Thought I'd post photos of two excellent trophies taken by one of my clients two weeks ago. The client was using a Hummingbird Longbow and bagged a beautiful 55" Kudu bull and a heavy horned 30" Waterbuck bull. Good shooting to say the least.
I do alot of traditional bowhunting myself and I always like to see success from the trad guys. The client, Bill Collins, was a last minute booking and really had good success. He also shot a 26" Impala and his wife, using his longbow, took a Blesbok and Warthog. Impressive.
Such wonderful trophies and with stickbow to boot! Congrats to the hunter! I have the greatest respect for traditional bow hunters, it takes incredible dedication in order to be so richly rewarded!
Thanks for sharing the pictures of success.
I have a friend wanting to use his long bow on safari.
This should give him some confidence that it can be done.
Bill dropped all of his animals except one in sight. He watched them fall from the hide so trad equipment is more than adequate. It is imperative that you use a heavy arrow (momentum) and a big, COC broadhead. I recommend total arrow weight of 600 to 700 grains. His longbow was 52 pounds which is more than enough with the heavy arrows. You must also be disciplined as Bill was. He had numerous shot opportunities on Gemsbok and other species but would not shoot as the proper angle was not presented.
Not many of you know it but I'm primarily a traditional archer. It is a lot of fun! I would encourage a lot of the bowhunters on here to give trad archery a shot...pun intended.
The trick is not to overbow yourself. Too many guys start out with too much weight. Fifty pounds will drop anything you want to hunt with the exception of the big and dangerous. When you begin to shoot a trad bow you will also notice that you're spraying arrows all over the place, the result of snap shooting (drawing the bow and releasing without coming to a proper anchor). Don't be discouraged. Everyone does this in the beginning. Keep on shooting. Once you get the proper muscle group built up then you will notice how easy it is to draw the bow, find your anchor, and release a nice, consistent shot. Once your release is consistent the accuracy will come with more practice. You just have to get those muscles built up to the degree that you can draw and hold the string back long enough to anchor, sight, and release. It takes time and effort but once you get there it is great fun. I've taken more satisfaction from hunting with my trad bows then with any compound. The main problem with hunting traditional is that you must shoot alot all year to keep your muscles toned and strong. Otherwise, it's like starting all over again if you lay the bow down for months at a time.
Well done Bill !!! Beautiful memories and trophy's Nice to read about a Traditional adventure in Africa...
I totally agree with you Ken. Shoot a weight you can shoot well!! A well placed arrow with a cut on contact broadhead is deadly from a Traditional bow.
It does help when your PH understands Traditional Equipment....
Australia ( Northern Territory), New Zealand ( both the North and South Island), Namibia, RSA, England, Scotland, Argentina, Canada (Northwest Territories, Quebec, Alberta, Ontario), United States (WA,WI, AR,AZ,CO,NM,WY,NE,TX,OK,KS,SD,LA,MO,IA,IN,IL,KY,MI,OH,PA,NY,MD,NC,FL,AK)
At what range were these animals taken? Great trophies? I too will be hunting with trad gear this August. My set up is a 55lb @ 28" recurve and 600+ grain arrows including either a Zwickey or ACE two blade broad head.
That setup should be more than adequate for all the plains game. I shoot a 3 piece GW Flanagan longbow that's right around 51lbs at my draw with 2 blade VPA and DRT heads and have killed lots of critters with it the last couple years from pigs all the way up to wildebeest with no problems. A good sharp 2 blade broadhead will do the trick!
We have a few cancelation dates open for June and July if anyone is interested in a short notice hunt, we can add in a few hunting days for free to sweeten the deal!
17-25 June
possibly 18-25 July
28 July -Aug 2nd
1-10 September
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