Cold Bow Challenge 2020!

[jt4]

Mathews Vertix 75# 30” draw
Catfish customs strings
MBG Ascent Verdict Assault .10 single pin
6” Bee stinger stabilizer
Spot Hogg wise guy release
Tight spot 5 arrow quiver that I forgot to put on for day 1 shoot. I’ll put on the bow for the other days. Hope this doesn’t rule me out.

Black eagle rampage 250
Valkyrie 150g heads
~ 550g total arrow weight.
60 yards at a 120# (or so) deer sized target

Last year I shot a super heavy and high FOC arrow setup. This year I’m dropping down to a much lighter setup. So far all I’ve done is paper tune bareshafts and shot to 35 yards with a fletched arrow a few times this past weekend. My sight tape from last year is still on so I had to guess where 60 yards would be. It turned out my sight tape is set on 43 yards from last year to shoot 60 this year.

Day 1:

Slight breeze right to left. Damn near perfect conditions.

Day 2:

I put my full quiver on minus the one arrow Im shooting (forgot it day 1). It definitely makes the bow a little more off balanced. Im going to try something new every day to try and make it more “out of a comfort zone” and as real as possible. Today I shot with a pack on for the first time so that was new. Not happy with the shot but that’s why we practice.

Day 3:

Spitting snow with no real wind. Shot felt good. It’s a bit further back than I’d want but it’s a dead deer.

Day 4:

Day 5:

Shot felt good. If his near leg is taking a step forward as I’d prefer this is a shot I like.

This was a cool challenge, but it’s tough for me to go out and shoot my bow only once. Now I can get back to practicing!

 

[MuleyFever]

I am shooting an Athens Solace. Weight is about 63#s at 29". Shooting 400 spine Gold Tip Kenetics with a 100gr Slick Trick. Black Gold Rush sight and Trophy Taker Smack Down Pro rest. My MER is 40 yds for this challenge and I am using the vitals of the deer represented on my target.


Day one:
about 35 degrees with a slight breeze from my right.


Day 2:
About 40 degrees with a slight wind in my face.


Day 3:
About 40 degrees and calm


Day 4:
About 40 degrees and calm today.

Day 5:
About 45 degrees and a drizzle. No wind.

 

[HO1_runner]

I am new to forum and shooting a bow. Picked up my bow last November to shoot with my husband. Due to intense training leading up to Olympic trials for marathon that was at the end of February I have not shot since the end of December. Goal is to get in shooting shape and take my first deer this upcoming season. My current MER is 20 yards with goal of hitting inside the green circle on target.

I am shooting an elite emerge set at 26” draw and 42 lbs. Easton aftermath arrows and G5 striker broad heads. Sight is a trophy ridge 5 pin which I have only set a 20 & 30 yards so far.

Day 1: 47 degrees, 14 mph winds, missed low and right

Day 2: 67 degrees, 6 mph winds. Shot didn’t feel good. Shaky from lack of practice. These are also the first broad heads I’ve shot.

Day 3: 75 degrees, 12 mph winds, shot felt good.

Day 4: 72 degrees, 5mph winds, best feeling shot I’ve had this challenge.

Day 5: 60 degrees, 5mph wind, light rain.

Thanks for putting on this challenge. Looking forward to working on extending my practice range and setting up the rest of my pins by the start of the season. Then will retest given a smaller target area (maybe the orange dot shown) before moving back.

 

[pwmmcd]

Hi all, I'm pretty new on here.
Shooting a Bear Motive 7 30" and 60lb draw, Trophy Ridge Joker 4 pin Sight, Cabela's Carbon Hunter with 100 gr. Muzzy MX4 broadheads. MER is 40yds out of a tree stand shooting on a 6' circle (whitetail vitals). I'm just starting to get my feet wet in bow hunting. I shot a buck (at 45 yards) and turkey (at 25 yards) last fall, but I am a full time student at Purdue and haven't practiced since hunting season because I guess they frown upon shooting bows on campus or something like that. Obviously, I'm home now, so I am gonna take advantage of this opportunity to sharpen my skills.

Day 1: 35 degrees out, 12mph wind out of the west (right side of image) Shot felt ok, but this is a REALLY cold bow challenge for me right now since I'm pretty rusty.


Day 2: 32 degrees out, 20mph gusting wind out of east (left side). Shot was rushed. I wanted to get it before the weather rolled in. Just as I released wind gust hit me. So, it's no surprise this was the result. Probably would have resulted in a direct hit to the dream deflector...

Day 3: Learning from my mistakes, I looked back in my notes and confirmed that my 3rd pin is my 40 yard pin, not my 2nd (which I had used for the first two days) As I walked outside I confirmed that the weather was perfect, 40 degrees, sunny, 10 mph wind. As a result, I did a quick round of jumping jacks before climbing into the stand to reproduce that feeling of breathlessness and elevated HR when a buck is in front of you. Draw back, and held for 20 seconds, waited on pin to settle at top of circle and released. The result was about as good as it gets for me.
Day 4:
Raining 40 degrees, pulled back and shot felt good. Ended good too.
Day 5: 50 degrees and sunny. Pulled back, shot felt good. Result was also good.

 

[Ryan.kemp14]

Got my first bow for Christmas excited to get shooting and working my yardage up for this coming elk season but for now I'm focusing on my form and building good habits. Thanks for putting this on this cold bow challenge, its so awesome to be a part of Rokslide.

MER: 20 yards
Bow: Matthews diamond
Arrows: Easton
Field points
Rest: Came on the bow
Sight: Come on the bow
35 lbs 25.5” ~

I’m shooting down a small slope near my house which kinda simulates Elk season.
Day 1:
Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4 cross wind kinda of three me off a lit bit but I still made an okay shot
Day 5
Thank you for putting on the cold bow challenge to the staff, and the sponsors

 

[CREillY]

MER: 40 yards - Vital size 7-8 inches (Whitetail Treestand)

Bow: RealmX 70lbs
Site: Spot Hogg Fast Eddie XL with the double pin pointer
Rest: QAD Ultra Rest HDX
Stabilizer: 12" Octane
Quiver: Tight Spot Whitetail edition (Has the hanging loop)

Arrow: CE Maxima Hunter 350
Broadhead: Slick Trick 100g - I change broad heads all the time.



Day 1:
Weather: 35*F and a 5-10mph wind at my back

Day 2, 4/18 Weather: 58*F slight breeze from my left to right

Day 3. 4/19 45*F no wind. Starting to see a pattern. I may have bumped something when I was dragging out my last deer. It's been hard not to shoot a couple field points. This makes me want to get back out there!

Day 4: 4/26 68*F No wind, pulled this one.

Day 5 4/27 73*F Wind from my right to left 5-10 mph. I shot a couple field points after my last CBC shot today and they were grouping on target at 40 yards. I'll to spent some time broad head tuning/testing and shoot it through paper again. I'm glad I'm doing this now and not closer to the season. Thanks for putting this on Rokslide!

 

[RaggedHunter]

Setup:
PSE Evoke 35
30.5" draw length
70 lbs
Hamskea Trinity rest
Spot Hogg Boss hogg 5 pin
Quivalizer

Arrows:
Day Six HD 300 50 gr. Centric outserts
125 gr Cutthroat Broadheads
Flex Fletch ffp360, 3 fletch + wrap

Total arrow weighs 535 gr.
Speed 280 fps

Will shoot for 80 yards as MER.
Kill zone will be the 10 ring, which I've colored with a silver sharpie to help stand out. The top of the 10 is shot out so we will just have to imagine it up there.



Day 1: 42° sunny, 2-3 mph breeze from my right to left.
Day 2: Sunny, 64°, gusty 5-10 mph wind directly at my back. Tricky shot, gusts of wind made holding difficult, ended up holding much longer than normal waiting for the wind to die down. Luckily caught a little break from the wind and the shot broke clean. Looking like my sight tape might be a little slow, may need to bump to a slightly faster tape as I appear to be shooting out the top.
Day 3: Cloudy, Rained earlier in the day. ~5 mph wind from my right to left. Height has been very consistent so far.

Day 4: Sunny 48°, ~3-5 mph wind directly in my face. Had to let down once due to wind gusting a little. Waited a few minutes for wind to die down a bit. Shot broke clean. Consistently shooting a little high, I will bump to a slightly faster sight tape after my last shot tomorrow.

Day 5. 50° overcast, no wind. Shot broke clean, hell of a last arrow. I really enjoyed this challenge, I got a lot more out of these 5 arrows than I would have gotten out of shooting groups the last 5 days, gained a ton of confidence in my setup. Cant wait for September to get here!

 

[Timberline001]

MER is 60 yards with a 5.5 inch vital for spot and stalk antelope. Hunting the unlimited draw archery season here in Idaho this year so I’m excited to test my max effective range on the smaller vitals of antelope and see how I do in our flat land desert wind. Shot VAPs last year and while they shot good, I had one crack in my quiver and missed a bull because of it. Going back to my old faithful gold tips this year but keeping the Ozcut 3 blade. I was super impressed with its performance on my buck last year and love that I can screw them on after field tips with no adjustment. This shot is my first this year with a broad head

Setup:2016 Elite impulse 31
Black gold fixed 5 pin with .19 pins
Elite fixed quiver
Elite stab
Gold tip velocity XT 300s with 4 blazer vanes
100 grain ozcut broadhead

Day 1 46 degrees, partly cloudy wind going right to left at 10 MPH. Didn’t hold far enough right for wind
Day 2 36 degrees, hailing, 15-20MPH wind at back. Didn’t time the wind gusts right and pulled the shot.
Day 3 38 degrees, sunny, 20mph with heavy gusts. Shot right of the target today. Wind died down between gusts so I started to take my shot then a gust came up right as I pulled through. Should have passed on the shot.
Day 4 31 degrees sunny with 5 mph breeze at back. Shot felt great! Didn’t over think it today.
Day 5 40 degrees sunny with 5 mph breeze at back, pulled the shot to the right

 

[cameo_250]

MER is 50 yards with a 8 inch vital for spot and stalk mule deer. Hunting the archery season here in Utah this year so I’m excited to test my max effective range. Last season I was 6 months pregnant and had a hard time hiking around so no luck, but the past two years before that I have tagged out. Hoping for better luck this year!

Setup: New Breed G2
Black gold 5 pin sight
Tight spot quiver

Day 1: 52 degrees, partly cloudy wind going right to left at 8 MPH.
Was aiming dead center on the target and hit high and left

Day 2: 59 degrees and cloudy with 6mph winds. Was aiming dead center on the target (brought out my smaller target today) and landed high once again, now I know I definitely need to adjust my pins

Day 3: 41 degrees today and just started snowing hard, today was much better! Still a little left, and still aiming dead center.

Day 4: 48 degrees and partly cloudy, 8 mph wind. Aiming at the center of the target and not super pleased with my shot today, hopefully I’ll do better tomorrow for my last shot

Day 5: 57 degrees and partly cloudy with 8 mph winds today. Aiming center of the target and once again hit a little high.

I’m not to disappointed in myself since I haven’t practiced since last season but there is definitely lots of room for improvement!

 

[Bill V]

Looks like I'm late to the party. I'm a sponsor, so not in for the prizes, just wanted to participate.

Just got a new bow setup, tuned and sighted in.

Mathews VXR 31.5, 77 lbs, 30" draw. Hamskea Trinity rest and Black Gold Ascent slider sight with 4 pins.

Easton Axis 260 arrows, Fusion II vanes, 3 fletch at 3 degrees offset, Iron Will HIT, Impact Collar and Iron Will s125 Broadhead, 530 grains total weight, speed is 285 fps,



Going for a caribou sized vitals at 100 yards, since I have a hunt planned for August in Alaska. Note: I don't intend to shoot an animal this far but I want this to be my effective range for a follow up shot when possible. 1st shot at 100 yards:



Day 2, 100 yards:




Day 3 conditions: I was thinking about calling a snow day with a foot of new snow on the ground and still coming down, but Robby told me to "suck it up!", haha. It was snowing and blowing pretty good with the snow going sideways left to right. I aimed several inches to the left of center and hit about 5 inches right of center. I aimed just a little high also, but there didn't seem to be any additional drop due to snow, much less effect than rain in my experience. It was pretty fun actually and a good learning experience. I posted a video of this on our Instagram story @ironwilloutfitters.



Day 3 Shot at 101 yards:



Day 4 was a very good day, Iron Will s125 100 yards:



Day 5: I was not very steady at the shot this morning and hit high right. I feel I hit behind my pin, but my pin wasn't quite where I wanted it when the shot broke. I had a lot more pin movement today compared to the other four days, likely because it was early and I had too much coffee and no food yet. Something to keep in mind on a hunt I guess especially if you are getting worn down and tired as the hunt goes on.

Day 5 100 yard shot:



Overall I'm really happy with the 5 days. I met my goal to keep it in a caribou sized vitals at 100 yards in case a long follow up shot was needed. With this goal in mind, I took the time to get my new bow really well tuned. This challenge gave me a great head start to being ready when I get off that bush plane four months from now. Thanks to everyone who participated and good hunting!

 

[208backcountry]

Hey guys! I am the lucky alternate. Excited to see if I can learn some things from this challenge.

I just began shooting broadheads, for the year, earlier this week. They have been flying true, so I am going to go ahead and shoot them for this challenge. Hopefully I don’t regret this decision; see above, “Excited to see if I can learn some things from this challenge.”

I am shooting a block target, I am going to use the side with the larger, white target face and allow the white portion to be my kill zone. It is approximately the size of a cantaloupe and should offer a tight, conservative kill zone. My primary species in mind is mule deer. I’m calling my MER at 50 yards.

BOW SETUP:
-Bear Arena 34 (29” draw, approx. 72#)
-Black Gold Ascent 4 pin slider
-Bee stinger Pro Hunter 12” stabilizer
w/ 4 oz. up front
-Matthews static sidebar mount w/ 5 oz. out the back (no bar, just weight, this is a new system I am tinkering with, may or may not make the cut in September, anyone with back bar mounting advice for this particular bow please PM) (for anyone concerned, any alterations to this setup will happen AFTER the challenge)
-Tightspot 5 arrow quiver (loaded with 4 arrows for the duration of the challenge, to perfectly mimic a hunting situation)

ARROW SETUP:
-Easton Carbon Injexion 4mm 280 spine
-4 fletch fusion x-ii 2.75” strait clamp w/ significant offset
-Ethics archery stainless steel half-out/collar system
-100 gr Slick Trick Magnum
-591.4 gr total weight

Release
-Carter Too Simple release


Butter-fingers cut like butter! Off to a poor start. Handle your broadheads carefully folks, they are sharp! Don’t worry, I think I’m gonna live. I’m a lefty so this may actually help me not to punch the trigger. Gonna head out to shoot here in a few.

Day 1:
Gusty today. Snuck out between scattered storms. 59 degrees, 10 mph crosswind. Not gonna lie, nerves got the best of me, rushed. Got the miss that I deserved.


Day 2:
Sunny, 55 degrees, 6 mph tailwind. Shot felt great, pulled through well. Hit a little high of center, but I am not going to beat myself up over a vital hit.

Day 3:
63 degrees, sunny, 5 mph crosswind left to right. Miss, just high. Felt solid when the shot broke, not sure what went wrong, I will get this weekend’s bear hunt to think about it. (Hopefully not too much)

Day 4:
Sunny 70 7mph tailwind. Miss, high again, shot felt good. I’m seeing a trend that I will need to look into after this challenge.

Day 5:
Sunny 71 degrees, 2mph headwind. Got in my own head about hitting high my last few shots. Decided to aim a little low. Miss, low right. Safe to say I need to work on some things.

 

[trslabaugh]

I got in as an alternate, as well.

I am shooting a Mathews Triax at 60lb and a 24.5" draw. Mathews stabilizer, Hamskea rest, Black Gold 5 pin slider sight. Arrows are Black Eagle Outlaws with 70 grain inserts up front, 4 fletched with AAE Pro Max vanes. I will be shooting this with broadheads, Iron Will S100. My release is a Scott index finger release.

I chose 50 yards as MER and will be shooting my hog target. My kill zone is the lower half of the replaceable insert. I look forward to testing myself over the next 4 shots!


The bow, broadhead, and the first shot.



Day one was cold, but little to no wind.



Day 2: Was super windy today, temp got up to 70. Wind gust up to 30. Very realistic in that during the last hour of light (when animals would be getting up to move) the winds calmed down to 10-15 mph quartering from right to left. I snuck another right behind the shoulder blade.



Day 3: 50 degrees with a very light Northeast wind, 5-7. It is blowing almost directly from target to me. I shot a little low today, out of my intended area. Not by much and on a real hog, I feel this is almost the ideal shot. It'll pass, but I want a better ending group!



Day 4: Nice day out. Around 75, but with a steady 15 mph wind blowing from right to left across my range. I let this one fly when I should have let down and tried again. The Iron will would have blasted through that leg bone, but I don't think it would be lethal. I gotta make up for it tomorrow, last shot!


Day 5: 58 degrees, light mist and a 10 mph wind quartering to me from right to left. I hit the hog right where you don't want to hit a hog. That arrow would have stuck in his shield/scapula and he would be running to the next county.

 

[Taydog77]

Hoyt Helix Ultra. Gold Tip kinetic pierce. Wasp fixed 4blade Broadhead 125gn. HHA Optimizer Tetra single pin.


Day 1: MER 60yds
12kt crosswind

Humbling and windy first day but like hunting, tomorrow is a new day!

Day 2: MER 60yds
Slight headwind.

Much more stable this morning.

Day 3: MER 60yds
No wind

Day 4:MER 60yds
6mph crosswind

Day 5: MER 60yds
5mph tailwind

4” low 1” right

This was a great test especially early in the season to have a good baseline for hunting. Gives me things to work on and realistically adds stress to the shot. Enjoyed this challenge and can’t wait to get even more dialed. #rokslide


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[realunlucky]

Alright guys, we have reached 200 shooters. Good luck and thank you for being apart of this challenge!

Any new entries below this one will be deleted.

Please see the cold bow challenge Q&A Thread here for more info to become an alternate shooter if we have to disqualify someone.

Everyone please edit your original post with all additional shooting days as stated in the rules in post#1 of the challenge.

All posts below this one will be deleted

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Here is the list of shooters who have completed the challenge so far. If you do NOT see your name on the list and you think you qualified A- check your original post and make sure you didn't goof. B- Shoot me a PM.

Remember, you have until the 28th to complete the challenge if you haven't already!

280 Ackley

MTSabo

Turkeygetpwnd38

GIS

Gorp2007

Skyler_2010

Mtnkid85

Bsnedeker

Bigwoods

The Legend

sndmn11

SHoug07

Bowhunter50

KickinNDishin

aa_smith11

KSadventures80

Ten Bears

MuleyVentures

jmav58

180 Splitg3

Wyatt.Carter

CaliforniaMuley209

bjfoxhoven

Swampcruiser

colersu22

NDGuy

jb79

TripleJ

ColoradoV

jkdrgn

CM

TravisIN

Block

RockyMountainThunder

3pointer

Trumpkin The Dwarf

wyoguy

doverpack12

kylem

tornadomateo

cg2737

ZDR

stonewall

Huntingnorseman

big44a4

Jalenweyker

motts

TheCougar

FatCampzWife

Zew

C.payne

Wapiti1

damxam

Felix40

Anvil69

sram9102

Whisky

casey.draper

MC2FS

Dennis

gburk

ShakeDown

willfrye027

Cody_W

Fryebl

rokbottom

switchback270

Sniff

GregB

Billy Goat

OXN939

Miflatlander91

huntr6

E_Bersing

steelheadmike

Ucsdryder

IdahoHntr

dirtytough

cody21peterson

CaseyU

casey58

chasewild

JDZ

Topo_trekker

Rhighley40

doncarpenter

mtnrunner260

NHRedleg

Fozzy26

slaton

jasonwidaho

mickfam03

Pockets380

rj2

Reburn

Jimbob

Scottyboy

HuntWyld

slosurfer

CApighunter

thegoosano

Robin.Hood_88

JBahr

gilaelkhunt

renagde

DKlaty

NeedleCrook

HeadnWest

Randle

bward34

307

OutdoorsSD

Hpad22

snopro176

Raygun15E

Elkhntr08

Shastaman78

codym

ZachintheBack40

dkime

rodkazempour

OctoberGold

Bowfinn

Sadler

StealNtime

Hunter270

Slim Jim

Rich.maes

chapman8523

Jacob Pedersen

annamee

Howard Mee

68Plexi

KRB

huntnfolk

kc27

Twiser13

Ratbeetle

TX_Diver

peterlindskoog

cusecat04

gffr31

badshot

Don Qui Puncher

RhodeKill

chippewawarrior

alindsey1237

Fatcamp

WesternHunter

Jadamjordan

dguns18

Travis Bertrand

MichHunter

HDwild

jlaner0408

Spence14

B_Reynolds_AK

Dharris7

StopMakingSense

S.Clancy

wadestew

Beendare

StephMae

sneaky

DKlaty

Tag_Soup

bsturner

BRTreedogs

BackcountryBloodline

bow_dozer

lak2004

sandhillhunter

19hunt92

ben47

Autonamic

FaunaRidge

cojohunter

SLDMTN

Chad.frank

HHairball

Graves14

Jericson

Tanner W

ntrlbrnhunter

tpriest17

silasbowhunter

Truitt

Oldave

thereal_tlc

Browtinemt

PONYBOY

The legend

jt4

MuleyFever

HO1_runner

pwmmcd

Ryan.kemp14

CreillY

RaggedHunter

Timberline001

cameo_250

208backcountry

trslabaugh

taydog77

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

The Legend

 

[realunlucky]

Exciting news, the drawing for prizes will be held some time during the week of May 4th.
Thank you to everyone for coming out and shooting the 2020 Cold Bow Challenge, hopefully it opened your eyes to some things to work on before the season kicks off. I know it sure did for me.
Double check that your name is on the qualified list. You'll need to PM me with any questions since this thread is locked.
Good luck drawing one of the awesome prizes donated by the generous sponsors. Please remember to support those who support us.

 

[robby denning]

Travis and I are hoping to hold the drawing, and announce the winners throughout this week. Gonna draw from smallest prize to biggest. Stay tuned.

 

[robby denning]

Hey Roksliders...
You got it, we've drawn for the winners!!!
This is the plan: I'll post from the bottom of the prize list to the Grand Prize Zeiss Harpia Spotter, starting with the first 6 today, 5 more Wednesday, 5 more on Thursday, then the Harpia on Friday!

First, big thanks to @Travis Bertrand @realunlucky @Howard Mee @Justin Crossley THERE IS NO WAY we could host this challenge without those guys.

So, here we go.

DAY 1 Drawing Winners:

Utah Hydrographics $50 Gift Card goes to @colersu22

The Tight Spot 5 Quiver from @SportsmansFinest goes to @Wapiti1

The Tyto 1.1 Cerakote Ultralight Knife goes to @ShakeDown

Set #1 of the GAS Bowstrings courtesy of @Muleyslayer1 goes to @ZachintheBack40

Set #2 of the GAS Bowstrings courtesy of @Muleyslayer1 goes to @TravisIN

The Initial Ascent 4-pack of Pack Sacks goes to @Anvil69

DAY 2 Drawing Winners:

The Phoneskope/Pyro Putty/Mega & Compact Inferno Ferro Rods go to @Topo_trekker

The Black Ovis Arrow ID dozen build goes to @cg2737 (thanks @ktowncamo)

The Crispi Boots $250 Gift Card and San Juan Socks go to @StopMakingSense (thanks again @ktowncamo)

The Ironwill Wide Broadheads courtesy of @Bill V go to @CaseyU

The @S&S ARCHERY Trekking Poles courtesy of @S&S Archery (Rob) go to @sandhillhunter

DAY 3 Drawing Winners:

@ktowncamo of Camofire also generously put up the Stealth Cam G45NGD and a $50 Camofire gift card--this goes to @thegoosano

Our friends at Maven put up the awesome C.3 in 10x50 or 12x50. These go to @bsnedeker !

onX Hunt jumped in with a premium membership. We drew @Swampcruiser

And Yeti generously put up the Yeti 65, this goes to @TheCougar

From Sitka, one of my personal fav pieces--the Apex Hoody--goes to @B_Reynolds_AK

The Grand Prize Zeiss Harpia Victory Spotter goes to...

(let’s see if he’s been anticipating this and how long it takes him to watch the video ha ha Ha ha ha.)

You have 7 days to claim your prize by emailing me your shipping info at [email protected] or we'll draw for an alternate!

You can post question/comments here: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/thr...llenge-question-comment-thread.164928/page-33