Don't shoot broadheads bareshaft...broadhead adds wings to the front so fletching needed to correct flight
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Who has snorted the Fairy Dust?
- Thread starter jakhammer
- Start date
What @BTaylor said.
You bare shaft with field points, not broad heads.
Fletching is kept to the bare minimum...just enough to stabilize broad heads.
Ashby talks about some of "his guys" shooting outdoor tournaments with bare shafts. A well tuned arrow only needs fletching for broad heads.
Ideally, you'd want the arrows making almost bullet holes in paper within a few yards in front of the bow.When you add fletching, it will slightly stiffen the shaft, so bare shafts should shoot slightly "weak".
Some of the poorest penetration episodes occur on those shots that are very close...5 yards or so. A sketchy tune will have the arrow flight not yet corrected so there is an element of lateral force which robs that straight ahead momentum. The whole point of a straight flying arrow is to utilize maximum forward momentum. It doesn't matter if you can shoot a dime-sized group at 25 yards if your arrow isn't flying straight and pushing all it's energy into the broadhead.
Find a buddy close by with an arrow saw. Pay a shop a buck to do it.
Square the ends of the arrows after cutting. Always.
Clamps and a dremel will work. That is if you already have a dremel. There are youtube videos to explain the setup.
GrizzlyStik used to have a video about it on their site but I can't seem to find it on there. Drives me nuts when a company "updates" their website and they remove info. It might still be on Youtube somewhere.
I cut mine with a dremmel. The important thing is to rotate the shaft as you cut so it insures a square cut. If you attempt to chop straight thru when hand-cutting with a dremmel, you won't get a square cut. I've not had any trouble getting a nice, square cut with a dremmel.
If I dry-insert a full length Ethics insert, it will show if the cut is out of square, but I still check for square with an old set of machinists V blocks and a vertical plate on the end of one of the blocks. I can't remember ever having a cut that's out of square.
Being able to cut your own shafts is really helpful when you are building/tuning arrows because you will probably be cutting off tiny amounts at a time...as little as 1/8". Once you get it really dialed in, then getting a shop to cut larger quantities might be easier, but don't trust that they will be square...check each and every cut that a shop makes.
Harbor freight arrow saw
I bought the cheap saw from HF. I wasnt liking/a little worried about the metal blade so I ordered some 2" 3/8 arbor abrasive wheels....36 and 90 grit. The black wheel is the 36 grit and brown 1 the 90grit. The metal blade cut the cleanest, 90 grit second best, 36 worst out of the 3....all left...
saddlehunter.com
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Ok now I'm going to really throw you a curve ball. I have a 9 year old that is determined to kill a deer with his bow. He has a Bear Cruzer G2 and we are working up to the 35Lbs required by Alabama State law to be allowed to hunt. What route should i go for a good kill. Not sure what his draw length is(cant remember what i set it on) but its very short mid teens maybe
I won't post the links since nobody likes RF sense of humour.....look on his channel for the youth bow build, update, update with kill videos. 3 separate videos from 3 years ago. Project dik-dik
350 spine at 29” of carbon is the correct spine for justice, prosecutor, judgement or hunter shafts per bloodsports spine chart. If one of these shafts are the ones you are using you should be in the right ballpark as far as spine stiffness. From personal experience though spine charts only get you close, and tent to err on the stiffer side. If you can it is always a good idea to bare-shaft the arrows through paper at about 7 yards with increasing point weight. As you increase the point weight the tear should get smaller until the spine gets to weak. At that point the tear will start getting larger again. I hope this helps.
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ol come on isn't there anybody else that does this besides him.
U must not have stumbled across that rediculus backpack thread......
My girlfriend is in same boat.
I built a 450gr arrow for her. I told her she can’t hunt until she can shoot it 200fps, and hit 100/100 shots in a 4” circle at 20 yards.
Once there, I will put her in position to take only shots under 15 yards at a deer.
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- Jun 28, 2019
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Finding each individual bowhunter's Maximum Effective Range (MER) is one of the most important exercises each individual bowhunter should go through each pre season. I wouldn't do it until you've been shooting for a few weeks if you're one who doesn't shoot all year long. This exercise assumes your bow is adequately tuned and your sights are sighted in within the distances you believe you will be hunting. For an eastern whitetail saddle hunter who will, 98% of the time, be hunting from a saddle within "bow range" of a trail crossing or other deer travel way or location, it may be good to consider 40 yards as your baseline maximum distance. (I am basing this on an "average" bowhunter) If you can shoot further distances you will already realize this and adjust your personal overall distance accordingly.
So, in this exercise you shoot for groups. You start at 10 yards or whatever is comfortable to you and keep backing up in 5 or 10 yard increments until you can no longer CONSISTENTLY group 4-6 arrows into the target size you deem as appropriate. Some people will use the entire 8" vitals of a whitetail as their overall target size. Others will decrease it to perhaps the size of a 3-4" circle. I believe most bowhunters with modern equipment and decent form can adequately group arrows consistently in 5-6 inch sized groups without much problem and most can group them in half that size of their overall bullseye size (anywhere from 2" to 8") depending on experience etc. within normal hunting distances.
When you are no longer able to group them consistently, mark that range, say 45 yards and only take shots at game to a maximum of 40 yards. If, the following season you've been practicing with your form and at 60-80 yards and you can now consistently group arrows into a 3" circle at 55 yards and at 60 you cannot, well then your MER for this season may be 55 yards.
Some variations of this can be applied. The one I like is increasing the vital zone size based on a 10,15 or 20 yard increments (depending on your skill level etc.). So for example, at 20 yards and in, use a 2" bullseye, at 40 yards and in use a 4" bullseye, and so and so forth up to an 8" total vital zone size. If you are going to go elk hunting, perhaps you want to use a maximum 12" vital zone size to find your MER. This adds in some variability and allows for adjustments based on experience and shooting skill level(s).
Overall, the point of the exercise is to determine your individual maximum effective range for that hunting season. A personal goal based on an objective analysis of your own shooting ability using your gear. The beauty is that this can change each year depending on how much you want to or don't want to work at it. From an ethical standpoint, you should know your maximum effective range especially with slower moving arrow setups. If you're honest with yourself, your wounding loss will decrease exponentially. It is similar to actual shot placement where you will impose a goal of only shooting at a deer that is either broadside or quartering away and within X yards.
What does this have to do with the Fairy Dust? Nothing directly, but If you are on the fence about going to a heavier arrow build because you do not want to assume a more rainbow and arching trajectory, with this exercise you can see if it will even make much of a difference or not by losing 35-45 fps in speed for an arrow that your can't consistently group at x distance anyway if it were traveling 285 fps as opposed to 245 fps.
So, in this exercise you shoot for groups. You start at 10 yards or whatever is comfortable to you and keep backing up in 5 or 10 yard increments until you can no longer CONSISTENTLY group 4-6 arrows into the target size you deem as appropriate. Some people will use the entire 8" vitals of a whitetail as their overall target size. Others will decrease it to perhaps the size of a 3-4" circle. I believe most bowhunters with modern equipment and decent form can adequately group arrows consistently in 5-6 inch sized groups without much problem and most can group them in half that size of their overall bullseye size (anywhere from 2" to 8") depending on experience etc. within normal hunting distances.
When you are no longer able to group them consistently, mark that range, say 45 yards and only take shots at game to a maximum of 40 yards. If, the following season you've been practicing with your form and at 60-80 yards and you can now consistently group arrows into a 3" circle at 55 yards and at 60 you cannot, well then your MER for this season may be 55 yards.
Some variations of this can be applied. The one I like is increasing the vital zone size based on a 10,15 or 20 yard increments (depending on your skill level etc.). So for example, at 20 yards and in, use a 2" bullseye, at 40 yards and in use a 4" bullseye, and so and so forth up to an 8" total vital zone size. If you are going to go elk hunting, perhaps you want to use a maximum 12" vital zone size to find your MER. This adds in some variability and allows for adjustments based on experience and shooting skill level(s).
Overall, the point of the exercise is to determine your individual maximum effective range for that hunting season. A personal goal based on an objective analysis of your own shooting ability using your gear. The beauty is that this can change each year depending on how much you want to or don't want to work at it. From an ethical standpoint, you should know your maximum effective range especially with slower moving arrow setups. If you're honest with yourself, your wounding loss will decrease exponentially. It is similar to actual shot placement where you will impose a goal of only shooting at a deer that is either broadside or quartering away and within X yards.
What does this have to do with the Fairy Dust? Nothing directly, but If you are on the fence about going to a heavier arrow build because you do not want to assume a more rainbow and arching trajectory, with this exercise you can see if it will even make much of a difference or not by losing 35-45 fps in speed for an arrow that your can't consistently group at x distance anyway if it were traveling 285 fps as opposed to 245 fps.
Remember you don't want to breath the particles if you cut the carbon. Run a vacuum or respirator.
Just curious why the 200FPS? What do trad bows shoot? Trad guys never talk about FPS.
@Petrichor or @GCTerpfan what would you say most of your trad bows shoot?
DIY sportsman has some good info and a little more mild. If you email him questions he will answer. I have asked him a few things a long the way. Average jack archery has lot of good info as well. Or Sean's outdoor adventure.