What excalibur for small game?

stoop14 · Post by **stoop14** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:01 pm

I have a equinox currently for the bigger stuff. But i'm itching to get a bow with not as much power too hunt grouse and pheasants, so i'm not fetching arrows 100 yards away. I was thinking vixen or phenoix.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:58 pm

i shot lots of grouse this year with my phoenix

stoop14 · Post by **stoop14** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:56 pm

Did it turn them to mush?

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:08 pm

You might call or email Excal and see if they still have "light" limbs available. They used to offer them as an option to reduce draw weight.

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:12 am

you can use a rubber blunt hit them in the wing area. or like they said set of light limbs

wheelie · Post by **wheelie** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:27 am

Love my Vixon for that and target shooting ect. saves alot of wear and tear and serving last a long time. Never plan to get rid of it. Saves wear and tear on big bow.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:32 am

Unless you can slow it down to about 15 FPS I don't see the point in trying to go slower, any arrow tip is going to pass clean through small game whether it is going 350 FPS or slowed to 200 FPS.
I think it would be more important to concentrate on the type of head, match it to your intention of the small game and practice accuracy to avoid meat damage if that is why you choose to hunt them.
The day before our deer season ended here I shot 2 rabbits @300 FPS, both clean kills, no meat damage and with a slick trick (that is now dedicated to small game

).
I just don't think that a slower bow will make as much difference as head choice and shot placement.
However, if you need an excuse to buy another bow, then I think a slower one is definitely in order!

the elf · Post by **the elf** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:14 am

I think you guys are looking at things backwards-a slower bow is not needed---make a few small game arrows with a washer behind a field point --but no larger in width than a normal broadhead---at short range they are devastating and usually do not get lost in long grass or weeds. Tinker to find the size of washer that works best.They work quite well on backyard predators. Sorry but I can't do pictures.

stoop14 · Post by **stoop14** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:39 am

I basically dont want to be chasing arrows 100 yards.

ch312 · Post by **ch312** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:42 am

Pydpiper wrote:Unless you can slow it down to about 15 FPS I don't see the point in trying to go slower, any arrow tip is going to pass clean through small game whether it is going 350 FPS or slowed to 200 FPS.
I think it would be more important to concentrate on the type of head, match it to your intention of the small game and practice accuracy to avoid meat damage if that is why you choose to hunt them.
The day before our deer season ended here I shot 2 rabbits @300 FPS, both clean kills, no meat damage and with a slick trick (that is now dedicated to small game ).
I just don't think that a slower bow will make as much difference as head choice and shot placement.
However, if you need an excuse to buy another bow, then I think a slower one is definitely in order!

an arrow traveling 200fps will have a lot less energy than one traveling 350fps. why do you think they have flu flu arrows for the vertical bows? to use up that energy quickly so the arrow doesnt hit as hard or travel as far. this is equal to slowing down your bolts quite a bit and that will make a difference.

a 400gr bolt traveling at 350fps has 108ft/lbs of energy at the "muzzle" while one traveling at 200fps has only 35ft/lbs. that is a huge difference.

obviously the much slower bolt will not create as much damage if using a blunt and wont bury into the ground as far as a bolt with 3x more energy.

DMc · Post by **DMc** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:03 am

I agree with Pydpiper on shot placement for small game being important. We are very good at selecting the vital zones in our big game animals but when it comes to small game hunting, I often see people view the animal as the target. I have shot hundreds of rabbits, quail and squirrels at close range with my long bows. Head shots on rabbits are the only thing that will work, cleanly and repeatedly.

I think the point made by ch312 can't be overlooked on the kinetic energy. These bows are so accurate that head shots on small game are really not a problem. Having your arrow survive being shot with its full load of energy is another story.

Dave

stoop14 · Post by **stoop14** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:25 am

would the blunt ends being shot with my equinox not go through a grouse?

ch312 · Post by **ch312** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:22 pm

stoop14 wrote:would the blunt ends being shot with my equinox not go through a grouse?

yes they will which is why im currently working on reducing my exomax to 200fps maybe even lower

'

25ft/lbs is all thats needed to kill a squirrel or rabbit with blunt force or a 400gr bolt only needs to be traveling 170fps when it hits the critter. heck you only need 45ft/lbs of energy to put an arrow through a deer whish is around 225fps when it hits the deer.

yet here we are using these big fast bows and trying to make them faster

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:53 pm

Slower bows also require closer proximity to your target, while I am not against slowing down a bow I personally would be more comfortable shooting what I am used to shooting. A squirrel at 45 yards isn't really a challenge if I have a rangefinder, nor is one at 5 yards.
If I am close enough to shoot something with a 120# crossbow, which I have, I would much rather up the odds from my perspective, as the shooter and use a recurve.
If you are shooting squirrels out of trees a slower bow may be in order, but anything on the ground will have a complete pass through unless you really, really slow down a modern crossbow. One of my rabbits I shot was 10 feet away, with my Exocet at 300 FPS, I simply bent down and picked up my arrow, frozen ground though.
The difference in speed required from a slow bow to a fast bow is huge, its not like a few FPS is going to make a difference.

the elf · Post by **the elf** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:55 pm

Stoop14----you have a p.m.

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