Getting into BowHunting

[TucsonFX4]

Sorry to hear that @TucsonFX4 about your shoulder. From one bow hunter to another, I promise you that if you buy the right bow and setup with the right arrows, properly tuned, you can kill anything in Africa without further aggravating your shoulder.

My son was drawing 37 lbs at only a 22.5" draw length when he was on safari getting full pass throughs, spot and stalk, on African game. Same for his black bear and deer hunts. If a ten year old can do it with the right setup, you could do double the damage just by your draw length increase.

If you want to discuss setups I'd be happy to PM with you. I highly recommend Gearhead bows because there is some IBO trickery they allow to give you even more free power than the average bow and they are perfect for stalking. A 350 IBO and a 1.5" longer than normal draw length using a gearhead allows for tremendous killing power at reasonable draw weights from 40lbs to 50lbs. I have zero doubts that you'd get a full pass-through on a zebra, kudu, or eland at 45lbs or greater with an adult draw length and perfectly tuned, heavy arrows.

Thanks @rookhawk. I’ll definitely reach out and pick your brain.

I hadn’t heard of Gearhead before, so thanks for the recommendation. They seem to be pretty expensive, which had been my initial plan to get a very nice bow. I now feel like something in the $3-500 range may be more appropriate as I seek out the viability of turning this desire into reality.

Anyhow, congrats @rnovi. Hopefully you can get some blood along the length of a shaft soon.

 

[Tra3]

I’ll try to figure out how to upload my ten year old’s slow motion video of his shot on black bear. Perfect flight and perfect arrow yields full pass through and death in 40 yards, even when drawing 37lbs at 22.5”.

What weight arrows/broadheads is your son shooting?

For the record, I am 100% in agreement with the advice from @rookhawk . I spent a ton of time reading Dr. Ashby’s findings and made changes to my own setup. After seeing the results, I am convinced.

bow hunting has made me a better rifle hunter. It also gives me a much longer hunting season in the USA.

I would like to bring a bow and rifle to Africa on my next trip. I wonder if people ever try to put both in the same case?