After reading comments in the twitchy whitetail thread I started thinking about some of the things I've seen in the field, at shoots, draw hunts etc etc.
4 years ago in McAllister Oklahoma at the Trad only hunt that I was lucky enough to be drawn for I met a few really good guys that I ended up being paired up with to hunt as that is one of the rules to that hunt is that no one goes out alone. So basically me and 3 other guys that didn't know anyone else got grouped together.
First afternoon there and several people are shooting at the range. Not knowing anyone and not wanting to embarrass myself as I was in my opinion still fairly new to trad at the time (couple years of serious shooting) I waited for a lull in the action. As Things die down I notice one of the guys in my group (we shall call him buddy) walk up and start shooting. I start shooting as well and was actually doing a good job of appearing to know what I was doing.
I notice that buddy's arrows are on target and grouping well but they are flying at about a 45° or worse. Buddy tells me that he noticed my arrows are flying well and that it was beyond him how to fix his arrow flight problem. Now I'm no expert by any means but in preparation for this hunt I had put in the work and was pretty much on point with my tuning and shooting at this point.
I can't remember if he was right or left handed or any of that but the long and short of it was his arrow shafts were too stiff and his only viable option would be to add point weight.
I was shooting wood arrows and he was shooting carbon of some sort so I want much help in the insert point weight area. And being on the base its not real way to just run to town, and as we all know finding trad gear in a store is next to impossible. I told him if he wanted to try to go to find some lighter spined arrows I would go with him. He said he thought he might have something that would work. So I left him to his own devices and returned to my campsite.
The next morning at about ten minutes till Oh Dark 30 I stumbled to buddy's truck and climb in for the days hunt. My eyes are basically welded shut but I'm pretty sure through the haze that I see a 2-3 inch section of black stuff globbed on the end of buddy's arrows that sends strikingly similar to electrical tape. I asks buddy what is on his arrows. He says "electrical tape, 1/2 a roll odd arrow to be exact". He said that the extra weight had his arrows flying like darts. I then watched as he unscrewed the field points and screwed on 100 grain rage hypodermics. Buddy then walked of into the darkness, leaving me and the other 2 members standing there in awe.
That evening I've kid the guys had notified us he had a doe down so we were to meet up where we stopped him off at and follow him back to his deer and help him drag it out. Well buddy never shows so we go in get the doe and drag her out. Upon our return buddy had left a note on his truck window that said to come to the area we had dropped him off at and help him get the Deer he had shot.
I immediately think there is no way he killed that deer with his equipment and setup. We drive to buddy and there he is covered in blood. Points over to the tree line about 30 yards away and says " she's right over there, I double lunged her at 22 yards, complete pass thru, she didn't go 15 yds.
I started laughing and didn't stop until we got back to camp and unloaded his deer.
PS the other guy that connected on a deer that hunt was using a borrowed hoyte target recurve of some sort that he had picked up on the way there and had only shot it one time prior to killing his deer with it. The one shot he fired prior was at the buck that was standing beside her. He shot right under him, the doe stepped up to the same spot so as he put it "just assumed about 4 inches higher" and drilled her.
Long story I know but sometimes stuff line this makes me think back to what my dad has always said about whitetail hunting. "Luck is all the preparation done guys need".
4 years ago in McAllister Oklahoma at the Trad only hunt that I was lucky enough to be drawn for I met a few really good guys that I ended up being paired up with to hunt as that is one of the rules to that hunt is that no one goes out alone. So basically me and 3 other guys that didn't know anyone else got grouped together.
First afternoon there and several people are shooting at the range. Not knowing anyone and not wanting to embarrass myself as I was in my opinion still fairly new to trad at the time (couple years of serious shooting) I waited for a lull in the action. As Things die down I notice one of the guys in my group (we shall call him buddy) walk up and start shooting. I start shooting as well and was actually doing a good job of appearing to know what I was doing.
I notice that buddy's arrows are on target and grouping well but they are flying at about a 45° or worse. Buddy tells me that he noticed my arrows are flying well and that it was beyond him how to fix his arrow flight problem. Now I'm no expert by any means but in preparation for this hunt I had put in the work and was pretty much on point with my tuning and shooting at this point.
I can't remember if he was right or left handed or any of that but the long and short of it was his arrow shafts were too stiff and his only viable option would be to add point weight.
I was shooting wood arrows and he was shooting carbon of some sort so I want much help in the insert point weight area. And being on the base its not real way to just run to town, and as we all know finding trad gear in a store is next to impossible. I told him if he wanted to try to go to find some lighter spined arrows I would go with him. He said he thought he might have something that would work. So I left him to his own devices and returned to my campsite.
The next morning at about ten minutes till Oh Dark 30 I stumbled to buddy's truck and climb in for the days hunt. My eyes are basically welded shut but I'm pretty sure through the haze that I see a 2-3 inch section of black stuff globbed on the end of buddy's arrows that sends strikingly similar to electrical tape. I asks buddy what is on his arrows. He says "electrical tape, 1/2 a roll odd arrow to be exact". He said that the extra weight had his arrows flying like darts. I then watched as he unscrewed the field points and screwed on 100 grain rage hypodermics. Buddy then walked of into the darkness, leaving me and the other 2 members standing there in awe.
That evening I've kid the guys had notified us he had a doe down so we were to meet up where we stopped him off at and follow him back to his deer and help him drag it out. Well buddy never shows so we go in get the doe and drag her out. Upon our return buddy had left a note on his truck window that said to come to the area we had dropped him off at and help him get the Deer he had shot.
I immediately think there is no way he killed that deer with his equipment and setup. We drive to buddy and there he is covered in blood. Points over to the tree line about 30 yards away and says " she's right over there, I double lunged her at 22 yards, complete pass thru, she didn't go 15 yds.
I started laughing and didn't stop until we got back to camp and unloaded his deer.
PS the other guy that connected on a deer that hunt was using a borrowed hoyte target recurve of some sort that he had picked up on the way there and had only shot it one time prior to killing his deer with it. The one shot he fired prior was at the buck that was standing beside her. He shot right under him, the doe stepped up to the same spot so as he put it "just assumed about 4 inches higher" and drilled her.
Long story I know but sometimes stuff line this makes me think back to what my dad has always said about whitetail hunting. "Luck is all the preparation done guys need".
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