2019 Cold Bow Challenge

[Sniff]

Shooting a Hoyt Powermax
28.5” draw with 64lbs
Gold tip hunter xt 300
Apex rest
Spot Hogg wise guy release
Field points because I cannot find my broadheads...


I’m shooting a pretty steep angle at 39 yards. Today was the start. Nice weather, NW winds at 19mph, we are protected at the house so it was calm and sunny.

My goal is inside the main circle. I was a little high, I seem to struggle with gapping my pins which are set 20-60 every 10’.






Day 1 it was windy about 19mph out of the NW. The ridge was blocking most of it so it actually was rather calm when making the shot. It felt good on the release and I'm ok with this shot.



Day 2 Calm and still. this was shot at 7 in the morning so no wind and a decent shot. Felt better than Day 1. Still a little right, but for gapping my pins I am ok with this



This is looking down from the target. I am shooting from the trees just left of the truck, with my back foot on the road. It is a pretty steep angle so I thought I would make the shot a challenge.



Day 3. Calm morning with no wind and sunshine. Decent shot that was right and high. Given the angle and the cover I'm shooting through I am ok with this. Almost same spot as day 2 shot.



Day 4 No wind, sunny and chill. I was really trying to focus on not gripping my bow when the shot happened. I'm not sure if that is the reason for shots 1-3 being all right of the intended target. This was a great shot I feel, the focusing on not gripping or trying to peak at the arrow in flight seems to have helped...at least that is what my brain is telling me.


Another calm still morning here in Colorado. I thought that I would try on the last day to make the shot with more pressure, i.e. hurry a little bit and not sit for so long trying to get my gap perfect...well it bit me in the ass. I had a clean miss on the target and think I did everything I tried not to do on shot #4. I gripped to hard on release, peaked to try and follow the arrow and since I tried to rush the shot I was not able to get my pin gap correct.



I really liked this challenge and plan on making this part of my routine every so often. Just go and shoot one shot for all the marbles. I tried to add a little more to my shot. With the steep angle I would also get my bow ready inside, arrow nocked and release ready to go, I would walk out of my house right to the spot and draw, aim, shoot. I can only imagine once the blood is flowing how much that will impact the shot. Next year I plan to be using broad heads and really work on increasing my distance. At first I thought 38 yds would be easy and I have shot this target up on the hill before. I hit it most times but definitely get better the more I settle in and get a couple of shots under my belt. Very eye opening when you get one arrow, one shot one chance. Thanks Robby and Rokslide for putting this thing together. Best of luck to all this year in whatever hunts you have coming up.

 

[Fatcamp]

Day 1: Shooting this year at 40 yards off my knees wearing binocular harness, hat, face mask, gloves, and kneepads. Black circle is 8.5".
Day 2: I just can't get over how much putting on gear, using broadheads, and shooting off my knees changes this. I can stack 40 yard shots from standing with field tips. That is a huge takeaway for me. Noticed it before, but it is really making an impact on me this spring for some reason.
Day 3: Grrrr. I would like to blame the wind or needing new strings, but we all know that's not what this is about.
Day 4: Made sure to go over my draw sequence prior to drawing. Made sure to settle my pin and hold for a couple seconds. The problem with days 2 and 3 were not the tool, it was the craftsman.
Day 5: Horrible wind and the horses were on the way. They have figured out that if they stand behind my target I'll give them grain at the opposite end of the pasture. Stayed calm, went through my protocol prior to shooting and for the shot.

Glad it's over. Having my strings replaced next week and going bowfishing tomorrow with my wife. Really need to double down on archery skills because our odds of drawing rifle tags this year are slim for elk, deer, and antelope. Kind of glad for it as I have yet to spend the kind of time chasing deer with my bow that it deserves. Lots of living to do until Fall, but very excited to revisit our areas.

Day 1: 10-15 from the left.

Day 2: Calm

Day 3: 5-15 from behind

Day 4: 5-15 from over my right shoulder

Day 5: Variable wind gusting to 30. Just so we're clear, the horse wasn't standing there when I shot. She was far to the right and forward the target. She just knows if she goes and stands there I will grain her so I can practice.

Bow: Diamond Fugitive 58#
Rest: Ripcord drop-away
Sight: Black Gold fixed 5-pin
Quiver: Quikee 3 arrow
Arrow: Scheels Rogue Elite 340
Broadheads: Muzzy 3-blade practice

 

[jfs82]

Brand new to archery, Diamond infinite edge pro, 27.5 inch draw, maxed at 68 lbs with that length. Truglo 4 pin, truglo drop away. No peep, no kisser (in the mail).
Taped off part of the target is 6 inches by 7 inches, figuring about an 8 inch target zone for blacktail and black bear, so Im practicing with about 2/3 of that area.
Distance is 25 yards, furthest I can get without driving out of town as Im shooting from the living room out the back. This exercise is telling me I need to adjust my sight and I need to get better with my bow...

Day 1 12-15 mph left to right

Day 2 no wind worth mentioning

Day 3 target shrunk due to the dog's interest in the tape... mild breeze.

Day 4, early this morning, overcast, low light, no wind. Didn't have time to adjust my pins so I just shot the next pin up. Moved my shot up 2 inches over the last few days.

Final day, in between bursts of rain, no wind. This was fun and telling, tempted to build a target that canhandle braodheads and jam 5 for days! Thanks for running this, felt like I learned my bow a lot.

 

[HUNTING5150]

Relatively new to archery, and since haven’t shot in a month or so with limited space for shooting, my MER for this challenge is 30 yards. Shooting a Hoyt Carbon Spyder LD with draw length at 32” at 68 lbs. Easton Carbon Aftermath 300 arrows with field points, QAD drop-away rest, Spot Hogg Hunter sight, and Tru-Fire release.
Day 1: 72* with 5-10 mph breeze over left shoulder.

Day 2: 68*, 5-10 mph breeze left to right, I felt rushed to shoot and jerked the trigger on release.

Day3: 66*, No wind

Day 4: 70*, 10 mph cross wind left to right.
Day 5: 63*, no wind.


Truly enjoyed the challenge, it has motivated me to want to practice more and maybe experiment with other arrow setups. Thanks for hosting this challenge.

 

[Btaylor]

Day 1 for me. ILF longbow 51@29” 420 grain arrow with field point. Shooting from 25 yards. 8x10 cardboard with 3” circle.


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Day 2

Day3 After a workout full of burpees and KB swings was just happy to keep this one close

Day 4 just got home from work. I have decided I have an allergy to the center circle lol.

Day 5. Woohoo! Finally!! Not unhappy with those 5 since kept them in deer kill zone but not satisfied by any stretch either.

 

[Travis Hobbs]

This is an awesome idea! I use to try to practice the month before season in a similar way, one arrow before work, one after and it really made me think about that shot, not just launching a few dozen arrows.

I’m saying my maximum effective range is 55 yards...I’d like to say it’s further, and hopefully it will be...but I shot broadheads for the first time out of this bow yesterday (still tuning and playing w/ weights) and I’d like to not launch any arrows into the horse pasture and in all honesty, I can shoot 3D pretty well, but put a 190+” Muley in front of me and MER goes WAY down if I’m being honest. So I’ll see how this goes! It should be fun...

The bow is a Mathews Vertix, 75 pounds 29.5” draw. Shooting DaySix 250 Spine Arrows at 615 grains running 150GN Iron Will Solid’s


Day 1 was windy, 10mph or so, coming right at me so not much effect. I was a little nervous for some reason though then relieved... can’t wait for tomorrow.



Day 2 on my way out the door calm conditions... couple inches right and a bit higher than yesterday barely snuck in there


Day 3 No Wind, super calm... little lower than yesterday... I feel like I might be shooting a touch high... or I just am screwing up holding high

Day 4, breezy, light rain... I know I’m consistently a little high but I’m super happy with broadhead grouping given this like the 10th broadhead ever out of the bow... yesterday I had to let down twice cause it didn’t feel right... today only once





Day 5- Id like to say it was windy, but conditions were perfect and I blew it


This has been fun... I’m going to rotate this kind of shooting into my practicing more. Way more real world practice.

 

[Rodéo]

Another rookie archer here. This will be my first season bow hunting and I'll be going after blacktails/muleys here in CA, mostly during the hot,dry, July/August archery season. I've been shooting my bow at least 4 times a week for a few months leading up to this so I'm feeling more and more comfortable and confident with every shot. This challenge is a great way to test my skills for this upcoming season! Thanks to rokslide and the sponsors for putting this on!

I shot around noon here in CA. Weather was pretty perfect, about 70 degrees and a slight shifting wind (around 3-5 mph).

MER 40 yards

Shooting a PSE Stinger X 60lbs/28 inch draw.
Ripcord drive rest
Black Gold Widow Maker 4 Pin (20-50 every 10 yards)
Shooting with a Tru Ball Max Hunter 3 thumb release
Tightspot 5 Arrow quiver
BStinger 8 inch stabilizer with two of the weights up front.

Arrows are Gold Tip Hunter XT 340 with 3 blazers and 100 grain brass insert.
Shooting RamCat hydroshock broadheads at 40yds.
Total arrow weight is 481 grains shooting at around 230 fps.
Shooting at the small side of a block target, aiming for the vital area. It's about 5 inches across and 5 inches tall on the target. 29 Inch arrow placed on top of the target for size reference in the picture.
Picture of target is zoomed in from 40 for a better picture.
DAY 1


I made a good shot and got the arrow in the black area I was aiming for. A little higher than I would've liked but I still have a lot of learning/practice to go. Overall pretty happy with my start on day 1 and am looking forward to the pressure build of the upcoming days.



DAY 2

We're going through a bit of a spring storm here in Northern CA. No excuses! Got out there and shot today at my 40 yard MER. Was about 10:30 am when I shot. Raining lightly, 5-10 mph western wind, about 55-60 degrees.

Shooting the same set up w/ the same ramcat broadhead.

This was a great test today as it was my first time shooting with my rain jacket on (FL vapor stormlight) and I found that when fully zipped up, the hood interfered with my anchor point (duh!). A great reminder to get out there and shoot with all the gear you have and in every possible situation you may encounter so you're ready for it when it's time for the real deal.

As I let the arrow fly I was horrified that I had missed terribly high, over the target high. Not sure why the shot felt like that, as I ended up hitting about an inch right of my shot on day 1. Still in the black target area I've been aiming for, but just barely.

Doesn't look like the rain is supposed to stop here for another week or so, so it looks like I might be shooting a few more days of this challenge in the rain. Fine by me! Looking forward to improvement on days 3-5.


DAY 3
Went out and shot on Friday 5/17 for my 3rd day. Caught a small break in the rain and the wind wasn't too bad. Under 10 mph at my back. I totally pulled the shot. No excuse. Just barely hot the target. About 5-6 inches low and 5-6 inches right of where I was aiming. Not sure what went wrong but I will try and get back on track tomorrow for day 4.
DAY 4
Shot today around noon. Wind was shifting from at my back to blowing left to right about 10 mph. Overcast and about 60 degrees.
Shot felt better than last time but till not as good as day 1. After going up to check, it turned out my left and right was spot on but I hit about 5 inches low. If nothing else, this challenge has taught me to try out different broadheads! These seem fairly inconsistent. I'll be on the look out to experiment on broad head choice for this upcoming season.


DAY 5
Shot my last arrow for the challenge today! Got out there around 10 am, wind was blowing strong 15mph left to right. A rainstorm was coming in so it was heavily overcast and around 55 degrees.
Shot felt good. Thought i nailed it but apparently not. Pulled through the shot, elbow was up, feet were good, something just didn't click on this one. If the arrow landed an inch right of where I shot I'd be happy.
Already looking forward to next year's challenge!
Thanks again to rokslide and the sponsors for putting this on!

 

[dano626]

Here we go....

Shooting a PSE Ferocity
28 in draw set at 65lb
Mbg ascent 4 pin sight
Gold tip xt hunter 400 with 100g rage hypo
Jim fletcher fletch hook release



I'm shooting 30 yards because it's the furthest I can shoot in my backyard!
Rinehart 18-1 target.

Day 1. No wind, 70 degrees. Release had a small hiccup in trigger. Shot was a little low and right. Had to clean and lube the sear as it was a little sticky, probably from shooting 3d in the rain last weekend. Goes to show you, you gotta go through everything and make sure it's in tip top shape!


Day 2.
70 degrees, slight swirling winds. Right again...a little high this time.


Day 3.

72 degrees, little bit of cloud cover, very little to no wind. Shot felt good. It seems like I shoot better when my form is more rigid. When my form is more relaxed I'm collapsing and shooting right.


Day 4. Weather still nice. Little breezy. Busy day and a total lack of focus led to a horrible punch of the trigger.


Day 5. Cloudy and a little windy. Came ready and focused for the last shot of this challenge.

 

[Raygun15E]

I finally got myself outside today to shoot this challenge. It’s a great concept and a lot of fun!
My setup
Bowtech Experience ~65lbs, 30.5” draw
Gold tip Pierce Platinum 300 at 29” ~435gr At 300ft/s with field tips
Spot Hogg Fast Eddie XL 2-pin
QAD rest
B-Stinger

Shooting 52yds (Max range in the yard)
Rinehart Woodland Buck (TX deer size!)

The shooting lane

The setup

Day 1: Calm conditions before the Tstorms rolled thru. Shot felt good!

Day 2: Again calm this morning. Shot felt a little rushed this morning. Still not horrible.

Day 3: Slight wind from 5 O’clock. I also pulled the shot a little left (aka mostly me!)

Day 4: Miss! Wind 10-15 from 5 O’clock. I had a tough time keeping the pin steady after the first couple seconds and it shows!

Day 5: Hot, 94° and gusty wind from 6 O’clock. No way I should deal with a wind from that direction when hunting! Shot broke with the pin slightly right. Right where the arrow went!

I had a great time again this year with the Cold Bow Challenge! I’ll have to try this again this summer with my Slick Trick Viper Trick broad heads.
Thanks again to Robby Denning, Travis Bertrand, sponsors and anyone else that helped.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SkunkCabbage]

Hoyt Carbon Spyder 34 ZT Long Draw 70lb draw
31.5" Axis 260 Match, 50gr brass Insert, Elk River Footers, 3 Fletch Blazers, Stock X Nock, 125gr Swept Exodus
585gr Arrow Running 267fps. 16% FOC if i remember correctly. They fly excellent

Target 1/3 Rinhard Elk @ 40 yards. Goal was to do 60 but I'm a bit limited with time and space. I have up to 40 in my yard without risking losing arrows. The elk is supposed to simulate a 60 yard shot at 20 yards.
I find I have to concentrate a lot more when not aiming at a dot so my goal with this is ultimately to get it into the vitals based off the anatomy of the animal. Animals don't have points per say. Changing it up this year.

Day 1 - Sunny, 18C no wind. Rushed the shot a little bit as my 2 year old daughter was coming down the hill to check me out and wouldn't stay put. Rear lungs. I need to focus more on lining my pins up with the rear tailing edge of his leg.



Day 2 - no wind, 12 deg C, light rain
I'm thinking my broadheads need to be tuned finer at longer distances.
This will be a good test to show consistency.

Day 3 - 14deg C, light wind in my face, odd rain drop. Still convinced my broadheads need more finer tuning. Still consistently grouping in the same area.

Day 4: Rain, Wore Gore-tex with hood, accidentally made my wise guy wrist strap too loose. Anchor point felt slightly off. Back-strapped him . Still convinced I need to tune it more. Still hitting left consistently. I thought about compensating today but I would rather show with this test of where I am accurately hitting and make adjustments after this test. Added a shooting lane photo to the post (above the shots)

Day 5 - no wind or rain. Leveled my bubble and lined my pins for the center line of his leg. Brought the shot a little closer to his vitals. Still not grouping where my field points were prior to the test. She will all be tuned up soon.

Shout out to the Rokslide crew for putting this contest on.
Thank you!

 

[Scottyboy]

MER will be 50 yards as i do not have my slider set yet, so if i were to leave this morning for a hunt, 50 would be my max. I forgot my tape measure, so i am unsure of my target size but it looks to be accurate for deer vitals (will measure on my next shoot)

Bow is a Hoyt Helix at 29.5" draw at 70lbs. Shooting a +/- 505gr Easton Axis Match made by @OR Archer with a SEVR broadhead.


5/14. No wind to speak of, 45*.







5/15. 55* no wind. Rushed the shot and hit a bit high. Forgot my tape measure again, it’s packed in my bag next time for target reference.


5/17. 60* 10mph right to left wind.


5/20. 50* slight breeze. I wish I could say I was aiming for the smaller circle or that the weed through me off. Rushed the shot and knew it was off the mark as soon as the arrow was on the way.


5/23. Rain, lots of wind and cold. Reminded me of a fall day I would typically avoid going out in. Time to get my bow dialed in and get some more reps in, cannot wait to do this challenge again on my own around August-September before our season opens.

 

[jparker]

First time joining the cold bow challenge.

Bow:
2015 Prime Rival
65lbs
29.5" draw
rocky mountian 3 pin slider site

Arrows:
350 spine Black Eagle outlaw
125gr. kudu broadhead
i believe my arrow weighs around 460-ish grains total

target set at 60 yards.


First time shooting this arrow and broad head combination, was going to use my field points, but decided last second to throw a kudu on and send it. Proof that a properly tuned bow will shoot field points and broad heads the same!

with no reputable bow shop in the town where i live, i do all of my own bow and arrow work. takes a long time to learn, a lot of research, reading, trial and error, but in the long run it's better than paying someone to do something i can learn to do! I've built my own draw board, arrow saw ,bow press, as well as two 4'x4' field point targets. i'm fortunate to be able to shoot out to 120+ yards if i want to on my property!

DAY 1:
weather was calm, 55*F, overcast



Day 2:
shooting earlier today, 05:00, cool and calm.


Day 3:

Colder, about 47* and a slight haze this morning. I decided to flip my block target around to give myself a smaller target area. I felt the past two days as if i was merely pointing the bow at the big white hexagon rather than aiming at an actual spot. the "kill zone" on the flip side of the block is about 5" wide, which i feel more comfortable shooting towards rather than the larger target area. as the old saying goes, aim small, miss small.




Day 4:
Cold (43*F), windy (10-15mph quartering from right to left from behind), and raining. Following my thoughts on aim small miss small i turned my target again, too the "shoot precise" side. Small hexagons roughly 2-3" across. I think i like a smaller target! And yes i was aiming for the bottom left hexagon as it had the least damage. Wind didn't really effect the shot at all.



Day 5:

Weather was cool and calm.

I was tired this morning, and sore. Wasn't feeling all that well when i shot, and the shot felt horrible. Couldn't get my pin to settle, felt like i jerked the release. Must have screwed everything up just right because i barely missed the upper left square i was aiming for. Sometimes it's better to be lucky i suppose!

 

[BigWoods]

The Setup:
Mathews Traverse (29") backed off to around 60#. Fuse 8" stabilizer and a 6" CBE back bar. The bow has an Apex Covert single pin sight and a Mathews arrow web 4 arrow quiver with 3 arrows in it.
Arrows are Beeman ICS Classic 300 Spine, guided by 3 blazers with 100gr brass inserts. I'll be shooting 100gr Rocky Mountain Warhead mechanicals. (I hoped to use my non-vented VPA 3 blade broadheads but for some reason they are no longer grouping with my field points and I don't want to mess with too tuning mid turkey season.). Total arrow weight is right around 508gr which should be moving somewhere around 250fps.
Release: Spot Hogg Whipper Snapper


Intended species; Whitetail and black bear - My target has 4 outer circles in around a 6.5" square. Inside that I'll call a good hit.
MER: 50yds
Here's what my normal range looks like (the trail is closed for a few more weeks).


Day 1: Calm. 35° and rainy. Release felt good, must have been holding a bit low. In the kill zone.


Day 2: Blustery winds from left to right. 40° and light rain. Just got in from turkey hunting so I was dressed in my camo. My body was a bit chilled and feet we're still a bit numb (that's May in Northern NH for you!). Wearing light gloves. Good simulation. Upon release, the sting slapped my coat sleeve causing my arrow to fish tail it's way to the target. Fortunately by 50yds it had straightened out and slid right behind the bear's shoulder for a short tracking job.


Day 3: Moderate wind from 8 o'clock. 55° and sunny. Release felt OK but I must have either held low or dropped the bow arm. Strangely, the broadhead didn't deploy. Brisket shot; after a long tracking job the sparse blood dried up.


Day 4: Handed a curve ball; out turkey hunting this morning, I had a twig scratch my cornea, making for blurriness and a horizontal lines where I see a light source on my right (dominant) eye...which meant the same for my fiber optic pin. If this happened while bow hunting, I would have tightened up my allowed range. All things considered, I'm actually pretty happy how close this hit.


Day 5: Final day of challenge. Still dealing with the corneal abrasion making for some blurriness, but my sight is better today. While the shot wasn't perfect, I think having some blurriness on target made me trust my pin float and focus on a good release even more. Temp around 45°, overcast with a light breeze. Arrow entered the same hole as day 1.


Thank you Rokslide and sponsors for putting on this challenge! It has really helped my focus and attention to detail over the past 5 days.

 

[El Gavilan]

Shooting a 70# PSE Carbon Stealth 35 with the Garmin range finding sight. MER is 60 yds.

For my recurve I'm shooting a Border Tempest riser with Border 7.5 super recurve limbs. MER for the recurve is 30yds. I string walk the recurve and practice a lot out at 30, 40 and 50 yds.

Day 1, 89 degrees, wind 5-10 left to right quartering toward me.

Compound

Recurve

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Day 2, wind left to right at 10-15 mph, 77 degrees. Tried to get it done early today as the wind is supposed to get 20-30 with gusts to 40 later in the day.

Compound bow at 60


Recurve at 30




Day 3, 80 degrees and very little wind.

Compound at 60



Recurve at 30




Day 4 Recurve, that's what I get when I pluck that string! Wind left to right at 15-20, blowing pretty good.



Day 4 Compound, made a really good shot this morning.




Day 5 Compound, wind left to right 0 to 5, 80 degrees, at about 1 in the afternoon, the howling winds from the last
2 days finally calmed down enough to shoot. Since this is day 5 I finally get to shoot some more!




Day 5 Recurve



Bonus pic of the Southwest Bowhunters range near Yuma AZ where I shoot.

 

[TheCougar]

Shooting:

Prime Centergy Hybrid, 70#, 29” draw, Black Gold 5 pin slider, and a Hamskea Micro rest. Shooting BEA Spartan arrows with weighted insert, 125gr Exodus Swept blade broadhead, three fletch with offset AAE Max Stealth vanes. Arrow speed is 278fps, 481 grains. Yardage is 60 yards and all shots are assumed standing, no wind. Target “vital zone” is the center hex on the target.

Day 1: 70 degrees

Day 2: 70 degrees. I didn’t pull this shot. I tend to hit left with my fixed blade broadheads when I have any kind of error in my form. It’s a me problem, not the bow.

Day 3: 75 degrees, light wind

Day 4: 85 degrees

Day 5: 85 degrees

Pretty much average for 60 yards with broadheads. 4/5 shots went left and only 2/5 shots were within normal field point accuracy criteria - again, this is in line with me shooting fixed blades. All were kill shots, but my groups tighten up noticeably with field points or mechanical broadheads. Still debating which way to go this year in Montana. FWIW, these Exodus swept blade broadheads and the Slick Trick Magnums both fly identical, and are pretty close to my field points, if I do my part. The Exodus full blades tend to magnify errors in the shot and and deviation due to wind, so I don’t use those.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ShortMountain91]

Shooting a Bowtech Reign 7 at 69 lbs and 30.5 in draw in comfort setting. Arrows are Easton 260 hexx with 3 blazer vanes, 50 grain outsert, topped with 100 gr slick trick standards for total arrow weight of 443 grains. Last time I shot through the chrono it was 291 fps. Using trophy ridge react one sight, qad hdx rest, 10 in bee stinger stab, and Scott freedom xt release. Target is my broad force target with a 14 in circle to simulate elk vital size. Choosing mer at 60 yards.

Day 1
Cool morning for TN at 50 F. No noticeable wind and sunny. Drank a red bull right before so maybe was a little jittery but not very happy with my first shot of the challenge. Still made it in the 14 in circle but definitely not satisfied with that. Think I might have jerked the trigger too. Hoping for better tomorrow.

Day 2
60 F with a slight 5-10 mph wind (phone says 9). Just rained. Very slight drizzle right before I shot. Much happier with today's shot vs day 1. Made sure my stance was slightly open and pin just held steadier today.

Day 3
Warm 80 F day with very slight wind. Less than 5 mph. Just a little low but still definitely happy with it especially at 60 yards.

Day 4
Pushing 90 F this morning. Little bit of wind. Thought the shot was decent when I let it go but ended up being pretty high. Just barely in 14 in ring. Now I got a lot of pressure to end this thing on a good note tomorrow.

Day 5
Upper 80s with about a 7 mph wind to my back. Knew I was a little low but I'll take it.

Fun challenge. Thanks for doing it! Glad I get to shoot more now!

 

[wesGiddingshunt]

Alright I’m in!

Shooting an RX-1, 70#. 28.5” draw. Hoyt drop away, trophy ridge react trio pro with tight spot 5 arrow, trufire trigger release.

Shooting day six arrows with 50 grain outsert, 125 grain head. Just field points for the drawing.

Decided to go with 40 yards. It’s the farthest I can shoot at home anyways so I’m comfortable.

Day 1. The arrow on top is just an old trash arrow to hold the plate to the target. Little breezy outside but nothing noticeable at the time of shot. The painted red is probably 3.5”. This target is fairly beat up so I had to push my arrrow back through the plate from the back side. Might use my rhinehart pyramid tomorrow but I can see the red better than white.


Day 2, probably lost a yard by stacking the rhinehart in front of my target from yesterday so we could call it 39.5 I guess. But anyway, conditions were rain, rain, rain in western wa today but no wind at all. This evening was better than yesterday.. and again, that top arrow is just holding a paper plate to my target this has been cool so far!


Day 3. Got out of bed and pretty much walked outside to take my shot this morning.. felt a little tight. Today was my off day from the gym (for good reason), but that seems pretty realistic as it is the cold bow challenge! Missed 3 inches or so high, felt like I just didn’t really settle in before taking my shot. Calm conditions as far as weather goes!


Day 4. Pretty breezy this morning. Wind was at my back and waited for a time that the wind died down but still felt some sway in my bow from the wind. Held steady and was overall happy with how it went this morning.


Day 5. Calm, warm afternoon. A little high but that’s a wrap! Enjoyed the challenge. Thanks for the idea and for putting this on!

 

[MylesH]

Starting 5/16/19

Prime Centergy Hybrid at 70# and 30.5 DL. Hamseka hybrid hunter pro rest, easton axis 300 with 4 fletch gold tip fusion vanes, Montana black gold ascent verdict assault 3 pin slider, Deadcenter stabilizer. USING FIELDPOINTS. MER is 60 yards but can only get to 58 in my yard.

Day 1, Sunny with 14 mph East wind. Shot felt good but dropped my arm a little. Aiming at the small center circle so I was about 4 inches low.


Day 2, no wind, sunny. Upper body felt tight, pushed the shot left and high. Not really happy with this one...
Day 3, Have not shot in about 2 weeks now, been super busy lately. So this is my super cold bow shot. Felt good but pull through was a bit shaky. About 4 inches right.

Day 4, shot later in the day, low wind, sun behind me. Shot was shaky at first, wanted to succumb to target panic but ended up stopping myself and regrouping at full draw and executed almost perfectly to this shot.

Day 5, Shot felt good, slight wind but nothing serious. About an inch high.


I really appreciated this challenge and it was really eye opening to see how important it is to focus in on that first shot. From now on I intend to shoot a "cold shot" 15 minutes prior to an arrow flinging session. Thank you to everyone who made this happen!

 

[Huntin wv]

Shooting a Prime Centergy, 70 lbs with a 29” draw with a ripcord code red and MBG 5 pin slider. Running B stinger 10-8 stabilizers and shooting with a Stan SX3 release. Arrow is a Goldtip hunter XT 300 with a 50 gr insert and a 125 gr QAD exodus full blade with 3- 2” blazer vanes.

Chose my MER to be 70 yds. The white square is 9” which is my kill zone for elk. The black circle is 2 1/2”.

Day 1
Shot just after a thunderstorm. Cloudy, humid, and calm winds. Shot felt good.

Day 2
Hot and sunny, slight breeze from my back. Had a lot of distractions today from dogs running around me playing and kids screaming. There was also a grass seed stuck to one of my pins (not the one I was using) but it bothered me a little. Shot felt ok.

Day 3
Hot and sunny 87 deg gusty wind blowing quartered toward me right to left (10-12 mph). I felt shaky today, like wired on caffeine. Thought about waiting until later to shoot but thought it would be a good representation of shooting at a big bull. Tried to time the shot between wind gusts. Not real happy with it.

Day 4
75 degrees and windy. Wind quartering towards me left to right at 13 mph according to my weather app. Tried to time it between gusts.

Day 5
Cool 65 deg., calm winds. Shot felt ok.

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[OXN939]

Setup: Mathews Z3 @ 27"/ 65#, IQ Micro 5 pin, Whisker Biscuit and NAP mini stabilizer shooting 26.5" Beman ICS Hunter classics with 100 gr. field points fast enough to kill whitetails. Setting max range at my last pin, which is 50 yards.

First day went well; almost no wind, bright and sunny.

Day 2- Similar conditions, similar result.

Day 3- Similar conditions. Shot about 2" lower than I'd like it to be, but my pins are all set slightly low in anticipation of eastern Whitetail jumping the string.

Day 4- 5-10mph breeze from the left side of the range. Pretty solid shot, feeling good about this combination.

Day 5- Hot here in VA. Good practice getting comfortable being uncomfortable. This challenge has been great, and instilled a lot of confidence in my new setup. Stoked for October!