Negative bow comments
 

I live in South Africa and therefore no local bow hunting forums are available, just incase you were wondering why I couldn’t keep my comments to myself and visit a different web site the next time.

I understand that everyone in this business are extremely proud of there equipment (or should I say bowhunting equipment?),and emotions could get on the wild side if someone else drops a negative comment about your bow/brand/model blah, blah, blah..

I am fortunate to be blessed with lots of hunting and equipment testing opportunities for the last 15 years and would just like to say/state to rookies out there; ignore these unhealthy “better than yours” comments on this site. The better you know your bow, the better it will perform!
I’ve tested enough different bow makes and models to be sure that nothing beats the accuracy of all the effort and time I spend on my first hunting bow. So, if you can only afford “X” or “Y” is what you’re stuck with, practice is the keyword.

For the rest of the discussions about different bowhunting equipment on this site, I found it to be quite useful and interesting. It’s sad that our hunting techniques and hunted animals are quite different, and I would enjoy hearing some of your previous experiences in South Africa. Who knows, maybe I can be of some help.

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Welcome - and I agree 100%:D:D

Sounds like you will be well recieved around here - as long as your not another Mathews shooter.................LOL;)

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Wellcome Gravelotte , Im sure there will be lots of questions for you .

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Hi and thanks!
Bowtech Patriot

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Mathews is the only bow trusted in that kind of bush! [8D]

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Well said;)....and welcome to the board:).

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Good post

It is not what kind of bow you shoot it is how well you shoot it

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Who cares what the name on the bow is! The dead critter doesn't. The bow should feel good to you, fit you, and shoot good for you, that is all that matters.

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Welcome to the forums. It is nice to see another articulate poster.

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Welcome to the board. :)

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Welcome to the board

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Welcome to the board. I agree with your comment about the bows. It doesnt matter what you shoot as long as you can shoot it good and are pleased with the bow yourself, who cares what other think about it?

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Welcome:)

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I agree gravellote ! Welcome to the board . The bottom line here is they all work and it's your choice, and you need to be happy with it no matter what the critic's say.

nubo

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Gravelotte...I'll be bow hunting in RSA in May. I'm up in Lompopo on a plains game hunt. I can't wait!!! I'd be all ears on any advice you may have. I am hunting with Safari Afrika and Richard Lemmer. He seems to be quite knowledable about bow hunting. I'm really interested in comparing it to whitetail hunting. Everyone I have spoken with says Africa hunting is very different than North American hunting. In Africa you see lots of game but the shot opportunities and recoveries are very difficult. In the US you don't have to worry about a predator getting to your kill before you do.

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It's all about perception. BUT, constructive critisism is needed. I for one like to hear about other people's gear and what they think about it.

Some products suck, I like to be informed.

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You've got to be kidding me. As if we didn't have enough Bowtechnecks on here from the states, they are now logging in from abroad! :D Just kidding. Welcome aboard!

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Welcome. I like to hear well thought out opinions on the threads. It is all about quality not quanity of posts. Like I should be saying that. I should take my own advice:D

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welcome aboard Gravelotte,well said,i agree 100%:)

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welcome to the board and I agree 100%. Just shoot as straight as you can with what you have.

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gravelotte welcome aboard glad to see another well educated hunter aboard,,

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I live die for bow hunting . Never have post a post here because all the crap your talking about. 3 cheers .

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Welcome! I am also pretty new to this site and love it. I like that you are a straight shooter with your comments.

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Hi Gravelotte
I agree 100% with you. I bought the best bow I could afford at that time, and since then, I didn't regret it at all. I have hunted in South Africa with that bow and sight (one of the cheapest sights available) with 100% success. The key is also that I know my bow – no I LOVE my bow!!!

I have just registered, and this seems like a very good site to me. I hope to get some tips from world experienced hunters.
:D

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It seems like you didn’t get your private message?? Anyway so here goes.
(everyone, this was suppose to be a private message so please excuse my incorrect tenses and spelling)

I’m not going to comment on your choice of outfitter, haven’t met him personally, but from what I heard his quite good.

Let me start from scratch…
Except for national parks (like Kruger) and Nature reserves, the greatest percentage of privately owned game farms are managed differently when it comes to hunting. Until recently bowhunting in SA were relatively uncommon and farmers/outfitters concentrated mostly on rifle hunting. Rifle hunting = more game shot = more income from game = less in daily rates. Making rifle hunting more profitable to farmers and outfitters. It also helped to keep game numbers reasonable.

Farms were not equipped with proper hides (blinds).:
Nowadays, most game farms make use of either elevated or ground blinds.
Hides are situated in proper locations keeping in mind wind direction, shooting distance, sunrise and set and normal game paths traveled to and from drinking holes. More farms also make use of salt licks or put out feed around water holes to attract more game and keep them within range for longer periods.

Rifle and bow hunting were practiced on the same piece of land.
This resulted in making game more elusive than they already were.
Most game species in SA stick to the motto of “safety in numbers” decreasing the chances of a successful walk and stalk if dozens of watchful eyes expects danger to come from afar as in the case with rifle hunting.
Most Trackers and outfitters had minimal experience in getting within bowhunting range, but the situation improved as bowhunting established itself in SA. Walk and stalk will always remain a challenging and difficult experience but sooo exiting.

So, now that you got the background on hunting here lets start…
Its called plains game but actually the Limpopo province has little to no plains with mountain ranges and “bushveld” dominating the habitat.

I would say that bowhunting in general are quite the same. I haven’t been so lucky as to hunt whitetail in North America. In SA we have a few farms with reasonable amounts of whitetail. (More towards the southern parts of Africa)
However I had the opportunity to inspect a carcass of a whitetail.
The same equipment you use on whitetail will also work for game up to Impala and even larger game.
This is what I currently use for all game (excluding thick skinned animals) after testing just about every broadhead available in SA. Montech 125gr (slight noise) with Gold Tip Hunter shaft and 4” fletching, total arrow weight 437gr.
Bowtech Patriot set at 70 pounds.
I use to work on a game farm as a PH for about 10 years before I entered the computer business (stupid of me hey?) anyway, from what I gathered from taking American clients on hunting trips is that they tend to shoot a bit high and more towards the back than suppose to, resulting in only a partial lung shot or liver alone making tracking and locating animals more difficult. Yes we do have predators that would leave nothing but the horns, if you’re lucky. Mostly this will occur when taking shots just before sunset or wounded animals have to be left overnight before recovery.
In SA we also use the standard international animals and shot placement layouts when competing in a 3d competition, when I practice on my own however, I ignore the guided kill zones on the animals completely and focus only on the actual hart lung aria – as close as possible to the back of the front leg and 2trd up. This however depends on the animal, for instance if you’re after Blue or Black wildebeest you have to go extremely low, and then some more. I would suggest u making sure beforehand exactly where the correct kill zones are for each animal from your PH. Not just the ones you’re after because funny things can happen when you see different African Game species coming in to drink.
Different Kill Zone, and tougher animals! Remember to trust the PH in locating the kill zone even though the placement feels awkward. Mechanical broadheads are not allowed in some parts of SA. Ensure that whatever broadhead u uses are quiet and strong enough to keep its form after penetrating or meeting structure like ribs and it shoots where u aim. It’s true that our animals are tougher but shot placement is critical, no animal on any continent can go far without lungs or hart. I definitely try not to go for “long” shots, especially when after Impala’s or smaller game. “String jump” is not uncommon – had one just last week on Blesbok and won’t be able to count all previous situations. ………….

Please inform me of the hunting situations u and your PH are planning to follow, that way I can be of more help. If uncertain, please supply me with the contact info of you’re outfitter so I can contact him directly and acquire the needed detail without interfering with any of his duties and jeopardize the much needed trust and understanding between a good PH and his client.

Keeping in mind the decent rainfall over the recent period in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo), vegetation will still include lots of greenish combined with the normal autumn colors. (If u need to know more about the climate and clothing (camo) please let me know.)
We have a two-monthly bowhunting magazine available in SA and I would be more than willing to post /exchange some of them for your local magz’s if there is still time before you arrive. U will definitely benefit from all the interesting and info-rich articles all about African game and their behaviors. – Let me know.

Please remember that this message is just info based on my own experiences and many people would differ from my point of view. I hope you and every bowhunter ever visiting SA enjoys it as much as we do. I also wish every outfitter/PH… in SA the best of luck and may the clients that you entertain appreciate the efforts and hard work involved to ensure them the experience of a lifetime.

RE: Negative bow comments
 

Very impressive display of knowledge. I, for one, appreciate you sharing that info with us.

Back to your original post....would you care to point out any specific threads where someone was bashed, seriously not in humor, for their choice of equipment? I like to think that most folks here are relatively understanding when discussing each other's equipment though the occasional "you don't know what you are talking about, you shoot Brand X" type comments do surface from time to time. I thought that they had been relatively few and far between lately if you don't count all of the "traditional versus compound" posts lately.

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Frank. Articulate???? Now we gotta start using a dictionary just to talk about bows. For some just a bit of speeling and grammar lessons would work wonders. But now, a dictionary????

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Welcome! I have a good friend who lives in Coromandel Valley
SA 5051 Australia

Oldguy

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Gravelotte, everything you say is so true. Shot placement is of the essence here in rugged Africa. I read an article in Africa’s Bowhunter, where a game farm owner was telling about his Bushbuck hunt. He said there that he placed his shot low – as he knows where the vitals are, but that the shot was still a bit to high.
I really think that it would be a very wise for every single American hunter coming to hunt in South Africa to get hold of the Africa’s Bowhunter. The magazine discusses a different animal in every issue. Shot placement and stories about hunting them.
I just hope that the hunters know that they would need a BowTech to hunt in South Africa!!!;)

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Gravelotte,

Amen!

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LOL

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Hey Gravelotte, Thanks for introducing me to this site (I'll be sure to send my regards To Olof Berg.)

As far as what you said about shot placement, you could not be more right. AFrican game is really tough (I Shot a Zebra though the hart two weeks ago and it still ran 200yards.)

We get alot of american bowhuning videos here of American hunters hunting in africa, and most of the shots taken in these videos are taken too far back, and this makes for a LOOONNNGGG recovery. There is a very good booklet on shot placement for african game, if anyone is interested I will get the name.

When you spend all that time and money to hunt here you want to hunt and not spend a whole day looking for a wounded animal.

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BUT..... if something is a piece of junk..... call it junk.;)[8D] Ya see, we Americans are used to a little confrontation. Why heck, we got our start fighting with the Brits. It's the American way, find fault, bitch and whine and then grab a beer. We do not aspire to "Keep up with the Jones family". We want to die with more and better toys than they have. Therefore it's impairitive that we slam someone elses equipment.....especially if it's a piece of junk.[&:]

And another thing.... how can one of you dark continent types sign up on this site and in a few short days determine we're all slamming equipment and shouldn't be listened to. According to the members list you joined just over a week ago. You foreignier types always want to tell us how we should do things. Well I for one embrace desent and confrontation. Besides that, if you know everything you have to educate the masses. Since I'm all knowing(or is that a Know it All) it's my duty to point out others mistakes and shoddy MMMMMMmmmmmmmm..... MMMMMMmmmmmmmm...... MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm.... Well.... you know. So, let the games begin. My Dartons better than your_________(fill in the blank).[8D][8D][:@][:@]:eek:

P.S. I just had to comment on this.
Rubbish, pure rubbish and a very general generalization based on probably very little experience. Maybe you're taking the wrong customers.:) Everyone I hunt with shots the spot... a tiny spot... as close and snug to the shoulder as they can get it. I'll take a savy whitetail hunter any day and he'll put the arrow where it belongs. As far as missing the spot, it can happen with an arrow, but I don't believe "We Americans" are any worse than the rest of the world at hunting. In fact, we're probably better than most when it comes right down to it. Again, I'm talking the real hunters, not the guy who plunks down $15,000 to go and become the Great White Hunter of African with less than a few kills to his credit. You know, the guy with lots of money but no sense or skills. (God I love stirring the pot);):D

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Well, well grab a beer then!
Here in Africa we hunt to hard, leaving little time for endless arguments
Cheers, I’ll have a beer to.

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Now you're talking.... but make mine alcohol free. I gave up the drining years ago. I hated waking up with a hangover. I haven't had to climb a tree in 18 years with a hangover. God I love it. Good air in...bad air out. TWACK! It doesn't get any better.

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Gravellotte, meet davidmil; resident curmudgeon.:D