Shooting Sports > Archery
Hawaii bowhunting blog
Rancid Crabtree:
In mid February Im taking my wife to Hawaii for a week. Im not really a beach guy so Im going to be doing some bowhunting while there. I'm still uncertain as to exactly which islands I want to hunt and what species aside from pigs (staying on Kauai but may island hop for other species) but Im going to make some new arrows and perhaps a different broadhead for this trip. I'll take the longbow and that setup is already sound and ready but I'll also take my Bowtech RPM 360 (set at 64 lbs) so Im going to make some heavy arrows ( around 10 grain per pound for 600+ gr) arrows. Ive Already ordered some 100 grain brass inserts and other items for the build.
Ive contacted as many guides/outfitters I could find with internet searches as well as contacting some locals with pig problems. We will be staying on the SE coast of Kauai using the Kauai Marriott Lihue as home base. Sadly it looks as though the Axis deer will be in very early velvet development at that time of year so they may be off the table. I'm building heavy arrows with extreme FOC because I hope to hunt Vancouver Bulls (Feral cattle)
Rancid Crabtree:
Since I'm not yet certain exactly what island and what species I will be hunting and because that species list could include Vancouver bulls (Largest species on the islands) which are essentially huge feral cattle that have gone wild. I'm building a new set of heavy arrows with the emphasis on maximizing penetration so I'm building a heavy aluminum arrow with a high Front Of Center (FOC) Here are the components I'll be using.
Because I want a lot of weight up front, I want to minimize weight on the back of the arrow and because I have a low brace height on my bow I don't have room for long fletching so my choices are feathers, Blazers or Easton BTV
I plan to use 4 fletch for this build so the weight will add up. Here are the weights.
Feathers are the obvious choice, not only for the least weight but they do a great job of steering arrows. Time to get to work.
To maximize clearance I did not fletch them at 90 degrees.
To maximize spin I used a lot of twist.
Perfect fit for this rest but there is a good chance I will be switching rests to a drop away rest I have been designing and prototyping on for the last year. If I dont have production parts available, I will use 3D printed prototype parts.
The front end of the arrow will be a dual shaft. The 2315 arrow will be footed by gluing 4 1/2" of 2117 aluminum arrow inside the 2315. The insert for the arrow will be in the 2117 and will end flush with the outer shaft. That adds a great deal of strength as Aluminum arrows will break at the back of the insert.
For the broadhead I'll be trying both Wensel Woodsman and Snuffer. They are similar but the Snuffer is a larger diameter head. Both heads are the same weight (125 grains). a 5mm washer between the end of the shaft and the back of the broadhead to spread the load over the end pf the shaft.
The total build weight is 605 grains.
Then it was time to paper tune to position the rest for this large arrow to get good arrow flight.
I shot the completed arrow through my chronograph and the speed is 236 FPS. The energy output from my 64 lbs. draw weight will be 75 Ft/lbs of Kinetic Energy and .6343 slugs of Momentum.
To verify good arrow flight and rest timing and clearance, I recorded a few shots at 15 yards. Here are the results.
https://youtu.be/WlnfRsfvn0I
Next I will be finishing the rest of the arrows and then testing the two broadheads for flight. More to follow.
Rancid Crabtree:
Checking arrow flex, fletching clearance and rest drop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpsBvvCZHLY
Rancid Crabtree:
Today I mounted a couple of the Wensel Woodsman and a couple Snuffers to see if there is a difference in flight. I would really like to use the larger diameter Snuffers.
Not exactly Hawaii but you do what you have to do.
I shot both heads from 10 to 40 yards and was pleased that both heads fly the same and have the same impact point. With my whitetail arrows I had roon in my sight housing for 5 pins from 20 to 60 yards. With these heavy arrows I will only have room for 20 through 50 yards.
Rancid Crabtree:
Arrow Build update. I've been having a problem with exploding nocks. The reason may be bad plastic or the extreme forces trying to get this arrow moving from a dead stop out of a speed bow. Whatever the reason, the nocks seem to split right down the center line leaving 2 halves on each side of the nock groove. This could lead to an expensive dry fire so instead of using the tapered end of the shaft and standard nocks and glue to attach them I cutting the backs of the arrows off (removing the swagged taper) and installing uni-bushings with lighted nocks. There is an increase in weight to the back end but not splitting nocks is priceless and now I can spin/rotate the nocks and I can use lighted nocks so the advantages outweigh the negatives
The small additional weight on the back end will be offset by the fact that I am replacing the 45 grain aluminum broadhead adapters with 100 grain steel adapters to reduce the risk of breakage at the stress points should I hit a hard object.
This boosts the total broadhead weight to 234 grains
The new total arrow weight is now 691 grains.
I shot the new arrows through my chronograph and the speed is now 221.3 feet per second. The Kinetic Energy is 75 ft/lbs and the Momentum is .68 slug. This is an improvement from the prior arrow build with the added bonus of improving the FOC from 19% to 19.7%. When the temps climb above zero I will sight from 20 to 50 yards but in the meantime I took some slow motion footage of rest drop and fletching clearance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDCsIhNAT2E
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