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Question about Tillering a R/D Bow AND Other Questions about Weight
davidneils:
Thanks to Pat B for helping me the other day with a tillering question on a simple reflexed Ipe/Bamboo backed bow. Pat, your suggestion worked beautifully. I'm now sitting at 56 pounds at 25 inches before final sanding. My draw length is 28 inches so I'm sure I'll be close when all is said and done.
HOWEVER, pulling that bow back made me realize I really don't want to pull more than 56 pounds while hunting. Will I get the penetration I need on elk with this bow? I don't know. I need to feel confident out to 20 yards. That's why I'm going to experiment with a r/d design and see if I can squeak out a little better performance than just a slightly reflexed bow.
Tillering a R/D bow has always been a challenge for me. They typically come in under weight. I also lose the nice r/d profile at brace height, let alone at full draw. I'm drooling over the photos of the BOM bows that have beautiful r/d shape throughout the draw. How do you do that? How do you retain that r/d shape during the
tillering. Please post a few tips.
Also, this is the year I'd like to finally hunt with one of the bows I've made. Yes, I've taken small game with my bows but never big game. For those of you hunting elk, what weight are you pulling at your draw length? What is the maximum distance you'd feel confident shooting an elk at? I hunt with a 600 grain arrow tipped with a Wensel three blade head.
I welcome feedback about tillering and hunting weight.
Thanks,
David Neils
Fort Collins, Colorado
Justin Snyder:
You could take it down to 50# if you are more comfortable and still use it for elk. Shot placement is the most critical part of the equation. If you hit the lungs, you only need to penetrate into the second lung. There is no need to go out the other side. If you could shoot a 90# bow, but only gut shoot the elk because of accuracy issues. Or shoot a 45# bow accurately every time. I would recommend the 45# bow. So tiller the bow to a weight that you are comfortable with. As for range. I would say a 45 pound bow is good out to whatever distance you feel you can reliably shoot EVERY TIME. Anything inside of 40 yards the bow will do its job. Justin
Pat B:
I have never taken a large game animal with one of my own bows but I know they will do the job if I do mine. Like Justin said shot placement is more critical and I might add a broadhead that is ready for the task. Thr WW with keen edges is an excellant choice and being mounted to a 600gr arrow just adds to the momentum and penatration. With the set up you have and can comfortably and accurately shoot you should have no problem taking elk if you do your part.
A 40# straight limbed bow shooting 130fps will take down any animal in North America if the shooter puts the proper arrow with a scarry sharp broadhead into the boiler room. Just look what primitive man used to survive over thousands of years. Most folks today would think of their equipment would be unethical to use, but obvoiusly it wasn't! Pat
StanM:
Hi David,
Here's my thoughts on hunting bows. I've killed a couple of Roosevelt elk, a couple of bears and some deer with traditional bows, but I am by no means an expert. So, take this as just one man's opinion.
Don't start with bow weight. All bows, and I'd say especially selfbows, are different. Start with the arrow that you intend to use while hunting elk. Figure out the how heavy the arrow is, ready to hunt with. Then shoot it through a chronograph. If you get really carried away, like I tend to, you can even make a plywood "shield" by doubling a 3/4 inch sheet and cutting a hole in it the same size as your chronograph window. With the shield in place, step back to 20 yards and shoot through the chrono again and see what speed your arrow carries at that range. BTW, most chrono windows are approximately the same size as elk vitals so you could find your effective range this way as well.
When you've got your numbers you could compute your momentum and see where you are at. As a guide you could use the numbers that Dave Sigurslid published in Traditional Bowhunter magazine for elk. I believe he settled on 700 grain arrows going 150 fps or 750 grain arrows going 140 fps.
I can tell you from personal experience that a 625ish grain arrow, traveling approximately 170 fps, can break the rib of an elk on the entrace side and break a rib on the far side as well. I've used a set up that produced those numbers four times. Once with a complete passthrough and three times with the broadhead protruding from the farside, but with the shaft still in the animal. This was with a Howard Hill longbow, not a selfbow.
As Justin mentioned above, an exit wound is not necessary, so I'm sure that you could kill elk less than what I've used in the past.
One other thing, make sure that you tune your arrows really well, as I think that a true flying arrow is why some people get so much better penetration with lighter setups than others get with heavier setups.
Finally, with a well tillered #56 bow and appropriate arrows I sure wouldn't want to be the elk that you were shooting at ;)
Hope this helps,
Stan
Badger:
Stan, I like that method for testing a hunting bow, makes good sense. If a 55# self bow is shooting around 165 with 10 grains of arrow weight it will go to about 150 with a 650 grain arrow, that should be sufficient. Steve
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