Cold Bow Challenge 2020!

[Elkhntr08]

Bow Elite E35 66#
Arrow FMJ 340
Broadhead Iron Will V100
NAP Carbon Apache rest
Spot Hogg sight.
Just a hunting bow.
MER 50 yards 8” kill zone
60 out today with a 16 mph breeze out of the south. Shooting north to south.
Day 2
Calm morning, 40 out this morning. I keep locking in on the bottom of the circle and can’t convince myself to bring the pin up.
Day 3
Chilly again today, 42 with a 12 mph wind out of the west. May have over compensated a tad.
Friday morning will be my day 5. I need to start shooting again, turkey season opens on Saturday!
Day 4
Is 38 and snowing this morning. Pulled a little left, gonna blame it on the snow.
Day 5 Final shot!
Got my act together on the day! Now I have to start shooting a little bit today with the Spitfires, turkey season start in the morning.
Thanks for the very humbling opportunity.

 

[Shastaman78]

First post for me. Saw Robby posted it on IG and thought what the heck!

Bow is a 2005 Mathews Outback @ 70lbs with Spot Hogg fixed 7 pin, Rip cord rest, CBE stabilizers and Mathews 2 piece 7 arrow quiver
Arrows are Gold Tip Hunter XT 300, factory components.
broadheads are 125 grain slick trick standards.

60 yards

Shooting at a Rinehart 1/3 scale elk vitals about 7”x9”.
Day 1 overcast, 55 degrees and calm.

day 2. Overcast 57 degrees. No wind. Arrow hit about 1/2 right of day one.
Day 3. Clear and calm. Shooting directly into the sun. About 2” high of my first two shots

day 4. Clear and 71 degrees. No wind. 2” right of center but still in the zone.
day 5. Clear and 52 degrees. Got out of bed and went straight outside and took the shot. Didn’t feel great as I was still kinda waking up! About 6” high. This one blew up my group!

 

[codym]

Bow tech realm x 72lbs
Sport Hogg hogit 7 pin
Black eagle 300 deep impact
Slick trick standard 100’s
70 yard mer



Day 1 4-11-20 72 degrees 16 mph winds out of the southwest



Day 2 4-12-20
68 degrees 21 mph gusts out of the west and south. Probably would have passed the shot today but going turkey hunting Wednesday so want to get this done. Think my pin may a touch low. Still in the money.






Day 3 4-13-20
72 degrees 22 mph out of the southwest. Shot in a lull in the wind. Def need to move my pin up a touch after this.


Day 4 4-14-20

beautiful day 67 degrees very little wind. I torqued the bow. Surprised the shot ended up as good as it did. Gonna leave for turkeys in the morning.... one more shot



Day 5! 4-15-20
Early morning so I can go chase birds. Beautiful 45 degrees no wind.

really happy with the way I shot. The last arrow I shot before this comp was In January when I shot my coues deer. Kind of surprised I shot this well in this challenge. I think what really helped is shooting rifles off barricades everyday. It really helped me settle my pin quick and break a nice shot. Thanks for this challenge, it’s been fun and helpful!

 

[ZachintheBack40]

Day #1
60yrds MER
Slight head wind

Mathews Halon 5, 70#
Black gold slider
8" beestinger stab
Axis 340 @420 grains
125 gr bone single bevel

Shot felt pretty good! 60yrds is all i can get in my backyard. Happy shooting everyone!



Day #2:
61 degrees with no breeze, kept it in the circle! 125 grain bone single bevel, black eagle half-out insert

Day #3
Light wind gust, id say less than 10mph. Just trying to keep the arrow in the white circle, which should be plenty good for deer/elk! I think i rushed a bit as i was settling the pin, barely managed to keep it in

Day #4

Sunny and calm 62° out. Hittin just where i was aiming! Shot felt perfect, hard to not keep shooting on a day like this!

Day #5

Thats it for me! Want to thank the Rokslide crew for putting this on! This was the first time ive participated and look forward to next year! Rokslide is the sh*t!

 

[dkime]

72# Prime Black 5
Spot Hogg fast Eddie XL
Hamskea Hybrid Hunter
CBE Bars
Bow finger mounting hardware
Hamskea Peep
Day Six HD300 AL
Field points for me this year
80yd MER

Day 2, beautiful Easter Sunday

Day 3, tryna beat the weather this morning

Day 4, brief dusting of snow last night, bit chilly today and the body isn’t feeling the best!

Day 5 All She wrote

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rodéo]

DAY 1:
PSE Stinger X 60#; I have been itching to try a "better" bow but this entry level bow (my first) has been everything I could have asked for in terms of accuracy and ease of tuning. No reason to fix what isn't broken.
MER 40 yards
Wind: In my face at 10 mph
Ripcord Drive rest (that I just tuned and timed myself, what a frustrating, but rewarding journey), blackgold widowmaker 5 pin, 5-arrow tighspot quiver, stock strings (need to replace them after this challenge), shooting gold tip 340 arrows with 100 grain brass inserts topped with rage trypan broadhead and backed with MaxHunter fletchings. Shooting a tru-ball thumb release.
Shooting at the center of the white on the target face, which is an 8 inch circle.
Very happy with day one results, felt like I held at full draw forever but I the release felt great and the arrow landed on the mark. Looking forward to tomorrow!
DAY 2:
Slight wind in my face, less than 5mph. Got out this morning feeling real good about yesterdays shot. Again though, I felt like I held at full draw forever and ended up hitting just slightly below where my arrow landed yesterday. Still in the 8 inch vital zone I am aiming for so I'm ok with it.
DAY 3:
Got out in the early afternoon, slight wind at my back this time. Draw and release felt great, results followed. Hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.

DAY 4:
Starting to look like the Spring we're used too here in Northern Cali. Last two days have been about 75 and 80 degrees. Little to no wind today while I shot, felt like I held forever on the draw again. Shot still landed within the eight inch circle I'm going for. Just left of yesterday's shot. Last day tomorrow! Finish strong!

Day 5:
Another beautiful day for shooting. Slight wind (less than 5mph) left to right, about 70 degrees and sunny out. Felt some nerves for this last shot of the CBC. Felt like I pulled my shot slightly but the arrow landed within the vital zone again today for a total of 5/5 "vital" shots. I was thinking about pushing my MER out farther but realistically, being a new hunter, I don't plan on shooting an arrow at anything past 40 yards until I get some more experience. Very thankful for this challenge and the opportunity to get out and practice well ahead of the season! Thanks to the admins and everyone that participated! It was/is fun to see everyone's set-ups and results. Looking forward to the season and next years CBC!

 

[OctoberGold]

My setup:
Mathews Traverse 70lbs 28.5" 75% letoff
Buckslayer strings
MBG Pure 3 pin
Quad HDX
Stokerized 8" carbon stabilizer
Beman ICS 340s with blazers, 50 grain weight, 100 grain tooth of the arrow standards
Carter RX1 release

Going with 35 yards MER for the thick woods whitetails that I typically chase and 6" vitals due to often having to thread the needle through narrow shooting lanes.



Day 1:
Minimal wind, 60 degrees, overcast. Shot felt rushed. I think the nerves got to me.

Day 2:
31 Degrees and snowing, wind from the N (L to R) at 17mph, shot felt good. Just barely caught my 6" ring.

Day 3:
33 degrees and snowing, wind was swirling and variable. After missing low the last 2 shots, I made an on the fly adjustment and aimed with my 40 yard pin. I also focused on settling down and let muscle memory take over.

Day 4: 27 degrees 10mph wind at my back. Shot was executed faster than it should have been.

Day 5: Wind 28 degrees and sunny, wind at 6 mph at my back. Decided to up the ante for the last day and shoot through about an 8" gap between 2 trees.

Shot felt good and I'm satisfied with the result.

This challenge was definitely an eye opener. I assumed my tune would be close enough after installing new strings over the winter. Small form flaws caused some pretty apparent issues in my arrow flight and I think fine tuning will really bring out the forgiveness in this bow. I usually wait until closer to the season to really get the tune dialed, but my bow will be in the press this afternoon. Thanks for the opportunity to participate and putting this all together. Looking forward to next year!

 

[Bowfinn]

PSE Decree
Easton Axis arrows
Montana Black Gold ascent 3 pin
Hamskea hybrid hunter rest
2 Smooth release
60 yards
Day 1 41°F over cast with 4mph wind from NE shooting West to East
Day 2
32°F overcast wind from North 13mph shooting East
Shot felt good but wind carried it slightly right

Day 3
34°F and Cloudy with wind 5 mph from the NE shooting W to E
Shot felt good
Had to change targets but the plate matches my other target size

Day 4
Sunny and 36°F wind was swirling but only 6 mph
shot felt bad but ended up ok. The wind caused me to hesitate as I was pulling through and I came off the back wall slightly.

Day 5
Sunny 44°F and gusty winds of up to 15 mph from the NW shooting W to E
This shot felt the worst of all of the days due to the wind interrupting my normal shot flow

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Shooting my back-up bow.
Blew up my Martin Cougar 2 wks ago.
This is from my Panther Martin Speedflight.Hasn't been shot in 16yrs...
Practiced once at 10 yds(sight in )and (20yds sight in)one week ago.
This is my first real "Cold Attempt"...Miracle in Az.! @ 20yds.
I should have been shooting this last year,as I missed 3 shots at 20yds
during Javelina season. 〽

 

[Sadler]

MER with broadheads is 55 yards on a mule deer sized Kill Zone.

My set up:
Bowtech Revolt at 27.5” draw pulling 68lbs
Spot Hogg Fast Eddie XL double Pin
Hamskea Trinity rest
AAE 10” front bar and 8” back bar held together by their gripper with a 10 degree offset out the front
Five arrow tight spot quiver
Spot Hogg wise guy release

Arrow set up:
300 spine Victory Vap Sport
Valkyrie aluminum center pin Sleeve w/ 180 grain jagger broadhead
4 offset AAE max stealth vanes with a wrap and
Easton G nock

total weight 470 grains. Not sure about the speed. Maybe 260ish but I haven’t chrono’d it.

conditions: sunny with a 10 MPH head wind today.





DAY 2
4/14
Conditions: 50ish degrees, overcast with light rain and no wind. Just a touch right but I’ll take it!



Day 3
Overcast with light rain and no wind.


Day 4
4/18
Overcast again with a slight head wind. A touch left but I’ll take it.


Day 5!
4/19 conditions are calm with an overcast.

 

[StealNtime]

Shooting a Hoyt pro defiant (waiting on a new Mathews VXR 31.5) 28.5", 70# draw, hamskea hybrid hunter rest, Apex covert sight, goldtip pro hunters, with 125 grain tooth of the arrow small broadhead and a Scott sigma release.

I will be shooting at 45 yards. As I am planning on a montana elk hunt with this set up, with a come home and hunt tag.

I will also try and use this same paper target to track my cold shots. The orange sticker is a 3inch circle. I would like to be fairly consist inside of it, but anything within a 6 inch circle I'll be okay with at 45 yards.


Day #1
45 yards, off the porch over the car to add a little pressure. Minimal cross wind. About 1.5 inches low slightly to the left. I will probably find a different place to shoot the next few days, will try to keep the same yardage though.


Day #2: same shot as previous day. Slight breeze at back with small gusts. Shot felt horrible. Bow jumped a little I reset and punched trigger. still trying to get used to a thumb release over a index finger. Still acceptable in the kill zone.
Day #3: pretty gusty. Right to left. Shot felt pretty good, but guess I torqued or something. About 4 inches to left and 2 inches high.
Hopefully tomorrow is better. Would still be in vitals though.


Day #4: decent wind from left to right, paper target was not secured on well. It kept blowing up. When I saw it sit flat I punched it and must have over corrected for wind. About 3.5in left and 1.5in low


Day #5: weather was very poor, sunshine went away as I was getting off work. Windy, rainy, cloudy would hunt in it! Shot was okay not best. I will keep shooting even though this is day 5, not to happy with results.

 

[Hunter270]

Such a fun challenge! Things like this is why I love this site! Such good motivation to be better and keep learning.

I’m shooting a Quest Thrive at about 65 pounds and a 26.5” draw length. I am shooting 5mm Easton Axis arrows with a 400 grain spine. Black Gold 5 pin slider sight, Trophy Ridge drop away, and a hot shot release.

MER will be 60 yards I hope! Shooting field tips as I only have that kind of target at the moment.

Day 1:

Pretty warm, around 50. Very slight breeze left to right.
Day 2:

43 degrees with a wind blowing pretty gusty left to right. Was able to hold my anchor till the wind died down a bit and got lucky, though I hit a bit higher than intended.

Day 3: really windy right to left, about 55 degrees. I jerked the trigger and knew it was a bad shot. I think the wind pushed it and my jerk on the trigger pulled it high.


Day 4: Strong winds again right to left, about 60 degrees. I held for wind better but still rushed and pulled it a little high. Still within what I would classify my kill zone.


Day 5: nice day about 60 degrees. Very little wind going toward the target. Felt good about the shot.


This challenge has been a great eye opener. I feel pretty good about things since I haven’t picked up my bow since about October of last year. So for the first five shots in almost 7 months, and 4/5 in the kill zone, not too bad. I did notice that I need to practice more in the wind. Both from judging the effect on my arrow, and just being able to hold more steady.

 

[Slim Jim]

I’m super pumped for this! This year I am dropping 5 yards down to 70. As the years goes on I feel that I need to be honest with myself and shoot a yardage that not only do I stay in vitals but STAY CONSISTENT in the vitals. I have my peep set up to where my perfect anchor is 40-45 yards which I think is a good average yardage for stalks on animals. If I was to consistently shoot long bombs I would lower my peep. This isn’t an excuse just reality.

My setup is a Hoyt RX-3 62# with a 29-1/2” draw. My arrows are Easton Injexions with a 6 fletch @ 462 grains with a field point.

Today was a little windy 10-15mph sustained from the southwest (head/crosswind). I was contemplating starting tomorrow lol. The target is a 18-in-1 Rinehart. I painted the middle which is about 10” with a 3” bullseye.

Day 1
About 3” out of bullseye @ 8 O’clock

I’m shooting on an empty lot in my neighborhood. Might have to move to the empty lot right next to my house for tomorrow. Too bad I can only reach 43 yards in my backyard. Oh well only 4 more times

Day 2
Looks like I’m out lol
Wind 5-10 coming from the same direction as yesterday with light rain

About 6” out of bullseye @ 4 O’clock
Should’ve waited a half hour. It got nice and calm.

Day 3
I had to wait till dusk for winds to calm down
Winds were breezy about 5-7 mph

Much better shot tonight. On the 3 O’clock line of bullseye.

Day 4
Waited till dusk again because of winds
I had about a 5 mph breeze at my back

About 2” out of bullseye @ 8 O’clock
Similar to day 1

Day 5
Waited till dusk again but winds didn’t die down. 10-15 head/crosswind

Unreal that I hit almost the same spot 3 of my 5 days. This one is about 2” out of bullseye @ 7 O’clock

That’s a wrap for me. Now I can go back to my daily reps lol. Thank you Robby, Ryan, and every one else involved in this cold bow challenge! Love it
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rich.maes]

MER 40 yards
Bow: Prime Logic CT3 70lbs 29”
Rest: QAD MTX
Sight: Spot Hogg Hog Father 2 pin
Arrows: Easton axis 5mm match grade, 50gr brass insert, elk river archery arrow footers, Day Six 100gr broadheads, blazer vanes
Release: Spot Hogg Wiseguy BOA

Day 1: No wind, shot felt good

Day 2: No wind, punched the trigger a bit, but fortunately ended up ok

Day 3: No wind, I caught myself trying to look at the arrow flight instead of following through properly.

Day 4: No wind

Day 5: No wind, shot felt good

 

[chapman8523]

Day 1-
MER 50 yards
Bowtech Carbon Knight
Black Gold sight
Easton FMJ 5MM
100 gr field points
Light wind, 36 degrees, but still too much damn snow here in AK haha.
Center circle represents kill shot and Dall sheep sized vital surrounding center circle.
Thanks for throwing this all together, I greatly appreciate it. Something fun to take part in while everything seems to be jacked up.




Day 2-
Rain, no wind, 36 degrees
Same set up, felt myself pull the shot a little


Day 3-
Lucked out again, no wind, 46 degrees, light on and off sprinkle, just a perfect day to fling an arrow.
As soon as I released I knew it was a solid shot. The hard part was not staying out to shoot some more!


Day 4-
Calm evening, 45 degrees. Worst shot yet but not terrible. My little shooting buddy might have been talking a little smack to his dad haha.



Day 5-
No wind, rain, 44 degrees
For some reason there was a small amount of hesitation with the shot.

Just wanted to say thank you for putting this together, I enjoyed it. Good luck to all and for those that win congrats!

 

[jppedersen48]

Excited to be a first-timer for the Cold Shot Challenge! Shooting in Southern Wisconsin. Compound is at 50 yards and traditional is at 20. Shooting for a kill zone on an elk. The Delta Deadstop target circle is 6", the paper target is 8" to the first ring. All shots moving forward will be on the Delta Deadstop. Tried shooting a broadhead with my longbow and outsert pulled out in the target so will be all field point from here on out. Probably a one-off but Iron Will's are not cheap so don't feel like losing any more.

Gear:
Compound-
- Mathews Vertix 70lb 30.5" Draw
- TruFire Release
- 8" Bee Stinger Stabilizer
- HHA Tetra Single-Pin Site
- HHA Virtus Rest
- 5MM Easton FMJ Arrows
- Shooting with field point but hunting broadhead changing to Iron Will S125 from Sevr mechanical

Traditional-
- Big River Bows 66" Longbow
- 52 at 28"
- Black Eagle Instinct Arrows
- Shooting field point but hunting broadhead is Iron Will S175

Rangefinder-
- Vortex Ranger 1800

Day 1- 54 degrees, 15-20mph winds

First shot since this past fall. More luck than anything and I can tell the bow needs some tuning as I wasn't thrilled with the arrow flight. The wind was going left to right at about a 45 degree angle.







Day 2- 58 Degrees, 5-10mph winds at my back. Shot off my deck which mimics tree stand elevation fairly well.
Pleased with the compound 50 yard shot but lost focus on the longbow shot, I was aiming for the center circle. There is a reason I still grab my compound when heading to the woods in pursuit of game.





Day 3- Stiff winds today- WNW at 20mph and gusts well above that. Realistically, I should not have taken this shot as I was having a hard time holding the bow on target with the high winds. I tried to time it around a break in the wind but lesson learned the hard way as this is obviously a wounded animal unless I get lucky and it sails over it's back or ducks the string. Longbow shot was better than yesterday but still need to tighten it up, I'm over thinking my form with only having the "1-shot".




Day 4- 34 degrees and calm with a slight breeze. It was a beautiful night to shoot, my only regret is that all I was allowed was 2 shots (compound & trad bow). Compound shot was solid but I can tell I need to get my strength up, I've been struggling to hold the pin on target. Traditional I'm seeing a pattern of being 4-5" to the right, which historically has never been an issue for me, especially at 20 yards.





Day 5- 36 degrees and slight breeze, another beautiful night to shoot. I ended strong with the compound putting another arrow in the kill zone making it 4 out of 5 for kill shots. The one miss was the lesson learned on Day 3 of not taking the shot when conditions aren't ideal. The longbow was once again way off. This really surprised me as I use to be able to consistently shoot softball size groups at 20 yards. Nerves of the Cold Bow Challenge? Frankly, I enjoy shooting my compound more anyways so the longbow is going back on the rack for a rainy day.





This was a fun challenge and I could see myself testing myself more often with it. I need to tweak some things with my bow as I wasn't thrilled with performance but instead of it being the end of July I have all summer to shoot and fine tune things.

 

[annamee]

Bow: Carbon Rose
Arrow: Gold Tip. Kinetic Pierce 500 Platinum.
Broadhead: Ulmer's Edge 100 grain
MER: 40 yards

Day 1

Day 2
Happy Easter. No wind.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

 

[Howard Mee]

Bow: Bowtech Insanity
Arrows: Maxima Hunter 350. Weight forward
Broad head: Ulmer’s Edge. 100 grain
MER: 50 yards

Day 1

Day 2

No excuses. I botched it. Can’t blame the winds. If I used the wrong pin that’s still my fault. No clue, but oh well...

what just happened?!?

Day 3
No wind. Clear skies. No excuses

Day 4
I officially dislike this game. I have no idea... my pride isn’t ready for this kind of embarrassment. Shot felt good. No wind worth mentioning. The arrow did a pretty good wiggle and waggle as if flew, but I’m baffled. #nopride #won’tpostoninstagram haha!

Day 5
Glad to be done. I’m all over the place. I’m kind of hoping it’s a gear issue. Time to find out.

 

[68Plexi]

Hey all. First time participating in this. Love the idea. I only have one season (short at that) of bow hunting under my belt so go easy on me!

I use a New Breed Genetix 60# draw

Spott Hogg Fast Eddie double single pin sight


Blackout X3 Hunter 340 arrows with 100 grain field tips

It’s my first bow. Brother in law gave me an
old Browning bow a few years ago which needed so much work I just ended up finding the New Breed used and I’m happy with it.

MER is 30 yards for now. Hoping that improves over the summer. There’s still snow in my backyard so I’m driving 30 min to lower elevation to shoot. Still worth it.

Day 1: A few inches left of where I was aiming but I’d take this any day! 58 degrees with a light 5+ mph wind.

Day 2: 46 degrees with a colder 10mph wind left to right. Today I learned a valuable lesson I hope never to repeat in the field. I checked Allen bolts tightness on my sight before I put the bow away last night and moved the dial to 20 yards in the process instead of my 30 yard MER.

Completely forgot about any of this until after the shot hit a rock short of the target and ricocheted up into the block. Broke the nock off of my arrow too. 30>20. Check the dial man.

Day 3: 49 degrees and sunny. Best weather in a while. 5mph left to right wind. Pushed it right but still in my 8” zone. Shot felt good this time finally.

Day 4: 42 degrees and no wind. I’ve seen guys in this challenge shooting in the snow, high wind and some at 60+ yards. I understand that some of those circumstances are out of their control (weather) and some are just skill level. So today I decided to take my shot with 20 min of legal shoot light left to add some realistic situational challenge other than distance. Doesn’t look so much like low light in the pic but that’s what a good camera does for you. It’s not as easy shooting at my black block in low light that’s for sure!

Pushed the shot right again, almost in the exact spot I shot yesterday. Not sure why.

Day 5: Today I wanted to try and shoot in low light again so I got up early and took this shot 7 minutes after legal shoot light. 6:00 am. No wind, 30 degrees. Thankfully, enough snow has melted in the last few days I was able to shoot much closer to home.

I was a lot more patient with my shot today, and I’ll take that result in the field, but it was still a little right of where I was aiming. I’ve got a lot of room to improve, but the good news is I’ve got all summer ahead of me to work on it!

Thank you Robby for the motivation to get my bow out in April. Where I live there’s a good amount of snow 6 months out of the year which makes shooting close to home difficult, but it doesn’t have to be an excuse anymore.

Also, thank you to the sponsors for supporting the challenge. Your generosity never goes out of style.

I don’t expect many people in the challenge to read this, but to those participating, thank you for posting your honest results, good or bad, snow, wind, all of it. It’s encouraging for a new archer like me to see how broad the spectrum is here. I’m already starting to make goals for next year and a lot of that comes from seeing how well many of you shoot.

 

[KRB]

HOYT carbon defiant
55 lbs
26 inch draw
VAP Elite 400
100 grain Kudu Broadheads
Black Gold 5 pin Ascent Verdict
Bee stinger 5” stabilizer
Truefire wrist release

Shooting current MER 40 yards
Kill zone is white center circle. Representing heart/lung area of mule deer.

Day 1
Haven’t shot since January. Shot once after coming back from Arizona and my bow seemed to be shooting high. Slacking and haven’t resighted it.
Wind 20mph left to right.
Temp: 60 F
After hiking 6.5 miles for sheds.

Day 2
Temp: 48 F
No wind
Horrible glare from the sun coming up
High again and fighting the urge to shoot a bunch and sight her in!!

Day 3
Temp: 55 F
Slight swirling breeze
Sprinkling rain
Glare from sun
Felt myself pull left
Seems terrible but reminding myself my bow is shooting high. Looking at all three pics so far my group wouldn’t be too bad.

Day 4
Temp: 43 F
No wind
Glare from sun
Felt like a great shot
Really ready to move my sight up!!!!

Day 5
Temp: 44 F
No wind
Same ol sun glare
Felt myself pull left.
Yay!! I can finally shoot more and move my sight!!!!!! All in all happy with my overall group for the last 5 days especially since I haven’t shot for a few months.

s