Your Wisconsin Outdoor Community

I really like the Ultimate Predator Adventure cam for all the features (far better than Go-Pro in my opinion due to things like the ability to zoom, no fish eye , better low light filming) and last year I designed a bow mount and made one on my 3D printer. The 3D printed mount was sound but the supplied housing for the cam allowed too much swing and flex upon release of an arrow. While capturing slow motion footage of the new arrow rest, it was easy to see just how much the camera moved upon release and why the footage I was getting was too blurry to be a value in regards to arrow impacts.



My first printed mount also stuck out to far to the side of the bow so when laying the bow on its side, the camera took all the load. The plan is to design and make a better mount that eliminates the supplied housing and to move the cam from below the sight bar to above the sight bar with a single piece housing bolted right to the sight bracket.





Looking forward to seeing if this mount will improve stability upon arrow release.

The back ends of the arrows are all set



So it was time to focus on sharpening the front ends.



Here is a video of the process used to get them hunt ready.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI-wCgP_Z0U

Here is how the broadheads are made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9_2embxs4I

With the bitter cold, I went to the local archery shop to shoot indoors today so I could film slow motion footage of these 691 grain arrows with lighted nocks so I could evaluate arrow flight. Here is the footage at 30 and 40 yards.

https://youtu.be/t7in_1FXl1Y

https://youtu.be/KRhRZwad4u4

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.

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.