Give me groundhogs or give me death!

man, I've yet to go small game hunting with my bow, but ya'll are making me want to take the beagles out and get some bunnies!

btw, what do you use for tips?  field points, blunts?

Joe

talkingcabbage, I put some tips on some of my arrows just this weekend with cottontail hunting in mind. On most of the arrows I put on 125 grain Ace Hex blunts (also called Bunny Busters). But I also made up a few with Judos.

Depends on the game I'm chasing, but a judo point or hex blunt seems more than enough for most small game. I like a cheap 2 blade broad head for larger birds when there are no dogs involved. Neat thing is you can experiment more with allot less sever consequences. For years I just threaded a bolt into the insert for bunnies and squirrels.

One tip if you find allot of your shots are falling short or critters are "jumping the string". I have found flu flu fletching 6 51/2" shields gives you a slightly faster arrow that still slows quickly. You do have to be a bit more careful of your target background but there are lots of game animals capable of getting out of the way of a standard flu flu fletched arrow.

Don't underestimate the little guys either. Many of them are hard to stalk up on, fast and difficult to spot. Remember this class of game is food for everything with a taste for meat, imagine how paranoid that would make you!

I agree with many here that small game can be more fun than Big game......especially with a kid or new hunter. Maybe we could look for someone to pass our love of the sport on to this holiday season. If you know anybody interested in the trad lifestlye take them to a shoot, or on a hunt.

You mean there are people who don't hunt small game with a bow?   Good grief!  Here in Pa. we can hunt small game pretty much all year; deer season is six weeks and interspersed with inlines/squirrel shotgun hunting, etc.  Deer season for me is just a distraction from small game 8^).   There is nothing any more fun and relaxing than a late season rabbit hunt in the snow covered fields and woodlots....well, maybe squirrels and groundhogs...and stumps.

Thanks for the advise guys.  I've seen before where guys have used .38 cal brass glued on to the ends of their arrows.  I might try that for some quick blunts.  I also have some regular 125gr. field points I might try.  I have a couple beagles I'm gonna run, so I'm pretty sure we'll kick up a few.  Any other tips for the new small game hunter?  Anyone live close and want to go sometime?

Thanks

Joe