Water or cape buffalo with x-bow.... any
Equipment
My buddy & I have a water buffalo hunt schedule for June 20th this year in Australia. We were/are hunting with compound bows. He fell on ice & blew-out his rotator cuff.... can't pull his bow. Checking to see if x-bow hunting is legal in Australia. If it is, he will have to hunt with a X-Bow. If anyone has hunting cape or water buffs with an x-bow can you please tell me how heavy your bolt was, what was FOC, KE, momentum and how much penetration did you get? We hunted cape buffs with compound bows in 2017 & got good results with Easton FMJ-DG arrows & Bishop single bevel B/Heads. Total arrow weight was 965gr, KE was 84.40, momentum was 0.85 & FOC was 22%. I got 25" of penetration. Need to hear from guys that actually killed buffs with x-bows...
Tough to hear about your buddy's injury! Those can take quite a while to heal. Hopefully he has a speedy and good recovery!
I have no idea about crossbow set ups, but would definitely try to get the total mass up as high as possible and use a solid single bevel broadhead.
Really a tough situation with my buddy. He is a devoted bow hunter.. not a big fan of x-bows. Nonetheless, if x-bow water buff hunting is legal in Australia he will have to hunt with one or reschedule for 2019...
I know when Bill Troubridge from excaliber shot his he used a 700 grain arrow. Don't know anything much else about the setup. I believe he used a 900 grain arrow when he shot his elephant.
Can not see why a crossbow would be illegal in Oz.
Sounds like there is some info out there to track down - look up the source Timberhuntr has on Excaliber.
Good link on building heavy bolts for big critters.
Mr. Treeline, Good info regarding building big game x-bow bolts. Thanks... I contacted our outfitter (Tyler Chubb) and he is looking into x-bow regs. Appears my buddy may have to get a special license to hunt with a X-Bow. Tyler's areas is bow hunting only (or it was in prior years) After our hunt we planned on traveling around Australia for two weeks. Airfare, hotels, etc have been made. If my buddy can't use a x-bow to hunt buffs in Tyler's area, he has to cancel or reschedule all of the above...
Good luck! Hopefully ya'll can get it all worked out and have an awesome adventure! Please post up some pictures and a story when you get back to the "world"!
I use a crossbow due to a shoulder injury/surgery and now an injury to my right elbow. I had my bolts custom built by Jerry at South Shore Archery. Give him a call and tell him what you need. At crossbownation.com Jerry is well versed in how to build a bolt.
http://www.southshorearcherysupply.com/spynal-tapp-custom-arrows-c-601_503_582.html
Look at this forum...they are talking about bolts for buffalo and they specifically talk about Bill Troubridge from excaliber and who built his bolts with contact info.
Just watching a youtube video...bolts was 962grains and the bolt did a complete pass through on a African Buffalo. Check it out.
Thanks for all of the info... its appreciated..
I had Jerry from South Shore archery build bolts for me in the past to hunt deer. He did an outstanding job. I'll have my buddy contact him if x-bow hunting is approved in the area we will be hunting.
Thanks again for all of the help/suggestions....
Maybe try here? http://www.crossbownation.com/community/
Received an email from our outfitter today. It appears he is going to be allowed to use x-bow hunting his area. He may have to get a special license to do so... He/we should know for sure in a few days..
Mr. Gun Thanks for the info.
Our outfitter notified me yesterday. Cross Bow hunting is a go.. May have to purchase a special license ($60). Traveling with a x-bow in Australia is much like traveling with a rifle (per my outfitter). So, he is checking on restrictions, etc.... Thats the good news..
The bad news is, as mentioned in a prior comment, my buddy fell on ice & blowout his rotator cuff. He will have surgery in two weeks. He will have to hunt with a cross bow.
So, I have been shooting my bow, slowly working up from 60 to 70lbs. Experienced some serious pain in my right shoulder. Went to the Doctor. Had a CT Scan... I tore my tendon away from the bone in my right arm.... I'm also screwed.. I have surgery next week. I will also have to hunt with an x-bow @#$%^&* Our hunt started on June 18, I don't think there will be enough time to heal from surgery & be able to pull 70lbs.. It's not that I have a problem with cross bows, I really wanted to hunt water buffalo with a bow. So, we are still going & will make the best of it...
That’s some crazy bad luck.
I had rotator cuff surgery and killed an elk i think 7 weeks later. probably wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made but I had approval from the Dr. Intense physical therapy and i lowered my bow down to 63lbs. Talk to the Dr. you may still be able to do it with a bow.
I have shot a couple compounds guys had set up with mouth tabs due to missing an arm or no use of one arm. At 20 yards I could group ok right away. They were both deadly.
Just a reminder on what you’re hunting.
Mouth tabs work really well also
This is hard to believe but true. By buddy & I both had surgery last week. He had a rotator cuff repair & I had a tendon reattached to the bone. Of the two surgeries, recovery time should be shorter for me.
So, I'm going to do everything I can to be able to pull 65/70lbs before I leave in June. If this is not doable, I'm going to hunt with a cross bow. Either way, it should be a great experience.
Sorry to say, my buddy backed out & will need to reschedule a future hunt... l
