Some guys I know asked me if I wanted to pheasant hunt with them in March. I've always wanted to do this but have never shot any airel targets. Please help me understand what I must do for equipment and preparation. I think dogs may be used. Thank you.
Flu Flu's and blunt heads. Not much to equipment.
As Doc stated, but use field points, have a back up shotgun man and then be prepared for a good time. :bigsmyl: :bigsmyl:
Do a search for pheasants on pow wow , there were a few threads.
I have used nerf footballs for practice 'cause they are close to shape ,size and easy for anyone to throw
And just do it, it is a blast !!
Personally, I haven't had good experiences using blunts with pheasants. I've taken to using a small broadhead backed up with a Zwickey Scorpion. Pheasants are tough birds.
If dogs are going to be used , dont use broadhaeds!!!
Tons of fun Kenn. Flu flus, aluminum arrows with field points and Zwickey scorpios are what I have found best. No broadheads for me when dogs are involved, I could not live with myself if there was any kind of accident. I have had Judos and ace hex heads bounce right off pheasants.
Take your longbow and don't worry too much about practicing...aerial targets we can throw do not replicate real birds anyway. It is a VERY instinctive shot.
we offer a few different heads for pheasant, some for hunting over dogs, some for not hunting over dogs. The pheasant spear is dog friendly, the pheasant head is designed to be put behind a big game broadhead. DO NOT use big game broadheads with dogs, they can and will get impaled(murphys law) no bird is worth that.
We have recently made some improvements to our line, some of the older stlyes have been redesigned
(anyone out there that has an older stlye of the pheasant spear can get a free upgrade, just pm me)
jeremy
P.S. for pracice, derrick oxnan(tradgang sponsor) makes a really good video about aeriel archery.
x 11 what everyone said about not using broadheads with dogs. I should have made that clear in my post, but I guess I assumed that was an obvious one.
instinctivebowman - those pheasant spear heads are a pretty interesting design.
I have been twice and am going again this coming Sayurday (2/11). It is a blast! In 2 hunts i have bagged 1 bird but I have had so much fun I will keep going to do this every chance I get. I used field points and it worked pretty well. This year I am trying one of jeremys Pheasant spears. I will have a report on how that worked next week.
As tradbower said above, have a back-up guy on the scattergun and you will also end up with a lot of fine eating. Last year we had 5 hunters and we took turns manning the shotgun. After everyone missed with the trad bows, the guy on thegun would knock the pheasant down. We just divided them up equally at the end of the hunt. On the occasion that one of the archers would hit the bird the shotgun was silent (but the archers were hooting and hollering so loud I think the shotgun might have been quieter).
Pheasant hunting with the bow is a hoot and I'm sure you will have a blast!
Bisch
QuoteOriginally posted by Smithhammer:
x 11 what everyone said about not using broadheads with dogs. I should have made that clear in my post, but I guess I assumed that was an obvious one.
instinctivebowman - those pheasant spear heads are a pretty interesting design.
they are kinda strange looking heads, but i can personally contest they work, i have bagged 50+ birds to date with them, missed more than i could count!!! i have hunted them hard for years. if you can hit them solid it will take them out of the air
bisch, goog luck on your hunt, send me some pics
jeremy
If you are coming to the shoot in Pleasant Prairie, you'll need to bring a good sense of humor, there should be about 65 of us laughing and acting like a bunch of grade school kids playing hooky.
No broadheads, judos, blunts or small game heads with flu-flu's
Here is a bit of what to expect:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/86725042.html
Great thread, you guys have me thinking of looking into a Pheasant Farm....
Look at this, you will have a have a great time
(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm216/ranger500us/th_Howardspheasant.jpg) (http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm216/ranger500us/?action=view¤t=Howardspheasant.mp4)
We use to go every year and had a blast. I used 3 bladed muzzy broadheads, 3 full and 3 regular feathers. We also hunted with a dog. When the dog pointed the guide would leash up the dog so he wouldn't chase after the bird or arrows. It was a blast.
QuoteOriginally posted by Rudy Cariello:
No broadheads, judos, blunts or small game heads with flu-flu's
So..what are you using then? Clark's Pheasant Spears?
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/th_pheasant.jpg) (http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/?action=view¤t=pheasant.mp4)
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/th_tradgangpheas-1.jpg) (http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/?action=view¤t=tradgangpheas-1.mp4)
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/IMG_1112640x427.jpg)
Sorry,
no broadheads, // only judos, blunts or small game points with flu-flu's
Bowzonly,
What kind of head is that?
QuoteOriginally posted by Rudy Cariello:
Sorry,
no broadheads, // only judos, blunts or small game points with flu-flu's
Ah. Gotcha.
Definately get some of Jeremy Clarks Pheasant Spears. I have played around with some of his older designs and just received his new heads and am excited about the recent improvements. Since I just opened them last night, I haven't had a chance to shoot them yet.
The DVD I put out, Introduction to Aerial Archery (http://www.inflightarchery.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=71) covers everything you will need to know to get started and will really shorten your learning curve. The easy step by step approach simplifies the process, meaning more birds in the bag sooner.
QuoteOriginally posted by ARCHER2:
Bowzonly,
What kind of head is that?
That is a G5 Small Game Head
Always have used broadheads with the flu flus, guess we always hand a well handled dog, never an issue.
Part of the problem with using broadheads at a "Hunt Club" is if you loose an arrow, and you just might, a dog from a different hunting party may come across it.
If hunting a farm, the arrow may get chopped up in the silage. Not very good cow chow.
not sure if anyone mentioned this but i would say a good back quiver would be a must for lots of arrows.
Doing it for the first time this Sunday with Jeremy. Really looking forward to it.
Yes that is a SGH(small game head) from G5. I have been doing this for 12 years and Ive taken over 60 pheas, a dozen chukar and a few quail. I have been present while other hunters have taken dozens more pheas. I have experimented EXTENSIVELY with ALL kinds of heads and even designed a few of my own. I wrote a story about one of my designs for TBM a few years ago called the Ultimate Upland Birdhead ( I think that was the title anyway) my design worked very well but it was time consuming to make. My most important conclusions (when it comes to pheas heads) are that anything over 200 grains is a waste of time, anything with a large blunt surface (ie. washers behind field points, and big pieces of flexible wire) is a waste of time. You would think G5 was my sponsor but they are not. DONT waste youre time with anything else, the SGH's are simply DEVASTATING on pheas. They are safe for dogs because the outside edges are rounded. Safety issues aside, I dont even recommend broadheads because they can actually ricochet off birds or just put a clean slice on a marginally hit bird (which you will never recover) Watch the second video again. See how that rooster drops like it was hit by a 12 guage? The hook on the SGH opened that bird up like a zipper. Then look at the last photo I posted to see the wound channel. The SGH rarely stay in the bird anyway, they either do their damage and keep going or they actually bounce off (as you see in the first video) The video of me shooting the hen (the crossing shot) is one of the rare instances when the arrow stayed in, but the point was buried so I had no prob letting my dog retrieve. By the way, that video of me shooting the hen is also the reason I tell people not to practice by shooting at aerial discs because that is just trick shooting (the trick is to hit them at the peak, at that point they are no longer moving targets)As you can see in the slow mo of that hen shot I had to lead that bird by several feet. You dont learn that kind of lead by shooting at targets thrown straight up in the air. As far as losing arrows goes. Pheas hunting with a bow should be performed as a highly organized activity (large fields with cover planted in rows) this makes finding arrows very easy. And, if you dont find them, the next hunting party will. You can pick them up at the office the next time you hunt. I have recently submitted a query to TBM proposing another pheas story which will include this info and much more including some great photos and a link to a video (which will include the footage you see here and much more) EVERY trad archer should try pheas hunting at least once in their lifetime!
Huge thank you to those posting! I'm learning lots and getting excited to try this. Sounds addictive.
QuoteOriginally posted by bowzonly:
Yes that is a SGH(small game head) from G5. I have been doing this for 12 years and Ive taken over 60 pheas, a dozen chukar and a few quail. I have been present while other hunters have taken dozens more pheas. I have experimented EXTENSIVELY with ALL kinds of heads and even designed a few of my own. I wrote a story about one of my designs for TBM a few years ago called the Ultimate Upland Birdhead ( I think that was the title anyway) my design worked very well but it was time consuming to make. My most important conclusions (when it comes to pheas heads) are that anything over 200 grains is a waste of time, anything with a large blunt surface (ie. washers behind field points, and big pieces of flexible wire) is a waste of time. You would think G5 was my sponsor but they are not. DONT waste youre time with anything else, the SGH's are simply DEVASTATING on pheas. They are safe for dogs because the outside edges are rounded. Safety issues aside, I dont even recommend broadheads because they can actually ricochet off birds or just put a clean slice on a marginally hit bird (which you will never recover) Watch the second video again. See how that rooster drops like it was hit by a 12 guage? The hook on the SGH opened that bird up like a zipper. Then look at the last photo I posted to see the wound channel. The SGH rarely stay in the bird anyway, they either do their damage and keep going or they actually bounce off (as you see in the first video) The video of me shooting the hen (the crossing shot) is one of the rare instances when the arrow stayed in, but the point was buried so I had no prob letting my dog retrieve. By the way, that video of me shooting the hen is also the reason I tell people not to practice by shooting at aerial discs because that is just trick shooting (the trick is to hit them at the peak, at that point they are no longer moving targets)As you can see in the slow mo of that hen shot I had to lead that bird by several feet. You dont learn that kind of lead by shooting at targets thrown straight up in the air. As far as losing arrows goes. Pheas hunting with a bow should be performed as a highly organized activity (large fields with cover planted in rows) this makes finding arrows very easy. And, if you dont find them, the next hunting party will. You can pick them up at the office the next time you hunt. I have recently submitted a query to TBM proposing another pheas story which will include this info and much more including some great photos and a link to a video (which will include the footage you see here and much more) EVERY trad archer should try pheas hunting at least once in their lifetime!
you certainly have some experience, i would cordially(in the most friendly way) like to add that i have a product that has "flexible wires" (that you havnet used)and i have taken 75 pheasant, chuker, etc. with them. And the bolts coming out of the front of the spear will tear tissue and take the bird down, trust me(if you dont believe me let shoot your arm) I agree the g5 is a great product, and the ace heads, claws etc. will all work on them as well, some cheaper too... There are a dozen poeple or more here on tradgang that make there own home made squirrel heads that would rival the industries best on tissue damage, and there free!!!!!(lets see those pics again) as far as practicing on aeriel disk, baloons etc. I think that is great practice, and have watched poeple improve greatly in a short period of time. I think you would maybe have a different opinion on practice if you watched Derrick Oxnans(tradgang sponsor)"Itro to in aeriel archery" ,
anyway, cheers!!! lets hunt together sometime
oh, and i agree about the 200gr thing,if your using flu flu arrows. i dont use flu flu arrows with most of my designs and dont have that isssue
jeremy
That sounds like fun!!!
bowzonly, i watched some of your video. Fun stuff, if your going thruogh illinois get hold of me, i have a place we can shoot a lot of pheasants, and i want to see you bust one with my spear.lol or g5, or both. as along as your having fun its all godd.
P.s. you can place a g5 behind the pheasant head(not spear) and use regular fletch arrows. that will work fine as close as your shots were on that video, and it will increase your harvest(or your money back).
jeremy
I like the SGH but there is no way it will be consistantly effective with the complete range of bow and arrow combinations and target species. As mean of a head as it is, it's still a blunt.
Many people shooting lighter setups will be disappointed with blunts because they simply don't pack enough of a punch. I have folded pheasants with heads as large as the big Magnus Bullhead, but those heads surely wouldn't be that effective with 40# bow.
A lot of archers really need to use broadheads, even with the risk of glancing shots. Obviously on certain hunts they aren't allowed, but those lighter setups will surel be at a disadvantage.
Every archer will have shots where a Pheasant Spear or large blade/wire head will take down birds that broadheads, SGH's, or any other blunt wouln't have touched. Those heads increase the margin of error and are extremely effective on those clipping shots.
I wish there was a one head solutions for aerial archery, but there are just too many variables to offer blanket solutions. For anyone trying to get started, learn as much as you can from guys like Bisch, instinctivebowman, bowzonly, etc that have a lot of field time and actual experience. Take away what will work for you and your setup and then share your experinces so we can all benefit. Good luck!
glad you chimed in derrick, i was waiting for that.
x2 100%
Thanks bowzonly & oxnam for the info. on the G5 SGH. Gotta get me some of those. I would think they'd be good rabbit hunting heads. Anyone tried them on wabbits?
Charlie
QuoteOriginally posted by ARCHER2:
Thanks bowzonly & oxnam for the info. on the G5 SGH. Gotta get me some of those. I would think they'd be good rabbit hunting heads. Anyone tried them on wabbits?
Charlie
Be prepared to hand over some cash. They are quite expensive compared to other small game heads or even some broadheads.
Their effectivenvess will be determined by several unmentioned factors: How heavy is your bow (or more accurately, how fast is your arrow going), how heavy is your arrow, how far will your shots be, and what type of rabbit will be pursued (jackrabbits are quite different that cottontails)?
Here are some random examples.
40# bow with 400gr arrow shooting jackrabbits at 25 yards = SGH not recommended
40# bow with 400gr arrow shooting cottontails at 12 yards = dead rabbit
There are lots of scenarios where it can be great and others, disappointing. Once again, it's not as simple as thumbs up or thumbs down. It is a fantastic head if used properly.
Any head will take down a pheas if hit in the right spot at close range. And yes there are many variables involved in bowhunting pheas. You will not see any video of me shooting at birds beyond 15 yards, because over the years I have developed the lightning fast reflexes needed to take them at close range LOL, actually I am only partially joking about that, its mostly cause I dont even release an arrow at that range. Even the SGH can be ineffective at that distance. And yes oxnam, that is due to the blunt surface (which by the way I usually grind down to more of a chisel point) I will even yield on the disc practice statement. It is a ton of fun and those objects dont stay suspended forever so you need to be able to track them and release at the proper moment in order to hit them. This can help you develop the split second timing needed to take birds on the wing.
Our TG hunt with Jeremy is on Sun and Im stoked :thumbsup:
QuoteOriginally posted by bowzonly:
By the way, that video of me shooting the hen is also the reason I tell people not to practice by shooting at aerial discs because that is just trick shooting (the trick is to hit them at the peak, at that point they are no longer moving targets)As you can see in the slow mo of that hen shot I had to lead that bird by several feet. You dont learn that kind of lead by shooting at targets thrown straight up in the air.
I agree that aerial discs are not the end all for bird hunting practice. They excellent tools to help archers learn the fundamentals of executing moving shots while maintaining their form. If the archer is not waiting for the pause at it's peak and taking the shot on the rising disk then it is beneficial and applicable to pheasant hunting. If the shot is taken on the drop, it can be similar to decoying duck or geese. Once they get the hang of the predictable up and down disk, they can begin to broaden their skills with moderate crossing shots and then rapidly crossing shots.
Aerial disks can be excellent training for birds with the right practice. If you want to kill birds, and you get to where you can hit that aerial disk everytime in the little dot, you need to practice something else because you aren't really learning anything new. This may sound counter productive, but if you aren't missing, your shots are too easy. And if you you have no realistic expectation of hitting the target, your shot is probably too difficult and you need to simplify it a little.
A nice blend of hits and misses keeps shooting fun and challenging while increasing the archers ability to hit increasingly difficult shots which translates into killing birds.
QuoteOriginally posted by bowzonly:
You will not see any video of me shooting at birds beyond 15 yards, because over the years I have developed the lightning fast reflexes needed to take them at close range
You are so right about getting a good shot off fast, it really ups the odds of a kill. In hunting wild chukars, I have come to the conclusion that I will kill more birds if I always get my shot off (within reason). I won't hesitate to shoot at a crossing bird at 30 yards. It is impossible to kill a bird unless I put an arrow in the air, even if the odds are stacked against me. By shooting, my mind can start to get processing the information from every shot and hopefully expand my abilities over time.
No one should hold back with aerial archery, it is the only arena in which the most difficult shots are expected and archers are still encouraged to shoot. I like the idea of stripping away our regularly imposed limitations and being amazed at what can happen. Put arrows in the air!!
QuoteOriginally posted by 23feetupandhappy:
Our TG hunt with Jeremy is on Sun and Im stoked :thumbsup:
6 trad gangers, 28 pheasant. i too am stoked
jeremy
DO NOT use the SNARO heads. WAY to heavy and wire loops just flex to much. Again evev they will work under the right conditions. My buddy hit a pheas broadside with a 70 pound compound, bird dropped like a rock. I took the head off a quail flying left to right with one and believe it or not I actually planned it. I was shooting at quail all morning and just nicking them with nothing to show but a few feathers. When one flew past at about 8 -10 yards I intentionnaly overled (if thats even a word) it an that did the trick. The following year I was invited to cohost a long running ESPN outdoor show. We were to hunt quail on a Georgia plantation. I brought a shotgun just for filming purpose. With pen raised birds, by the second day I was closing my eyes and shooting cause I felt bad for the birds LOL. On the third day I brought out the bow and Snaros. I missed the first three, but when the fourth got up in front of me and flew straight away I drilled it square in the back. It went down in a big puff of feathers but when I went to pick it up it flew away. That was the last time I used the Snaros. Even with just a field point instead I would have had quail on a stick.
Here is an example of why sometimes only a broadhead will work. I THINK this math is correct. 5280 feet per mile x 40 mph (how fast a pheas can fly. That gives uou 211200 feet per hour. Divide by 60 minutes gives you 35200 feet per minute divide again by 60 (secs in a min) gives you 58.66666 feet per sec. Lets say a bird is flying straight away. You then need to subtract this # from you arrow speed. My speed off the bow is about 180 (this next number is shear guesswork) At 20 yards, with flu flus lets say my speed is now 100 fps - the speed of the bird 58.666.... means my arrow is now hitting the bird at about 42 fps. Not much energy left to take down a bird as tough as a pheas.
Those snaros generally don't hook or cut anything. And for the amount of wire hanging out there, they have too much wind resistance, spread the impact energy over a huge area, and flex too much (the wires) to allow the proper energy transfer for a kill. Super fast arrows and small birds are the best case scenario for this head.
I like the G5 small game, however, they were more delicate then I thought they'd be. My son ended up breaking tips on all three or them with his Pearson 37# bow. We did take a nice partridge with them though and the head was deadly. Almost too much so as it tore up an aweful lot of meat. I don't think I'll be buying them again considering the price.
Well, from what you guys are saying, maybe I don't need any of these heads. Expensive, not very tough, plus I shoot woodies so I guess they're out since I didn't see any glue on's in this head anyway. I appreciate all the info. guys, as always plenty of folks willing to help.
Tradgang is tops!
Thanks!
Charlie
.38/.357 casing and some banding steel.
(http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr180/two4hooking/flu005.jpg)
There ya go, I can build these cheap! Thanks!
two4hooking if you grind down the rounded edges of the blunt case, maybe, but now youre back to step one with basically a broadhead. Yes there is a blunt surface on the SGH but for some reason the configuration of that head provides a perfect combo of what I call shocktrauma. If I get my photobucket working again I will post a pic of a pair of birds hit square in the breast. The head punched a hole about the size of a quarter and about a half inch deep then bounced out. Those birds dropped like a rock and I just cut that quarter out and enjoyed a great meal (Jack Daniels grilled pheas, google it, its my new fav game recipe.) Anyway, with pheas in flite I would worry about hitting them first and salvaging the meat later. The hook on the SGH greatly increases the # of birds I take cause it grabs a hold, digs in and slices them open. I stopped using broadheads because many times they actually deflected off leg bones and quill feathers The SGH hold up very well when used for pheas in flite with flu flus cause they parachute to the ground and dont take a beating.
I have also heard you can crimp a 1/2 a penny in a vice after inserting it into steel blunt notched with a hacksaw. You can file sharpen the penny edges. I have not tried this.
It just seems like this combo of shock and laceration is the ticket without buying expensive heads IMO. You can make the edges dull enough to not readily hurt a dog yet sharp enough to cause a laceration with bow velocities.
What about a field point with the Adder point behind it?
Tried that as well beachbowhunter not nearly as good as the SGH (back to what I said before, almost anything will work sometime. But let me put it this way. The best device for taking a bird out of the air (aside from the shotgun) was invented by mother nature tens of thousands (or is it hundreds, I dont really know) of years ago. Its called the talon. In all that time mom has never felt the need to improve on her design. Look at the shape of the SGH.
For you religous zealots, LOL, who believe the earth is only 4000 years old. I apology for that last post. But can we please leave religion out of this discussion cause I'm finding it hard enough to make my point as it is. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Well, I am going in two days! I have some of Jeremy's pheasant heads and I have just feild points also (I also have some old broadhead ferruls that are sharp pointed chisel points). My plan is to try the pheasant heads first, with regular feathers, and see how that works.
I'll be back with a report on Monday!
Bisch
When I see different modifications and designs I wonder about simply modifying the broadheads by taking a file to the edges, rounding them off. Flatten the tip. If you make it so a dog cannot cut itself would it still be able to penetrate the bird? Stick a Scorpio catcher on it. Would this be ok? Or why not? This thread has proven to be very helpful thatnk you!
For the people that have killed many pheasants in flight with broadheads or any type of sharpened head including G5 SGH, do you find that arrow stays in the bird often? Just asking.
QuoteOriginally posted by 1screagle:
Flatten the tip. If you make it so a dog cannot cut itself would it still be able to penetrate the bird? Stick a Scorpio catcher on it. Would this be ok?
If you consider the the very small surface area of the modified broadhead, in general I would expect good penetration. If the blunt tip of a broadhead is 1/4" wide, it should easily penetrate. But if the blunt tip is 3/4" wide, the impact force is not distributed onto over three times the surface area. It may not be an issue for killing birds but I would expect less penetration.
QuoteOriginally posted by BobCo 1965:
you find that arrow stays in the bird often? Just asking.
I find that the arrow stays in fairly regularly with a broadhead and I am shooting a heavy bow.
I dubbed the ends of Bodkin broadheads and left the edges unsharpened. The owner I shot with said they were dog safe. The birds felt they were too, because I never hit one. What a blast though. Unfortunately, the organization I belonged to screwed up the hunt the next year and I haven't gone since. The owner said the best success he saw was from the biggest Snaro heads.
If he thought the snaros were great, he would probably really like the Pheasant Spear. Most guys struggle with direct hits so those big heads do have their advantages.
Hit a chukar square in the thigh with a 6 inch snaro out of a 52# recurve. Spun it 180 degrees. It straightened out and kept going another 80 yards. Luckily I was in a big open field so we saw where it landed. My dog pointed it again and when it got up again my buddy hit it square in the side with a 3 inch snaro out of a 52 # longbow. It flew another 50 yards. My dog found it again and it still had a lot of life left in it. Large snaros weigh about 380 grains. Imagine what that does to the dynamic spine of your arrow. I have slow motion footage of an arrow in flight tipped with one of those things and it is flexing like a circus contortionist. The energy from that arrow is being thrown from side to side and therefore will not be transferred to the bird.
To add to my last post, a chukar is about half the size of a pheas. Owlbait if you consider big success to mean just scraping some feathers off a bird then by all means use the Snaros. Yes, MOST guys struggle with direct hits but nearly every time I go with a group there is a first timer who ends up taking a bird. Archery pheasant is very challenging, but isnt that why we are using archery equipt and not 12 gauges in the first place.
when we field tested our frog equipment which are 370-440 grains, they drop dramatically even at 12-15 yards. it doesnt matter when your shooting downward at close range frogs which are typically 5-7' shots(in fact the weight gives them lots of thump and holds the frog in place against the bank)
i think we found around 200-220 gr is somewhat of a majic number for shooting in the air, any design we had heavier just flew too slow. unless your shooting a heavy bow like derrick(65 lb+), flu flu feathers will decrease your speed too much with my products .If your having speed issues with any product make some feathers that are half flu flu. I have hit some pheasants so hard it knocked them off line 2' with all kinds of heads and they kept on trucking. they can take a beating. i would rather walk further to pick up my arrow when i miss than to have the arrow fly to slow to kill the bird. take the arrows you plan on using and shoot them in the field to see how far they go. if your arrows are going less than 100 yards total i would think they would be to slow to kill birds effectively outside of 15 yards. adjust the feathers so the arrow goes more like 150 yards or even more. just make sure the field is clear of other hunters
jeremy
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f218/bowzonly/arrowimpactSmall.jpg) Not a great quality photo (somthing was wrong with camera) I was most proud of this bird because it was giving us the run around in this big corn field and my dog worked it very well. She circled and pinned it down so I could move in and make the flush. At this point I was experimenting with the Gobbler guilotine. An X shaped broadhead for taking the head and neck off turkeys. It was a crossing shot and I smacked the bird in the thigh. These heads are not designed for penetration so it bounced off. The head was 125 grains with stiff sharp blades and at that range it shattered the thigh. Bird made it to the woods on my right and I recovered it because it couldnt run and had the fire taken out of it so it wouldnt fly. Glancing blows with this head were devastating But solid hits to the body at any sort of distance resulted in lost birds.
ive killed a lot of birds with the guilotine and the magnus head too, they are deadly on glancing blows. a sideways knife flying thruogh air is hard to beat. ive bounced right off with direct blows also, sometimes the blunt force of the direct hit still drops them dead, mostly the hens. in my observations, the roosters can take 3x the blow a hen can
With that last photo I just took it for granted that folks could tell what was going on so Ill explain just to be sure. Just to the left of the bird you can see the feathers of my arrow and just above and to the left of that are a bunch of feathers (those black specs)
Well, we went on our hunt today and it was an 0-fer for me. I did get a few grazes and one direct hit (which bounced off and he kept on truckin'). We had one guy shoot a hen out of the air with a field tip. And two more birds shoton the ground with field tips too (they were injured birds and would not get up and fly so after chasing them around a bit one of us finally got a finishing shot on them). I still had a blast and can't wait to go again.
After 3 hunts now the score is Pheasants about 70 and Bisch 2!
See ya later,
Bisch
Cool, I can't wait!
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
one direct hit (which bounced off and he kept on truckin').
What setup were you using and what kind of shot did the pheasant present? glad you had a great time.
QuoteOriginally posted by oxnam:
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
one direct hit (which bounced off and he kept on truckin').
What setup were you using and what kind of shot did the pheasant present? glad you had a great time. [/b]
It was the worst possible......flying straight away.
Bisch
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
QuoteOriginally posted by oxnam:
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
one direct hit (which bounced off and he kept on truckin').
What setup were you using and what kind of shot did the pheasant present? glad you had a great time. [/b]
It was the worst possible......flying straight away.
Bisch [/b]
we had at least 6 hits in the tail flying away today with the spear with only feathers flying, its a tuogh place to shoot them and most of your shots are flying away. we had fun there were 6 trad gangers hunting together. One pheasant harvested in the air with a field point. pheasant spear 0. The spear is not good for hitting them in the tail flying away, That area is tuogh and hard to penetrate. Broadheads are the answer for tail shots IMO. The spear needs a head, neck, or wing shot to be effective. with every hunt im leaning more towards broadheads with the spear behind it. The spear can slide down your shaft about 8-12" when you hit them direct, and the broadhead can penetrate thruogh and the arrow can stay in the bird. This should increase the harvest greatly, especially for tail shots. for glancing blows to the head, neck,or wing the spear can take over that department.
(leashing the dogs once they point is a must with this setup) Derrick talks about this on his video but i have never tried it. Im going to get some advice from him.
I think some of the guys felt like they didnt shoot that well, but i thuoght overall they shot pretty good based on my experience.
good day, great company
jeremy
Had a good time Sat at the pheasant hunt. I think one thing we all learned is that you MUST have an arrow on the bow when you come to full draw and release........ :) It ups your odds tremendously.
QuoteOriginally posted by John Krause:
Had a good time Sat at the pheasant hunt. I think one thing we all learned is that you MUST have an arrow on the bow when you come to full draw and release........ :) It ups your odds tremendously.
lol, i was hoping with all that walking you would have forgotten about that. My arm is bruised from my elbow to my wrist this am.
to learn from my mistake, i came up to shoot at this pheasant really fast,i was staring up at this pheasant with my bow down at my side as i bruoght the bow up i was still looking at the bird, i didnt realize the the arrow was caught and stayed in the grass, i realized it about the time i was realeasing. my string smacked my arm so hard it basically knocked my over.
talk about not seeing the arrow while shooting instincttively!!!!!!
ahhhh memories, anyway the guys got a kick out of it so it was all good and my bow seems unharmed, and my bruises will diminish with time(hopefully)
Great way to spend a Sunday. A good bunch of guys hunting pheasents with bows and arrows. and some people with just bows. We had a blast and are looking foward to the fall hunts. The dogs were great, the pheasents lively and the comic relief was non stop. Thanks for a great hunt Jeremy.
Sounds like an awesome day!!!
A good time was had by all :thumbsup:
Duffy, your shot was cought perfectly on camera :clapper: