It's no secret that I love small game hunting, and stumping. I also love to fiddle with my gear, try new things, and try to get better performance.
Because of this I have accumulated a number of small game points. I like some more than others. Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses, and therefore best applications. I'm gonna talk about those, but first here's a picture of them.
From left to right: Forge Converta Blunt with a extra pointy 225gr field point, Bateman Adder with a extra pointy 275gr field point, washer and 250gr field point, washer and 250gr steel blunt, 125gr rubber blunt with 175gr adapter inside it, and a Bateman Adder with a Zwickey Eskimo stuffed with a 75gr Adapter and 75gr Woodyweight.
In my mind, there are 3 classes of points here. There is stumping, small game shock, and small game penetration. The goal of the stumping point is to not bury under leaves and grass, not get stuck in hard stumps, and not be hard to remove from mud and soft stumps. The small game shock is for killing by shock (duh). It uses blunt force trauma to shatter bones and cause massive internal bleeding, while maintaining little to no penetration. The third category, small game penetration, can be thought of as a small game broadhead. It's supposed to penetrate, but rip and tear and do as much damage as it possible can in the process. It improves on the killing power of the small game shock because it employs internal and external bleeding, massive damage to bone, shredded vital organs, and the possibility of pining the game to the ground so it can't run off.
The rubber blunt was supposed to be a stumping point, but proved to delicate for that role. They are now in the small game shock category. They proved themselves powerful enough to take out a squirrel (very tough critters) even with a less than optimal shot. They somehow managed to put a hole in the abdominal wall without puncturing the hide. They broke the spine too. They are the go to choice for elevated shots into trees.
The washer and steel blunts are the dedicated stumping point. The steel blunt won't stick into stuff too much, and the washer prevents it from burying. They hit super hard, and are nice and inexpensive and easy to make. They whistle a bit in flight. I'm sure they would work as a small game shock point, but since the steel blunt projects far forward of the washer, so if it did penetrate enough for the washer to hit there would't be much energy left and it would be dispersed over a big area.
The field point and washer happened by accident. it just worked out that the weights added up to 300gr. I don't like the point that results. It is a jack of all trades and master of none. It doesn't immediately impart blunt force like a rubber blunt, and the washer is too big and flat to tear through a critter. The field point makes it too prone to sticking to use for stumping. Not a fan of this one.
The modified field point and adder is a small game penetrator. Upon testing it does a reasonable amount of damage to tissue, but is a flawed design. The metal is too thin, if you miss it has a tendency to bend back when removed from mud. The rear angled claws also push material away from the shaft without tearing it, which means it can burrow under leaves and does less tissue damage than a point with forward angled claws. One bonus of the adder is once inside it is very hard to remove. This would impede game escaping.
The broadhead and adder is set up to penetrate, and does a ton of damage. For anything groundhog or coon sized, it is the go to option.
This leaves us with the Converta Blunt and modified field point. I am hugely impressed with it so far. It is super durable, and out penetrates the adder even though its forward swept claws do more damage than an adder. I think the reason for this is the cutting action the arms produce with thier wide sharp front edge. The design acts like a cookie cutter going in, making a perfectly shaped hole in the hide. Inside it shatters bone and tears tissue apart because (unlike the adder) it pulls it into and along with the arrow. The exit is big and ragged. The forward swept arms make it great for shooting hay bales, and non stump targets like leaves and pop cans. It is very easy to pull from targets. The one weakness this point has is the fact that there is a field point on it. This makes it a poor stumping head, because it will stick in things.
So to end things off I use different ones for different shots. Rubber Blunts for things in trees. Converta Blunts for stuff on the ground. Washer blunts for stumps. Broadheads with adders for bigger stuff. So far these are the best points I've found that can be set up to a 300gr weight. I'd like to test the VPA SGT as a stumping point, and I'd also like a slip on rubber blunt that won't let the arrow poke through.
I had a lot of fun writing this, hopefully you had fun reading it. If you think I am wrong, tell me and tell my why, I'm still learning. If you have good or bad stories about the effectiveness of these points, then again let me know. No sense in both of us learning stuff the hard way when one can do it and share it with the rest.
Topic: An In Depth Look/Review Of Several Styles of Small Game/Stumping Points (Read 221 times)
