Hi all. Probably cop some flack for these "dumb beginner" questions and terminology but figure how else will i learn 1) am slowly getting my aim in with field tips.... how do broad heads affect flight path? 2) looking at (i think) fixed broadheads? Not the mechanical spring 1s.... can anyone suggest any good brands? Does it matter on brands? 3) what do most of you do with the deer, pig etc once youve taken it down? Always take meat off it or bury it or what?? 4) what draw weight would be suggested for goats/pigs/deer Thanks all, just want to be able to hunt as humanely as possible.
1) most will fly good out of a well tuned bow. 2) brand dont matter a whole lot but some like magnus, slick trick and qad have a pretty good following. 3) eat'em unless its a coyote. 4)shot placement is key and since you added pigs to the list I'd recommend 50# or more.
Good answers above. 1) If your bow is tuned well most will fly good. Its never a bad idea to practice with them though 2) There are plenty of good brands out there, but my personal preference is Slick Tricks 3) With a few exceptions (coyote a mentioned) don't kill it if you don't plan on eating it 4) I would also recommend 50 lbs or more but shot placement is critical. Practice, practice, practice! Best of luck to you!
Hi and welcome to Bowhunting mate! In answer to your questions in order. 1) am slowly getting my aim in with field tips.... how do broad heads affect flight path? This is dependent on type of broadhead. Fixed Blade: Non Mechanicals Twin Blades: Often used on big game like buffalo often require a bit of tweaking to get to hit true as they can sometimes cause flight that hit consistently either right or left. Three Blade: I have never had much trouble with 3 blade broadheads. If you bow is well tuned these usually hit spot on without to much tweaking. Mechanicals Mechanicals are the ones you talked about with springs and such. The biggest benefit I see to shooting these is that for all intents and purposes they "usually" fly as dead on as field points. Good examples of mechanicals are heads such as the Swacker(tm) and Rage(tm) Keeping you informed though be aware that mechanicals are often a fire once proposition. 2a) looking at (i think) fixed broadheads? Not the mechanical spring ones.... can anyone suggest any good brands? If you decide to go the fixed route there are plenty of good brands out there. Speaking from personal opinion I have had experience with Muzzy, G5 and a host of Australian made ones. If you decide to try out mechanicals I would personally suggest Swackers. I have had good results with them and have yet to see one fail due to bad deployment. 2b)Does it matter on brands? All this said please note this is all personal opinion and I'm sure other people will have plenty of "Shoot Brand X because X brand gets you the game" kind of arguments. I would say shoot what you like just make sure its going to get the job done and make sure it is as Sharp as it can possibly be. Sharp is important. Google Dr Ashby and look over his notes on Broadhead sharpness if you want more info. www.alaskabowhunting.com 3) what do most of you do with the deer, pig etc once you have taken it down? Always take meat off it or bury it or what? Again this is a personal thing but I am a firm believer in if it is edible or useable then use it and eat it. Now this said ALWAYS (note caps) check organs etc on animals you plan to eat. This is especially important when deciding to eat wild pigs you have shot primarily due to the fact that as carrion eaters pigs can and do carry a lot of diseases that can transfer to humans. Go google it now. No like now! Be educated when it comes to this. The more prepared and knowledgeable you are when it comes to meat prep the easier it is for you as a hunter as well. Nothing worse than hoisting a tonne of meat out of the bush, breaking your back doing it to find out at the trail head that it was all a waste as another hunter shows you its full of worms, TB, etc. As for skins etc same deal. Read as much as you can on preparing, skinning, salting etc. Nothing worse than shooting the trophy of your life and losing the ability to display it due to poor field work. 4) What draw weight would be suggested for goats/pigs/deer. All three of these animals could and are taken with bows as light as 40 pounds. That said I personally shoot a 70 pound Elite Energy 32 with a 550 gn arrow when hunting these species. In Closing I hope some of that information is helpful mate. Just to reiterate everything above is shaded by personal opinion and as such there will be people I'm sure that will disagree with some of it but thats one of the great things about our sport. You can use an amazing amount of different equipment to get the job done but at the end of the day we are all out there because we love it!
Matt, 1) I'm finding the joys of tuning to make broadheads fly right at the moment so I make this turkey destroying broadhead (magnus bullhead) fly right. This is my first time doing this process and alot depends on your ability to shoot well, ie your ability to tune is linked to your ability to group arrows as many of the methods require grouping arrows in different ways to interpret minor issues with your bow. When these other guys say Broad heads don't effect flight IF PROPERLY TUNED needs to be emphasized. When they say tuning they mean Cams in sync (easy to check) and arrow flying straight out of your bow. From what I have learn't making the arrow fly straight out of your bow is all about rest alignment the ways people do this are: a. Bare shaft tuning, taking the fletch off an arrow means there is nothing to correct any errors in the way the arrow is launched out of the bow so if you can make your fletch arrow and bare shaft arrow hit in the same place then everything should be in alignment b. Broad head, adding a wing (the blades) in the front of your arrow will cause it to head off in the direction it was initally launched so any errors in rest alignment will be evident in POI difference between BH arrow and FP arrow c. Walk back tuning, this involves shooting an arrow at 10 yards and then shooting an arrow at 20 or 30 or 40 yards. How the groups move left to right will indicate how the arrow is launched ie if the arrow is launched nock left then as you move back the groups will move the the right. d. paper tuning, the rips in the paper left by the arrow and the fletching can tell you which way the arrow was flying when it went through the paper and hence indicate how it was launched 2) Fixed blades are usually smaller so they leave a smaller wound in the animal but they penetrate further, they are fool proof in terms of they don't move (open) and are stronger. Mechanicals are typically larger cutting diameters so the animal bleeds out quicker but penetration, opening, damage to the blades can be problems. Mechanicals effect the flight of the arrow less and so issues associated with tuning aren't as apparent. I used mechanicals last year for my first deer season as I'm discovering now tuning is not a simple process. 3) I eat everything I kill except for rodents (America has these over size rat creatures called ground hogs that I shoot but don't eat) and dogs and cats. Free range meat is the best tasting stuff you can get, throwing it away would be such a waste... and it is free, after you have paid for license, bow, time effort and petrol. Hunting in Australia persevering your meat can be a challenge with higher temps than we have in America. When I used to Pig hunt in Australia we would take an cooler (I would call it an Esky but it would confuse the Americans reading this) with rock salt and ice to make a ice slurry as soon as we got a pig we dressed it and threw the meat primaries into the cooler, ie legs, shoulder, loin/tenderloin and ribs into the ice slurry and we would process those down into chops etc at the end of the day. The salt drops the freezing temp down -5 C and hence it chills the meat quick all the salt helps kill any bacteria. 4) Deer More than 45lb Goats As in Australian ones 30lb Pigs, depends on size but 60 lbs with a fixed blade would be advisable. Clem
You wont know until you shot them. Each brand performs differently. Its a must to shoot the BH you plan to hunt with to see how they fly and then adjust. There are so many good heads on the market today that would make for a very long list. What do you value? Sharpen yourself??? Replace the blades, 2, 3 or 4 blades? Eat those that taste good (like deer) and bury those that don't (Like yotes) The one that allows you to be the most accurate and confident in making a killing shot. Only you will know once you begin. As you practice, it will change and you will be able to add more weight.
I'd just say that there is no dumb question. You can do trial and error but it's gonna take a long time to learn and you'll get discouraged quickly. Ask on here. I'd also encourage you to find someone to show you the ropes if possible. I like hunting solo and I like figuring things out on my own...but occasionally I will go out with a seasoned hunter and I will learn a ton in just one hunt.
Yeah i definitely want to go solo but im hoping to go with someone the first couple of times and learn how to properly tack and stuff
1) am slowly getting my aim in with field tips.... how do broad heads affect flight path? They don't effect it, if your bow is tuned properly. 2) looking at (i think) fixed broadheads? Not the mechanical spring 1s.... can anyone suggest any good brands? Does it matter on brands? I would definitely recommend fixed broad heads. Muzzy's are excellent. 3) what do most of you do with the deer, pig etc once youve taken it down? Always take meat off it or bury it or what?? Deer and pigs are good to eat so always take the meat. I can't think of many animals besides coyotes that are totally unfit to eat. Take some time to learn about proper field care of meat, cleaning game, etc. Having a experienced friend along with help! It is very rewarding to be able to fill the freezer with game you killed in the field. 4) what draw weight would be suggested for goats/pigs/deer The best draw weight is what you can comfortably pull and still be able to shoot accurately. Most start out with around 50 lbs or so, at least I did. None of these are dumb questions. These are all very important questions about things you need to know if you are going to become a bowhunter. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask here or you are welcome to PM me anytime and I'll do my best to answer them, as I'm sure anyone else here would be glad to do.
Another question..... Is it necessary to buy multiple types of camo? As in just for bushland obviously i would for forest vs desert type scenery
Here in Australia I would suggest you use stuff that is more befitting to our enviroment. TUSX and RIDGELINE Buffalo come to mind. Realtree and Mossy Oak etc make great camo if like the birds you are up in trees but here in Oz we stalk deer.
