Bow Hunters N/C

[FutureBreeder2013]

How many of you SP bow hunters are getting your early season pracitce and scouting in?

ive been shooting for a couple weeks since it started to get nice but i havent gotten out to the woods yet.

 

[Dave]

I've seen a few I'D throw an arrow at. shooting fish for practice.

 

[GoWyo]

Elk archery opens here Sept 1, so I start shooting 30 or so arrows a day starting around August 1.  Think I am going to put on a new arrow rest, so I may need to get going sooner to get it dialed in, especially sighting in for broadheads.

 

[jlingle]

"Real" bowhunting for me ended a few years ago.  I crashed a 4 wheeler while gathering cattle with pops.  I dislocated my left shoulder & tore up some tendons.  My doctor was a bowhunter too, and he said I could probably pull a bow again, but would have a really difficult time holding one at full draw.  He was right on the money.  8 months after my surgery I sold my Mathews and bought a Barnett crossbow.  I hate it.  Hate it hate it hate it....  I'm gonna sell it and try to build up enough strength to hold a bow at full draw again, but I really don't like my chances.  I used to bowhunt nearly everyday during Oklahoma's archery season, now I'm relegated to the crossbow. 

For all of you guys who really enjoy bowhunting, don't ever take it for granted.  I used to enjoy shooting everyday and hunting nearly everyday of bow season.  I never dreamed that would be something that I'd lose, but for now it's gone.  I'm fortunate that our state has a crossbow permit for folks who can no longer use a regular bow.  Maybe it'll grow on me, or maybe I'll be able to hold a regular bow again.  Who knows.

 

[shortyjock89]

What kind of Mathews did you have?  I had an Outback that I LOVED.  I have a Switchback XT now, and it's even better IMO.  Smoothest shooting experience of my life was the first time I drew back and shot a Mathews.

I had open heart surgery when I was 17 (2 1/2 years ago), and it took me about a year to get to where i could pull, hold, and shoot 65 lbs accurately. 

What kind of sights do you all like?  I love my Sur-loc, but I need another one for just bow hunting. 

 

[muleman]

We have 9 bull tags in Arizona and Colorado this year between family. My dad and I have a really good tag for early archery bull in the white Mountians in AZ, last time I killed a 354 and he killed a 335. I started shooting with a new Mattews and it shoots. We are shoothing about 20 -50 arrows a day because those AZ elk tags are hard to get in the rut.

 

[chambero]

Not a big bowhunter, but love hunting.  My 10 year old has a youth bow and looks like he's gonna love it.  I'm taking up rifle reloading this summer.

 

[clubcalve]

This will be my first year bow hunting and I still have not got broad heads what kind does everybody suggest for hunting deer

 

[jlingle]

Olsen, I had one of the older Mathews UltraMax bows.  It wasn't nearly as sexy as some of the newer models, but was fast & quiet, and I could shoot it well.  It was set at 62 lbs from the day I bought it until the day I sold it.  I had it for 9 years, and killed lots and lots of animals with it.  It was one of the first real "toys" my wife let me buy after we got married.  One year I shot 2 does and a cull buck with that bow, and the farthest any of them traveled was 20 yards.  The little cull buck was with 2 other bucks, and he fell over dead 5 yards from where I shot him.  The other 2 bucks hung around another 5 minutes sniffing at him, blowing, and trying to figure out what happened to him.  I had to text a friend & have him drive over to my stand to scare them away so I could get down.  That bow was extremely quiet. 

clubcalve, the best broadheads I ever used were 75 gr. Wasp broadheads.  Actually it may be a tie, because the 75 gr. wasp jackhammer expandables were fantastic as well.  One of those expandables killed a doe, a porcupine, a skunk, and I finally lost it when a beaver swam off with it.  Tough little rascals, and both the fixed blades and expandables will kill stuff when you do your part.  The fixed blade broadheads have replaceable blades, so they were easy to shoot something with & then turn around & put a new set of blades on. 

 

[farmboy]

This will be my first year bow hunting and I still have not got broad heads what kind does everybody suggest for hunting deer

RAGE 2 Blade Mechanicals

but with jlingle, those wasp jackhammers are the best broad heads i ever used too. i killed 4 deer last year with a crossbow and the wasp jackhammers, none went more than 20 yrds before dieing and the broad heads opened up and cut Huge holes in them

 

[GoWyo]

I really like the Montec G5 at 125 gr. for elk.  Still shoot aluminum arrows and do not take shots over 40 yd.

 

[chambero]

GoWyo - what part of the state are you from?

I've hunted in your state several times - mostly do-it-yourself hunts.  I've hunted the Thunderbasin National Grassland southeast of Wright, the Durham Ranch in Wright three times, and over in the Bighorns north of Tensleep for bears a while back (guided).

I'm building points for deer and elk (I'm max on both).  One of these days, I really want to do a guided elk hunt in the Thorofare.  I know it might not be the best place, but I kind of like hunting in places with a lot of "history". 

 

[FutureBreeder2013]

"Real" bowhunting for me ended a few years ago.  I crashed a 4 wheeler while gathering cattle with pops.  I dislocated my left shoulder & tore up some tendons.  My doctor was a bowhunter too, and he said I could probably pull a bow again, but would have a really difficult time holding one at full draw.  He was right on the money.  8 months after my surgery I sold my Mathews and bought a Barnett crossbow.  I hate it.  Hate it hate it hate it....  I'm gonna sell it and try to build up enough strength to hold a bow at full draw again, but I really don't like my chances.  I used to bowhunt nearly everyday during Oklahoma's archery season, now I'm relegated to the crossbow. 

For all of you guys who really enjoy bowhunting, don't ever take it for granted.  I used to enjoy shooting everyday and hunting nearly everyday of bow season.  I never dreamed that would be something that I'd lose, but for now it's gone.  I'm fortunate that our state has a crossbow permit for folks who can no longer use a regular bow.  Maybe it'll grow on me, or maybe I'll be able to hold a regular bow again.  Who knows.

when i got my fisrt bow i wasnt strong enough to hold it at full draw very long so i decided to use one of em huge rubber band things and practice my draw with that while sitting on the coutch of somthing. it sure helped me.

 

[FutureBreeder2013]

This will be my first year bow hunting and I still have not got broad heads what kind does everybody suggest for hunting deer

this is my second bow season and i wouldnt reccoment muzzy broadheads i shot a couple practice rounds wiht one into an open foam Block and the blades were nasty lookin after they were dull and all bent. unfortunatly i got 5 left to bag a few rabbits with or somthing.

 

[farmboy]

yea i never had any luck with muzzys, shoot, i never had any luck with fixed blades. mechanicals fly like a field tip and cut like a razor and leave a monster hole. idk why anyone would want to shoot fixed over mechanical

I made my arms a heck of a lot stronger in a very short time by doing some kind of exercise. like pushing my self up between two chairs and holding my self as long as i could. then i took 80 pound bags of feed and bench pressed them

 

[FutureBreeder2013]

yea i never had any luck with muzzys, shoot, i never had any luck with fixed blades. mechanicals fly like a field tip and cut like a razor and leave a monster hole. idk why anyone would want to shoot fixed over mechanical

I made my arms a heck of a lot stronger in a very short time by doing some kind of exercise. like pushing my self up between two chairs and holding my self as long as i could. then i took 80 pound bags of feed and bench pressed them

thats one way to do it. and with the broadhead i wanna get rages so bad but i cant see ayin 40 bucks for 2-3 of em

 

[jlingle]

yea i never had any luck with muzzys, shoot, i never had any luck with fixed blades. mechanicals fly like a field tip and cut like a razor and leave a monster hole. idk why anyone would want to shoot fixed over mechanical

I made my arms a heck of a lot stronger in a very short time by doing some kind of exercise. like pushing my self up between two chairs and holding my self as long as i could. then i took 80 pound bags of feed and bench pressed them

My problem is the tendon damage in my left shoulder.  When I hold a bow at full draw, my left arm is slightly bent, and this makes my shoulder feel like it's gonna come apart on me.  There are only 2 or 3 motions that hurt my shoulder anymore, but this is one of them.  It's just the way the pressure is exerted that hurts.  I plan on putting my barnett crossbow on ebay and seeing what I can get out of it.  After that, I'll see what I can find with the money I get.  If I can get a decent low-poundage bow, fine.... if not, I may get a different crossbow.  The Barnett is unbelievably fast, but I can't keep the strings and cables from tearing up (I called barnett & on their advice, I wax ever 4 shots ) nor can I get broadheads to sight in reliably.  My broadheads and expandables don't group out of this crossbow..... it's more like a pattern.  For a guy who's used to being able to shoot 1/2" stickers at 25 yards with a regular bow, it's pretty difficult to swallow that kind of pathetic accuracy.

 

[muleman]

85 gr Thunderheads are great for anything, I have shot 5 bulls and a few deer with them, they will tear them up. I use 100 gr field tips for practice and the 85 gr Thunderheads will hit in the same spot. I use mechanicals only on antelope. They are marginal on elk and had some problems with them on elk in they past and thats when I tried the Thunderheads and won't use anything else. You spend so much time and money on everything else why skimp on the most important thing, the humane kill of an animal.

 

[farmboy]

yea i never had any luck with muzzys, shoot, i never had any luck with fixed blades. mechanicals fly like a field tip and cut like a razor and leave a monster hole. idk why anyone would want to shoot fixed over mechanical

I made my arms a heck of a lot stronger in a very short time by doing some kind of exercise. like pushing my self up between two chairs and holding my self as long as i could. then i took 80 pound bags of feed and bench pressed them

My problem is the tendon damage in my left shoulder.  When I hold a bow at full draw, my left arm is slightly bent, and this makes my shoulder feel like it's gonna come apart on me.  There are only 2 or 3 motions that hurt my shoulder anymore, but this is one of them.  It's just the way the pressure is exerted that hurts.  I plan on putting my barnett crossbow on ebay and seeing what I can get out of it.  After that, I'll see what I can find with the money I get.  If I can get a decent low-poundage bow, fine.... if not, I may get a different crossbow.  The Barnett is unbelievably fast, but I can't keep the strings and cables from tearing up (I called barnett & on their advice, I wax ever 4 shots ) nor can I get broadheads to sight in reliably.  My broadheads and expandables don't group out of this crossbow..... it's more like a pattern.  For a guy who's used to being able to shoot 1/2" stickers at 25 yards with a regular bow, it's pretty difficult to swallow that kind of pathetic accuracy.

Horton

 

[GoWyo]

GoWyo - what part of the state are you from?

I live outside of Cheyenne, but hunt in the South Pass area on landowner tags (guaranteed draw every year)

I've hunted in your state several times - mostly do-it-yourself hunts.  I've hunted the Thunderbasin National Grassland southeast of Wright, the Durham Ranch in Wright three times, and over in the Bighorns north of Tensleep for bears a while back (guided).

[/color]

I'm building points for deer and elk (I'm max on both).  One of these days, I really want to do a guided elk hunt in the Thorofare.  I know it might not be the best place, but I kind of like hunting in places with a lot of "history". 

The Thorofare is really cool.  I had an outfitter friend and would go in to guide a hunt when he was shorthanded.  Once my hunter filled, then I could hunt on my own.  The bears can be real buttholes, but the 30+ mile mule ride definitely made it an adventure.  It is probably worth it to go with an outfitter just because of the logistics of taking in enough gear so far.  I can recommend a couple if you are interested.