I have an uncle who runs a small archery shop and over the weekend, I decided I had too many rifles. So I traded him a rifle for a bow setup. I handled all the bows there, and the one that felt the best to me, and I liked the looks of was the PSE Octane. So I made it mine. What I got was: PSE Octane Scott Release Beman ICS arrows Top Gun Slider Sight Trophy Taker Drop Away Rest I had it set to 55lbs, as I'm a skinny fella and 60 was just too much. With 100gr tips and full length arrows it managed a meak 240fps. I'm not sure if it's a good setup or not, but I think it's fine for me as a beginner. I'm hoping to get a lot of insight from this forum. I am shopping broadheads though. Being a Nugent fan, I can't help but want to try the Magnus Stinger, but my uncle gave me some Spitfire XP100's, but I have mixed feelings about the mechanicals. Here are pics of my targets from my Sunday outing, shooting with my brother.
Sounds like a good solid set up to me. Thats pretty good shooting for just starting! And welcome to the forum.
Any thoughts on the speed ? I figure the more I get used to it I should be able to crank it back up some. Also, when I stop knocking the arrow off the rest when drawing, I will shorten my arrows. Right now they are full length. I guess my question is; is 240fps enough for a 35 yard shot on deer with a broad head ? Sorry if thats a newbie question.
Welcome to the wonderful world of bowhunting! Setup sounds good and broadheads vs. mechanicals are all a personal choice. Find the ones that you like the best and feel the most comfortable and consistant with! Best thing you can do is try them till you find what works!
Welcome to the site. Don't worry about the speed, worry about making sure your bow and arrows are in tune.
Could you explain a little more on what you mean by in tune ? Does that have to do with the FOC of the arrows ?
Take a read through this http://www.eastonarchery.com/pdf/tuning_guide.pdf it will explain a lot about tuning.
GA Bowhunter is right, don't worry about your speed. 10 yrs ago that would have been an incredibly fast hunting setup. Welcome to the forum! ... now lets see photos of your Jeep(s)!
Jeeper, nice shooting. Congrats on being a fast learner. Your setup should be fine for any deer you will encounter. Not sure of your draw length or arrow weight, but I'd guess you are getting ~50 Ke, which is enough to take just about any medium-sized game animal in North America if you're within 40 yards or so. Way back in the 80's when I was a youngster, I started hunting with a PSE Phaser II at a little less than 50# using aluminum arrows and 1" cutting diameter broadheads, and I killed more than my fair share of deer and turkey with that setup. And (luckily, perhaps) I never lost an animal or failed to find a blood trail. Another way to look at it is this: Tiffany Lakosky is a little bitty thing with a 26" draw length and a slightly less than 50# draw weight and she has killed some really nice North American game animals on her show. Sometimes us guys get caught up in how much weight we pull as part of the "alpha male" thing, but in reality modern compound bows do a LOT of damage today even at a 40-50# draw weight. Yet another way to look at it: a lot of traditional archery guys I know are pulling 50# bows and they are killing some nice deer. Again, the trick is they know their limitations and stay within them. BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR SETUP. Don't worry if you read about guys pulling 75#s and getting 320 FPS arrow speeds. That's awesome and I wish I could do it, but honestly it's not necessary. Higher Ke is always better in case you hit a shoulder, but the TRUE trick to killing a deer with a bow is knowing your distance limitations so you put the arrow in the kill zone every time. With your setup you should even get a nice 2-hole pass through with a well placed shot.
Thanks Deuce, that does make me feel better, and thanks for the welcome guys. Draw Length is 29", and I dont have a scale to weigh my arrows on. So I can take a SWAG at it using Beaman's gr/inch. What I come up with is 326.3, but thats not counting for inserts, nocks, or fletchings. The arrows are 31.5" from the front insert to the groove of the nock. We are going to shorten the arrows later on. Just right now he was affraid I'd drop a broad head off the rest and into my hand. Which, after some of my practice sessions, seems likely
I've decided that Im going to use Friday to practice one more time. Then Saturday Im going to go tak emy first bow hunting experience. Dont worry guys, I will keep my shots to 25 yards or less. My lack of experience with a bow, and if buck fever kicks in, I dont want to mame any animals.
