Small game aficionados

[Nantahala Nut]

Every year I get a little burnt out on deer and big game by the time the rut hits in December. I'm looking to mix up my fall hunting more. I got some small game heads and have been enjoying stumping lately. Tell me about your bows and arrows for small game. Also share any good small game opportunities around the country. I'm young and have a family. Dropping big money on tags is not something I want to do. I think I could probably enjoy some great small game hunts in some cool places for a good price.

[Stumpkiller]

My small game bow is my whitetail deer bow is my stumping bow is my target bow.  

Current that is a 51#@28" Red Wing Hunter recurve & Douglas fir arrows.

Keeps my "eyes and muscles" in place for all shooting.

Same arrows as well.  I just put Judos or Ace Hex on the nose instead of a broadhead.

[meathead]

Same here. I don’t change anything.

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Go try some duck hunting , put out a few decoys and fling some arrows. Is cheap to do  just use old arrows with broadheads , get a few decoys and find some water. They are a challenge for sure...

,,,Sam,,,

[Pat B]

I use the same bow for everything.

[Terry Lightle]

What Pat said
Terry

[Longtoke]

I do the same, I just remove my broadheads or heild points and screw in a small game head of the same weight. My favorite are the vpa small game thumpers

[Gdpolk]

This is what I do:

First and foremost, I shoot the exact same bow as when hunting ANYTHING else.  My hunting bow is my bow for everything.  This keeps my form and accuracy up for whatever comes in front.

Second, I have specifically built my arrows for ALL game animals around my small game hunting arrows.  I do a high FOC for them all, I also foot all of my hunting shafts.  However, my tuning is such so that the point weights have to work out so that I can use a 125gr screw in point on my small game shafts with heavy inserts to bring up weight from there.  This gives me the option of an RFA Talon blunt, screw in broadhead, Judo point, and/or rubber blunt.  This is very important because I use all of these for various conditions on small game.

My arrow build for most of my arrows is 100gr brass insert, 125gr screw in point, 13gr aluminum footing.  On my medium-large game arrows I use a standard 11gr aluminum insert, 40gr broadhead adapters, and 185gr Grizzly broadheads.  This makes my overall point weight between broadheads and all the small game/target arrows nearly identical but gives me more point mass on the broadhead so I can have a physically larger head without sacrificing durability.

As for what point I use on small game animals, depends a lot on the animal and conditions.  My favorites are:
 

• Magnus Stingers - small, light, effective, replacable blades as needed, and lifetime warranty on the ferrules.  I use these for racoons, incidental pigs while small game hunting, etc.
• RFA Talons - my favorite steel blunts.  These are my go to for squirrel and rabbits.  They work extremely well and typically won't bury up in tree trunks too bad.
• Rubber blunts - don't use them for anything but rabbits.  These are particularly useful around the barn or something where a ricocheted arrow may go astray into an outbuilding or something
• Judo points - really only useful for birds but sometimes I'll use them on rabbits if there are a ton of weeds or something behind them.  Their killing power is not that great so only use them for flimsy game animals and if/when you make contact they are easy to get pretty gross and hard to clean back up.  These are my last resorts and saved exclusively for easy to kill game in places that arrow loss is highly likely.
• PINK fletching is your friend.  It's the only color that really seems to stand out at all times of the year.  Your going to loose quite a few arrows small game hunting but PINK will help you retrieve more of them.

[Roadkill]

I have hunted rabbits with the bow since 1957.  It is my passion and i hunt horse ranches that do not allow firearms.  I use a wide variety of points,  steel blunts, judo’s, rubber blunts and some home made ‘broadheads’ made from keys.  I also built a jig to drill down the c enter of steel blunts.  Then i tap it,  then i drill  2-90 degrees  holes to intersect the tapped hole.  Weed eater line is fed into the holes and screw in to hold them in place.  Makes a great stopper, and weed eater can be easily changed -my cheap judo’s
Rubber blunts rocks quail and rabbit very well.  Judo’s work and nobody i know would agree they lack stopping power on small game or are hard to clean.  
We hunt 4 kinds of rabbits here in Nevada, quail, chukars, sage hens and a couple kinds of grouse.  I harass doves, but have connected on very vert few.  I hunt the rabbits every week with the same longbows for 3D and big game-45 to 54 pounds.  Small game hunting allows you full use of your bow and hunting skills=except sitting on a stand

[monterey]

I use the same equipment that is in play for all hunting.  My broadheads are 190 grains so the small game point is a 190 field point with a small hole drilled through it and a clipped of nail that fits the hole sticking out about 1/4" on each step with a slight bend to keep it from falling out.

The nails can be easily removed or replaced.  Works with glue on or screw on.

[bendotwood]

I started out hunting by going after small game with my longbow.  I've shot many many squirrels, a good number of grouse,a couple rabbits, a raccoon, and a few smaller birds.  

I have tried just about every small game head out there, and have settled on Ace Hex blunts.  If I could justify the cost I would be shooting VPA SGT heads though, as they would save me having to glue in an adapter to get my 300gr point.  I settled on hex blunts because they don't stick into trees, don't richochet off things like converta blunts or rubber blunts, and they have a sharp enough edge to poke a hole in heavier critters while still beaning small ones quite hard.  

Arrow wise I used to shoot a lot more flu flu's but as I have become more accurate over the years I am shooting more regular fletch arrows.  I find tree rats tend to dodge flu flu's sometimes on the longer shots.  I used to shoot wood exclusively, and made my own shafts.  I used oak shafts for hunting mostly, tipped with a 145gr steel blunt.  

Right now I have some 2315 gamegetters set up with a 300gr point and 4x3'' shield cuts as cheapo small game arrows for grouse this year.  I also have a good number of Easton Bloodline's and a few Easton Aftermaths that I shoot for big game set up with small game heads.

If you are looking to shoot raccoons and the like a zwickey eskimo with an adder behind it has done good things for me.  Anything bigger than a rabbit will generally need a broadhead.  

As a last note, expect to be suprised at how tough some small game is.  Grouse and other birds are pretty delicate, rabbits too but they sometimes run into cover before they expire.  Squirrels are as tough as cape buffalo though, I've blasted one with a sharpened field point/adder combo out of a 70# bow and watched it fall from the tree, get up, and run back up the tree until I shot it again, and then still needed to bonk it when it came down!  First shot was a chest shot even!

[Gdpolk]

Originally posted by bendotwood:

As a last note, expect to be suprised at how tough some small game is.  Grouse and other birds are pretty delicate, rabbits too but they sometimes run into cover before they expire.  Squirrels are as tough as cape buffalo though, I've blasted one with a sharpened field point/adder combo out of a 70# bow and watched it fall from the tree, get up, and run back up the tree until I shot it again, and then still needed to bonk it when it came down!  First shot was a chest shot even!

I don't have a lot of experience with African animals but in my experience here in the US, I honestly believe the common grey squirrel is the   most tough game animal that I have ever hunted pound for pound.  Pigs can get pretty feisty too at times, but I've seen squirrels take arrows and bullets only to climb up a tree, turn around, and fuss at you quite a few times.

[Roadkill]

When i lived in KY, grey and fox squirrels were very tough customers.

[old_goat2]

Same bow generally from snowshoe hares up to elk, just different heads of same weight. Snowshoe hares in elk country is a hoot, go after them October 1st when it opens, they are generally white already but no snow yet so they are much much easier to spot. Lots of pine squirrels too! Oh and Dusky Grouse!

 

 

 

[Gordon Jabben]

Snowshoe hare hunting.  I bet that would be a blast.