Once you get your Ravin sighted i - when shooting off a rest, I would not shoot at the same dot with consecutive bolts. Shoot at different dots or you will be replacing fletching, knocks, and bolts.
In my youth I bought whatever arrow the local big box sporting goods store had laying around and some heads I got mail order.
I spent one year testing arrows and broadheads on game. I have all kinds of pigs to shoot at. Was going on an elk bowhunt the next year and wanted to have the right setup. I shot at least four pigs with 8 different broadheads and shot about four different weight arrows. Shot six deer. I didnt find out anything earth shattering. For deer, a lighter, faster arrow with an expandable bh was more lethal and provided an easier to track animal. But, I surmised from penetration tests on big old boar hogs, a heavier arrow with COC Bh wood be better on elk. I ended up shooting a walking elk, liver back - did not get the coc broadside out the offside. Not a great blood trail, and lost him. I ended up wishing I had shot him with a faster arrow and expandable head. Every shot is different.In my youth I bought whatever arrow the local big box sporting goods store had laying around and some heads I got mail order.
In my 30's I at least started buying the right arrows and semi decent heads.
The last trip around, two years ago, I totally geeked out. Wasted thousands of dollars over the course of the summer trying different brands, different spines. Plus all new jigs and tools and testers. Testing, squaring, knock tuning. Spent months testing all sorts of different fletching, different angles of helical, 3, 4, 6 vane fletching in a multitude of styles and lengths. Crazy minutia like adding weight to my knocks so they'd be the exact weight as the lighted knocks. Played with all different arrow weights that would invariably send me back to square one. 15 to 150grain inserts, 100-300 grain heads. Then buying and trying several brand of higher end broadheads. Always stupid about it, buying them, then buying a jig to sharpen them, then deciding I didn't like them or wanted to try something else. Heck I probably spent close to a grand alone on that. (this is why I'm poor)
But that's where I ended up though.... "Oh my goodness, this arrow is almost $100! I better bring a junker with me for targets of opportunity." Of course since I had lots of leftovers, that wasn't a problem.
With the new crossbow, I won't have time to do any of that stuff, which is probably a good thing.
Crazy the money I spent/wasted on the bow, especially if I can't shoot it anymore. I went nuts, but I was having fun. The irony being I bought a "cheap" bow BECAUSE I wasn't sure I was going to be able to shoot it. Then I spent ten times as much on everything else. Pissed away piles of money. The arrow experiments, a few different sights, a few different releases. That hit me one day sitting in the tree stand... "This release cost more than any bow I ever owned." (prior to the one I was using)
Colorblind, I can't see blood in the woods if it's not on snow, and even then I often can't tell blood drops from mud drops.
To me it is kind of like duck hunting with an improved cylinder over decoys and nothing comes within 40 yards and you wish you had brought your full choke. Our deer are smaller framed - a huge buck here is 200 lbs on the hoof and most a lot smaller. Even with a medium wt setup, I shoot through everything - shoulder or not - even with an expandable head. I feel like the faster arrow allows me to more consistently hit closer to my point of aim. Our Deer are fairly fragile compared to the hogs. Any of todays modern bows and expandable heads pretty much shoot through every deer we have - so there isnt much science to it.
We have five month bow seasons - I would hate for my neighbors to be able to use a centerfire rifle for five months. I look at it like most game department’s goal is a harvest of 20 to 25% of the total deer population. As an example - they could do that by a longer firearms season alone, or a little reduction in firearms season and add in some compound, crossbow, and ml. If your goal is to harvest 20% of the statewide population, the method of harvest is immaterial.
