Tips and Technics

THE BOWHUNTERS ADVANTAGE
Westchester County, New York

This section was created to bring you information and technics that can be helpful by explaining ways I have found 
to get better performance out of  your equipment and skills, and ways to enjoy your outdoor experiences.


SHOOTING MOVING GAME WITH A SCOPED RIFLE 
 
A common mistake made by many hunters is trying to shoot moving deer sized game animals while trying to lock onto them with their moving scope crosshairs.

This is a very difficult thing to do and is really not recommended. Instead, use your scope to quickly find a spot about 20-40 feet ahead of and on the same plane as your moving targets’ vitals will cross, hold steady, then quickly squeeze off your shot as that targert moves into the crosshairs.

This is really not too difficult to do if you have fairly quick reflexes, are shooting a fast bullet such as comes out of a 30/06, and the animal is moving in a fairly straight line at 100yds or less from you.

I’ve used this method of shooting moving game many times with very good results when I’ve been able to get a solid hold by leaning on a shooting rail or some such unmoving surface that gave me steadiness and the animal wasn’t moving in super high gear.

Of course you must feel confident that your hold is steady and your position of the crosshairs is on target before you squeeze off the shot, and most importantly, that you are shooting in a safe direction.

Tom Scarano 



PROPER MULTIPLE-PIN BOW SIGHT-IN METHOD 
 
To sight your bow in properly, a good general rule is to first decide what the maximum distance you plan to set a pin for is. When this is established, install a pin in your bracket for that range and additional pins for every 10yds. closer you shoot, down to a range of 10yds. If your bow is very flat shooting, a 20yd. pin may be adequate for your closest shots, just make sure you know how high it shoots at 10yds. if you want pinpoint accuracy.

If you chose 40yds. as your maximum range pin, you will have 4 pins to sight in.

Start with your 10yd. pin (the highest pin on your sight bracket) and put your target at 5yds. Since you may not be sure how far off your new pin set-up is, it might be foolish to shoot farther before you can adjust that first pin to be close at 5yds. When you are close at 5yds., move your target to 10yds. and finish sighting in that pin for that range. When your 10yd. pin is in so you are hitting bullseyes, you can make preliminary 20, 30, and 40 yd pin settings by setting the windage the same for as your 10yd. pin and then lowering your 20yd. pin about 1/8" lower than your 10yd. pin and your 30yd. pin about 1/4" lower than your 20yd. pin and your 40yd. pin about 3/8" lower than your 30yd. pin. These distances will vary a little depending upon the speed of your arrow but should be close for arrows traveling between 240-275fps.

The next step is to sight-in your 20 and 30yd. pins for proper elevation, leaving the windage setting even with the 10yd. pin for now.

The final step is to sight in your 40yd. pin for elevation and windage and then adjust your other pins to the same windage setting as your sighted-in-properly 40yd. pin.

If you have good shooting form and your bow isn’t canted, is tuned properly and your arrows are spined properly, your pins should all have the same windage setting no matter the distance. Setting the closer pins to the windage setting of your furthest pin, that has been properly sighted-in, will insure that your closer pins are properly adjusted for pinpoint windage accuracy.

Tom Scarano 



PROPER FLETCHING ANGLE
 
Though many people use straight fletch with a slight offset on their hunting arrows for rest clearance purposes, the stability with this type of fletching may leave a little to be desired when it comes to stabilizing many broadheads.

We have consistently found that a moderate Helical fletch with a slight offset unquestionably offers more stabilization and truer arrow flight.

It really doesn’t matter if you use a helical with right or left offset because they will both fly well no matter if you are a rignt or left handed shooter. Adjusting the nock for proper fletch clearance should get you good flight characteristics either way.

With todays arrows of both the aluminum and carbon varieties incorporating the use of insert type nocks such as Eastons "Super Nock", you have the ability to precisely position your fletching for maximum fletch clearance.

On most size shafts with the possible exception of the smallest diameter carbon sizes a moderate Helical fletch can be positioned to clear most fork type launchers used in todays rests, The trick is to make sure your forks are far enough apart to give you maximum clearance without being so far apart as to allow the arrow to fall through at full draw.

Of course proper bow tuning and a consistant non-torquing bow handle grip is also going to help determine how well your arrows come out of the bow.

The use of a moderate Helical fletch which offers better stability may also allow the use of a 4" vane or feather instead of the standard 5" hunting fletch and will provide less air drag for increased downrange velocities.

The proper choice of broadheads designed for good flight characteristics is another important thing to consider when testing an arrow fletch type for flight accuracy.

Conclusion: If your hunting arrows are not flying as true as you feel they should even after your bow has been properly tuned and your form has also been fine tuned, have the fletching stripped off, if it is now straight fletch, and have those arrows re-fletched using a moderate Helical angle.

This information applies to most traditional feather and vane fletching. With some of the new types of fletching available such as the Spin Wing and Blazer vanes refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations for proper fletching angle and offset.

Tom Scarano



SELECTING THE CORRECT BROADHEAD DIAMETER 
 
The broadhead you choose to use wit the equipment you choose to shoot it with should be selected based on two important criteria: It should fly accurately and penetrate sufficiently into the game you are hunting to cause the maximum amount of bleeding that penetrating the area hit with a sharp broadhead can cause.

A broadhead that meets only one of these criteria should be avoided.

Okay you ask, how can I make my selection from the hundreads available today. The answer is, choose only those fixed or mechanical heads that are built strong, have the least amount of exposed blade surface, will cut at least a 1" to 1 1/8" diameter hole and then shoot them with your set-up to determine how well they fly for you.

When selecting the cutting width for hunting whitetail deer sized animals, a good general rule is to shoot a maximum 1 1/8" wide cutting head if the broadhead tipped arrow you are shooting weighs 350 grains and travels around 225fps or faster using your bow set-up. For every 25 grains heavier your arrow may be, a 5fps speed reduction will still get you good penetration. As an example, if your arrow weighs 500 grains and is traveling at 195fps your penetration should still be adequate.

To shoot the wider 1 1/2" cutting diameter heads, your 350 grains arrow should be moving around 250fps or faster and the same 25 grain heavier/5fps slower rule still applies.

Tom Scarano 


CHOOSING THE BEST CARBON ARROW FOR HUNTING 
 
For practical purposes, most carbon arrows will do what most hunters expect from them, shoot straight and fly fairly flat out to 30 yards.

To make life easier for you and to have the best chance of being able to get duplicates of the arrow you choose to shoot, select one fitted to your setup by a reliable pro shop where you can make future purchases of the same arrow. Mail order and discount Web order sites may be carrying some brands today and different ones later on depending on which they can make a quick couple of bucks on. You need a supplier that will carry a quality arrow fletched in the manner you want, based on expert advice. It may not be in your best interest to purchase from one of these discount houses if they change the shaft, vane or fleather size or angle selection on you, which may make it necessary for you to do the tuning and resighting in over again. If it works for you, you should be able to re-order the same arrow set-up in the future.

When choosing the arrow you are going to use to hunt with, stay away from the very lightest models produced. These arrows with their flatter long range tradjectory may be a good choice for the serious 3D competitor who must shoot the very center of the kill zone with practically every arrow in order to come out on top but that is not the most important quality that and arrow used for hunting must have.

For huntng, I’ve found that a more durable and slightly heavier arrow is a better choice. It will deliver better penetration and bone breaking energy which is more important than speed alone when hunting deer sized and larger game and will still shoot just about as flat out to 30 yards as the lighter arrows if you are shooting one of todays high performance bows at around 60 lbs and above.

When a torn rotor cuff necessitated shooting 45lbs. with a modified cam bow a few years back, I new I wasn’t going to get the penetration I needed for deer with the light overdraw arrows I was shooting at 60lbs with my performance cam bow. I opted for an arrow that wieghed 510 grains complete with broadhead which helped make my quiet bow even quieter and proceeded to shoot a fair sized whitetail doe at 35 yards. That arrow broke her rear upper leg bone and then imbedded in the her vitals. I was amazed at the job that heavy arrow did shot at that light draw weight. A range finder helped as those arrows flew with a noticeable arc at that range but when you know the range you know which pin to use. 

Tom Scarano


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