Maggie’s Bow season success

[wvfarrier]

The first day of bow season was a disaster for me. I tried mechanical broadheads for the first time (i had practiced with them). My target buck for the year made an appearance at 21 yards and I let her fly. As near as I could tell the blades opened in flight and the arrow went haywire, jerking hard to the left. It appeared that the broadhead then stuck in his shoulder and he beat feet. Zero blood, searched for 10 hours including a dog. Two days later my neighbor bagged him. He said the broadhead was still embedded.

Anyway I went back to my fixed blades and connected.
28.1 yards
10 foot recovery
200 grain Grizzlystik XXL
Black Eagle Zombie Hunter Shaft

I had planned to give this fella another year or two but he was just too tempting of a target for my frustration

The pic is the exit not entrance btw.

 

[FatBoy]

Sucks about the mechanical. I assume new bands?

 

[Dot3]

Congratulations! Now go pour some concrete

 

[BigTex]

Nice buck. I quit mechanicals after having a catastrophic failure with a Rage Hypodermic. Only Slicktricks or G5 Montecs for me now. One less possible failure point in an already tough game.

 

[Dot3]

Nice buck. I quit mechanicals after having a catastrophic failure with a Rage Hypodermic. Only Slicktricks or G5 Montecs for me now. One less possible failure point in an already tough game.

I shot the original rage for a while. I quit them when I watched a quartering shot literally deflect off the side of a big doe as if I’d shot at a piece of steel. Montecs for me too

 

[rlsmith1]

I’ve gone back and forth between rage and fixed. Once I got fixed to fly straight, I see no reason to change.

QAD Exodus here since they are stronger and more forgiving due to over the shaft design. 550gr arrow at 290fps will push that head through a lot of things

 

[wvfarrier]

Sucks about the mechanical. I assume new bands?

Yup.

 

[chevy_man]

Slick trick user here.

If your bow is tuned, and your form is good, fixed blades shoot great.

Sadly most people go to the big box stores where the bow techs couldn't tune anything and rarely do people get good form without lots of practice with a coach that can correct all the little things. This means they think mechanicals that fly like field tips are pretty nifty, since their arrow is flying at an angle and the vanes are working hard.

 

[wvfarrier]

I put #2 down yesterday evening.
Ramcat Hydroshock 125gr, I was super impressed by these.
24 yard shot
20ft recovery, she fell right behind me.
She was super fat.

 

[308pirate]

Congratulations! Now go pour some concrete

That didn't take long LOL

 

[eca7891]

I have shot mechanicals for almost a decade now. Nothing but success.

Sorry to hear about the issue you had.

 

[zeroz]

2 edge single bevels for me. I like to tuck tight to the shoulder so they die quick. This one was a little tight. Hit right at the joint. Didn’t matter. Wasn’t a full Pass through but poked out the other side 10” after blowing through that bone and ribs on both sides. He went nowhere. I don’t think you get that with mechanicals, even if they function correctly.

 

[muzzleloader]

The first day of bow season was a disaster for me. I tried mechanical broadheads for the first time (i had practiced with them). My target buck for the year made an appearance at 21 yards and I let her fly. As near as I could tell the blades opened in flight and the arrow went haywire, jerking hard to the left. It appeared that the broadhead then stuck in his shoulder and he beat feet. Zero blood, searched for 10 hours including a dog. Two days later my neighbor bagged him. He said the broadhead was still embedded.

Anyway I went back to my fixed blades and connected.
28.1 yards
10 foot recovery
200 grain Grizzlystik XXL
Black Eagle Zombie Hunter Shaft

I had planned to give this fella another year or two but he was just too tempting of a target for my frustration

The pic is the exit not entrance btw.

I like that sharpened edge on the trailing facet of the blades. Might turn a marginal hit into deadly while it slaps around on brush and such. Congratulations

 

[shields shtr]

If your bow is tuned, and your form is good, fixed blades shoot great.

Yep. I will say compound bows are getting so good now if you are able to tune yourself you can get about any fixed blade to fly. The key more than anything is repeatable form. I found in hunting situations I shoot differently than in practice, specifically with the way I grip my bow when I hunt. I definitely am more "torquey" in a hunting situation and naturally grip the bow harder when I have shot animals. I try to shoot this way when I am tuning a broadhead and shaft combo. For my compound bow, I landed with the QAD Exodus as well. Have had nothing but good results with them.

I switched back to my recurve last year and am shooting a really heavy FOC setup with the Grizzly Stick 200 grain Masai. Once I got my nock height dialed, that setup was really easy to tune. I am guessing this is probably due to the fact the arrow is moving about 100fps slower than my compound. Was only able to make it out a few times this year due to hernia surgery, but the "strugglestick" has definitely proved to live up to it's name. Had a bull at 50 yards last night, about 25 yards past my effective range with my recurve. As he casually turned broadside to walk away I couldn't help but think how doable that shot would have been with my compound bow. Still fun though!

 

[Jgunner]

One of these days I'll get into bow hunting. Just sucks being in a state where there isn't a lot of deer. But I have gotten into spear distance with elk, shit, my dick almost woulda reached if it weren't so cold.

 

[BCP]

Get some 85 or 100 grain buzzcuts they are absolute murder on deer.

But I have gotten into spear distance with elk

I've seen them in peoples backyards up around Payson and Showlow.

 

[Jgunner]

Get some 85 or 100 grain buzzcuts they are absolute murder on deer.



I've seen them in peoples backyards up around Payson and Showlow.

Yes, I see them in rural settings all the time. But ya can't hunt there. I've seen javelina bow tags for cities though.

I can set up a range at my home, way past where a bow would be effective. That's the great thing about bow, you can practice in your yard. I am buying a backhoe so I can build a burm and line it with bales of straw. I can shoot 22's on it as well. But its just another hobby to invest in, and I already have so much. Lol

 

[hlee]

I love the montec broadheads, but I never could get it to fly true to my practice heads. I switched to a NAP mechanical this year. I haven’t stuck anything but a target with them, but they group with my field points.

 

[zeroz]

That can be tuned out but who cares if they group with broad heads as long as they group with each other? Shoot the broadheads for practice and dialing in your sights. Montecs are so easy to sharpen its a no brainer. They also make "practice" montecs if you didn't want to sharpen as often. Fuck a mechanical head. I'm sold on two blade single bevels but killed a bunch of stuff with Montecs. They work great until you hit heavy bone. Then they act like a wedge instead of splitting the bone and slipping through. Proof is in the pudding for me. If the single bevel heavy setup lets me tuck tight to the shoulder, not worry about leg bones, take slightly less than perfect quartering to shots and recover animals, thats what I'll shoot. That has been the case so far. Last Montec I shot, I lost a 6 pt bull. Thats the last animal I lost. For me, its a total fucking drag losing critters so whatever I can do to make that as non existent as possible is it. If a guy is only going to take perfect shots 30 yards and in you can shoot whatever you want probably, apparently Im not that disciplined.

 

[Carlos Danger]

The first day of bow season was a disaster for me. I tried mechanical broadheads for the first time (i had practiced with them). My target buck for the year made an appearance at 21 yards and I let her fly. As near as I could tell the blades opened in flight and the arrow went haywire, jerking hard to the left. It appeared that the broadhead then stuck in his shoulder and he beat feet. Zero blood, searched for 10 hours including a dog. Two days later my neighbor bagged him. He said the broadhead was still embedded.

Anyway I went back to my fixed blades and connected.
28.1 yards
10 foot recovery
200 grain Grizzlystik XXL
Black Eagle Zombie Hunter Shaft

I had planned to give this fella another year or two but he was just too tempting of a target for my frustration

The pic is the exit not entrance btw.

Nice tag. I've never had any interest in the mechanicals. Have always used fixed. Broke my drought last week. 12 yards, hit right where I aimed. Pass through two ribs. Ran maybe 50 yards and I watched him drop.

 

[hlee]

That can be tuned out but who cares if they group with broad heads as long as they group with each other? Shoot the broadheads for practice and dialing in your sights. Montecs are so easy to sharpen its a no brainer. They also make "practice" montecs if you didn't want to sharpen as often. Fuck a mechanical head. I'm sold on two blade single bevels but killed a bunch of stuff with Montecs. They work great until you hit heavy bone. Then they act like a wedge instead of splitting the bone and slipping through. Proof is in the pudding for me. If the single bevel heavy setup lets me tuck tight to the shoulder, not worry about leg bones, take slightly less than perfect quartering to shots and recover animals, thats what I'll shoot. That has been the case so far. Last Montec I shot, I lost a 6 pt bull. Thats the last animal I lost. For me, its a total fucking drag losing critters so whatever I can do to make that as non existent as possible is it. If a guy is only going to take perfect shots 30 yards and in you can shoot whatever you want probably, apparently Im not that disciplined.

I hear everything you’re saying on the montecs, but the ranges where I shoot don’t allow broadheads (the ‘burbs keep me from shooting in my yard), and as often as not resighting in a broadhead right before a hunt is a pain. I’ve always said “who cares where they group so long as they group together and you can bring that group to your sights.” But, the true believers say your bow isn’t tuned until your broad heads fly to your practice points. As far as the practice head, I retired a few successful standard montec heads to practice duty. I also hunt pretty heavy cover, over a feeder, so my shots are both measured and relatively to short- I don’t have a clear shot beyond 40 yards.

Shot a wt buck a number of years ago with a montec and the blood trail looked like he was dragging an open can of red paint- I’m r/g color blind. Made me a believer.

 

[zeroz]

Its true that if the bow is tuned, or the arrow is tuned to the bow (like a handload to a rifle), they will fly together. Totally get the not being able to shoot at home/ practice with broad heads. I wouldn't want to hunt with broad heads I hadn't practiced with. Im lucky enough to be able to shoot at home so I shoot broad heads for a month before and during season. Mechanicals are just so flimsy compared to fixed. Couple that with the potential failure, Im out. To each his own though, I wish you the best. I think if you hold yourself to the perfect broadside shot you should be fine.

 

[Heartstopper]

QAD Exodus! Fly like field points. Look them up on YouTube they do a test where they shoot the same broad head through a metal 55 gallon drum 10 times. Friend of mine shot through a hog hit both plates. Complete pass through.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

Yep. I will say compound bows are getting so good now if you are able to tune yourself you can get about any fixed blade to fly. The key more than anything is repeatable form. I found in hunting situations I shoot differently than in practice, specifically with the way I grip my bow when I hunt. I definitely am more "torquey" in a hunting situation and naturally grip the bow harder when I have shot animals. I try to shoot this way when I am tuning a broadhead and shaft combo. For my compound bow, I landed with the QAD Exodus as well. Have had nothing but good results with them.

I switched back to my recurve last year and am shooting a really heavy FOC setup with the Grizzly Stick 200 grain Masai. Once I got my nock height dialed, that setup was really easy to tune. I am guessing this is probably due to the fact the arrow is moving about 100fps slower than my compound. Was only able to make it out a few times this year due to hernia surgery, but the "strugglestick" has definitely proved to live up to it's name. Had a bull at 50 yards last night, about 25 yards past my effective range with my recurve. As he casually turned broadside to walk away I couldn't help but think how doable that shot would have been with my compound bow. Still fun though!

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