- Joined
- Oct 10, 2018
- Messages
- 1,377
Many of us here have been unhappy with our arrow's terminal performance in the past and have made changes to our builds and broadhead selection for this season in the hopes of seeing better results on game.
We've seen the Ranch Fairy become a household name and is responsible for opening the eyes of many bowhunters to the world of high foc heavy arrows topped with cut on contact fixed blade heads. Whether you agree or disagree with him, love him or hate him his message was heard by everyone.
Earlier in the year in one of the many threads on arrow builds and broadhead selection a few of us thought it would be a good idea to start a thread towards the end of the season to share and compare the results we experienced with our new setups. Well, now is that time!
Let me put a few ground rules in play:
Kill #1 - doe 144 lbs
Bowtech Realm 60#'s, 29.5"dl, 240 - 250fps
Cabela's Carbon Hunter arrow 65/80, 30.25" c-c, 70gr fact inserts, 125gr Magnus Ser-razor 4 blade, 515gr taw, 18.5% foc
Shot doe from 22' up, slight quartering away, deer was calmly walking with head down feeding. Shot distance was 20 - 22 yds. Hit went in at 11th or 12th rib and exited between 4th and 5th. Complete pass thru. She ran no more than 20 yds and stopped for a minute and looked back. I could see blood dripping down from entry hole. She slowly walked away out of sight. Found one drop of blood at impact area. Walked to where she stood and found the start of two parallel lines of blood as a blood trail. Easy to follow trail 60 more yards to her.
Kill #2 - buck 194 lbs
Mathews Switchback 60#'s, 29.5"dl, 215 - 220fps
Gold Tip Hunter XT 250, 30.25" c-c, 150gr ethics ss insert, 2''blazers, nockturnal, 125gr Grizzlystik Samurai Overkill single bevel, 640gr taw, 18% foc
Shot buck from 14' up, severe quartering away, deer unaware of my presence walking with head down. Shot distance 18 - 20 yds. Hit was in front of hind quarter. Complete pass thru. He hopped forward at impact, maybe 10' and stopped. He stood there and sort of hunched his back. He walked another 15' onto a small rise and stood still. Within a minute he staggered and fell over laying there with his head down but I could see he was still breathing. After a another minute or two he lifted his head a bit so I sent another arrow. He twitched once and went still. Total distance from me...27yds! First arrow traveled through his body and exited out his neck, hit one lung. Second arrow hit heart and lung. Didn't notice a blood trail but didn't need to look for one. I want to add that what shocked me the most was how quiet the shot from the bow was.
I am very pleased with the results overall but utterly impressed with the buck kill. Made the swap from mechanicals with a total arrow weight between 415 and 440 grs because my penetration on bucks was always marginal at best and very rarely did I get a clean pass thru. The only change I plan to make is to increase the arrow weight being shot from my Realm to the 560 -580 range.
We've seen the Ranch Fairy become a household name and is responsible for opening the eyes of many bowhunters to the world of high foc heavy arrows topped with cut on contact fixed blade heads. Whether you agree or disagree with him, love him or hate him his message was heard by everyone.
Earlier in the year in one of the many threads on arrow builds and broadhead selection a few of us thought it would be a good idea to start a thread towards the end of the season to share and compare the results we experienced with our new setups. Well, now is that time!
Let me put a few ground rules in play:
- Most importantly, DON'T turn this thread into the usual debate of light vs heavy. Nobody really cares what you shoot or why so don't feel the need to argue why yours is better. We are here to compare our personal findings from previous years to this year and share them in a friendly atmosphere, not compare them against each other.
- Give a detailed description of bow specifications, arrow build specs, shot distance, shooting height, angle and point of entry and exit, deer reaction to hit, blood trail, distance to recover animal and any other relevant info.
- Are you satisfied with your results? Would you make a change? Explain.
Kill #1 - doe 144 lbs
Bowtech Realm 60#'s, 29.5"dl, 240 - 250fps
Cabela's Carbon Hunter arrow 65/80, 30.25" c-c, 70gr fact inserts, 125gr Magnus Ser-razor 4 blade, 515gr taw, 18.5% foc
Shot doe from 22' up, slight quartering away, deer was calmly walking with head down feeding. Shot distance was 20 - 22 yds. Hit went in at 11th or 12th rib and exited between 4th and 5th. Complete pass thru. She ran no more than 20 yds and stopped for a minute and looked back. I could see blood dripping down from entry hole. She slowly walked away out of sight. Found one drop of blood at impact area. Walked to where she stood and found the start of two parallel lines of blood as a blood trail. Easy to follow trail 60 more yards to her.
Kill #2 - buck 194 lbs
Mathews Switchback 60#'s, 29.5"dl, 215 - 220fps
Gold Tip Hunter XT 250, 30.25" c-c, 150gr ethics ss insert, 2''blazers, nockturnal, 125gr Grizzlystik Samurai Overkill single bevel, 640gr taw, 18% foc
Shot buck from 14' up, severe quartering away, deer unaware of my presence walking with head down. Shot distance 18 - 20 yds. Hit was in front of hind quarter. Complete pass thru. He hopped forward at impact, maybe 10' and stopped. He stood there and sort of hunched his back. He walked another 15' onto a small rise and stood still. Within a minute he staggered and fell over laying there with his head down but I could see he was still breathing. After a another minute or two he lifted his head a bit so I sent another arrow. He twitched once and went still. Total distance from me...27yds! First arrow traveled through his body and exited out his neck, hit one lung. Second arrow hit heart and lung. Didn't notice a blood trail but didn't need to look for one. I want to add that what shocked me the most was how quiet the shot from the bow was.
I am very pleased with the results overall but utterly impressed with the buck kill. Made the swap from mechanicals with a total arrow weight between 415 and 440 grs because my penetration on bucks was always marginal at best and very rarely did I get a clean pass thru. The only change I plan to make is to increase the arrow weight being shot from my Realm to the 560 -580 range.