Blog Entries tagged 'arrow flight'

Shannon's First Deer

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody....

If you guys have been keeping tabs on my blog you know that I love to post about first time hunters.� It doesn't matter if it is a kid or an adult, there is something awesome about a first bowkill.

Shannon killed her first doe this year and she is hooked.� She sent me the story and pictures below.

GREAT JOB Shannon!!!!

J-

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I did not grow up in a hunting household like most huntresses. I grew up in San Diego and spent my time showing horses and hanging out at the beach. I always wanted to learn how to hunt but I did not have anyone to show me or take me. I did express interest to my father, and he taught me how to shoot and take care of firearms, which drove my passion to learn more. I attended Oregon State University where I majored in Public Relations. For elective classes I took forest management, animal sciences and other agricultural classes. My passion to learn more about hunting and game management grew. After college I was blessed to land a job in the hunting industry. I was recently invited to hunt with Vicki Cinaciarulo and her Posse members for an episode of Archer�s Choice TV.

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I was so pumped when I received my Hoyt Kobalt for the hunt. I practiced every day for the hunt. I made sure everything was ready to go, and spent many hours at the local archery shop.

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When I arrived in St. Louis I was meeting up with three other Posse members from Archer's Choice Media. When I got to baggage claim they were already filming! I probably had the deer in headlights look, but they were very welcoming. We drove about 2 hours Eagle Lakes Outfitters in the legendary Pike County. When we arrived Vicki and her film crew was there. Ralph had been there a few days before and decorated the girl's bunkhouse with witches hats and broomsticks they also got scream masks and other goodies.

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Every huntress got her own cameraman. The huntress line-up included myself, Vicki, Dusty Perillo (Posse member), Meegan Turnbeaugh (Posse member) and Tina Sprague, the outfitter's wife. I was teamed up with cameraman Zendal. Zendal wanted to see me shoot before we got into the field. He totally turned my bow upside down from what I am used to. He upped my poundage, changed my release, added a D-loop and switched me to the 100 grain Hell Raiser broadheads. I thought he was nuts changing so much before a hunt, but my groups proved that he knew what he was doing. I went from 5-inch groups to nearly taking the fletching off my arrows they were so close! Throughout the week I learned from him how to identify scrapes, judge the size of buck's racks, judge the age of a deer and how to move about my stand in a stealth way.

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Tuesday it POURED rain on us! We had flash flood warnings. What was nice about the rain was that it brought a cold front and the deer really started moving. I saw a lot of 2 � year old bucks that would have scored around 115-120. The outfitter required that you can only shoot bucks 130 and over. I learned a lot about whitetail management. I am excited to go back to Eagle Lakes in the next few years. The 2-� year olds I saw were very healthy and I can only image what they will look like in a year!

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I went to this amazing spot on top of a mountain one night. I saw the biggest whitetail I have ever seen in person. He was at 130 yards, his back was to me, when he put his head down to feed all I saw were antlers on both sides...he was huge! I got pretty excited, but it was 45 minutes until camera light would be out and I knew he wouldn't feed that far. I was stoked to find a spot where shooters were hanging out (there were other nice looking shooters feeding with the monster). My master plan for bagging a big buck crashed when Dusty hunted that same spot and shot a buck, they searched for it that evening with no luck. They found it mid-morning the next day about 100 yards from where she shot it. However, the guides were ALL over that spot, guaranteeing that the big boys will stay in hiding for about a week.

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Still, I was so happy and excited for her because it was her first buck with her compound bow! It was a huge celebration for the entire group! If we could, we would probably do back flips for her! The camaraderie between us was unlike anything I have ever experienced.

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By the middle of the week, I saw plenty of deer, but they were either at the other end of a food plot, camera light ran out before legal shooting light or too small of a rack to shoot. Thursday morning I was sitting on the edge of a clover food plot. Zendal was looking into the woods while I looked into the food plot. A doe came in at about 7 yards, Zendal slowly creeped the camera around the tree and was like "Shannon get ready!" Once he was locked on the doe he goes "Shannon ready....Shannon?" I was asleep!! He woke me up and pointed at the doe. I was alarmed/shocked/tired so I quietly got up and drew my bow. The doe saw me draw and decided she needed to go to the other end of the food plot. AHH!!! We got a pretty good laugh about it!

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Thursday night a pack of wild dogs ran through where I was sitting, putting all the deer on edge. I was pretty bummed because at this point everyone but me has shot something.

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Friday morning was a bust, so I changed my flight since the outfitter offered me to stay longer. Friday afternoon I sat on a special food plot. Only Tina, the outfitter's wife hunts that spot. It was overlooking more clover and neighbored a cornfield. An hour before sundown a doe comes in eating the acorns at 14 yards. I didn�t need to use my Nikon Archer�s Choice rangefinder; I knew the deer was close! Zendal said, "That deer better have spikes or it is going down!" Sure enough it was an older doe. I drew back and waited for her to step in my shooting lane and let my arrow fly.

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I cannot describe the flood of emotions I had when I saw my arrow hit her. As I watched her sprint away into the field and across the street I was a shaking heavy breathing mess! I had to sit down my adrenalin was so intense! I think one of the first things I said was "That felt amazing!" I have never big game gun hunted, but I don't think I could get the same rush as I did with my bow! It was such an intimate experience!

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I glassed the field for my arrow, and Zendal was like, "look down." My arrow went right through her and rested where she once stood! So glad I switched to the Hell Raisers! We looked at my shot and saw that I was about two inches behind the lungs and that we will wait until morning to track her.

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Most people would be up pacing all night worrying about finding their deer. I was so emotionally drained I slept like a rock! I also had a lot of confidence in my guides and just knew we would find her in the morning. The next morning we found a good blood trail. She was about 125 yards from where I shot her. I was so happy!

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With TV, I learned that shooting isn't the hard part, but having to reenact the events was work. I had to reenact talking with the guide about waiting to track my deer (even though we found her and I was excited about it). I'm not good at acting, so we had to do a few takes.

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Archer's Choice came into this hunt planning for one show, but they decided it is going to be a 2-part episode because every girl got a kill on camera.

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I still have my buck tag and one more doe tag. Vicki and the Eagle Lakes Outfitters said I can come back sometime in November when the deer are moving to try my luck again. I am so pumped about going back!

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Eagle Lakes and Archer�s Choice will hold a special place in my heart. This was my first big game AND bow kill. I find myself wanting to chase that rush I got when I shot my doe. I�m hooked for life!

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For more information about Archer�s Choice go to www.archerschoicemedia.com

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For more information about Eagle Lakes Outfitters go to

www.eaglelakesoutfitters.com

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Living the Essence - Hardcore

joeedge@bowcast.com — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Living the Essence; Hardcore Bowhunting

Peers ask me all the time, �Why do you like bowhunting so much? All it is, is shooting animals.� I just have to smirk the comment off, because I know that bowhunting is something that is kindled deep in the heart of a person who wants a challenge; to be responsible, respectful and rejuvenated by all that nature has to offer. Some people say that �If you haven�t already done it, you never will.� I tend to disagree; however, if you really want to be a hardcore bowhunter, all it takes is for someone to plant the seed. From that point on, bowhunting is one of those things that people will either grow apart from, whereas the true hardcore bowhunter will find themselves obsessed by mystique of the bow and arrow. I am of the later.

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There are many things in life that I have tried, each with their individual successes and failures; however, there is one thing that I simply cannot let go. I�ve loved doing other things just as much; it�s just that bowhunting and I go hand in hand. Not a day goes by when I don�t think of a big velvet buck, or a big bull running in to my setup and screaming, a stick�s toss away. I can be working through a math problem in school, or sitting in the bullpen at a baseball game, however my thoughts revolve about arching the bow back on a trophy animal.

Being 18 years old, it seems that adult always look down upon me, whether it be in the shop, or on the range. They don�t truly believe in the capabilities of the hardcore youth bowhunter. I would agree and say they are few and far between, but I am one of them. As the clich� goes, I eat, sleep and dream bowhunting. From the many bowhunting publications in every reading spot in the house, to the hunting DVD collection that far outnumbers chart-topping comedies. There�s more camo in my closet than all the shirts and pants. I have a spot for my backpack, bivy sack and bow case right next to my bed. It�s a commonality for me to carry one, if not two pairs of binos in my car, �just in case�. No matter the occasion you can find me in a camo hat. However, that�s not where you can decipher the difference between the weekend warrior and the true hardcore bowhunter.

It�s not about how many hunting decals I can fit on the back of my car (although I do have about 20), or how much game I can spit, BS�in down at the pro shop; It�s about what I do, out there where it really counts. The real things that make me a hardcore bowhunter are the things I do when I�m in the mountains. I am the only judge of just how hard I hunted, or just how much I pushed myself; whether I really hunt as hard, and as smart as my skills allow. I�m the only one who can make the decisions that make or break my hunt. When it�s all on my shoulders, with an OTC tag in my pocket, I know it�s up to me to make a success of hunt. As a youth hunter, I believe that when you learn to thrive off the challenges bowhunting presents, and learn that the best judge of your character and hunting performance is yourself, you become a better person and find that your limits are much father beyond what you previously thought you could accomplish.

I have always heard more experienced bowhunter�s describe that, as they get older, they find just as much enjoyment in being out; absorbing all the experiences the mountains have to offer. Myself, I think it�s different depending on individual goals. Personally, I find true satisfaction in getting into game, and closing in on my ultimate goal on any given hunt; arrow a P&Y animal. Maybe I need to slow down and �take it all in� more often, but the drive to success is what keeps he going.

For me, it�s beyond hard to describe what I really love about bowhunting, or why I really try and be the best bowhunter I can be; it�s describing the indescribable. Only when you experience the deep-down feeling of being amongst untamed wilderness, with bow in hand and an OTC tag in your pocket will you honestly recognize the passion for which I have for bowhunting.

To all you youth hardcore bowhunter�s (or the aspiring), know that when you learn to push yourself to the highest end of your abilities, that when you know you can create the success you can push yourself to.

�� Keep it in the pocket~

�� Joe [...]

When it rains it pours - My 2008 Antelope

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Talk about RAIN!!! It has been a long time since I have seen this much rain this late in the year. In fact, we had TORNADO warnings for the first two days of our Antelope season. I was praying that the area that I was hunting was relatively dry and that I might be able to sit a tank until I was forced to do a little spot and stalk.

Because of birthdays and family visiting I wasn't able to make the first two days of the hunt, usually two days isn't that big of a deal but our Antelope season is only 7 days long so you have to take advantage of everyday. So I rolled out of Silver City Monday morning around 5:00 am trying to make it to my hunting spot before noon. I was able to get to my camping spot around 10:00 am. So I quickly setup camp and headed to the mountain. I say mountain but in reality the area I was hunting was pretty flat. The good thing about this area is that I could see and glass a long way but the problem was that the antelope would see me coming.

A picture of some of the country

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So my hunt really started about 11:00 am on Monday. The plan was to drive to the little tank that I killed my buck last year and sit it. Hopefully, the rains that were hitting most of the state missed this little area of NM. I will admit that it was a lot drier than I thought it would be. The only problem that I had is that antelope will drink out of a little puddle made by a cow hoof print. Speaking of cows, when I got to my little tank it was surrounded by cattle... ARRRGHH!!! I mean surrounded. I understand that the rancher in the area has the right to have his cattle in the pasture but dang. It was a mess and I was pretty discouraged. Hoping for the best I stuck in out until sunset. Unfortunately, It was NBC or Nothing But Cows.

So I headed to the trailer for the evening to regroup and come up with a plan. There was no way that sitting water with that many cows around it, was going to work.

I think that the best hunters spend 75% of there time scouting and 25% of the time hunting. With Mother Nature throwing me a curve this year, I needed to do some serious speed-scouting. I needed to find one of two things; a tank that was being hit by goats that didn't have cattle around it or find some habitat that was more conducive to stalking.

Tuesday morning I covered a ton of ground with my Duramax and with my Swaro 15x's. I eliminated some unproductive ground and I found one little area that held some good goats. I saw them the previous day and if was lucky they might hold in the area during the hunt. If worse came to worse I could setup in the rocks and try to wait them out.

This is a picture of the area.
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I was starting to feel a little better about my chances but I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as last year. So my game planned changed from sitting water to spotting and stalking or hunting travel corridors.

Before I headed back to camp I did put the stalk on a nice buck with big cutters but I just wasn't able to get any closer than 125 yards before the sky's opened up. It was pretty dicey getting back to camp but I made it without any drama.

Before the roads got bad

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I know the picture above isn't the best but let me say that it was slick as owl crap.

That night I went to sleep with raining falling on the trailer, usually that is a soothing sound but I had some hunting to do so it was a little unnerving.

Before I new it my Treo was going off and it was time to hit the hills. I think that when you are spotting and stalking it is all about numbers. The more times you the try, the better your odds get. So I promised myself that I was going to put the stalk on every legal animal that I could glass up(if they were in a stalkable place of course). As I left camp it was obvious that I was in for another rainy day so my decision to spot and stalk was a wise one.

I put two stalks on in the morning and I pretty much blew both of them. I just ran out of terrain to hide behind but my third stalk had some real promise. You can't see it in the picture below but there are two bucks bedded on the top of the ridge. They were looking down and seemed to be nodding out. They were about 3/4 of a mile away and it seemed that they were going to stick around for a little while.

Ridge with bucks on it.

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So off I went. The stalk was going pretty well but about 400 yards from where I thought the bucks were bedded it started raining and lightening really hard. Crap, I had a few options; Call off the stalk like a wuss, put my noisy rain gear on and hope that the bucks wouldn't hear me or suck it up and hunt. All I could think of is a saying my buddy Dan Staton (fitness god) says, "Suck it up, Buttercup".

THE HUNT WAS ON... Something was going to hit the mud; a buck or a Jason.

I was using a little bush as a marker to guide me to where the bucks were bedded. I was able to get to that bush without a problem but now I needed to relocate the bucks. I knew that they had to be close. Danger Close. After about 10 minutes I was able to glass up some little tips sticking thru the sage about 80 yards away. Yes, I mean little but I was committed and given the conditions any buck would be great. The best part is that he was still looking downhill.

I have been practicing all summer and 80 yards would be a doable shot but I wanted to close the distance to about 40 yards. So I decide to push my luck and try to close the distance. Luckily, it was still raining so I had some background noise and I ground would be really soft.

It took me about 30 minutes to cover those last 40 yards but it seem like eternity.

So, I was close enough and I had a decent angle on his vitals but he was bedded and I didn't want to take that shot. To be honest, I don't know why I didn't want to shoot the buck when he was bedded but I just didn't. The wait was on.

To make this a successful stalk I had to do three things; Wait for him to stand, make the shot and don't get hit my lightening.

Taking a hint from the bucks I bedded down next to a sage bush and got comfortable.

After about 10 minutes he started to get fidgety and I knew he was about to stand. So I started to get ready for my opportunity. Almost in unison we both came to our knees. The only difference is that as I rose I also drew my bow back. I let my 40 yard pin on settle on his heart, whispered to myself "Confidence is Deadly" and let the arrow fly.

WHAAACK!!!!!

At first he don't know what happened but when he looked up the hill he saw me and he knew he was busted. He started running uphill to my right but I also ran than way hoping that he would see me and run downhill towards the truck. Guess what? He headed right to the truck but stopped to get a feel for the situation. I quickly ranged him again at 78 yards, I moved my sight and hit him again behind the last rib angling forward towards his front leg.

What a rush! I had just made the best stalk of my life. Is he a monster? No, but that really doesn't matter. I had everything against me and I had every reason to quit but I didn't. I sucked it up and I made the shot.

Nice Shot!

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How about a hero shot?

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A few things that I learned or could have done better on the hunt?

--- I recently switched from a Badlands 2800 pack to a BLACKHAWK! Blacktimber and that was a great move. I think that carrying a little bit smaller but very functionally pack made it easier to stalk my buck. IMO we often we try to get the highest capacity pack but that is always the best decision. Stick to a pack size that fits the situation.

--- I need to find another place in this unit that has more stalkable terrain. Flat is great when hunting water but not so great when spotting and stalking.

--- I really like my new Sure-loc sight. It is a basic 3-pin but it has a slider so I can adjust it on the fly. I had my pins set at 20-30-40 but my sight tape went out to 85 yards. I just moved my slider and I was dead-on out to 85 yards.

--- The new Tekan II's do fly like field points.

This is one of my favorite pictures

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A Bloody Bumper - That means you had a successful hunt and the animal is loaded.

So that was my 2008 Antelope hunt... WOW.... What a hunt...

I hope you liked the story...
Take Care

Jason

[...]

A recent scouting trip

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody...

Just when I was about to get totally discourage, I had a pretty decent scouting trip. As many of you know my deer season doesn't start until Janurary so alot of the work I am doing now is trying to learn new country and hopefully find a new honey hole. As always, my goals are to find sheds and hopefully find animals. Unfortunately, this year I hadn't really found anything noteable until my recent trip. I headed into some country that I suspected held a pocket of Coues and Mule Deer but I need to get in there and really take a look. The funny thing about this area is that a lot of people that draw this tag often drive right past this little section of huntable land.

So my plan was to cover country and take a look around.

What did I find? Well, I found a nice Coues Deer Shed, and I was able to glass up or stalk up on 6 bucks.

LIFE IS GOOD...

Below is the Coues Deer Shed I found. It probably goes around 45 inches.

How about a close-up?

It might not look like a very good shed but remember that P&Y for Coues Deer is 65 inches.

After I find a shed like that I get really jacked up and I am ready to cover more country. I wasn't able to find anymore sheds but I was able to glass and stalk up on a group of Mule Deer.

Below is a picture of three of the Mule Deer!

So what do you think? Are any of these guys shooters? If I was chasing Mulies it would be tough to pass-up that guy in the front.

Anyway... Take Care and SCOUT HARD..

Jason

[...]

Parker Bow Review Part 2

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:00:00 +0100

I hope everybody had a safe 4th of July.

This is the 2nd installment of my Paker Blackhawk Bow review. Well, I have some good news and some not so good news. Don't worry the "not so good news" has a good resolution.

The Not so Good

I had been shooting the bow for about three months, when I started noticing some strange marks on the lower cam serving. At first it wasn't that big of a deal and I didn't think it would get much worse, but it has. It seems that the lower cam is biting into the serving.

This would be a good test for Parker to see how they responded to an issues. So I called and asked to talk to someone in Technical Support and I was promptly transfer to some guy named Dave. I basically told him the situation and he said that he would ship me a new cam and a new string. The entire call took about 5 mintues. When I get the parts I will post another blog on the results.

Below is a picture of the Serving wear/tear...

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The Good

Well, my 3-D shooting is the best it has ever been. Why? Is it the bow? I'm not sure, I think it has alot to do with this blog and the podcast. Seriously, writting these entries and being on the podcast has really made me think about about setup and my shooting.

On a more techincal note, this is a sweet little bow. I am getting great arrow flight from a small and powerful package.

So would I recommend getting a Blackhawk? Well, at this point it all depends on how there customer support handles the serving issue. So far it is a nice bow but we need to getting the serving issue resolved.

Take Care

Jason

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Creating you own home bow shop!!!

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Taking the next step is what Bowcast is all about. Taking the next step, from the average archer to the complete archer is what we are trying to facilitate. For many archers the next step involves becoming your own bow mechanic. If you really want to understand how a bow works you need to start maintaining and fiddling with your own bow.

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Someone can tell you a million times how a bow works but until you start working on your own bow you will never understand all of the intricacies of super-tuning a bow.

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So how do you get started? Well, you can start by gathering the tools needed to make your own little home bow shop. It doesn’t happen overnight, so start with the basics and focus on tools that give you the most for your money. I have created a list of tools below that I use in my home shop. It is impractical to have every tool out there but that is okay, I still go to my local shop called “the Backwoodsman” to get my arrows cut and to shoot the bull with the guys.

Along those same lines even if you do have a home bow shop still support your local archery shops, you can learn a lot just buy listening and watching.

Again below is a list of items that I have and it has served me pretty well. Remember working on a bow isn’t that hard and there aren’t too many things you can do to really mess it up. If you get stuck or are unsure about something post your question on the forums or ask your local pro.

Tool

Notes

Bow Press

Bowmaster press. Cheap and Easy.

Bow Vise

Use it to hold your bow while you are working on it

Bowplane

This tool allows you to check your center shot quickly and makes sure that you don’t have any cam lean. It is quick and easy

Eze-eye

Allows you to center your center but you do have to remove your sight. Will allow to you practice aiming.

Small Scale

You can weigh your entire arrow components to make sure your arrows are consistent in weight.

Paper Tuner

Allows you to Paper Tune your bows and that your arrow is shooting bullet holes.

Arrow Fletcher

To re-fletch your vanes. This allows you to try different combinations of vanes wraps.

Chronograph

You can see how changes in equipment change your KE.

G5 ASD Tool

Allows to you make sure that the inserts are square and your arrows are consistent.

Lighter

For Burning tags ends of string loops or serving ends.

Bow Square

You can use this to give yourself a starting point for setting your nock point and your arrow rest.

Video Camera

You can use this to evaluate your form. Take video from as many angles as possible.

Serving Tools

To reserve your string. You can increase the speed of your bow by decreasing the amount of weight on string.

String Splitter

You can use this to adjust position of your peep sight. Slight adjustment can really make a difference in performance.

White Out to Mark Reference Points

Mark your sight, cams and rest so your have a visual reference point to determine if something has moved.

Leveling Bubbles

You can use these to make sure your arrow is parallel when it is on the rest and you can use them to get your 3rd axis initially set.

4 ft Carpenters Level – 2nd Axis

You can use this to set your 2nd Axis.

Plumb String – 3rd Axis

You can set your 3rd Axis by using a Plumb String

Drop Cloth

Keeps your workstation clean and keeps your bow from getting dings.

Take Care

Jason

[...]

Product Review: ASD - Arrow Squaring Devise

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:01:16 +0100

We have all been there, you have spent all summer fine tuning your bow with field points; the tiller is correct, there are no timing issues, your center shot is perfect and your don’t have any fletching issues, but as soon as you screw on your favorite broad heads all hell breaks loose. You have flyers, your arrows aren’t only hitting off center they are also inconsistent. Years ago we used to swap broadheads and arrows to find the combination that flew the most consistent. It used to be a real pain in the butt, sometimes out of a dozen arrows you might only have 6 that flew well with broadheads. The other 6 you just used with field tips.

If your bow is tuned correctly the biggest reason for erratic arrow flight is that the components of your arrow are not square. If either end of your arrow is not square your arrow will not fly true. You can do a spin test to see if there is any wobble in the broadhead.

I don't want to sound like a commerical but the ASD or Arrow Squaring Device from G5 really solves a lot of broadhead flight problems. It basically makes sure that both ends of your arrow is square. I embedded a video from G5 for those of you that are interested in learning a little bit more on the product.

Take Care.
J-

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[...]

Calculating Front (Forward) of Center - Arrow Flight

aroney@bowcast.com — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:23:15 +0100

"Front and Center" for Front of Center

Many of you may have heard Anthony or Aneal talk about "Front of Center" or "Forward of Center" when talking in relation to building an arrow that is efficient in flight, and maximizes the trade offs between arrow stability and arrow flight distance.

Front of Center ( FOC) may feel like some "mojo" calculation when you first hear it, but it is important to consider when building your arrows. In this blog entry, we want to explain why Front of Center is an important consideration, how to perform the calculation, as well as highlight what is a generally acceptable range of values.

Why do we care about Front of Center?

First, let's look at why we even bother talking about calculating Front of Center for an arrow. Front of Center (FOC) is a calculation used for tuning your arrow for effective flight. By determining your arrow's FOC (measured as a percentage), you will be able to tune/adjust your arrow to help increase arrow flight stability as well as arrow range. In layman's terms, the FOC percentage is a measure of where the balance point of your arrow is in relation to the center of the arrow shaft. If your FOC is 8%, that means the distance between the balance point (which should be in front of the center of the arrow because your field tip/broadhead is heavier in the front than the vanes and nock are in the back) is 8% of the total arrow length.

Another way I like to describe this is think about holding a broom handle in your hand (just the handle, no broom bristles attached). If you placed a 5lb weight on one end and a 10 lb weight on the other hand, what would happen if you tried to balance the broom handle with your hand placed directly in the center of the broom stick? The 10lb weight would tip down, and the 5lb weight would tip up. To truly balance the broom handle you would need to move your hand (balance point) towards the 10lb weight to compensate. Therefore your balance point (your hand) would be closer to the 10lb weight to get the broom handle to actually balance. Or, in other words, your balance point would need to be some percentage front (or forward) of the exact middle point of the broom handle. The distance between the exact middle of the broom stick, and where your hand can actually acheive a balance would be how far "front of center" your balance point is. Divide this distance over the total length of the broom stick, and you will get your FOC percentage. But broomsticks don't help us kill game (at least I haven't heard of any instances of this), so let's apply this to our arrow shaft to calculate our FOC percentage.

Should I get out my Algebra text book?

No!

There is a very simple procedure to calculate your arrow's FOC percentage. These steps are outlined below:

Obtain Balance Point (BP) - Take one of your arrows. We make an assumption that the arrows you are shooting are all consistent. Meaning, they are the same brand, same length, same type of vanes, same weight of field tip/broadhead, and overall weigh relatively the same (within 5-10 grains). When measuring, the arrow should be completely setup, meaning, the tip you will be using is screwed in and your nock is on the back of the arrow. Place your arrow on a share edge (or if nothing else use your finger) and attempt to balance the arrow. Once you are comfortable you know the location of the balance point, place some sort of mark on the arrow where the balance point is.

Measure Balance point (BP) - Once you have the BP marked, measure the distance from the bottom of your nock groove to the BP. This is the Balance Point (BP) measure.

Measure Total Arrow Length (TAL) - Next, you need to measure the total arrow length. You do this by measuring from the bottom of the nock groove, all the way down to the edge of your arrow shaft (NOTE: Don't measure down to the insert, measure to the end of the arrow shaft - this is called the arrow's cut length).

Calculate Center Point (CP) - take the Total Arrow Length (TAL) and divide by 2. This is where the Center Point (CP) will fall on the arrow shaft - TAL/2 = CP.

Calculate FOC Length (FOC L) - Once you know your center point, you want to subtract the center point (CP) from the balance point (BP) to get the FOC L - (BP - CP) = FOC L

Calculate FOC Percentage (FOC %) - Once you have the FOC length, you simply divide the FOC L by the total arrow length value and multiply by 100 to get a percentage - (FOC L / TAL) * 100 = FOC %

Am I good?

So now that you have a FOC percentage calculation, what does it mean? First, we need to caution that the ranges we publish here are based on our own personal experience. Many others will have opinions on what FOC percentage works best for their particular setup. Remember the goal of calculation FOC percentage - we want to balance the arrow's performance between stability in flight and distance down range. So, the discussion below are some general guidelines. You'll need to tweak/adjust your FOC based on your setup and your results on the range.

An FOC percentage between 7 and 10 percent is often what you hear as an acceptable range from many of the archery pros and arrow manufacturers out there. Again, if your FOC percent doesn't fall into this range, it does not mean you necessarily need to make an adjustment. If you are getting a good combmination of arrow stability, flight, and accuracy down range with an 18% FOC, then stick with it. In general I would not recommend going below a 7% FOC because I feel you are giving up way too much arrow stability for distance down range.

What if my FOC is below 7%?

Again, as a general guideline I would not recommend going below a 7% FOC. A couple of quick things you could do to correct this and get your FOC into the 7 to 10% range:

Go with a heavier broadhead/field tip. If you are using 100 grains for your point, maybe try out 125 grains and see how it performs and what FOC percentage you are calculating.Without going to a heavier broadhead, many manufacturers have inserts that are weighted forward. This could help get your FOC percentage within range.I use Gold Tip 5575's, and Gold Tip sells screw-in inserts that can add weight to the front of your arrow. I screw in 10 grains of weight into each of my arrow inserts, and am very happy with my arrow speed, stability, and distance down range. My FOC % comes in right at 9% with a 26.5 draw length.

Carbon vs. Aluminum

I don't come across many hunters (under 40 years of age) still using Aluminum arrows. But if you are, you still should calculate your FOC %. One thing that I would point out is that Carbon arrows tend to have a higher acceptable FOC percentage. So if you are using carbon arrows and you are up there at the 15-18% range, you may be OK. But if you are using Aluminum arrows, I would definitely look at lightening up the front end of your arrow to get down into the 7-10% range.

As always, if there are any questions about FOC, feel free to drop Anthony and Aneal an email at info@bowcast.com. Alternatively, feel free to use the forums on http://www.bowcast.com/ to get some other opinions and perspectives around front of center.

Shoot Straight!

Aneal

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