Looking for some wisdom

[J. Holden]

I made it a goal of mine to shoot my home made, red oak board bow this year.  Exclusively.  So I went to my local range the other day to start my practicing and doubt crept in.

While I want nothing more than to kill an animal, deer or turkey, I want to do it ethically above all else.  I noticed the arrows were very easy to pull out of the targets.  They were anywhere from 10-20 yards.

Now I know that this is not a good indicator as to wether or not my bow will kill something.  But when I shoot the same targets with my recurve the arrows seem to pack a bigger punch.  A little more effort is required to pull the arrows.

I'm wondering if anyone has killed an animal with such equipment.  I'd hate more than anything else to wound an animal.

Thanks gentlemen!

-Jeremy    

P.S. For what it's worth my set up is a 68" red oak board bow pulling 50# at 28".  My arrows are 29" douglas fir tapered shafts tipped with 125 grain field points.  I have LW grizzlies, 125 grains also, to throw on there when the time is right.  I pull the bow to 28".

[lpcjon2]

Trust your 1st moral instinct. That way you don't feel the guilt later.If you dont feel it is good enough it aint.

[tim roberts]

Goals are great things, they help us become more proficient at what we do, and they can teach us a lot bout ourselves.
Your bow sounds like a self bow that I hunted with last year.  It was my goal to take a whitetail with a bow I made.  The selfbow was slower than I liked, and didn't seem to have the "punch" that my longbows have.  I did end up taking a nice whitetail doe with that bow.  The lessons learned were priceless.  This year if the stave that I ordered turns out, it will be used to hunt elk with!!!  
 The key here is to know what the limitations of what your  equipment is.  If you can get inside the capable killing range of  what you figure the bow has then by all means go for it!  
Enjoy!!!

[KEG]

Somebody you know probably has a chronograph. Check your arrow speed. Post the arrow speed and arrow weight here on trad gang, then people can give you more accurate advice on your set up.

[straitera]

Interesting. Think I know what you mean. In my case, I could never get used to a "slow" arrow. Instead I just went up in draw weight until doubts were removed. That's a personal call.

[J. Holden]

lpcjon2 - THanks for your advice.  I do keep coming back to my recurve but then I feel like I'm letting myself down because I made this goal.  Arghhh!

Tim - Congratulations on getting your deer and I hope your new stave will get you an elk as well.  Your advice on distance has also crossed my mind.

Keg - I keep reading speed isn't that important.  Now weight on the other hand, I was advised to go with a lighter arrow because the bow isn't center shot.  Their spined at 45-49 lbs.  I'm not sure on the total weight though.  I'll have to look into this.

Straitera - Thanks for your thoughts.  And I think I can relate with your 60/40 quote at the bottom of your reply!

-Jeremy  

[Roy Steele]

I 've built and hunted with selfbows for 21 years. Killer 34 bucks 12 gobblers. With bows rangeing from 50 to 65 pounds. Had 2 strokes in 06 and had to go down to 50#'s shot 5 bucks sence 08 (home made trade points)when I could hunt again. All shots were 15 yards or less. 3 Yard 6 point the in 08 when I started back.
   All were shot off the ground one pass through all the rest went to the feathers. This was with a 50 and 55# bows.
  So if you keep it 20 or under sharp head little faith. Indains live by the bow for 2000 years did'nt they.You ever see some of there points. I think you'll beable to kill a deer no problem.

[J. Holden]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Roy.  Glad to hear you've recovered from your strokes.

-Jeremy  

[John Scifres]

Shoot and shoot and shoot your equipment.  You will gain confidence as you gain experience.  Overbuilt design red oak selfbows are not going to be as fast as modern fiberglass recurves.  You have to determine if it is fast enough to kill effectively.  

A well designed and built selfbow of 50# should do the trick.  A poorly designed and built bow may not.

It is likely that the bow is more capable than you are  

I believe this was your first bow, right?  My first 3 bows were not hunters.  My fourth one was.  I still shoot it occasionally but never killed a deer with it.  My 5th bow was a hunter also and I killed the deer in my avatar with it.  It was a sinew backed static osage pulling under 50#.  It was nowhere near as fast as my glass recurve of similar weight.  If I had to guess, I'd say it was shooting in the low 140 FPS but it did the job.

Deer are relatively small in broadside.  It doesn't take much to shoot a sharp broadhead propelled by a heavy arrow through them.  A turkey could be killed with a kid's bow IMO  

Above all, have fun and keep shooting.  Come August or so, be honest with yourself and decide.

I'm going to be a one selfbow man this year in preparation for a September elk hunt.  I still need to make my bow though.

[J. Holden]

Thanks for the advice John.  I've visited your website a few weeks ago.  Your staves you sell, how close to being complete are they?  What does one have to do to finish one?  You said your first three weren't shooters.  Why not?  Thanks.

-Jeremy  

[John Scifres]

They weren't hunters.  In other words, not enough weight and not very good bows overall.  The first one was a hickory that folded on me due to a lack of attention on my part.  The next two just weren't great bows.  They were shooters but too light.  

The bow blanks are cut to final shape and at least bending to what I consider floor tiller, 6" or so.  We can discuss taking their state a little farther.  Send me an email:  [email protected]

[huntinoly]

Another way to make your self bow faster in an SBD skinny string, I picked up about 7 fps on my self bow. Thats about 7 pounds of draw weight. Self bows work I killed a nice bull elk two years ago with mine.  Good luck Greg

[creekwood]

Originally posted by fdlz58:
I do keep coming back to my recurve but then I feel like I'm letting myself down because I made this goal.  Arghhh!


I keep reading speed isn't that important.  Now weight on the other hand, I was advised to go with a lighter arrow because the bow isn't center shot.  Their spined at 45-49 lbs.  I'm not sure on the total weight though.


-Jeremy          

Arrow weight and spine stiffness are two separate subjects.  You can increase total weight without increasing spine stiffness.  What you might need is a heavy arrow, sharp broadhead and a lot of practice to become proficient at the ranges that you intend to shoot at.  

[wingnut]

I know from experience that a 60# well made selfbow will shoot a 600 gr arrow the same speed as a 42# glass longbow.  So your 50# bow is about the same as a 32# glass bow.

Not saying don't hunt with it but I'd make sure that the arrows and BHs were premium.

Mike

[Bjorn]

A board bow is not the same weapon as a selfbow made from a good stave. My first bunch of board bows were something to learn from-and they were great for that.
A good stave, or a Dryad glue up, will make a bow you can kill stuff with.

[GO Rogers]

Integrity at it's finest!