Quote:
Originally Posted by Coiloil37
It’s significant. I ran a totally separate sight for them so I could switch between setups by changing the sight. The rest and knocking point didn’t need to change between the two setups and both arrows would group fieldpoints with broadheads and bareshafts. From memory they were probably 8-10” lower at 40 yards.
The biggest difference was penetration. I typically practice into a natural sand bank. 400-420 grain shafts go in about 4-5”, 530 grains go in about 12-15”. My 700 grain arrows would bury a 30” shaft, the broadhead and nock about 4-5” under the sand. I had to dig them out.
I did some penetration tests on moose leg bones, my 530 grain arrows break the legs and scapula fairly easily. I’ve done the same thing on animals when I shot a bedded bull elk in the leg where the bone was about the size of a sledgehammer handle. It broke the leg, got both lungs and an exit wound. Anyway, back to the testing on moose legs, the sinewy hocks I couldn’t break at 530 grains. The 700 grain arrows sailed through and buried themselves into my rhino block about 8”.
I initially set them up for water buff, the hunt however fell apart on the way up to the Northern Territory when we stopped at a gas station for fuel and water. The pig dogs got into 1080 and we had to shoot all five of them. The guy who lost the dogs was pretty sad and inevitably irritated the land owner who did a 180 from “come and shoot whatever you want for free” to “water buff are 50k trophy fee, pigs are $500, you want to put your boat in the water? $200 to put it in the water. Needless to say it I didn’t shoot a buff and haven’t made the effort to find another property up there yet.
For north America I’m pretty happy in the mid 500 range. I’ve been let down multiple times with 420 grain arrows so to me they’re a non starter. They work when the hit is perfect but your shot angles are limited and life isn’t perfect.
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Wow! That's a ton of information - thanks!
Must've been hard to deal with the hunt that never worked out, knowing that all the work you put into it was for nothing. But you did come away with some valuable information (who not to deal with again, heavy arrow testing).
Thanks for the input
J.