Traditional bowhunter question
Whitetail Deer
Contributors to this thread:
I've shot a few deer with recurves but it has been over 15 years ago. I can't remember, but is there an audible impact noise with real fletching and a slow arrow from a traditional bow? I understand it depends if you hit bone or not. The reasons I ask is i shot at a 150" ten point a few years back at 15 yds and he disappeared and I never found my arrow. I did find a dead buck about a hundred yards away a year later that had been dead for at least a year. I was using a long bow at the time. An old acquaintance of mine once told of shooting a buck several times with a recurve and he never showed signs of a hit until he fell over. I put that longbow away since that hunt but I got it out the other day and was hitting grapefruit sized targets at 20 yds from the first arrow I shot. I'm thinking of hunting a doe with it next week
Quick answer is no....but not completely sure of the question. Feathers are "noisier" than vanes but as far as "impact noise"....no. I have shot deer that didn`t have a clue they were even shot before tipping over. A buck I shot a couple of years ago was chasing a doe when I shot him. When the doe stopped he mounted her and bred her. When he was done he slid off her....his chin hit her rump and he keeled over.
Damndest thing I ever saw but what a way to go. Take the bow hunting and enjoy.
Yes feathers in flight are a little louder than vanes but shouldn't matter for they both make some noise... Jumping string is caused by bow noise, not so much from arrow flight, by the time they hear an arrow in flight, it's too late... A bad hit is a bad hit, a good hit is a lethal hit regardless of what bow it is released from, the broadhead does the killing not the bow... As long as the arrow has enough weight and speed to penetrate the vitals, any correct bow and arrow combination will do the job... "thinking of hunting a doe with it next week"... Just because its a doe??? To value one game animals life over others to accept wounding?
Don't think too much into it. If you can group out to 20 yds, set that as your limit. Take ethical shots, use sharp broadheads, and shoot whatever you want as long as its legal. Bowhunting is supposed to be challenging and fun. Don't overthink it!
If the dead buck was yours and it died 100 yards away, you made a lethal shot. And no audible noise unless you hit major bone. At least not with a sharp broadhead. Sounds like the follow up lacked but I don't know the circumstances.
yes, when an arrow from a trad now hits, you can hear it plainly.
Killed an awful lot with a recurve and if by audible noise you mean when you hit the deer. Yes there is, no different than a compound. Do you always here the hit, no but there is a sound. Shawn
Shot a lot of critters with longbows over the last 30 years or so.
Yes, there is always sound made by an arrow hitting an animal.
You may not hear it though.
Not sure what happened on the buck you may have lost. I like very bright cresting and fletching to help see the location of the hit and to find the arrow after the shot. Sometimes I add a wrap of bright rabbit fur behind the fletching (particularly on turkey fletched arrows) to help see the shot location as well.
Have shot several animals that did not know they were shot, even with big 3-blades, but never anything as crazy as Franklin’s story!
I have shot many deer with my recurve bow and have heard a thud or slapping sound when broadhead hits ribs, shoulders, or heavy muscle. Many broadside hits in lung area do not produce any sounds. As far as bow noise, a well tuned bow with a heavy arrow is whisper quite. An arrow with parabolic feathers and non-vented COC broadheads are the most quite combination. Most deer if on full alert pick up the flexing of the limbs, recoil and noise of the shot. Keep your shots close.
Same “thumped melon” sound as any other arrow, but maybe a little softer?
Deer get poked, scratched & bit by bugs non-stop, so it makes sense that they’d ignore a properly sharp COC if it slips between the ribs. A broken rib would probably get their attention, though.
Just FWIW - it’s easier to hit a grapefruit than it is to hit a grapefruit-sized patch on a target the size of the side of a deer. So if you haven’t shot the stickbows regularly in a long time, maybe give it some more practice first. Just thinkin’...
They'll be there next year.
Or see how you do between 5 & 10 yards and see how darn close you can get.
Well the wife must be right, and I can't hear.
Thanks guys (except for Zbone)Rather than attack a guy for conclusions you jumped to Zbone, calm down. It's doe season here next week and I already shot my buck. I'll continue to practice but I am not worried. I grew up using a long bow from before I was 10 years old. I put it up partially because I thought I missed that buck and #2 it kept hitting my stand. I'll be hunting from the ground next week,
Well Thornton, I guess it was just the way you worded it... My apologies...
Good luck Thornton! Let us know how you do!
Thornton, the success you are having at shooting it well is due to the brain not being bored. Take it hunting, trust your shot sequence, and kill stuff.
Much to do is made of how much practice it takes to be lethal with a trad bow. The truth is, once you’ve developed the fundamentals and a shot sequence that enforces them, a trad bow can be picked up after a long break and still shot well. So, don’t over shoot it. You’ll get worse before to long if you do.
That is no joke. It’s the truth and what causes target panic in many trad archers. Your brain starts to jump steps when it gets bored.
Some people are blessed with pure muscle memory....meaning they can pick up a bow and shoot well....like yourself Thornton. Others have to work hard at it....IMO they work too hard and try to change their natural motion in an effort to execute the "perfect form shot". You have a gift....enjoy it and HUNT.
Not a Gift; it’s a skill, and he built it like everybody else. Just had the good sense to start as a Wee Laddie...
Just (JMO) it’s a skill that can always use SOME dusting off before you take it out playing for keeps.
I get it Z. I have heard statements pertaining to does being worthless and I think I responded similar to what you said. I actually rarely hunt them anymore because I like to watch them and they bring the bucks to my farm. However, I hunt an area that has up to 20 or 30 on it and I just can't seem to give up this season yet. I've had many enjoyable moments this year to leave the woods and Hills yet
Since you shot your longbow you know it's slower than your wheel bow. Probably quite a bit slower.
My father in law shot two deer over the years that simply looked up for a couple seconds and then continued feeding for a bit before falling over.
Sound travels 1100 feet per second, most trad bow arrows somewhere near 170. The sound of the arrow gets to the deer at nearly same time as the bow noise.
Two feathers- that wasn't my question. My question pertained to audible impact noise and if it was decreased due to slow heavy arrows.
Thornton,
Another thing to consider is broadheads type for sound. A 2-blade will make less sound on impact than a 3- or 4- blade broadhead.
As far as picking up a longbow and shooting it well after not shooting for a while, if you have confidence and have shot it well in the past, you will be fine. Just concentrate on the mechanics - focus, draw, anchor, release.
The biggest difference due to arrow velocity is that with a slow arrow, it’s easier to hear the thump of the bowstring and THEN the thump of the arrow, rather than having the two blend together. And FWIW, a lot of good stickbows can turn out considerably better than 170 feeps if the shooter has a clean release and the arrow is lighter than 9 GPP.
Not suggesting we should hunt with Flight arrows, but they’re not going 400 yards at 170 fps. And I kinda doubt that the 300-yard shots with 550-grain, broadhead-tipped arrows are going that slow either....
And I’d agree that head design has a lot to do with how loud a Thump you get.
IME,Audible impact noise is more a function of BH design. Sure a fast arrow plays a part...but less so.
So for example a forward opening mech head will have a louder impact. I've had louder impacts with the short wide fixed heads that put more blade against the hide too.
I shoot a tapered fixed COC BH design (2 and 3 blade) and there is much less kerplunking. Almost nothing with the 2 blade unless you hit something. These leading edge heads don't compress anything on the hit...they just slide in effortlessly. I recently got a little sound from my recurve and hitting the rib on a pig with a 2 blade Buzzcut...but mostly I get almost zero noise with that type head.
The environmental noise [wind, etc] plays a small part too......and the fact that you are usually so much closer on a stick bow shot....but I don't like it dead still as I've had animals jump the string on my recurve. In fact, I'm going to start hunting with my longbow limbs because of it.
Sorry GF for the truly good shooters it is a gift. A gift of hand eye co-ordination. My daughter has that gift no matter what we are talking about. She can pick up a recurve and with a well matched arrow out shoot probably 75% of the guys at a Trad shoot as long as the distances are 30 and under. She can throw a baseball or softball with crazy accuracy and many other things. That is not to say you cannot get good by working at it, but some folks again have that special gift. Shawn
Thornton - When I watch a traditional hunt on you tube I can hear the impact. When I'm shooting the deer sometimes I hear impact and sometimes I don't. I do need hearing aids and I think adrenaline adds to not hearing impact.
I heard my Douglass fir arrow when it ticked a small branch on it’s way to a huge buck this past season. I also heard it clatter through the bucks horns after the deflection. The last sound I heard was unprintable followed by the buck making a sound not unlike laughter. I know where he lives and will get even next fall, God willing.
Hmmmmm.... prollyshoulda used Spruce....
I’ve shot a lot of deer with a recurve or longbow the only noticeable inpact noise I’ve ever heard was a shoulder joint hit which was a loud crack and a gut shot which was a thump sound . I’ve always used 2 blade heads or 2 blade with a bleeder and like others have shot deer that never knew they had been shot, others left at a dead run. but I can see where a 3 blade might make a little more impact sound. I think it’s all got to do with what you hit