Our season opens next month so I plan to do some serious bowhunting in preparation for October. I plan to use flu flus but im not sure which head to go with. I just got some Bludgeon blunt heads they would work for not losing an arrow because they cant stick but I dont see them killing a squirrel unless hit in the head.
Our squirrels are usually up high this time of year so I want something thats going to kill them and make them drop to the ground. I was considering broadheads I just dont want my arrow to stick in a tree where I cant get it. If all fails I could always wait for ground shots I guess. What do you guys use?
Don`t use broadheads for tree top shooting.A couple i could get to and screwed the arrow off.But i have one arrow about 30ft. up in the tree.It`s been their for 4 years now.If you don`t have the money to buy blunts,(which some are $$$)NUT em.Put a washer or a nut behind your field tip.Or grind off the tip of your glue on field point so you have a flat blunt.Those are the cheapest ways.You do what you gotta do sometimes.
ace hex heads
Yup.. Ace Hex Heads.
Probably the best and cheapest would be the home made one's Jason Wesbrook makes out of shell casings and a blade made out of metal strapping.
Shock and cut on a hit(important on squirrels, not easy to kill)....and when you miss and the arrow strikes the tree hard, the blade comes out and the arrow comes down to use again. Just carry spare blades and you're good to go....
Hopefully Jason will be along to better explain it...pretty slick :thumbsup:
i would like to see that case and blade idea...
Don't use rubber blunts i hit a squirrel in the head at 18 paces it mortally wounded it but it was trying to run up the tree still. Had to pull out the broadhead to finish the job. That was with a 56# bow. The squirrel could have easily made it to a limb and just laid there.
Ace Hex Heads All The Way!!!
... mike ...
Been shootin the new Hammers from 3 Rivers stump shootin. Just looking at what they do to stumps and trees I can imagine they would do the job on the tree rats for sure ! :scared:
nocams
I just got these from Ted @ Raptor (he is a sponsor here), and I was really impressed with these heads! Shot this squirrel the other day with a 58# longbow, and a 715 gr Arrow Dynamic arrow. The arrow penetrated about 1/4 inch past the head... The last pic is the end result :thumbsup:
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/frassettor/DSC00611.jpg)
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/frassettor/DSC00610.jpg)
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/frassettor/DSC00612.jpg)
I need the receipe for those skwerl pies :pray:
I like wing nuts with the edges filed for squirrels. Blunts just aren't effective on squirrels for me I have shot to many with then that have rolled got up and keep on running! I also have gave up on flu flu's for squirrels I swear they hear them coming and dodge them they must sound like a hawk diving to a squirrell! I seldom hunt them in the trees anymore but wait until there on the ground. Early in the year I catch then going into standing corn and it's a lot of fun then! I'm truely addicted to hunting them with my bow and they are by far my favorite species of animal to chase!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/bunnybusters002.jpg)
Heres what I prefer for them!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/squirrell002-1.jpg)
I took this one with a 2 blade zwicky last august! Season started here today And I already have 2 misplaced arrows out behind the pasture!
That is a sweet set up adeeden...how is that all put together? What pieces do you need and where do you get them?
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/bunnybusters003.jpg)
1- 2" 8/32 bolt
1- carbon insert (the alluminum ones that come standard)
1- 10/32 nut
1-10/32 wing nut
Simply slip the wingnut on the bolt then the 10/32 nut then thread it through the insert, screw it on an arrow and shoot something! They weigh right at 128 grains on my scale. You should be able to get everything but the inserts at your local hardware store, you can make alot of them for CHEAP! I do prefer to sharpen the wingnut on a bench grinder to give it a nice cutting surface though.
I tried the ace hex heads last year for rabbits and love them. The cup end design helps keep your arrow from getting buried under grass and worked good in the snow. The sharp edge penetrated through the rabbits like a broadhead. I shot a small size coon vary close range about 12yrds at eye level and had a complete pass through, I was surprised. I all ready have some flu-flu's fletched up and can't wait to try the hex heads out on some grey's in September.
Hey, squirrel hunting with my bow is my passion in the fall! And I have tried them all except the nutters or wingnut set-ups that Dennis uses. I shoot mostly ramin wood arrows for them. If I was hunting grays, which in my woods we don't have, I would use a heavy blunt or hex heads.
Fox squirrels...touger than cats. I have seen them fall from over, 50 ft. out of tall sycamores, on to rock, along the creeks, get up and take off!
My favorite heads are old field points slotted with banding steel cut to the size of like bleeder blades. I will glue in with super glue.Like Curt says and simular to what Jason uses. Jerry Pierce loved them squirrels and made up his own heads also! Dean Torges wrote an article about Jerry and Tom Mussato's passion and equip. in a TBM years ago.
Also, the head that frassetor shows, Game nabber has worked good for me. They will rip the foxes up, but won't stick in a tree.
Early season, I like to be in or along a small creek. They will come done for a drink! Good shootin, can't wait for Aug.15th! Steve.
9mm casing works well on 11/32 wooden shaft. Seems to work well stump shooting, not sure on tree rats?
I've killed them with judo points and also with the Hammer from 3 Rivers, that is a great head.
I use a field point and a steel whasher and they work great!!!!!
MAY THE SPIRIT OF FRED BEAR GUIDE OUR ARROWS.
Just checked out The Hammer looks pretty good. Does it bounce off trees like a blunt? I like the Hex heads but they dont come in 100gr
QuoteOriginally posted by 2Blade:
I like the Hex heads but they dont come in 100gr
The screw-in Hex Heads also come in 100 grains. The lightest glue-ons are 125, except the 1/4" model which weighs 75 grains.
my son just shot a squirrel today here in Illinois season opens aug 1st. he shot the tree rat with a 50lb bear bow 2117 easton arrow washer behind the field tip. he knocked the tree rat out of the tree at about 15 feet high. he landed on his head and got up and took off running like his tail was on fire. We did have flu flu feathers next time we will try regular feathers and see if that makes a difference.
I think I will test out some combination of these in a month and a half when our season opens...seems like it should do the trick--until I bounce one off a limb and it comes rocketing back down at me!
After all, the packaging says 'maximum killing power'. How can I go wrong? :D
(http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt177/CrookedStick/SGblunts.jpg)
Judos all the way for me
I have had really good luck with Judos but like I said im worried theyll stick in to the tree. If their low on the tree I dont worry as much. How high in a tree should you shoot? I ask because I know I will encounter a situation where one is WAY up there and it seems kind of dangerous to shoot at something that high. Whats your guys max height on these guys? Im hunting greys by the way.
shoot as high as your willing to climb for a lost arrow, for me thats about as tall as I can reach on the ground
Hex heads are great. I usually squirrel hunt and if I see a deer that's great...I shoot no higher then I can nock it down with my bow. Though I do carry 30ft of 20# fishing line and a heavy bolt to help get down those that I can't reach with my bow.... Saved many an arrow doing it...Don't use flu-flus or shoot at a squirrel looking at ya. I think they can jump a string more then a wired up buck... Just my 2 cents...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/timkoi/arrow2110.jpg)
This is what I use on ground squirrels its the best I found for stopping them. I Shoot 100 grn heads. I get a 125 field point cut off 20 grains to make a blunt then put an adder behind that. Will not ricochet off of hard dirt not sure how it will do in a tree. But it kills squirrels and rabbits and its cheap.. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/timkoi/arrow2108.jpg)
adeeden GREAT IDEA .
I slot a steel blunt and stick a triangle piece of bandsaw blade in it with hot melt or epoxy..Will make short work of a tree rat but the blade is too short to stick in a tree trunk.Ace blunts work well on close shots but I use light weight bows and the little blade works better on longer shots for me.
The heads that Fassetttor use are the best for me. If the animal is on the ground I like to use a cheap sharp broadhead like the Bodkin. These animals are tough. I shot one once with sharp 3 bladed Muzzy. It took the arrow up the tree it was under and bled out about 80 feet up in the bull pine. It wasn't until the following Spring after the other predators were done with it and the blowing winds dislodged the arrow from the tangled branches that I got my arrow back. I have also killed a fair number of them with regular blunts but the shot has to be in the head or else they will climb a tree and will probably never be seen again. If deer were as tough as squirrels getting any one with a bow would be an achievement.
Great tips and ideas. I think I will purchase the Hex heads or The Hammer and use them for tree shots. On the ground ill just use a broadhead or Judo.
I've shot all kinds of blunts and small game heads through the years
but this is what I've come down to.
I shoot aluminum
I like a small diameter blunt head with any kind of prongs or fingers to keep it from digging in and sliding under stuff.
I don't want any kind of a point that could stick in the bark of a tree.
I shoot regular 5" fletching and flu-flus with these same blunt points
it's pretty hard to argue with a Judo
but I have always been a fan of Bateman's Adders
(http://i31.tinypic.com/adnpfn.jpg)
I like the PDP Small Game Point like frassator showed. I use glue ons'. I try to put my back to the tree when I shoot waaay up there. I have arrows bonce all over the place and come down behind me. When you hit the squirrell, run up and grab it quickly. Then smack its head on a tree. You haven't lived until you have had a dead critter in your game bag let you know just how p####d he is due to the way you treated him. Bill
Shooting squirrels in trees requires a head that will kill and not wound the tough skin little critters. I've tried just about everything suggested but none of them beat the Magnus blunt with a bleeder blade.
A quick add on to Bill Skinner's post. Grab them by the tail, only!!! If they aren't dead, and you grab their body, they'll show you p*****d as the make those pointy teeth meet again and again in your hand.
I'm partial to the "Hammers". :D
Did I mention, how tough a fox squirrel is? The Indians used their hides for bow strings! Judos for grays, maybe, rabbits, they are so thin skinned, you can yell at them and they will fall over dead! But how they get thru them briars, I don't know.
The magnus heads that Ron mentions are good, and pricey. that's why I use blunted field points and banding steel. It's the "shock and Ouch" way. I also like the game nabbers, if your buying points. Bought my first ones from Ron when he had the traveling trailer shop at Marshall. Killed alot of squirrels with them.
4-5" inch, full height fletch on hardwood shafts. Your going to loose some, but hey, you ain't killin, if you ain't shootin!
QuoteOriginally posted by frassettor:
I just got these from Ted @ Raptor (he is a sponsor here), and I was really impressed with these heads! Shot this squirrel the other day with a 58# longbow, and a 715 gr Arrow Dynamic arrow. The arrow penetrated about 1/4 inch past the head... The last pic is the end result :thumbsup:
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/frassettor/DSC00611.jpg)
These are GAME NABBERS made by PDP (precision designed products, Keith Jabben from Independence Kansas)
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THESE !!!!