Spring archery season.

[denots]

I shoot it instinctive. You can put a sight if you want, but it’s hard to have time to aim. I just practiced with a pool noodle in the yard til I got the hang of it. Then tie the pool noodle to a brick and toss it in a pond to learn refraction. My general rule. 1:2. For every 1” below the surface, I aimed 2. But that depends on the range. Close up, you have to aim lower. Far out you can almost aim straight at it. Took me a couple trips to finally figure it all out

Yeah I really like it when the red fish get hung up on an oyster Reef when the boats pushing water down the canal and their backs are out the water. Makes them easier to shoot.

 

[Red Beard]

So my buddy just gave me a old PSE Kingfisher! I am so appreciative and pretty stoked. Spent tonight setting it up.

Now I have more questions; mostly related to yard practice. Here goes...

1. How do yall ensure the nock height is right on a bowfishing bow? Asking because the fiberglass arrow he gave me has barbs that cannot be removed. Need to find how the arrow is acting but I think launching this into my rhinehart target would make a mess real fast.

2. Do I need a separate practice arrow for yard practice or can I shoot this one at my kid's least favorite stuffed animal on the lawn? Guess I'm concerned about the arrow burying in the grass and not being able to pull it up easily because of the barbs. Will this kind of practice ruin the barbs and tip?

 

[Weldabeast]

I picked 1 up because of this thread...I haven't really taken it out much. I got it with the intention of using it on my friend boat out in the ocean but he had to have some work done on the boat so we haven't been out. The regulations on freshwater fish are tight. I officially hit 1 gar but it glancing shot. I haven't tried to shoot out of the canoe yet and fishing from the bank is pretty difficult. I do want to eventually try to kill a hog or deer with it. Hopefully soon I get the call about an offshore trip....I can't wait to see the looks on people's faces at the boat launch...1tackle box, 1 fishing pole, and 1 bow and arrow. I'm excited.. I can't afford the nice equipment to be targeting the big fish so I usually end up the"catch the bait"guy.... That gets boring after a while but now I spot and stalk the boat... hahaha

 

[denots]

So my buddy just gave me a old PSE Kingfisher! I am so appreciative and pretty stoked. Spent tonight setting it up.

Now I have more questions; mostly related to yard practice. Here goes...

1. How do yall ensure the nock height is right on a bowfishing bow? Asking because the fiberglass arrow he gave me has barbs that cannot be removed. Need to find how the arrow is acting but I think launching this into my rhinehart target would make a mess real fast.

2. Do I need a separate practice arrow for yard practice or can I shoot this one at my kid's least favorite stuffed animal on the lawn? Guess I'm concerned about the arrow burying in the grass and not being able to pull it up easily because of the barbs. Will this kind of practice ruin the barbs and tip?

I've shot in the yard. No separate arrow need. I would recommend a couple of replacement one's just in case. I mostly shoot in the yard to watch arrow flight. You just need to make sure the tip can be slightly unscrewed so the barbs can rotate forward or you will have a hell of a time getting the fish off.

 

[LtMoe66]

Started thinking about getting into bowfishing as an off-season meat producer. My limited research over the past couple days has me asking A LOT of questions (recurve vs. compound, etc.). The lack of sub-$200 lefthand bow setups may keep me out of it though. Anybody have suggestions for a bow that won't break the bank?

Looked up the regs here and we're allowed to bowfish carp and gar. Not having been any kind of fisherman in the past, are these two kinds of fish good eating?

If you want a great bow fishing rig look at the Samick recurve in 40#. You can get in left hand and it under $200

 

[denots]

@Red Beard Ive never shot a target, just picked something to aim at far enough away that the arrow just slides under the grass.

 

[Red Beard]

I've shot in the yard. No separate arrow need. I would recommend a couple of replacement one's just in case. I mostly shoot in the yard to watch arrow flight. You just need to make sure the tip can be slightly unscrewed so the barbs can rotate forward or you will have a hell of a time getting the fish off.

Thank you buddy! I got up this morning thinking that maybe I could bend the barb enough to slide it out so that I could tune this thing and practice a bit. Then when everything is right and in ready for the water, I slide the barb back in and re-bend it again. Think that will work?

 

[denots]

Thank you buddy! I got up this morning thinking that maybe I could bend the barb enough to slide it out so that I could tune this thing and practice a bit. Then when everything is right and in ready for the water, I slide the barb back in and re-bend it again. Think that will work?

I've never removed the Barb. I would not recommend bending it to remove it. The tip should unscrew. I would think you would want to practice with the arrow how you would shoot with it in a fishing situation. Most of our shots are really close but you don't want to shoot directly into the dirt. I just like to shoot the arrow to make sure it's flying correctly. Never needed a Target to do this. By the time it reaches the grass it's not going severe enough of an angle for it to even go under the grass. For practice if there's some public Pond or waterway that you can walk around the banks in practice shooting trash off the bottom if that's a possibility. I have done this in my friends pond. Picked up a few 16 oz beer cans and things of this nature that the wind ended up blowing in his pond. It's good practice and helps you see how much refraction effects where you should aim. You could make a homemade bowfishing Target with a 2 liter bottle. Just tie weight to a string and the bottle so the bottle is suspended underneath the water. It would be a one-and-done Target when you hit it. But 2 liter bottles or something of that nature would be pretty easy to come by for free. I'm not sure how much weight it would take to hold the bottle down. That you would have to play with that to find out.

 

[BTaylor]

Gatorade bottles would work for that.

 

[Red Beard]

I've never removed the Barb. I would not recommend bending it to remove it. The tip should unscrew. I would think you would want to practice with the arrow how you would shoot with it in a fishing situation. Most of our shots are really close but you don't want to shoot directly into the dirt. I just like to shoot the arrow to make sure it's flying correctly. Never needed a Target to do this. By the time it reaches the grass it's not going severe enough of an angle for it to even go under the grass. For practice if there's some public Pond or waterway that you can walk around the banks in practice shooting trash off the bottom if that's a possibility. I have done this in my friends pond. Picked up a few 16 oz beer cans and things of this nature that the wind ended up blowing in his pond. It's good practice and helps you see how much refraction effects where you should aim. You could make a homemade bowfishing Target with a 2 liter bottle. Just tie weight to a string and the bottle so the bottle is suspended underneath the water. It would be a one-and-done Target when you hit it. But 2 liter bottles or something of that nature would be pretty easy to come by for free. I'm not sure how much weight it would take to hold the bottle down. That you would have to play with that to find out.

This is perfect. Thank you!

Yeah I'm really just looking to make sure the nock height is right for good arrow flight.

I recently picked up a Samick Sage (started my trad journey) and spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was tuned properly. Took awhile, but that thing is shooting like a dream now. Now, I want to ensure that I have the same results with this kingfisher in terms of arrow flying straight. I can't find a dern discussion or video anywhere regarding where to start out with nock height. Knowing nothing about bowfishing or how a 1480gr arrow acts from a 40lb bow, I assume it's similar to other recurves (1/4"-1/2")?

 

[denots]

This is perfect. Thank you!

Yeah I'm really just looking to make sure the nock height is right for good arrow flight.

I recently picked up a Samick Sage (started my trad journey) and spent quite a bit of time making sure everything was tuned properly. Took awhile, but that thing is shooting like a dream now. Now, I want to ensure that I have the same results with this kingfisher in terms of arrow flying straight. I can't find a dern discussion or video anywhere regarding where to start out with nock height. Knowing nothing about bowfishing or how a 1480gr arrow acts from a 40lb bow, I assume it's similar to other recurves (1/4"-1/2")?

I would just nock my arrow level and see how it flies and adjust accordingly.

 

[Apex7]

That looks like a fun time.

 

[Red Beard]

Looks like I was overthinking it. Set my nock at 3/16" and went at knocking this box around the yard. What a blast man! Had SO much fun doing this!

Never did get the hang of it shooting a right handed bow lefty though. All my left hand shots were 3" left no matter where I aimed. Ended up just shooting right handed.

 

[kbetts]

Ha! Second recommendation to convert an old bow (@denots)

Ok. So, you think the Diamond will be ok for it? Bottle reel or stabilizer mounted one?

Recurves or longer bows get the nod because they are easier to shoot with fingers. Hence the “old” bow idea. Get one with a long ata.

I shoot a 50# recurve. Fish arrows are heavy and die quick from light weights.

If you aren’t sure about the aiming/sighting part.....get a cheap laser dot. Once sighted in, it will automatically allow for the refraction.....put the dot on the target and drop the string. Never miss.

 

[kbetts]

Should’ve read the whole thread.....lol

Anyway, nice rig.

Most of my trad bows are 1/4” high on the nock point.

 

[kbetts]

I picked 1 up because of this thread...I haven't really taken it out much. I got it with the intention of using it on my friend boat out in the ocean but he had to have some work done on the boat so we haven't been out. The regulations on freshwater fish are tight. I officially hit 1 gar but it glancing shot. I haven't tried to shoot out of the canoe yet and fishing from the bank is pretty difficult. I do want to eventually try to kill a hog or deer with it. Hopefully soon I get the call about an offshore trip....I can't wait to see the looks on people's faces at the boat launch...1tackle box, 1 fishing pole, and 1 bow and arrow. I'm excited.. I can't afford the nice equipment to be targeting the big fish so I usually end up the"catch the bait"guy.... That gets boring after a while but now I spot and stalk the boat... hahaha


View attachment 45982

Cool looking bow. Looks like the brace height may be a little short but it could be the camera angle.

Second thing, gar are tough as are most rough fish. I bend the barbs on the points in a bit. Less glancing shots and it will still hold fine. Took me a few to figure that out.

 

[denots]

 

[denots]

Bowfishing was no good, but we still managed to get a few in the boat on some shrimp

 

[denots]

 

[denots]