skeeter 7MM

I don't agree with your statement in bold. An animal can die by other than a vital hit from an arrow, bullet, etc.
Ie:
You hit them in the guts they will die!! You hit them in the jaw on a botched head shot they will die!! You may never find them because of the lack of blood spill but they willnot survive all non vital hits.

TxStorm

Energy is as important in archery, without enough energy driving your super sharp broadhead it probably wouldn't penetrate deep enough to cause enough damage/wound channel. A friend once did a visual demo to prove his case, he dropped an arrow onto a ham and it pierced enough to stick, barely. He shot the same ham using a 36" compound at 10 yds firing at 275 fps and got a nice pass through. So I'd say energy and sharpness go hand in hand.

This I agree on, wholeheartly, with prehaps the one exception I'd always make nly thing available and your kids are hungry.

zrexpilot

I knew I would have to explain myself, sigh.....this is going to be long.
An arrow is very deadly when all things come together. The problem with bowhunting is "expierence" is the best teacher, and thats where the problem begins. If you have no one with expierence to help you, you have to learn it all on your own. But that comes at a high price, usually at the expense of lost animals.
The very first deer I lost was about 13 years ago , it would have been my first kill, but didnt have the expierence and made a poor shot because of broadheads, didnt knowfixed bladeswouldnt fly the same. Hard lesson learned.Loss # 1
Got them tuned and ready to go. Nothing happens the next couple of years. Then mechanical broadheads come out and I switch because of the bad taste left in my mouth by fixed blades. Well I make several kills a year and everything is perfect untill I had a hard time tracking one which went on neigbors property.I did find it though, but a bulb goes off in my head, hey what about a string tracker. So I purchase one and do some testing and everything is shooting great. I made a shot on a doe and that damn string caught on something, dont know if it was the bow itself or a limb, either way I hear the loud snap of the string and my arrow sails off target. I made a hit and it was in the vital area just not perfect, little high and didnt pass through, no string to track as it snapped, no blood trail. Didnt find it before the yotes. loss# 2. Used the string tracker again and made a few more kils without a glitch, then it happens again, string snaps on something arrow goes off mark, luckily I hit liver and the deer didnt go 10 yds before piling up. Well kerplunk, there goes the stringtracker in the trash.
Fast forward a couple of years and a few kills without a hitch. Then here comes a hog at a meer 12 yds, draw aim and shoot, damn! the hog takes that one step as I release and my arrow hits far back with little penetration, forget about it, he never slowed down and no telling how far and how long he lasted. Loss# 3
Fast forward a couple more years to this year. I have been using some mechanicals from walmart and they have been working fine, took 3 deer last year with them.
Well I took a doe this year, complete pass through and found her right away. Then I take another one, aim release and CRACK ! what the hell just happened. zero penetration and the deer runs off with all my arrow sticking out and arrow falls to the ground. I'm like what just happened ?
retrieve arrow and of course zero blood, blade bent, deers gone, at least that deer will live. Still dont know what happened suspectI hit the elbow bone. also suspect mechanicals, thats 2 so far with poor penetration , remeber the hog. So thats loss #4
Take a beautiful 8 pointer a couple of days later, bam! complete pass through deer goes down within eye sight.
Last week take aim on another beautiful 8 pointer, aim release and CRACK ! Aw crap here we go again, what the hell happened, again perfect shot and poor penetration. Deer runs off. Start tracking an hour later, find arrow, broken blade and 8 inches of penetration with good blood. searched for days never found him. Even looked this afternoon again. Nothing. I believe it's those damn mechanicals, it's like they are crumpling on impact like the front of a car during a collision. Thats 2 deer and 1 hog with poor penetration. My bow is shooting 276-282 fps second. It blows clean through them almost all the time untill I switched to those cheap expandables. "Eastman Outfitter archery".
So you see. expierence comes at a high price when archery hunting. I will never shoot mechanicals again, ever. I already am tuned and set up using 4 blade 100 gr muzzy's.
Can I say I wont lose one again, no. What else am I going to learn ?

TxStorm

Yeah, Eastman sucks for mech heads.. I used them for about 3 trips out and off they went. Weird thing is the performed okay in practice.

JagMagMan

My point EXACTLY!
YOUR words, not mine!
The #1 reason AGAINST head/neck shots, especially with smaller calibers!
Animals are unpredictable! Aim for the vitals, with a caliber suitable for the vitals, a quick sure kill, even if they make that sudden move at the time of the shot!

zrexpilot

Sorry your still wrong, bullets kill by blood loss nothing more, shoot a deer in the ham and dont hit an artery and you wont kill squat. You have to put a hole in an artery somewhere or hit the spine or brain. I already said that a bullet kills faster because of massive hemmoraging over an arrow, but they still put a hole in the arteries. Bullets expand and leave little petals that do actually cut.

And why use a small caliber ?
Why use a bow ?
Why use a flint lock?
Why use a pistol ?
Why use a super duper magnum at 1000 yds ?
why use a crossbow ?

zrexpilot

Actually a gut shot is a vital shot, they will bleed to death. Now a jaw shot is not, and technically the bullet didnt kill them, starvation or infection did.

zrexpilot

Do you realise how fast a bullet gets to 50 yds, compared to a bow at 20.
Somebody with some time figure that out. I will venture to say a bullet will hit 300 yds before a bow will reach 20 if fired at the same exact time.

Chantecler111

Zrex, why dont you start using a sensible caliber, and start aiming for the vitals? Then you wouldn't have to come in here and stick up for yourself, and bore us to death with your "theories".

JagMagMan

All of the above can make clean, quick kills to the vitals! The same cannot be said of ultra small calibers!