Mechanical Broadheads

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

If we need lumenocks and expandable broadheads why not crossbows and why not scopes on the bows? Where does it end? It ends where it makes sense. It does not make sense to overgadget bows when we have a good selection of items in our toolbox to get the job done right. We are better than these gimmicks and have already proven that. If you need more advanced and precise killing tools consider trying the rifle. As hunters - what we do use and how we use it does reflect on our image. I think we are better than just plainly accepting any new gadget as a means to get the job done. We should be aware that how we take the game and with what is under scrutiny internally and externally.

Honestly your "purist" attitude is comical to me, how can you opose something that makes finding a very expensive arrow after the hit and recovering game better? sure we dont "need" them but they sure would help as I have plenty of expensive arrows in the dirt from pass throughs on game that I never found, as stated we all know that the arrow post hit tells everything!! so why not be able to always or 99% of the time find it? what if you had a marginal hit and from the blood it looked ok, but if you found the arrow you would know to wait it out overnight, instead you track on only to lose the animal by pushing it to fast..... I assume thats ok to you because that at least keeps the sport "pure" and free of gadgets no one needs?

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

my    first off, you dont need to practice with the acutal mechanical heads, they fly exactly like your fieldpoints. so dial in your bow all year with field points, then put on whatever head you choose and enjoy your hunt. as far as the blades not coming out? please explaiin to me why that would be a issue if your SHOT PLACEMENT is correct? last time I checked a double lung shot behind the shoulder does the job damn fast regardless of whether the arrow passed through or not

You answered your own question...The broadhead needs to come out on the less than perfect shots, not the perfect shots.  I agree with you on the lumenoks.  I do everything I can to make my arrows brighter.

my point is why not hold more weight to the bowhunter being proficient with our weapon?

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

As far as distance, everyone has this all backwards, the FARTHER away you are from game, the LESS likely they are to hear your bow, go grab any new quiet bow, stand 20 yrds away and see how loud it is, then go to 60..... good luck even hearing it go off..... any shot within a persons effective range is ethical

I knew I would piss somebody off, But Thank you for substantiating my statement,
 we have diferent opinions and you are certanly entitled to yours. Good luck and great shot!
I know you can outshoot me at any range, but I can close the distance, or I dont take the shot. Ihat is why I use the equipment I choose. I am not about my great shooting ability, I am about my love of the hunt and the experience of being in the outdoors. I have experiences every year when I second guess myself and wonder if I would have taken the shot with my old compound, then I realise the choice was to increase my enjoyment of the accomplishment, not the accomplishment itself. I would feel more satisfaction sneaking into my confort range and spooking the animal than I would taking the long shot and hoping to hit it.
I dont care how quiet you say your bow is ,they hear it....Just because you have made the shot in the past does not mean you always will. One wounded animal not recovered due to pride is one too many.
 I dont want to argue with you, you are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine. You take whatever shots you feel you must and I hope they all fly true.

I never said they dont hear it, but what they may hear IMO should have no effect on them, how many times have you been shooting a gun and had a deer walk up near you? I have more then once, not every sound alerts a calm animal, and  rarely one as quiet as my hoyt at 65yrds from the target..... and it has nothing to do with pride..... its about the hunt and putting meat on the table for me..... anything I can do legally to increase my odds im ok with...... good luck to you as well this season....... ill post pics of my bucks and my bull.... 

[Ray]

Hoyt, I am not a purist and I have given a very open personal assessment of my point of view. I respect your opinion until you start labeling people to be things they are not. that is disrespectful and uncalled for.

A mechanical broadhead does not make the archer better. In fact they are illegal because they are barbed and also because they are inferior. On top of that - archers are better than these silly gadgets.


Why don't you sit back and actually read what I wrote and instead of injecting what ifs just accept that these opinions of mine for what they are instead of injecting personal attacks and casting away remarks as "comical". You are acting like a 2 year old.

[stringflinger4elk]

No mechanicals for me I would feel like it was too risky instead of my sure thing using my Montecs.
I am 100% sure they will work as designed 100% of the time. no breaking no funny business.

Lumenocs hmmm I like them they look like fun especially shooting at dusk for fun. I saw a guy practicing with them at the R-100 a couple years ago and that was cool to watch.
I wish I could use them for hunting but I am not upset that I can't maybe they will someday maybe never.

seems like it's time for somebody to invent a new nock that doesn't use a battery to light it up then you will all be off the hook and have arrows that will glow yeah baby. glow in the dark nocks why aren't they out there yet?
Or maybe ones with the tritium in them like the hand guns sights on my glock?

I think they could make something work on that principle.

By the way I am going straight to the Patent office and all you lawyer types on here are my witness I thought of it first and you all better pay up!   

[coachcw]

I believe in set up , arrow spine and practice. You guys must agree that most hunters will take a marginal shot. If those guys shot an expandible maybe it would hit the mark more often . I think all of us practice with our set ups and shoot qaulity broadheads. hell if you buy a t lock you can srcew it and shoot. the guys that dont spend the time and money probibly would'nt spring for a good mechanical ether. I think our state is behind the times ,plus if a libral see's a elk with a arrow hanging out of it , it wouldn't make us look to good as a group. I admit those expandibles do some damage and i'd use them if allowed .

[Buckrub]

Not sure I agree with the broadhead rule. Not a purist by no means but even with mechanical broadheads a bow is a bow and distance is reduced.

The 65% let off rule is a perfect example of this backward state.

I'm not going to condemn mechanicals until I have researched them, If they were that inferior why does every other state allow them?

Bowhunters will allways argue the traditional bow vs: training wheels (compound bow) ...to each his own, if one doesn't feel comfortable with a certain broadhead the don't use it.

Maybe it's like using a 243 for elk...it's legal but some won't use it.

[Snapshot]

I agree with Ray point for point.

[Buckrub, the 65% let-off rule went away 3 years ago.]

[Bofire]

"I have plenty of expensive arrows in the dirt from pass throughs on game that I never found" Really?

You have shot plenty of animals, had pass throughs, never found the game?   "plenty" How many is plenty, I have lost zero in 45 years.
Carl

[tlbradford]

He meant that he never found the arrow.  He wasn't referring to the animal.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Still the point is about mechanical broadheads. I cannot argue the fact that in competent hands they work, my concern is about the few that invariably will end up hanging out of an animal and lend credibility to to the anti's argument and put blemishes on our image.
I have no doubt that a competent archer can hit an animal at incredible ranges with todays set-ups.
I will not advocate taking those shots

You guys must agree that most hunters will take a marginal shot

I dont! and wont encourage others to. Neither will the guys I hunt with.
I have noticed that age seem to be a common factor in the attitude towards this issue, and others. Is this because we were hunting with a bow and arrow before most of these "improvements" and resist change, or is it because we have been hunting as long as some of you have been alive and are basing our opinions on experience?
I personally have been hunting for 30 years and bowhunting for 21. Back when I started I took some ridiculous shots, luckily I either missed clean or hit where I intended. I have killed both deer and elk with an arrow that hit where I was aiming, but penetrated in a different direction due to animal movement, I know it was because they heard my bow and turned towards/away from me after the shot.
I now hunt with a recurve and limit my range accordingly.

[Buckrub]

I agree with Ray point for point.

[Buckrub, the 65% let-off rule went away 3 years ago.]

Nojoke its not 65%??? JKidding....but why did we have a 65% rule when everywhere else was 80%??

"Maybe it's like using a 243 for elk...it's legal but is it ethical"
I still stand by this statement....I wouldn't hunt elk with a 243 but have seen many used....

I won't judge someone for using an inferior broadhead..like the wally world $3.00 special that the blades fall off at impact.

[Snapshot]

"....but why did we have a 65% rule when everywhere else was 80%??"

It was set at 65% when compound technology was new; hunters who foresaw that technology would change the face of the sport lobbied it for it; archery is a physical sport and compound let-off reduces the athleticism required. They were worried that one-day a 95% (or greater) let-off would be developed that would allow someone to hold at full-draw almost effortlessly. And anyone who has drawn an arrow an on a super-close-range animal knows that being able to hold at full-draw for a longer period of time reduces the challenge enormously.

After a couple of decades it became evident (I am told) that compounds with let-off greater than 80% (or whatever the maximum is now) were too sensitive for human hands. Then Pope & Young changed their rule on the matter. And following their lead the state archery organizations in Washington went to the WDFW and suggested that the let-off rule be changed.

[Buckrub]

I guess there could be 100 opinions to the fact of helping or hindering the sport but we can still hunt traditional if we please.

Our state has demonstrated many times that they lack the ability to manage hunting and or regulations.

Back to the original subject...
 I'm not sure I see enough of an advantage with the mechanical broadhead to make it illegal. If this is an image law IE: arrows hanging from animals then we are in trouble currently, archers will take risky shots and a fixed blade broadhead- non barbed could be in an animal for years. Rifle hunters have the same problem with wounded animals.

The new bows have created some distance advantages over recurves, but bow hunting is still a close encounter sport. I think our image has greatly improved with the new bows and technology. 

Just my opinion

[Ray]

It's not an image law. It's an illegal barbed arrow law.

Good law.