2025 Cold Bow Challenge

[PvilleMac]

User Name : PvilleMac
Bow Brand : Samick
Bow Model : Sage
Sight Brand : N/A
BH Brand : Magnus Stinger
MER : 30 yards
Hit (X/3) : .5/1, 1.5/2, 2.5/3

Day 1) 5/10/25 A little low on this one but I did barely kiss the killzone. Gonna give myself a half point for this one. Conditions were ideal, no wind at all.


Day 2) 5/19/25 More great conditions. Slight cross breeze from left to right but nothing that mattered. About an inch high off the “heart”


Day 3) 5/24/25 Sunny and high 70’s. Little breezes swirling around. Ending on my best shot of the challenge.



Thanks rokslide for putting on the CBC. It’s always fun.

 

[BigWoods]

User Name : BigWoods Bow Brand : Mathews Bow Model : Traverse Sight Brand : Montana Black Gold BH Brand : DEEPOWER (Amazon 3-Blade Special) MER : 60 Hit (X/3) :1/3

I haven't shot the bow a ton this spring but have been taking some time with it the past couple weeks again with acceptable results. I wanted to push myself a bit with the 60yd MER...we'll see how that goes.

Picture of the bow waiting for deer last fall...

And my arrow...and chicks



Day 1: Misty Out; slight breeze from the left. Bit distracted, let down once. Tried again with questionable results. Swing and a miss!


Day 2: A few minutes after sunset. Calm conditions. Release felt good. Just eeked out a hit. (Didn't manage to post till today because when I went the neighbor's pit was on our property barking at me resulting in something of a standoff).


Day 3: Took the shot after chasing the same pit off the property. Had some adrenaline surging so a good test... unfortunately the results were rather poor. Either a gut shot or a clean miss depending which way the deer was facing.


Conclusion: My MER is not 60 right now. It was good to try pushing myself a bit but the results showed my lack of reps lately. Oh, and the unexpected and adrenaline makes accuracy more difficult.

After taking the last cold Bow shot, I took one more at 60 just to see. Finally a good hit.


Thanks to all the staff and sponsors who put this on again!

 

[KBC]

User Name : KBC

Bow Brand : Hoyt

Bow Model : RX-9 Ultra

Sight Brand : BG Mountain light

BH Brand : Ironwill V125

MER : 70

Hit (X/3) : 0/3

Going for inside the outer edge of the small black circles, about 12” square for elk.
Miss on day one ;(
Miss on day two. I suck. I’m obviously shooting too far, I was shooting great at 50 before this so I figured why not push it to 70.
I really suck. But I finished. Just really sucky.

 

[silasbowhunter]

Username: silasbowhunter
Bow Brand: Hoyt
Bow Model: RX-1 Ultra 31” and about 67lbs
Sight Brand: Montana Black Gold Dual Trac
BH Brand: Sevr 2.0
MER: 64 yards. 7” orange tape circle on my Rinehart.
Hit (X/3): 1/3

Shooting 64yards because I feel like 60 is my MER but want to push my limits. Shooting Victory Rip 250s with a 50gr brass hit. Iron Will branded AAE vanes and a lighted nock from Amazon. Total arrow weight is like 490gr.
Using a Trufire Sear hinge release.

Day 1. HIT.
Conditions were great. 85° light winds in my face. Very sunny.
Shot felt great maybe a touch left. Turns out it was money.

Day 2. Miss. Wind was blowing about 10-12mph pretty steady and my shot just broke when I wasn’t aimed where I wanted to be. Happens! Here’s the video of a big ole whiff

Day 3. Miss. Whiffed again. No excuses available other than not focusing on where I want my pin to be and executing a good shot.

Conclusion- practice more. Need to get my draw length dialed in. Feels about 1/4-1/2” too long right now. Need to get more reps. I have only shot 18 arrows in 2025 so far.. need to be closer 1000-1500 arrows before I do any hunting. Also need to build more arrows now

 

[yoopshoot]

User name: yoopshoot
Bow: Hoyt
Model : nitrum 34 LD (31.5”/79lb)
Sight: SH hogg father triple stack
BH: evolution Hyde 125 ( Easton 5.0 arrows)
MER: 55 yards- kill zone is heart/lung outline on 3D insert.
HIT: 1/3

60 degrees , light wind at back. Shot broke perfect.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 2. 78 degrees , 15-20 mph wind left to right. Just snuck it inside kill zone for hit .

Day 3. 75 degrees, 10 mph wind at my back. Clean shot. Hit #3.

 

[CM]

User Name : CM

Bow Brand : PSE

Bow Model : Omen Pro

Sight Brand : Spot Hogg Fast Eddie Double Pin

BH Brand : Ulmber Edge 100 Grain

MER : 70 Yards 8 inch Circle

Hit (X/3) : 3/3

Day 1: Slight breeze straight on, arrow felt good when I released. In the vitals on day 1!


Day 2: Pretty stiff wind from behind, probably around 20mph. Bow was moving quite a bit in the wind but I snuck it in there.


Day 3: bit of a breeze from right to left, maybe 5-7 mph. Shot felt great. Needed to hold a bit more wind but I'll take it!


Summary: This is such a great event. I don't miss a year. I believe I've done it every year since the beginning. It really helps get the bow out and get it ready to go 2 months before I normally would. Thanks to all the sponsors and to Rokslide for putting this on!

 

[nphunter]

Shooting for the first time since killing my bull last fall. I had carpal and ulnar surgery at the end of the year and this is the first time I’ve pulled a bow back since. I’m pretty happy with the first two arrows in almost 8 months.

Also shooting over the fence so the pack goats don’t run against me while trying to shoot. That’s also why the plate is attached so crappy, they were eating the tape and rubbing on the target while I was setting it up.




(Compound)

User Name : NPHunter

Bow Brand : PSE

Bow Model : Mach 34, Custom EM2 cams

Sight Brand : CBE Trek Pro

BH Brand : Evolution Jekyll

MER : 60

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Day 1, 8” paper plate hit the bottom edge perfect conditions.


Day 2 perfect conditions moved to woods missed 6” left 2” low of center.

Day 3, good conditions, dropped the shot a couple inches.


(Recurve)

User Name : NPHunter

Bow Brand : TBOW/Uukah limbs

Bow Model : Recurve, VX1000 limbs

Sight Brand : none

BH Brand : RMS Cutthroat 200gr

MER : 20

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Target 8” paper plate, missed 4” above the plate

Day 2 shaved a splinter off of the top of the plate, still counting it as a miss

Day 3 similar shooting, still hit slightly high but on the plate. Defiantly felt rushed shooting when the goats were out of the way. At least they wanted to help pull arrows.


Over all I went 2/6 but I feel pretty good about the shots after not shooting in so long. All 3 compound and 2 recurve would have easily went into the vitals on a deer sized target. A little more shooting and my bow arm should quit dropping the shots, each compound shot was low which is common for me when I’m not in shape and following though.

 

[patagonialuke]

User Name : patagonialuke

Bow Brand : Elite

Bow Model : Terrain

Sight Brand : CBE Trek

BH Brand : Iron Will 125gr

MER : 40 yards

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

A very very 'cold' challenge for me; decided to only shoot 2 arrows at 20 yds this year before the challenge, just to make sure I wouldn't completely miss the target. Mostly wanted to see how much instinct I remember.

Day 1: just barely knicked the vitals on my 1/3 elk. Everything felt fairly good about the shot except for my strength; was pretty shaky by the time my release went off. Good motiviation to keep up the strength training before I start increasing my weekly arrow count. I also think I have a natural tendency to aim a tad farther back than I ought to; will focus on that tomorrow and see if it makes for an improvement.

Day 2: Well, apparently I need to practice shooting into a headwind more often. Was roughly ~10 mph and gusting up to 20 or so, pretty much right at my face. Waited for it to calm down a bit before I drew, but it gusted again right around when I shot. Shot felt quite good overall. I was floating right over the center of the vitals and the release felt good, but I guess I either pulled it high or it caught a more significant gust on its way to the target. Good to know. Otherwise, got to take my target for a nice hike and got a pretty photo of my very ugly shot.

Day 3: Even head-windier today (averaging close to 15 w/ gusts in the mid 20s), but this miss was totally on me — I rushed it and slapped the trigger before I let my pin settle on where I originally intended to keep it. Good learning experience, and now I'm way more excited to shoot more than 1 arrow at a time (which I did right afterward and confirmed my suspected error).

Thanks to all the folks who helped put together this challenge — looking forward to next year!

 

[Thejet]

User Name : TheJet

Bow Brand : Mathews

Bow Model : phase 4

Sight Brand : spot hog

BH Brand : daysix

MER : 80

Hit (X/3) : 3/3 Day 1, left to right 10-12mph wind. Day 2, left to right 5-8 mph wind. Day 3, no wind.

 

[Small-foot]

User Name : Small-foot

Bow Brand : PSE

Bow Model : Stinger X

Sight Brand : CBE

BH Brand : NAP

MER : 30 yds

Hit (X/3) : 0/3

I haven’t actually hunted archery for 8+ years, but have shot on and off each summer the past few years. I got this bow for the performance setting for a stiffer back stop since most non-youth bows didn’t accommodate my draw length of 24.5” when I bought it. I’ve been shooting Easton FMJ 5mm 400s and need new broadheads, so I just used an old one my brother had in my weight for the CBC. Haven’t shot yet this year since I had an ACL/MCL repair 3 weeks ago.

Day 1: Sunny, 75 degrees, 7mph E wind; 8” paper towel pinned to target. Had my thumb hold on my release come loose as I shot, plus had too narrow of a stance which I realized as I was at full draw, but couldn’t fix it because of my surgical leg

Day 2: Sunny, 76, 13 mph breeze from behind. Fixed my release since day 1, adjusted to a wider stance today. Still shot low again. Weighed the broadheads, 106.8gr and I shoot 100gr field points. Not sure that small of a weight difference could bring my arrow down that much, but placement was consistent from first shot.

Day 3: overcast, 46, rain moving in, 11mph head wind. Little lower shot this time, but I also didn’t feel quite as steady at full draw today. Hauled the target out on my own while on crutches so I was pretty tired by the time I got to shoot.

 

[realunlucky]

User Name- @realunlucky
Make- PSE
Model- MACH 34
Sight- Option Archery Canyon Pounder 4 pin
Broadhead- Sevr 2"
Maximum Effective Range- 65 yards
Hit rate- 1 out of 3

Day-1 Slight wind left to right
Hit low and a touch right but in the circle of death. (6 1/2" circumstance)

Day 2-
No noticeable wind this morning. Slightly distracted by the van mirror reflecting light at me but still managed to find the circle.

Day 3
Squeeze it in before work. No breeze shot felt good. I can't see the center of plate might need some glasses.

 

[cody21peterson]

User name: cody21peterson
Bow: Mathews
Model : V3 31 (28”/80lb)
Sight: Black gold 3 pin slider
BH: Sevr 1.5 100grain( Easton FMJ arrows)
MER: 80 yards. Vitals on my target is approximately 8”x10”
HIT: 1/3

Sunny and hardly any wind. Snuck it in the back of the vitals.

Shot #2

Wind was rippin! Had to let down a few times. Missed the vitals but happy with this shot.

Shot #3

Missed a few inches low.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

User Name : TheM1DoesMyTalking

Bow Brand : Browning

Bow Model : Safari II 40# 60"

Sight Brand : 3 under gap

BH Brand : Ace 2 blade

MER : 15 yards

Hit (X/3) : 2/3

My father in law gave me this bow that he got from his dad. Possibly made in 1969 based on serial number. Using arrows that were made for him by a friend. I put a new string on it and started practicing for this challenge a couple of weeks ago. My goal is to kill a Roosevelt elk with it. The paper and blue tape simulate elk vitals, 13” wide by 11” tall, touching the the paper or blue tape is a hit.

Day 1: Hit.
11:17AM, calm, 55 degrees. Barely snuck it in the left edge, good thing the line counts.




Day 2: Hit.
Same left edge but lower than yesterday. I think I really average my shots during a normal longer session and focus on the later shots when I'm warmed up and tell myself that I'm better than I am. This one arrow thing is really hard. I have a lot of work to do before I'd send an arrow at an animal.
No wind, 49 degrees. 6:30AM before my wife and kids are up and we go to church and Mother's Day activities begin.



Day 3: Miss.
5:34AM, 45 degrees, calm, damp and drizzly, a bit dark still a few minutes before sunrise.

 

[Wyatt.Carter]

User Name : Wyatt.Carter

Bow Brand : Mathews

Bow Model : Lift 33

Sight Brand : Black Gold Dual Track Pro (double pin)

BH Brand : SEVR 2.0

MER : 80

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

I’m going for a 10” circle on the SEVR target- if it breaks the tape I’ll count it. Took the bow out several times earlier this week to make sure there wasn’t too much dust on it





Day 1:
There was a solid 5mph left to right wind with gusts that were more. Shot felt really good. Held for wind but not enough apparently! Missed by an inch or so.



Day 2: Wind was light and variable. Shot felt good.




Day 3: variable wind around 3mph. Shot broke left, arrow went left…dang.



That should be it for me. Glad to get the rust kicked off a little after winter. Thanks to the sponsors and staff for making this happen, I’m a huge fan.

 

[Kkeene]

User Name : KKeene
Bow Brand : Bowtec
Bow Model : Carbon Knight
Sight Brand : Blackout fixed pins
BH Brand : Magnus Stinger 100 gr
MER : 30 yards
Hit (x/3). 3/3

I consider a hit within 2.5” of center (5” diameter).

Shot #1 good.10 mph w gusts to 20.

Shot #2 at 9 am CST on a beautiful calm 53F morning. I drew back and my 5 pins were just very large / bright blurs w the sun at my back. I could not see my dot, just the cross hairs. Arrow was just inside my 5” diameter kill zone low & right (Note that photo is rotated 90 degrees clockwise as I turned target vertical to measure and photograph).

Shot #3 was good. Impacted 1.5” from center. Got outside a little earlier this morning and didn’t have any issues w seeing my pins like on day 2. Added a pic of my bow. The full length arrow in my quiver is my turkey / goose arrow with a 125 gr Magnus Bullhead decapitior fletched with turkey feathers from a bird I harvested.

 

[Hunthigh1]

User Name : Hunthigh1

Bow Brand : Diamond

Bow Model : Triumph (2007)

Sight Brand : Spott Hogg (Tommy Hogg 5 pin )

BH Brand : QAD Exodus (100 grain deep 6 on Easton 4mm FMJ arrow. Weight: 489 Grains

MER : 60 YDS

Hit (X/3) : (2/3)

Release aid: Nock on Silverback
Draw weight: 65LBS
Draw length: 29"
Arrow Weight: 489

I am shooting a 365 brand target with the 10X10" square insert. Touching the insert at all is considered a hit. I have been shooting regularly out to 100, but did not shoot broadheads leading up to the challenge.

Day 1: 5/10/2025 12:30 pm
Conditions: Gusty wind 5-12 MPH pushing head on from target to shooter. Shot broke cleanly and on the center my hold felt steady and release clean, but the arrow fell low and right. I am unsure if the wind was pushing more to the right than I perceived.

Miss low right by about 1.5"

Day 2: 7:20 PM
Conditions: Zero wind, excellent lighting with stormy cloud cover. Shot broke clean. Pin was about 2” high left when bow went off. Successful hit today high right about 2.5” from center.

Mindset note: This was on my mind continuously throughout the day leading up to my shot. I have never had the patience to shoot one arrow per day and it amazes me how much it can get in your head with only one chance. Determination was very high tonight.




Day 3: 7:30 PM
Conditions: Intermittent gusts to 15. But calm between gusts. Wind at shooters back mostly. Pushing to shooters right a bit. Cloudy. Great lighting for shooting.

The shot: I’m holding a little high and left due to my prior hits. My broadhead seems to be hitting lower than field point. Aim point was 2” high, 2” left. I felt myself controlling the shot more than normal for fear of the next gust I hurried it up a bit. Did not rush, just a faster “keep pulling” urgency. The shot broke with the pin where I wanted it, but barely stayed inside the kill zone. Likely my grip and follow through was poor due to the controlling shot pace for fear of the next gust.

Amazing exercise. I’m very annoyed by my day 1 miss. I will be doing this again leading up to hunting season! I’m highly motivated to broadhead tune my bow after this and shoot some steep shot angles for next year’s CBC.

 

[Swampcruiser]

User Name : Swampcruiser

Bow Brand : Mathews

Bow Model : V3X33

Sight Brand : BG S and S custom

BH Brand : Sevr 1.75 Ti 125

MER : 70

Hit (X/3) : Day 1 wind 10-20 right to left - slightly high

Going to try no stab this year, shooting my 450g Victory RIP TKO with HIT inserts and IW collars.
Day 1:


Day 2: East wind in my face. Better shot today.


Day 3 - wind out of the east in my face 25mph pulled it high.

 

[NXTZ]

User Name : NXTZ

Bow Brand : Hoyt

Bow Model : AX-2 29

Sight Brand : Spot Hogg FEXL

BH Brand : Evolution Outdoors Jekyll

MER : 40 yards

Hit (X/3) : 1/3

Going for redemption this year at the same range and target (went 2/3 last year). Using my second pin (43 yards) to simulate a longer shot without dialing. Dumped my release but my hold was steady, kept it in the vitals/green circle.

Day 2, got up early to take my shot. Cool morning, no breeze, perfect conditions…and I missed. Pretty frustrating since I went through my shot process and actually felt like I made a decent shot.

Day 3, calm with a light rain. Good opportunity to shoot in different conditions and wearing rain gear. Missed again on what felt like a great shot.

Pretty eye opening this year! I had missed a chip shot at a turkey a week before the CBC, and have been suffering doubts about my setup and abilities in high pressure scenarios. This kinda confirmed some of my suspicions so I’ll be changing things up and really getting after it for practice. Thanks again to the folks putting this on, and good luck to rest of y’all!

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

User Name : @B_Reynolds_AK

Bow Brand : Gearhead

Bow Model : B20, 60 lbs

Sight Brand : Black Gold Dual Trac

BH Brand : QAD Exodus 125g

MER : 40

Hit (X/3) : 2/3 Day 1, Hit. No wind. Day 2, Miss. 5:20 am, calm. Day 3, Hit. Rainy, calm.

1.5 yrs since I last shot my bow in any meaningful way, since getting back from a Mountain Goat hunt on Kodiak. Shot about 20 arrows earlier this week. Dropped my MER from 60 down to 40, for a realistic assessment of my own capabilities.

9” circle drawn on my High Roller, 10lb plate used for outline.

 

[elkeaterco]

User Name : elkeaterco​

Bow Brand : Matthews

Bow Model : Lift 33

Sight Brand : Spotthogg

BH Brand : Sevr

MER : 46 (lower than i want but fighting punching the trigger right now)

Hit (3/3) :

May 10, 245pm, 5-10mph wind, sunny.

Believe

Day 2, May 11th, 245pm, after 5.5 mile shed hunting hike in the morning got my shot off. No wind to speak of.


Day 3, 7am, no wind, dropped the shot