Unfortunately most of the deer I haven’t recovered I don’t know exactly where I hit and if it was a bad hit etc. the one this year for example was strange. Pass thru with rage. Very little blood on arrow. Pretty solid blood in track for a while. Found a bed with blood (we should’ve pulled out but didn’t long story) and eventually blood dried up. Checked next day also but no luck. Not saying setup would’ve made a difference in that one, just simply saying I don’t know. Just looking to try something new because I know a couple times it would have made a difference.
I'll dive in, but before I do I mean none of this to frustrate or hurt feelings - BUT I feel this is an issue many need to hear discussed or ask questions of as well. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE YOU HIT OR IF IT WAS A BAD HIT? The underlined part of your statement is extremely concerning and is something I hear or see folks type far too often. Now I understand perhaps being a few inches off in your thought of impact, but to not know enough to suspect a bad hit or not means one of two things occurred: -You took a shot you shouldn't have....through a row or two of corn and guessed vitals...shot too far....shot with not enough light...shot a moving or running deer... -True craziness occurred....limb on bow cracked on shot, unseen tiny limb deflected throwing off your tracking for a moment.... Sadly, I'd bank on 8 out 10 folks I hear say something similar is the first bullet point reason. This last year I had a guy openly admitting he shot a deer 3 rows deep in the corn when all he could see was the tail and the eyes/head of the deer - so he guessed where vitals were. Another this past year described a shot at 45 yards (he'd never shot over 30 prior) that he couldn't guess where he hit...why you ask? Because it was too dark to take the shot ethically as well. However, if you find yourself unable to know where a deer is impact and able to describe approximately location of impact (think softball size or so at least) you need to reconsider something about what you're doing. Few things I recommend: If you are not shooting lighted nocks and they're legal THEY ARE WORTH IT. Now it's true if you don't get a passthrough, that nock sticking out can "lie" due to angles and movement as to where they broadhead hit, but for the most part MOST typical bowhunters run a set up to at least bury that fletch/nock arrow close to the entrance side hole - perfectly illustrating precisely where impact was at least. SLOW DOWN. After the shot, sit down, close your eyes and slowly walk yourself through the shot sequence that just happened. The memory is fresh, but your adrenaline can jumble it all into a mess - force replay after replay, envision the squeeze of your release, picture the arrow flight and watch the arrow hit Have pictures handy on your phone of deer broadside, quartering away head left, quartering away head right...all the options. What this does is allow you to visually show others and yourself where the area is of suspected impact....with that piece and the knowledge of how high you were in the tree (if in one) plus the angle of the deers body you can begin to envision the path that arrow took through that deer = priceless for making tracking decisions. Learn the ability to read arrow blood and sign. Not all bloods are the same between what a lung or a muscle will put forth - research, learn and study every chance you get both in literature and also shots in real life. Even if a deer you shoot is down, run through all this steps to guess where the entrance and exit is going to be when you get up to it. Learn the body language of a deer with different types of hits and keep a keen eye for those post-shot. Just a few quick thoughts thrown out there over my lunch hour.
I do shoot lighted nocks now and they’re amazing. The deer I shot this year was thirty yards clean pass thru. Maybe it’s just me but I have a general idea where it hit but I don’t know exactly where. It looked good. I swear I saw the deer stagger twice like it was about to fall. I expected to find it dead about 70 yards or less away. Turns out I didn’t. Like I said found good blood and a bed of blood and I know we should’ve pulled out then but either way it happens so fast I just can’t tell exactly where it hits. Maybe at ten yards, but twenty or thirty I find it hard. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I need glasses. Idk lol
Oregon and Idaho both ban mechanucal broadheads? For my arrows, I pick the heaviest gr per inch I can find, after having them cut to length have them built with a minimum 100 grain insert and a 125 grain broadhead or field point*. (*I'd go heavier, but the pro shop didn't. Hard enough getting the heavy inserts ... they didn't normally stock them.)
Just ordered my new arrows. They’ll be about 594 grains, a little more once I add lighted nock. Worked with the guys from vector custom arrows and they were a ton of help. Arrows are set up for my exact bow and draw length and weight. Gonna have 105 grain ethics insert and I’m gonna shoot qad exodus 125 grain broadheads. Super excited to get these setup and shoot them.
I just completed a whole new setup specifically for heavy arrows. New bow sight rest everything. Once my arrows were done they came in at 567 gr. I am shooting a 65 lb 28.5 draw V3 27. I hope it works.
I just finished my arrows for this year. If I maintain 125BH , I'll be at 583. Absolutely love how they fire/pattern/sound/ and hit.
Same here. Just got my arrows can’t wait to shoot my new setup. Changed rest sight arrows broadheads everything lol
Going into my second serious year of bowhunting and I shoot 70# draw weight, 27" draw length and arrows weighing in between 520 - 570. I say second "serious" year because many years ago I tried bowhunting but didn't put the time & effort into improving my form or practicing as much as I should have. Knowing what I know now I think I would've been lucky to even hit whatever animal I was shooting at back then. Last year I picked up a new bow and dedicated myself to becoming an archer. Now I can say I would be confident in taking shots out to 35 yds on a whitetail or 20 on a turkey. I put a few arrows downrange at least every few days and try to learn as much as I can and figure out what's best for me. That's what every archer should do...figure out what's best for THEM. Sent from my SM-S102DL using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I shoot 611 grain 29.5 in draw 70 LBS Massaia broadhead and I blow through both shoulders of a whitetail deer not problem a heavy arrow set up will make anyone life so much simpler true story
It was a fad or trend in the 90s. The entire point was to have a short arrow and have it go as fast as possible. https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m39...ClFti4nbj-uGbqaXsNN5eXkceg4BYg8RoCpJEQAvD_BwE
With all the old balls on here I'm sure plenty tried it. God knows it did. Older bows were bigger and with a overdraw you could shave 4-5 inches off your shaft. If you are or were a speed freak that was how you did it. Looking back it was about as counterproductive as throwing 1000+ gr at a whitetail is today. Bow hunting and life are about balance. Find your rigs sweet spot and there you go.
I ran one in the '90's. This was before reflex risers, so the riser of the bow curved out away from the string like a traditional bow does. Putting a rest on the shelf meant a pretty long arrow had to be used so you wouldn't draw it off the rest. So you bolted up an overdraw shelf that let you put the prong rest closer to the string. With today's extreme reflex risers there is no need for one. These days it is very easy to add heavier inserts so you can get the total arrow weight where you want it without having to leave the arrow longer. Back then if you wanted a heavier arrow you simply left it longer, but hardly anyone did that because they wanted as much speed as they could get. Unknown yardage 3d was really big, and everyone wanted speed to help compensate for poor yardage judging mistakes. There were no digital rangefinders. Hunters always took unknown yardage shots. You never planned for hitting the scapula and what kind of weight would be needed to get through it, you planned for a super fast arrow that would give you the smallest pin gap possible without dry firing your bow. You were just of the mind set that if you hit the "front shoulder" you were screwed. And most common archery hunters would've went "huh?" if you mentioned FOC.
Had an overdraw on a bow back when. We are always after the new cool accessories year by year. Like fish in a tank!
