Judo points from a crossbow?

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DuckHunt
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Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by DuckHunt »

Has anyone tried judo points from their crossbow on small game? I'm wondering how they would hold up. A couple seasons ago I was fed up with the squirrels around my primary stand and decided to open season. I had great success with rubber blunt tips. I was quite surprised to see that my Micro 335 would push a rubber blunt tip through a squirrel inside of 15 yards if it had a firm backstop (ground).

The rubber blunt tips have some advantage in that they protect the arrow from the harsh rocky soil around here. But these are at most 5/8" in diameter, so accuracy is important. I've seen judo points with ~1/2" wires and some with much longer wires. This would greatly increase the surface area and margin for error, but I'm wondering if the power of the crossbow arrow would just bend them over backwards on impact.

Anyone out there have some small game experience with your crossbow? If so, what's your tip of choice?
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longbow joe
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by longbow joe »

The judo points will fly great from a crossbow but remember that they are very hard on bolts stress wise.
Check bolt carefully after hard ground contact with rocks etc.
I save my crappier bolts for such things .
I saw these new polymer disposable broadheads that looked intriguing but have yet to try them. I heard good things about them.Check out cold steel disposable broadheads.
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Boo
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by Boo »

oops!
Some people just like stepping on rakes
hankenhunter
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by hankenhunter »

I call the ones with wires gopher gutters for a good reason. Rubber blunts work much better imo. Saunders used to carry 1" wide rubber blunts that were convex at the front. Kinda like a suction cup. Those were the best I've ever used. The cup shape created a double punch because of the shock wave the cup carried to the target. 140 grains of instant death. The cup also hooked the ground and stood the arrow up, making it much shorter snd easier find if you missed. Very durable and inexpensive. If you can find them, you'll never go back to any other. I dont trust mechanical blunts because I've broken too many of them on trees and rocks. I've never broken a rubber blunt. Like Longbow Joe said, Don't use your premium bolts. I use my fire bolts for small game as the shooting distances are usually shorter. My Zombies are for the big boys. Let us know how you made out.
Hank
Edit. Found an ebay site with them. They fit right over your arrow shaft.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Saunders-100-gr-Bludgeon-Slip-On-head-4-pk-points-small-game-stump-S5740-/292512404900?redirect=mobile
Last edited by hankenhunter on Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hankenhunter
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by hankenhunter »

Boo wrote:
Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:47 pm
oops!
Youre post combined with your sig. Made me laugh. :lol:
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MTBighorn
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by MTBighorn »

I strongly suggest a "3 pack" of Slick Trick "Rip Tricks" I love roving, "stumping" and small game shooting with my xbow. (the single packs don't have the little collars and just come with a ring??)

I lost many arrows with Judos out of my M380...just not enough stopping power with the little wires.

I broke several arrows with blunts. But I still carry a Bludgon blunt on a cheap arrow if I have a shot into rocks, or grouse in a tree, etc.
And the high priced G5 SGP's are totally junk. You get one shot with a Xbow before they break your arrow or they break their claws off.

The Rip Tricks seem to really take a beating. I cannot say enough good about them. I have not shot a field tip since installing them back in 2016. I have only lost one (out of 6) and have truly abused them. I did a review on them on this sight some years ago and just now had to order 6 new ones for this year.

My only real gripe is that the snobs won't give me free heads for telling how great they are...even though if you google Rip Trick, my review here on Excalibur, from 2016, is still the Number 1 google hit :mrgreen:

https://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63815&p=625693&hilit=rip+trick#p625693

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Boo
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by Boo »

Go here and use "blunt" as.a search word. There are a few choices. For some reason I couldn't copy a link for you.

https://www.3riversarchery.com/search.html
Some people just like stepping on rakes
grouse
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by grouse »

Judo points might work well for squirrels but they are terrible for rabbits. I hunted suburban rabbits (in fields around warehouses and factories) with a recurve vertical bow a lot when I was a poor college student. I shot as many as seven in one day and fed myself and friends some tasty meals. Judo points were expensive and turned the arrow sideways when the wires made contact with any type of vegetation. Rubber tips and commercial blunts worked fine but .38 and .357 shell casings were free and worked just as well. We just glued them on to our wooden arrows and went hunting.
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DuckHunt
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by DuckHunt »

hankenhunter wrote:
Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:52 pm
I call the ones with wires gopher gutters for a good reason. Rubber blunts work much better imo. Saunders used to carry 1" wide rubber blunts that were convex at the front. Kinda like a suction cup. Those were the best I've ever used. The cup shape created a double punch because of the shock wave the cup carried to the target.
Gopher gutters! :lol: That's kind of what I was suspecting after pushing a blunt through one. I couldn't imagine it would stop on something softer like a rabbit. Those Saunders Bludgeon slip on heads look exactly like what I'm looking for. I've got some old Firebolts that have brass inserts that I cut down for use on my Micro. They've been collecting dust but now have new life in my small game quiver.
MTBighorn wrote:
Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:37 pm
And the high priced G5 SGP's are totally junk. You get one shot with a Xbow before they break your arrow or they break their claws off.
Well I have to agree with you there at least with a crossbow. The G5 head was the only shot I fired that didn't result in a clean kill. But it did result in a broken arrow and was lost deep in the rocky soil on the first shot.

Those Rip Tricks look very solid. If not for the rocky soil around here, they look to be an excellent option. Out of a 380, that's a whole lot of ripping.

Thanks for the feeback.
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longbow joe
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Re: Judo points from a crossbow?

Post by longbow joe »

Them rip tricks look pretty cool.
When l shot my longbow that was basically my kind of practice just walking out in the woods shooting at stuff.
I have numerous stories of truly big bucks that l have seen roving around pre season doing so . If l were a slob hunter would have shot.
I have noticed that the crossbow is much much harder on the bolts than the longbow was .lol.
Vixen 2, metal ibex,Phoenix,sapphire,matrix 330 ,matrix 355 ,vortex and baby grand piano y25 relayer.
Trigger tecs,leupold crossbones and nikon bolts.
Zombie slayers and mostly swat broadheads.
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