as you may know, i got into traditional a couple months ago, and am havin a tricky time with some small game, as is my friend- he's had a couple rabbits get away already.
i haven't hit anything yet, but i'm looking at his experiences.
he's been using an ace hex blunt, and i think they got away from round 16 yards or so?
I know in TJ conrad's book, he really recommends a small broadhead for small game, but i just wanted your opinions because in a couple weekends i'll be going camping and living off what i shoot, and so i need to be able to know i can kill whatever i'm shooting at, plus i want to be an ethical hunter, so i'm lookin for somethin that i KNOW will always kill it.
i was thinking the Magnus head- http://www.3riversarchery.com/Product.asp?c=57&s=71&p=95&i=5229-1
because it seems like a good compromise between broadhead and blunt
what do you guys use for your small game? maybe the hex head works great and he just had a bad experience- if you guys say it does then i'll use it.
Hex Heads have been real effective in my experience on rabbits. So long as I do my part they've done theirs'.
Hey Bud, i know the feeling, all i use now is the wensel woodsman heads for my small game, i'm sick of having blunts bounce off. Had a squirrel run away after it got hit with an hex, but then a few minuts earlier i used a WW just like Terry makes, and it went down in about 2 sec. Follow the link for a good reference.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000055
P.
i use the magnus blunts with bleeders exclusively and they seem to work on everything from rabbits up to possums and raccoons
My experience is with compounds.
I shoot 125gr tips...so I buy a pack of 100gr fieldtips and but an "adder point" behind it. They weight 25gr.
They'll be a good 1/2" into the game before they start tearing the snot out of flesh.
If you hit anything hard you'll have a blunt w/ no blade. I wont buy the magnus again. Use a less than perfect broadhead and youll be ahead of the game.
last year I stuck an ace in a squirrell and watched as it ran fourty yards with my arrow stuck in it until it got into it's hole in the tree and my arrow fell to the ground blood and all but now squirrell. :knothead:
Contact Mike at The Nocking Point (sponsor of this site) and ask him about his seconds (rejects) broadheads. These broadheads will work great for small game heads. I don't remember the price but I do recall seeing several different brands.
Go to your local Wal-mart or something and pick up a cheap pack of broadheads. I have three broadheads right now, each of them have four detatchable blades that I can easily resharpen. The blades are thin like razorblades.
I got mine grom Meijer, which I know isn't nation wide, but I'm sure you can find them someplace else.
They're Bushmaster 125gr. heads, and the best part is they're only $8.00 for three of 'em! :D
Bakes
Knock on wood but so far I have killed several skwerls using a simple nutter head. actually, I knocked them senseless and killed them with my "hawk. The nutters will not "kill" them they come back to life, but they knock them into tomorrow and I simply add some effort with a tomahawk and they are toast. Bunnies are typically way easier to kill than a skwerl, but alas. no bunnies with a bow lately.
ChuckC
I've had great luck with standard blunts and hex heads. I've also used weighted shell casings.
I have to admit though, the big 3-blade snuffer really did a number on the tree rat!
Judos are my preferred head for small game. Nothing I've hit with the Judos has survived.
There is something about the blunt trama and the ripping action of the wires.
I have no trouble with the hex blunts on squirrels so rabbits should be no problem at all.A steel blunt slotted for a small piece of hacksaw blade works very well on treerats also but would most likely shoot through rabbits too easy..
I broke the front shoulder of a tree rat with a judo years ago outa a heavy weight compound..jumped up and ran off onto posted ground... made me sick.
After taking up trad again, 15 years back or so, I hit a rabbit with a heavy ole ash head and a judo and it ran off...spent 2 hrs searching for it in heavy leaves and never found it or the arrow. Area loaded with groundhog holes. Must've gone down a hote and taken the arrow with it...
Two deals years apart and I've not shot at small game with anything but a hunting head since! I had some ole savora heads with hard alum. ferrules that I hand sharpen the blades... junk for deer, but ok for one shot on small game.
ok cool thanks alot guys, I'll just get some cheap broadheads then
Even a broadhead won't always make up for a bad shot--but it will help on a marginal shot. I've seen rabbits go near 100 yds shot with a broadhead (gut shot), and I've seen a squirrel DRT (Dead Right There) shot with a Ace Hex-Head (double lung).
Cheap broadheads are the best bet as far as killing, but they will usually ruin a lot more meat.
Chad
Try the Game Nabber from PDP..... you will not be disappointed !!
We use them on Squirrels and Rabbits and have had GREAT SUCCESS!!
I just picked up a few of the barta blunts from 3 rivers to try. Anyone try those yet. They way 145gr and are a blunt tip with a claw behind it which I feel will tear up anything it touches so we'll see what happens. Skippy
The Barta blunt is the old HTM. Slip it over a 125 grain blunt and you have potent medicine. I never lost a rabbit while using a heavy rubber blunt. I've had them run away after being skewered by a broadhead. You have to be fine in your shooting....head or chest and at fairly close range.
For squirrels, which are much tougher than rabbits, I use a blunted-off three blade like the old Bodkins. Still...you need to make good shots...these critters aren't all that fragile.
Jake,
I have a recent post on here somewhere about what I use for small game. Broadheads (cheap or otherwise) work OK on the ground, but in my experience, unless you are willing to climb a lot of trees, you're gonna loose a lot of arrows stuck in high branches with sharp-pointed tips.
Holler if you can not find my previous post and I will get a picture of my set-up to you.
OkKeith
Alot of my shots are at squirrels while they're in trees. No way I'm going to shoot broad heads up in the air! Hex blunts and nutters work well for me !
ok i think I'll go with hex blunts to start-then if i'm not gettin good results with those i'll switch to some cheap broadheads.
I think i'll put some grasshoppers behind the hex's as well
iv had good experience with hex blunts and judos, hex blunts are better imo mostly just use broadheads snuffers work well don't disappear under the grass like the 2 blades
i wouldn't worry with the grasshopper behind the hex.
Best heads for small game are steel blunt tips with bleeders glued into the tip. Perfect amount of shock and cutting. Next best is broadheads - using seconds is smart. On our clubs we do not even allow (blunts) or (judos) for small game - both are not dependable - not in any way. I am amazed at how many folks will recommend these. Blunts and judos cripple more game than they take - using them is a short cut -------- Do your self a favor - make up a dozen or two arrows - tipped with the small game heads popularized by Dean Torges - match the head weight to your Broadheads, Judos for roving, and your target heads - you will be very pleased with the results. Judos & Blunts are designed to do exactly the opposite of what you want with a hit at game - these heads buffer the impact - that is why they are great for roving. <>< <--------------------<<<<<<<
This is getting really confusing with everyone reccomending something different based on what they like. Obviously there is no one miracle small game head. Jake I say make up a few arrows with blunts and a few with broadheads and shoot w/e the situation calls for. Then again, thats just my opinion, I'm sure everyhting that has been said will work fine, its just a matter of personal preference.
Cory....I've killed lots of rabbits and never lost one with an HTM blunt....over top of a steel blunt. They don't move. You still have to hit them, or at least should, in the chest or head to keep them where they stood. Rabbits will run after being shot through with a broadhead.
I make my own squirrel heads from an old Bodkin head with the tip cut down and blunted.
I really like the G5 small game head. They last a long time and stay sharp.
For rabbits and grouse I have found just a standard field tip works great. It won't kill them instantly but the arrow stays in them and they can't get away as the arrow hangs up on brush. I have shot grouse with broadheads right through the center of the chest and they always get away. Blunts work well also but I hit a grouse in the head once and he flew into the air and did a couple of circles and fell to the ground. I then went after his friends and when I went back he was up walking around I tried another shot but only ruffled feathers and then he flew away.
Sounds like some of you guys live near a nuclear power plant or something. I've shot a ton of Jacks and numerous squirrels and a few coons with Hex heads and Judos and none have made it further than a few yards further from where they were hit.
I've also thought Hex heads do about as much damage on a rabbit or squirrel as a 22 hollow point or a 38 special, on squirrels they don't leave much left to eat.
Nothing is going to drop small game that is shot in the ass or gut, ya guys got to hit them in the head or chest. Aim small, miss small.
My favorite small game heads are(and in this order}Hex, modified broadheads, judo's.
I'm with MR. Tell as in the G5 SGH (small game head)
I dont like to use BH in trees as they get stuck but I have killed Bunny's with Bambi's broadhead. MIKE
Dang it quoted the wrong person and had to delete it...
I don't think he's talking about the rubber blunt. He means the steel blunt that has a steel claw attatched to it. The used to be called 'Tiger Claws.' I watched Tred shoot a Jack Rabbit on one of his shows with it and that thing tore a hole so big in that rabbit you could see right threw it from where Tred was standing. The rabbit kicked a couple of time and was flat dead. Its one mean looking blunt and I've been thinking of trying it myself. [/QB][/QUOTE]
I have yet to loose any game I have hit with a Hex. I have failed to recover all of the game I have missed with a Hex.
Like I mentioned in my other post, I keep a good edge on my Hex-heads. Just like a broadhead, nothing makes up for a bad shot, but a sharp edge will put a marginal shot in your favor. The Hex alone will do the job, I put the gobbler stopper (or whatever the namebrand is now) behind the head to make finding the arrow in the grass easier and faster.
Here is a picture of my set-up:
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/OkKeith/smallgamehead-1.jpg)
OkKeith
I put a Judo through the head of a rabbit last season try those.
my friend shot a Guinefowl from about 8meters with a G5 small game head he was shooting a 60lb silvertip and it bounced off :eek: :mad: we thru them away
Blunts and Hex heads work good if the small game your after is hit in the vitals, normally this will be from the diaphragm up :thumbsup:
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/420W/HeadShots.jpg)