2025 Cold Bow Challenge

[brentr9]

User Name : brentr9
Bow Brand : Mathews
Bow Model : Lift 33
Sight Brand : HHA
BH Brand : Magnus Stinger
MER : 45
Hit (X/3) : 2/3

Day 1: Cloudy and breezy in South Georgia. Bows a little out of tune. Looks like I’m going to have some work to do after the CBC. Managed to sneak this one in the kill zone though.

Day 2: raining, right to left wind. Shot broke too quickly and I missed low left. Back at it tomorrow.

Day 3: calm clear skies. Impact low left of center; same spot as day 1. Looks like it’s time to retune and get back to the grind.

 

[Austin Kaufman]

User name: Austin Kaufman

Bow Brand: Mathews

Bow model: Lift 33

Sight brand: Spot hogg triple stack

BH brand: day six evo 100 grain

MER: 60 yards kill zone on small elk target

Hit X/3: 1/3
Day 1- hit

Day 2- miss left

Day 3- miss high

Username : Austin Kaufman

Bow brand: Tbow (satori clone)

Bow model: Tbow recurve 50lbs limbs

Sight brand: instinctive

BH brand: magnus stinger 2 blade 125 grain

MER: 25 yards

Hit X/3: 2/3
Day 1- hit

Day 2- hit

Day 3- miss low

Day 1 was solid with both bows. Been putting a majority of my shooting time into my recurve. Beautiful calm morning, no wind, both shots in the kill zone on the small elk target.

Day 2 was very gusty winds right to left. At 60 with the compound I was thinking I’d never actually shoot this far in the wind. Pretty hard to hold steady and missed left hit the elk in the neck. The stick bow at 25 was a different story, since I have practiced a lot with it, I feel like it’s a no brainer shot most times I draw back, felt good to have a true arrow hit its mark again. Looking forward to day 3. I never thought I’d have more confidence in my stick bow then my compound.

Day 3- calm as can be today. No excuses for the recurve miss just flat out shot low. The compound missed high. I got a new compound this last fall and changed from a 7 pin sight to a 3 pin slider with vertical pins. I’ve really struggled shooting high or low with the vertical pins. I don’t seem to pin gap shoot well with it or be able to split the animal up well with the continuous vertical line. This solidified changing my sight back to horizontal pins. Awesome challenge. Glad we get to do this every year.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rabbithuntr]

User Name : rabbithuntr

Bow Brand : PSE

Bow Model : Stalker 45lb

Sight Brand : N/A

BH Brand : muzzy 3 blade 100 gr

MER : 40yds

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Day 1

Beautiful morning light breeze.



Day 2

Wind gusting left to right 20+ mph. Over compensated for wind and was so focused on the wind that in retrospect I didn’t have a good anchor when I broke the shot.



Day 3

Still windy left to right but not like yesterday. Total whiff definitely humbling.

 

[Chad E]

User Name : Chad E
Bow Brand : Hoyt
Bow Model : Axius Ultra
Sight Brand : Black Gold
BH Brand : Sevr 1.5 125 grain
MER : 60 at a 8.5 inch paper plate
Hit (X/3) : 3/3

Day one Hit. 52 degrees overcast. No wind to speak of. In with the first.


Day two. Hit. 54 degrees heavy overcast. Zero wind. Shot broke good but definitely not my best work. In with the second barely.



Day three. Hit. No wind again today. Feels like cheating to have 3 calm days to shoot.

 

[drake2h]

User Name : drake2h
Bow Brand : Xpedition
Bow Model : Denali
Sight Brand : Black Gold
BH Brand : Sevr 1.75” 100 gr
MER : 60 yards @ 10” plate
Hit (X/3) : 2/3

Day 1 (5/10): Hit. Perfect conditions. No wind. Haven’t been shooting as much as planned and rushed the execution. Fortunate to get the hit. Room for improvement


Day 2 (5/11): Miss. After rushing the shot on Day 1, I went into Day 2 committed to taking my time and executing a better shot. Then instinct took over and I rushed again. Grrr.


Day 3 (5/12): Hit. Finally executed the shot I wanted. Need to get into a more consistent shooting routine heading into the season but am glad to close out the challenge on a better note.

 

[copperhead04]

No wind and about 52 degrees. My target species is elk so I’m figuring for about a 10” vitals. I pulled a bit more left and low than I wanted. Was intending to hit just behind the leg on the deer target.

User Name :Copperhead04

Bow Brand :Hoyt

Bow Model :RX7 67 lbs @29” draw

Sight Brand :Spott HoggFast Eddie 3 pin

BH Brand :Tooth of the Arrow

MER :40

Hit (X/3) :3/3

Day two was again no wind but a light rain about 15 minutes before shooting light would be done. Not exactly what I was hoping for on the hit again but is definitely consistent with day 1. I’ve been shooting at a dot on the other side of the target prior to the cold bow challenge. I’ve come to realize that not having someone distinct to aim at in the light condition I was shooting in is something I need to work on.
Day three, no wind and about 55 degrees, I’m not calling this a good hit. My target species is elk so I feel it’s close to the within the 10” circle I’m aiming at but not happy with shooting low on this shot. I need to do some more shooting with these broadheads and am thinking I need to work on some tuning if I’m going to use these heads. Last year my field points and Grime Reaper micro hades were shooting way better. I’ve been shooting a fair bit prior to the cold bow challenge and have been shooting a lot better at 60 with field points than 40 yards with these broadheads. Thanks to everyone who’s participated, the rockslide staff and all the sponsors for donating the prizes!

 

[RadialJett]

User Name : RadialJett

Bow Brand : Bowtech

Bow Model : Guardian

Sight Brand : Tru Glo

BH Brand : Rage 2 blade chisel tip

MER : 40

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Target is a moderately steep uphill shot, because I won’t climb any higher than I have to until it’s time to retrieve an animal.

Target area vitals are roughly 3x5”. I have aspirations to get after turkey one of these years. I do chase Javelina, pigs, and try to chase our poor pigmy mule deer in the local hills. So I figure a smaller target area is in order.

1st shot- reused a broadhead that I took a goat with. One blade is bent, possibly didn’t fly super true, will use a new BH for days 2 and 3. I shot 4 arrows on Thursday, otherwise hadn’t shot in a couple weeks. I felt very “cold” on this shot.

2nd shot- high again! I went to bed late, got up early and took my shot 15 mins before sunrise. Literally woke up, put on shoes, walked to position and shot. A little less light, eyes a bit tired and muscles a bit stiff clearly detracted from my ability to make this “chip shot”.

3rd shot. We score best edge… right? I’ll take it. Shot felt good, maybe my pin needs a tiny adjustment? Maybe I should shoot more?

I’d be comfortable taking a 30 yard shot on a turkey or Javelina, and 40 yards on larger game tomorrow.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

User Name :mikeafeagin22

Bow Brand : MATHEWS

Bow Model : Lift X 33

Sight Brand : Ultraview

BH Brand : Ironwill Single bevel left 125s

MER : 100

Hit (X/3) : 3/3

Day 1: Went ahead and backed it out to 100 for my MER. Completely new bow setup for the year but I’ve got it dialed pretty well. I shot fixed blades after some peer pressure reading the QnA thread steady 10 mph right to left wind today with gusts to 20. Shot felt great.

Day 2: had a big rainstorm come in and out real quick this afternoon. Shot as soon as it was over. Dead calm wind. Stepped back to 108 for a “follow up shot”. Don’t see myself ever shooting a deer at that range for a first shot but I’ll empty my quiver out at one after I’ve drawn blood from any range I can hit it. Tried the two camera thing today and it was a bit much. Think I’ll just set up one for my last shot. Snuck it in the bottom of the vitals. Great heart shot but that’s two days in a row I’m about 4-5” low of where I was aiming. Have my sight dialed for Sevrs so that extra drag shooting fixed blades has me hitting a bit low at that range.
Rokslide Cold Bow Challenge 2025 Shot 2

Day 3:
Found the 10 ring on my last one. Dialed two yards extra on my tape today. Rained all day again but stopped long enough for me to squeeze one in. Thanks again for putting this on! Whole lot more pressure videoing a one and done shot each day!
Stuck to just one camera today.

 

[McKolorado]

User name: McKolorado

Bow Brand: PSE

Bow model: DRIVE NXT

Sight brand: Black Gold Rush 5 Pin

BH brand: SEVER 1.5 Titanium 125 grn

MER: 40 yards - dessert sized paper plate

Hit X/3: 2/3

Day 1 - 9:00 AM - sunny and no wind

Day 2 - 8:45 am - sunny and no wind, set up through the trees

Day 3 - 7:30 am - Sunny, slight breeze (no factor). Pushed myself on set up mentally having to shoot between the trunks on the tree. I knew I had plenty of clearance but I could tell mentally I was “avoiding” the right trunk.

 

[Alpineelk]

User Name : Alpineelk

Bow Brand : bowtech

Bow Model : solution ss

Sight Brand : cbe

BH Brand : slick trick viper trick

MER : 70 yds. Must hit 6.75 yellow circle

Hit (x/3) 1/3

Day 1. Calm sunny. Hit just a little low and out

Day 2. Hit just barley caught the line Calm cloudy with light rain. Felt shot break low left and that's right where it hit

Day 3. Miss Light breeze sunny. Shot felt good. Don't know wat happened just missed low. All my shots were low got to figure that out

 

[Meshnasty]

User Name : Meshnasty
Bow Brand : Elite
Bow Model : Rezult 38 - 60lbs at 28.5"
Sight Brand : CBE
BH Brand: VPA 200gr 3 Blade
MER : 60
Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Day 1 - 67 degrees and no wind this morning. Shot broke a bit low but I'm also working through some TP as of late unfortunately.
Day 2 - 74, humid, no wind again. Shot broke faster than normal and felt good. Unfortunately, I could see it drifting to the right from the start. I did use my bow for support while post holing last but I don’t recall checking my level before executing the shot. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
Day 3 - 81, wind 3-5 mph in my face. Shot felt good when it broke but went off target to the right further than yesterday. I even cheated my slider down a bit more as I had been hitting low, but it didn't make any difference. Pretty disappointing overall as I was shooting well 2 weeks ago. 112 days until elk season so I have some work to do.

 

[guylaga]

2nd Year entering, thanks Rokslide and the sponsors for putting this on!

User Name : guylaga

Bow Brand : Prime

Bow Model : Revex 4

Sight Brand : Spotthog Tommy Hog 3 Pin

BH Brand : Ironwill wide 125g double bevel

MER : 60yd

Hit (X/3) : 3x3

All shots at a 10.5" paper plate on 18-1 Reinhart that has seen much better days.
Shot #1. 5/10 - Variable right to left wind, just snuck it in.



Shot #2. 5/12 - No wind, shot felt great but was low and left, barely made it in the kill zone.



hot #3 5/15 - Very light left to right wind. Last two shots have been to the left so I held to the right of center. Shot broke very clean, the best of the three and hit just a tad right of the center. Very happy with this one.

 

[king402]

User Name : King402

Bow Brand: Darton

Bow Model : Sequel 35 ST2

Sight Brand : Black Gold

BH Brand : SEVR 1.5 100 gr

MER : 70 yards

Hit (X/3) :3/3

Day 3: Calm. Final shot of the challenge for me. I'm satisfied with the hit. An inch or two high but perfect L to R from 70 yards. I'm really impressed with the Darton Sequel 35, GT Airstrike, Stan Solex Clicker release, SEVR broadhead, and AAE vanes. This was a completely new setup for me this year and I'm excited for how it all came together.




Day 2: WINDY! Today was a great opportunity to see how the Airstrike arrows with a 4 fletch AAE 2.3 vane handled stiff left to right wind. I was impressed! My arrow hit a few inches high. I anticipated the wind would cause more drift in my arrow but the airstrike cut right through it!


Day 1: Calm and perfect! 70 MER. Shot hit low and right. I'm pretty sure it was me and not my setup. I'll find out tomorrow. I'm excited to see how this challenge turns out!!

 

[BobHopkins]

Username: BobHopkins

Bow:Mathew’s Lift 33 74# 28.5 DL
Arrow: Easton sonic 6.0
Broadhead: SEVR TI 2.0
Sight: Axcel Landslyde
MER: 60yrds 8”plate
Hit : 1/3

Day 1:

Day 2:
Very windy had a hard time holding steady.

Day 3:
Serene morning. After a mountain tough murph prep Monday still working on catching my breath. Definitely have some work to put in before archery season.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bergie]

User Name : bergie
Bow Brand : Mathews
Bow Model : V3
Sight Brand : Spot Hogg Fast Eddie Triple Stack
BH Brand: Sevr 125 1.5"
MER : 65yd
Draw length: 28.5"
Arrow and weight: Victory RIP TKO 468gn
Arrow speed: 278 fps (I have a pro chrono that I dont trust so take it with a grain of salt)
Hit (X/3) : 1x3

Kill zone is big white of a standard block target, 7" point to point of hexagon. First critter to hunt is antelope so kill zone is sized appropriately. MER for elk is 50, but thats with a heavier arrow and Iron Will single blades.

Day 1
No wind but pulled first shot left. I felt it at the release.

Day 2
Gusty wind but it was mostly right at me. Pin danced around much more than yesterday but Joel Turner would have been happy with my shot execution. Dang near same spot as yesterday though. I did paper tune prior to this challenge and sighted in at 20 (I thought) tomorrow may show that last two days were a fluke as my mind tells me Day 1 my arrow flew where my pin broke but maybe not. One thing is certain, I need to shoot my bow more before fall.

Day 3
Spring rain storm but no wind. Shot broke clean but left again. Finally got it in the target area though by the skin of my teeth.

Overall I'm happy with my group but apparently not my ability to sight in at the 20 yards I have in my back yard.

 

[Archerichards]

Wanna get in the queue early!
Been looking forward to posting again in the 2025 Cold Bow Challenge. It’s my third time to enter.

Details: Archerichards. Age 66. Charlotte NC. Shooting 35 Yards from a Tree Saddle in my back yard.
7” diameter target spot, and rather dark back there under the trees, which, with aging vision, is a part of the challenge. Broadheads are SEVR 2.0s, mechanical. Shooting my three year old Hoyt RX7 Ultra ~62lbs. 31” draw. Wearing a Black Gold Rush sight + AAE QAD Ultrarest + 8oz. on front. Arrows are Gold Tip Airstrike 250s, ~460 grains. About 150gr up front. Three fletch w Tac vanes. Release is old Scott Shark with Spring trigger

Mighty grateful for the good people who run and moderate this little contest.

User Name : Archerichards
Bow Brand : Hoyt
Bow Model : RX7-Ultra 31” draw and ~62lbs
Sight Brand : Black Gold Rush
BH Brand : SEVR 2.0s, mechanical
MER : 35 yards from a Tree Saddle. 7” target spot.

SHOT 1-- l'll take it. Now I'vé gotta find a deer with a 7" yellow bulllseye right over his vitals...


SHOT 2-- Uh Oh....Borderline too low. Gotta tighten up. (conditions good. No wind next to a brick wall of course, and light was pretty good. I have no excuses).



SHOT 3-- Well, good grouping but obviously low. Muggy and damp here in NC, and poor light on my "range". Appreciate the chance to participate here and try to get a little better.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

User Name :Jstumbaugh

Bow Brand :Bowtech

Bow Model :Solution

Sight Brand :Spot Hogg

BH Brand :Iron Will 100V

MER :70 yards

Hit (x/3) :2/3

Day one solid shot execution and good result. Day two was a cluster. I’ve been dealing with a well problem with a lack of pressure and ultimately not having water temporarily, causing me to miss two days of shooting to get through this challenge. Water is back on and my lawn is ready to bale from not getting to mow for two weeks and 5” of rain. So, with self induced pressure I rushed my shot process and pulled the shot left resulting in a gut shot on the mini boar. Luckily both shots with the recurve have been pretty solid and in the kill zone.
Day three. First day without additional stress and made two solid shots. Almost got my RIP TKO with the Recurve arrow as I got lazy and didn’t pull that arrow before the second shot. My take away I guess would be to maybe extend my recurve MER and I need to shoot/tweak my hunting bow(Solution) to feel more like my target bow(Reckoning). Been crushing the local 3d circuit in BH class.

As always, thank you for hosting this challenge.

User Name :Jstumbaugh

Bow Brand PSE

Bow Model :Nighthawk

Sight Brand : na

BH Brand :no idea/ Amazon wenzel woodsman

MER :20

Hit (X/3) :3/3

 

[Randle]

User name. Randle
Bow. PSE
Model. Mach 1
Sight. MBG
BH.. Quad Exodus 125
MER. 60 yards
Hit. 0/3


No idea what happened, I believe I punched the release but shot did not feel right, and shows.
60 yards would only be a followup shot if presented but man ......


Taped vitals fell off last night, thought maybe I would shoot better without it as thats how I have been practicing. Nope Oh boy first humble pie , now choke cherry juice.
I think I know whats going on but cant confirm it til I finish tomorrow.
I changed my shot sequence to pulling thru with my arm instead of firing the release with my finger.

Wow I have never shot this bad. I shot a few after this last arrow and they were no better

Not sure how its happening but I will go back to basics , 20 yards and field points and see where I am at

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

User Name : Trumpkin The Dwarf
Bow Brand : Tall Tines
Bow Model : Stickflinger
Sight Brand : Dark Side of the Force
BH Brand : QAD Exodus 125 gr
MER : 20yds, whitetail deer quartering away
Hit (X/3) : 2/3

Texas whitetail are twitchy. Like methed out cat level twitchy. So the goal here is no impacts above center line of body.

Day 1:
Shot this an hour before the challenge officially opened, cause I'm helping my In-laws move today. Garbage shot break, I aimed too high, had all sorts of target panic going on, and I dumped my bow arm at the shot. Better lucky than good right? This hit is just about ideal on a texas deer, cause it'll be a liver, diaphram, and lungs hit by the time the arrow gets there.


Imaginary kill zone outlined in red...





Day 2:
Nice calm weather. Felt much better about this shot, but I hit a little right. Liver and guts, with maybe one lung... Calling it a miss.



Day 3:
GREAT shot break. Best mental process arrow I've had in a while. I suspect my alignment was slighly off, cause the impact didn't match how the shot felt at all. Really should have taped my outline, but I think I cut the corner with one blade, lol. Calling it a kill.

 

[CLB38]

User Name : CLB38

Bow Brand : PSE

Bow Model : EVL34

Sight Brand : Spot Hogg

BH Brand : Iron Will 125gr db

MER : 60 yds

Hit (X/3) : 0/3

Pulling 68lbs and 29” draw

28” Easton Axis 5mm 300s with 25gr inserts and 25gr collars and IronWill AAE vanes = approx 505gr total


Day 1: Miss. Raining. Light breeze that I should’ve corrected for. Shooting deer too far back continues the trend from my whitetail season last fall.

Day 2: Miss. Sunny and calm. Another miss but inching closer. Even after telling myself to slow down and work my process I’m still rushing the shot.

Will it be 3rd time’s the charm or 3 strikes and you're out?

Day 3: Swing and a MISS. Worst arrow yet.

Clearly 60yds is not my MER yet.

The “cold bow” is such a great test of actual proficiency - two follow-up “warm” arrows (now that I’m done with the challenge) were fine (last pic) and a string of similar warm arrows would give false confidence.

I’ll definitely be implementing periodic 3 day cold bow MER tests into my training.

Thanks for the kick in the butt!