it wood, aluminum, or carbon, won’t negate that fact.
Changing from a 145-grain tip to a 315-grain one will require a stiffer shaft. Even an 800-grain EFOC arrow won’t penetrate worth a lick if it flies like a corkscrew.
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