As always, this place is the best!
I have plenty to look at and think about, thanks for everybody's reply.
By the way, that  Braveheart jig is no longer available through them, (I contacted Braveheart and Tim promptly responded) but Three Rivers has them.

Not to be a smartie, but 'stump shooting' doesn't necessarily mean you have to shoot at actual stumps.  Those are hard on equipment, whereas I've flung many an aluminum arrow at a patch of grass, or leaf or discarded coffee cup or something with no damage at all.

Rather than spending more money / time replacing or avoiding broken arrows, maybe all you need to do is select softer targets.

I shoot stumps,clumps of grass, anything with my aluminum arrows (flu-flu) with the hammer head. I hardly ever bend one. I buy 1/2 dz. "Blues arrows for this job from Bowhunter supercenter and enjoy myself.

Yes, don't take the term "stump shooting" literally.  I shoot anything else but a solid stump.  I use either XX75 aluminum and judo heads or a couple of old fiberglass arrows.

I use hexpine shafts, which rarely break, if they do, its right at the back of the taper. You could cut your shafts a little longer so if you do bust one off, you can usually re-taper them a could times.

'stump shooting' is just a term that harks back to the old nfaa redlands days - even their logo is an arrow in a stump.



in reality, it's all just roving and more often than not the mark is anything but a tree stump.   :D

for woodies i use hex pines almost exclusively - they're very durable and they spine pretty true 360 degrees around the shaft so i never bother looking for the sweet spine side,  

what makes hex pines nearly fool proof for foiling those behind the head breaks is ...
yup, the braveheart woodie foot/weight jig - now only available at  3 rivers archery .

 

The last thing I want to shoot is a stump. Judo points and random targets, and hardwood arrows. Cedar is just too soft and fragile. Any hardwood will last a long, long time if you don't shoot hard things like big rocks and fresh stumps. I have an arrow in my quiver now with a judo point that's been shot many hundreds, if not a thousand or more times. I've replace the fletching twice on it.

I stump shoot with 2117's with judo's and believe it or not I could count on one hand the arrows I've bent. The property I hunt has been forest managed. They came in and cut almost all the ceders and let me tell you them stumps are hard. 3 rivers are selling the black shaft's for 39 bucks a dozen. That's just about as cheap as I could build wood arrow's for and alot easier IMHO! Jason

Like others have said, shoot something other than cedars    Ash is (nearly) unbreakable, but heavy.  I switched over the lodgepole pine and still am not breaking too many shafts... I have hexpine shafts coming for the new bow, so I'm glad to hear of Rob's experience with them!

Not sure what aluminums you are shooting but you are on to something that is worth expanding on.....HTM Rubber Blunts!  Now,  I shoot Ramin wood arrow shafts but have a ton of cedar AND aluminum that I also shoot and here is what I have taken to using with them.  Aluminum:  I take one of the smaller HTM Rubber Blunts, around 58 grains, and inside of that I make a threaded steel blunt by cutting down a field point (threaded) to a weight that when combined with the blunt I have the point weight I normally shoot.  This way the aluminum shaft doesn't come through the bottom of the blunt.  Blunts are much better than judo's in my experience for two reasons:  (1) cedar breaks easily with a judo point when you hit something hard, even hard packed earth, (2) my heavy Ramin shafts simply destroy Judo points (the tips bend and the wire arms break off in time).  On wood arrows I have taken to using the larger Rubber Blunts and have found them superior to using a steel blunt or a judo for many reasons and the main one being "SOUND" in the woods.  If you like to stump shoot while out scouting or hunting anything metalic, even hitting a wood surface,  is not a normal forest sound and for this reason I don't like using them.  A rubber blunt however makes a very natural sound that is more like wood-on-soft wood contact and therefor doesn't project your presence like a metallic tip would.  I have also found them excellant shooting in grass as they cannot snake under and get lost (at least as good if not better than a judo).  So,  your instinct to use the good ole Rubber Blunt is a good one and you should stick with it I think.

Just don't shoot the stumps - i shoot a clump of grass - some leaves - bushes - cow pies (HARD ONES) - horse droppings...you name it. I don't shoot stumps very often unless I can see they are rotten.

Jer Bear

I can't emphasize enough what a few other posters have pointed out...shooting stumps is a catch all term that can be misleading.  At one end of the spectrum you have stumps that just became stumps, meaning they were trees YESTERDAY!  You know no to shoot those if you want your arrow back.  
At the other end of the spectrum is the old, venerable stump.  It has been a stump for years and it's starting to show it's age, rotting, mouldering away and waiting to turn back into dirt.  
THAT'S the stump you want!
Cowpies -- pick the dry ones    -- anthills, pinecones and thistle tops are good, too.

And don't forget to check ANY arrow for damage after EVERY shot while out stumping -- you don't want a broken arrow in your hand!

Kirk

Oh, and I stump with woodies all the time!  

Kirk

ps- isn't New Hampshire "the Granite State?"  Watch the rocks in the background!