Wet behind the ears wide eyed bushy tailed bow hunter seeks advice

[H&Hhunter]

Hey all you twangers out there,

I am picking up bow hunting once again after a 20 year haiatus. Here's the story as to how this is coming about.

I am being sent to RSA in Aug to check out a ranch that is bow only. We will be hunting a kudu and warthogs. And others things if we want to pay for them.

I've known about this for some time and have bought a bow. A matthews Q-2 and can shoot it quite well. At 50 yards I'm pretty consistant inside of 6" at twenty I have to purposly open the group so as not to bust arrows.

I think the shooting part is fine here's the question.

I am taking Monotech 125 gr 3 bladed broad heads and shooting Carbon Express 400 gr arrows. What the consensus on these? Good bad indifferent?

I am looking for a different rest that provides better stability when drawing an arrow I hate when the darn arrow comes off the rest half way through the draw.

Any ideas on the most bestest rest?

Any other tips advice or good stories would be greatly appreciated. The sum off all my bow hunting is about 3 seasons as a youth.

 

[HSMITH]

I use a rest with the TM Hunter type prongs, nothing to capture or restrain the arrow. My personal opinion is if I cannot draw the bow DEAD SMOOTH and stop at any point in the draw for 15 seconds and resume to full draw I am shooting too much draw weight. Arrows falling off the rest are 99.5% jerking the bow back for me, does this describe you? Cant of the bow when shooting will destroy accuracy, so I don't buy the awkward angles thing some guys claim as you cannot shoot if the angle prevents drawing the bow to begin with.

Total arrow weight is 525 grains plus? That is a darn good place to be, accurate distance estimation and heavy arrows are a great combination. Heavy arrows make 2 holes, 2 holes makes tracking much simpler. Heavy arrows also help tremendously if a slight error in placement is made, they will bust some bone where a light arrow would not. I have shot 300 FPS+ with sub 400 grain arrows, but much prefer the 500-550 grain range in the 230 FPS + range. My current rig throws the 510's at 275 FPS, and it is a SLAYER.

Never heard of your broadheads. Make sure they will shoot through a half inch plywood board and stay intact, then all you have to do is make sure they fly well........

 

[Preacherman]

H&H, speaking as an old African hand, remember that if you are carrying only a bow, and you come across an inquisitive buff, or rhino, or hippo, or whatever, you need the arrows with the RPG-7 shaped-charge warhead if you want to stay alive!



I hope you'll have someone with a (large and heavy-caliber) backup gun on hand...

 

[Kingcreek]

I've used the TM hunter and several others. Currently shooting a Mathews Legacy with a Whisker Bisquit delux arrow rest. I love it for tree stand hunting and stalking as the arrow NEVER falls off the rest regardless of position, wind, bumps, etc
Not familiar with your broadheads. I'm using Muzzy 3-blade 100gr and 5575 Gold Tip arrows for whitetail.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Thanks all,
And, Preacherman,

My other bow shoots 500gr woodleigh solids. I've had one encounter of the most scariest kind with an elephant cow & calf in the long grass. And don't intend to repeat that with only a twanger in hand.
It goes something like this bow on sling .458 Lott in hand. Bow in hand .458 lott near by.

 

[Redlg155]

Sounds like you have a good setup and are shooting fine. I've always used a standard TM hunter with no problems. Opening up your notch slightly may help with the arrow falling off problem. As you draw the bowstring tends to twist a bit. With a tight nock that really grips the string this may cause the arrow to rotate slightly and fall off the rest. I just open the hole where the string sits and not the "fingers".

As for your choice of broadheads, I've never used them. I stick to Rocky Mt SSTs when using a faster bow or Muzzys when I need a good solid head for heavier game such as hogs. I've never had any failures with a Muzzy. I've also gone back to aluminum as I've found they were more consistent for me.

Again..sounds like you are shooting just fine. Just make sure you test your setup with broadheads installed so you won't have any nasty surprises.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[H&Hhunter]

Redlg155,
Thanks for the advice. I'll try it.