Hunting Arrows

Started by gitano, September 22, 2009, 02:35:48 PM

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gitano

Brithunter was keeping us informed about his latest foray into the world of target archery, and we got to discussing arrow weights and the like. I made few comments in response to queries about arrow shafts, and thought I'd 'flesh out' those comments in another thread. So here we go.
 
 
I am including pictures of my hunting arrows. There are three pictures:
 
1) The total arrow including broadhead, insert, shaft, fletching and nock. The AOL, (for you gun-nazis, that's arrow overall length instead of cartridge overall length), is 32 9/16". Total weight is 462.4 grains.
 

 
2) The broadhead in the insert on the arrow. It's a cut-on-contact "Wasp" 4-blade (you can see 'Wasp' on the blades). It weighs 82.38 grains, and its width is 1 1/8" at the maximum.
 

 
3) The shaft name and model (Beman 80/95), plastic 4" 3-fletching, the nock insert and nock. Without the broadhead, the weight is 380.0 grains. The shaft length from nock-point to terminus of insert is 30 1/2". Shaft diameter is 0.242". If you can't tell, it's a carbon fiber shaft. Apparently Beman while still selling the "Carbon Flash" model, has a new decoder ring for determining spine, and I can't remember to what 80/95 refers.

 
I use 4" 3-fletch plastic fletching for these reasons:
 
1) 4" it weighs more than 3" but it makes me feel 'better'.
 
2) 3-fletch because 4-fletch weighs more. Here it's 'touch and go' because 4-fletch does clear the riser better, but for me weight "wins". I used 4-fletch helical for a while, but all that really did was 'complicate' matters. Also, the fletching represents the largest cross-sectional area for wind to work on.
 
3) Plastic instead of feather, because feathers, while lighter most of the time, are actually heavier if they get wet. That extra weight can have a measurable impact on point of impact at any range beyond about 25 yds. And as far as I know, there is no SAFE way to dry out feather fletching in the field. If I'm on a 5 to 10-day fly-in caribou or sheep hunt, wet fletching can shake my confidence in a long shot.
 
Carbon shafts come in a variety of diameters. I always choose the smallest diameter for the spine I need so the arrow offers the least lateral cross-sectional area for wind to work on.
 
Broadhead type is chosen again on - you guessed it - weight first. There is a bit of a 'floor' here though. In Alaska, if I remember correctly, the minimum arrow weight you can use for big game hunting is 450 grains (one ounce). Therefore, if your draw length is 'X', and your shaft weighs "Y" grains per inch, and you're trying to be as light as possible, your broadhead will have to make up the difference to get you to the 450-grain minimum. As you can see from the numbers above, my arrows weigh about 460 grains. (I decided to check the Alaska regs, and they've changed them. The minumum arrow weight is 300 grains, and they've eliminated the minimum broadhead max width. :biggthumpup: ) So... I could go with a 3-blade version, but I prefer more cutting edges. In fact, I have toyed with the idea of a 5-blade, but then weight rears its ugly head again, plus I don't think anyone is still making a 5-blade broadhead any more.
 
I'll post a picture of my bow next post.
 
Paul
 
PS - Uh-oh, I went back and checked on the regs in more detail, and there is in fact a minimum broadhead maximum width. It is 7/8ths of an inch.
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

#1
As promised, here are pictures of my bow. It's a Mathews SoloCam. Seems it was called a "Q-3", but I'm not sure of that.
 
Also, I realized that I have some of the Beman arrows set up with another broadhead. I can't recall the manufacturer's name, but it is a cut-on-contact mechanical 2-blade whose max width is 1.5". It weighs 86.3 grains.
 
 
Here's a "whole body" shot of the bow. The quiver is a Mathews 5-arrow quiver that I purchased with the bow. No sights, no release loop.

 
Here's the riser. Note the simplest arrow-rest I could get - a spring-loaded wire.

 
Here's the spec label. The 28" draw length is just a tad short for me, but the way I draw a bow - with my finger on the arrow as I draw - I need a little extra arrow or I run my finger into the point. If I used a 29" draw - my real draw length - my arrow would have to be an inch longer. That'd be OK EXCEPT if you want shafts that long, they have to be special ordered. That translates to "If you have to ask, you can't afford them." I think the true draw weight is 68+ lbs, not the 70 noted, but I can't remember for sure.

 
Here is the mechanical broadhead I mentioned. Closed, it's supposed to fly like a fieldtip, and to the best of my ability to tell, it does.

 
Here it is open. I haven't taken big game with it (or small game for that matter), but I am sufficiently confident in it to put it in my quiver 'at the ready' should a moose walk into my yard.

 
 
Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Brithunter

Ahhh nicely timed Gitano :biggthumpup:  for it's this evening that I pick up new newly tuned bow and it should now be correctly set up for me with a new Fastflite string. Which I am lead to believe with make the bow a wee bit faster as Fastflite has less give in it than Dacron.

Meanwhile I have been reading about the basics after buying the book:-
 
Archery Steps to Success .... by Kathleen Haywood & Catherine Lewis
 
It explains some things a wee bit better than the coach did, or perhaps I was not quite listening enough :shy: , but somethings I do not agree with :greentongue:  such as aiming. I aim with the Bow sight as I would with a rifle sight using a 6 o'clock hold upon the bull but the authors say that holding on the centre of the Bull is the only way to get consistancy :eek: ?

Hmmm just kissing the top of the bead to the bottom of the round Bull has got to be more accurate than wobbling the bead around the centre of the bull ? Oh well we shall see.

In the meantime reading through this book has showed me some areas where I am going to have to really put some work in, one is on the rotation of my left wrist so I can get my elbow in the right "Plane" and position. The rotation of my left wrist is fairly restricted due to an old motorcyle injury from 83 where I broke both wrists. However the left was particularly bad as I broke it acros the joint ended up with my hand virtually beside the forearm on the inside. No bone came through and the skin remained intact which means all the damage was on the inside. As a result the wrist is not straight and does not bend in quite the right place and to place my left hand palm up as if to recieve something like change or use some gym machines. I have to bring the elbow into my ribs and that makes using some gym machines virtually impossible as I have to spread the hands wider and then that does not exercise the muscles as it's supposed too :( .

As for photos well we are looking into getting a new card reader that will work on this and newer computers and if I can do that then we can download photos again :) . Having just brought the books, one is still to arrive :stare: , and a couple of scopes and and a P-H 17 target sight for one of my BSA .22 LR's I will have to wait until next week before pursuing the card reader.
Go Get them Floyd!

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