Wounded animal help.

Beendare

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On a seperate note...isn't that Thorn BH just a nock off of the old Puckett blood trailer?

Now don't tell me Bell Bottoms are going to come back in style too- grin

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Zac

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It happens....a good lesson for all.

Here's the big question; Did one of the blades come loose or deploy to screw up your shot placement? That would have really sucked.

We will probably never know. A buddy had that happen using mech heads on a 161" whitetail and a layup shot for an ex ASA shooter. He described the arrow as making Whoop D loops on the way to the 30 yd buck. [the farmers buddy rifle shot the buck a week later]

That ^ buck had a big slice in him that was healing a week later. My buddy was questioning how this poor arrow flight could happen with his 'totally tested' mech head....until we were sitting having a couple adult beverages and I had him get his bow. He loaded the remaining arrows like he was going to shoot....and sure enough, 2 out of 5 arrows had a blade hanging loose when he loaded them.

It seems the blades dislodged or something from the process of either putting them in or taking them out of his quiver....THAT he didn't test.

All I know is when shooting the COC fixed heads....that is one less thing I have to worry about at crunch time....visually checking my BH to see if a blade is loose or partially deployed.

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No the arrow flight looked very clean. However I did run it through paper day after and had a slight nock low right tear. Wasn't evident out of the bow but showed itself at 21 feet. The pre-deployment is a problem however. The blades were starting to ever so slightly protrude after coming in and out of the quiver. I replaced the hood on my Tight Spot with foam. Didn't seem to help much. I really don't wan't to bag on Thorn too much because I think they are probably a typical mechanical, and the people that produce them are really good people. That being said, I'm going to save them for turkeys.
 
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Guess I'm biased, I think there's good and bad mechanicals. I have too many positive experiences with the spitfire to label them as bad, a design that hasn't changed in 15+ years should tell you something.

Good and bad fixed blades as well.
 

TheGDog

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Now don't tell me Bell Bottoms are going to come back in style too- grin
Bell Bottoms, aka Flares aka Flared never really went out of style for the ladies. Maybe for a teensy bit there during the 80's but that's about it.
 
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Zac

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Guess I'm biased, I think there's good and bad mechanicals. I have too many positive experiences with the spitfire to label them as bad, a design that hasn't changed in 15+ years should tell you something.

Good and bad fixed blades as well.
I've had great luck with them in the past as well. However I was shooting over 80 lbs with a 560 grain arrow back then. Now I'm at 490 grains 70 lbs.
 
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I've had great luck with them in the past as well. However I was shooting over 80 lbs with a 560 grain arrow back then. Now I'm at 490 grains 70 lbs.


Shot 7 elk with no issues with a sub 400 grain arrow with 29" @ 72-74 #. Recently bumped up to over 400 grain arrow. Also mostly shoot fixed now, still will carry a few tho, they just make a hell of a hole.
 
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Zac

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Shot 7 elk with no issues with a sub 400 grain arrow with 29" @ 72-74 #. Recently bumped up to over 400 grain arrow. Also mostly shoot fixed now, still will carry a few tho, they just make a hell of a hole.
I think more animals have been killed with the setup you mentioned above than anything else. I think the experiences and failures that people have shape gear choices more than the reality behind their limitations or the physical properties of the equipment.
 
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I continue to have great luck with Spitfire 1.5" broadheads. 4th season shooting them and have added a P&Y Coues buck, lynx, two black bears and a Mt Caribou with them this year alone. One bear was spined after the Spitfire penetrated the scapula (in a thin area) and the performance was excellent. 475 gr arrows at about a bit over 270 fps from my 65# bow @ 29-1/4" draw.

The comment about all mechanicals being the same is incorrect. Lots of differences. Good luck in the future Zac.
 
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I shot a pronghorn a few years ago that was quartered towards me. I thought I smoked him when he dropped at the shot. My arrow hit shoulder, slid down the ribs, flaying him open like a fish and stuck in the hind quarter. A follow stalk with a few more arrows put him in the freezer.

Not sure what happened with yours, mine was mostly a poor decision on my part.
 
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Sled

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i made a bad shot two days ago on a deer that was very slight quartered to. it was a steep angle shot at 50 yards and i had to hold for nearly a minute to get one more step forward. that resulted in slight torque that sent my arrow further back than i've ever hit an animal (just forward of the rear quarter and high)... prior to this the furthest back ever hit by arrow was only single lung and liver. anyhow, i saw the hit and thought i had zero penetration with the deadmeat g5. the deer went forward, spun and proceeded to run like a bat out of hell for over 300 yards. i did not see the lumenock anywhere and still need to go back in daylight to find it. after an audible/visual track job i found the deer 20 minutes later expired. to my surprise there was a clean entrance and exit with no sign of the arrow. i was lucky that the expanding BH cut the femoral artery on the off side.

so far i have also valued flight of the mechanical over performance of the BH but as of late i've been rethinking. this year i tested and carried two different BH's. i think having the confidence and option to take a longer shot when needed with a mechanical is something i'm not ready to give up. i'd like to purchase a few iron will BH's for testing to replace my old thunderheads, which were always reliable.

possibly like you, being a bit of a perfectionist in certain aspects of my life has led me to frustrations with some types of tuning. i have simplified tuning a bit too far since then and relied too heavily on the mechanical flight characteristics but plan to fix that over the next off season.
 
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Zac

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i made a bad shot two days ago on a deer that was very slight quartered to. it was a steep angle shot at 50 yards and i had to hold for nearly a minute to get one more step forward. that resulted in slight torque that sent my arrow further back than i've ever hit an animal (just forward of the rear quarter and high)... prior to this the furthest back ever hit by arrow was only single lung and liver. anyhow, i saw the hit and thought i had zero penetration with the deadmeat g5. the deer went forward, spun and proceeded to run like a bat out of hell for over 300 yards. i did not see the lumenock anywhere and still need to go back in daylight to find it. after an audible/visual track job i found the deer 20 minutes later expired. to my surprise there was a clean entrance and exit with no sign of the arrow. i was lucky that the expanding BH cut the femoral artery on the off side.

so far i have also valued flight of the mechanical over performance of the BH but as of late i've been rethinking. this year i tested and carried two different BH's. i think having the confidence and option to take a longer shot when needed with a mechanical is something i'm not ready to give up. i'd like to purchase a few iron will BH's for testing to replace my old thunderheads, which were always reliable.

possibly like you, being a bit of a perfectionist in certain aspects of my life has led me to frustrations with some types of tuning. i have simplified tuning a bit too far since then and relied too heavily on the mechanical flight characteristics but plan to fix that over the next off season.
Yeah I started with the QAD Exodus Full blade. That one never did fly right after 40 yards. I then tuned the Grim Reaper Micro Hades. Had that one flying on a bare shaft at 20 with my fletched shafts. Then I ripped my VXR apart, sand blasted and painted it. Always hated Mossy Oak. Then I tried to tune a Kudu and attempted to rush it. I got lazy and ordered the Thorns. I shot them through paper, which I thought was a pretty cool option. Like I said before. I don't wan't to rag on that head due to not being able to recover it or the animal. People like Gillingham have had very good luck with it. I am sure if I would have made a better shot this conversation would not be taking place. However I think in that circumstance I would have had a straight pass through with a premium fixed blade.
 
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I was wondering if it is possible that the shaft broke off at the insert, maybe that would explain the tiny exit hole in such an odd location. I was also using my tension release so maybe some strange bow torque gave me horrible flight.
blades may have sheared off too. they don't look very tough for traveling through bone.
 

TheGDog

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Ahem...uh... @Reburn it's "Cojones" that other word "Cajones" would be the plural of box, as in boxes. Or also could be Drawers.

Was married to a Central American before. I spoke Spanish in the home for just shy of a decade.

Cojones.jpg
 
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I just feel like it's Friday night and someone should be chugging a beer on a pogo stick.




We can't pig hunt on the weekends, one week til season opens. Going crazy.











Maybe y'all's archery league ain't as wild as mine.
 

Reburn

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Who said I didnt mean drawers...........Or maybe I just spell only slightly less bad then billy goat. :LOL:

CA is closer to mexico then TX hahahahahahaha
 

TheGDog

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Oh I feel you. We don't even know if they are going to allow us in to the damn Forests over here!

Spoke with'em today for the area I focus on. He said the word was that they were aiming for 10/1... but.. he said to not get your hopes up and expect the worst.

I'll tell you what though. I know an area they can't block entrance to, it is part of the forest. But they wouldn't see my vehicle or know it's there. I'm strongly considering that other location if they pull this isht.

Furthermore... if they end up not letting us in there during deer season freakin at all? I will put in some SERIOUS effort in terms of killing predators. One way or another, there will be blood.

EDIT: And the planned place I normally would go? There has been no change to its usual amount of heat or weather patterns. No fires. Nothing. It's just them thinking they don't want to spread themselves to thin in terms of man-power. So their solution is to "Close 'Em ALL!! RAWR!!!" And I have a big fundamental problem with that.
 
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Gotta say, takes kahonas?? Spelling?? To come on here and say something like Zac did. Big props.


Zac I'll get you a drink if we ever meet up somewhere, probably more than one.
forums would be a better place if more people were honest, and the high horse riders kept their internet fairy thoughts to themselves. i'm guessing those ethics police types either don't hunt much or are the complete opposite of how they act on the internet.... stuff goes sideways sometimes in real life.... and if you are on a roll, don't get cocky, haha.

nobody in my family tree i know of hunted, i'm the first (but have sucked others in) i will say, the lessons i have learned in my 22 archery seasons were from doing dumb stuff and making mistakes, and i'm certainly not immune today... i still make my share of mistakes, and that's how we learn.... nobody learns anything from the guy on the forums on his fake high horse.... i too appreciate honest stories, it really is something someone can take something away from....

editing your experiences to make yourself look better doesn't help the cause
 
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