Hi all, figured I would actually try to contribute something today...my dive head first into the archery world coming from a rifle nut.
I found my self looking to increase my season of opportunity, specifically on moose and elk in the rut up here in select bow zones in Alberta.
I picked up a used 2009 mathews monster xlr8 on the cheap. I know what your thinking at this point...you picked a 350ibo bow with a 5" brace height and POS torque inducing grip as your first bow?? smart? Well, I like performance and this would not be a deer specific setup. It will be 100% for the larger variety big game.
first things first, Tore it down and had the riser and limbs hydro-dipped in kuiu vias here locally. didnt turn out the best as the riser was a little too complex of a shape for the applicator. So a cheap price insued. Next step was some 30" mods from mathews (i measure out at almost 31"dl but 30 was the max in this case.)
I had almost a year to the season opener so I could take my time, do a ton of research on tuning and products and shop for deals along the way. So no great rush to put it together. Pickup up a 5 pin spot hog hunter for less than half retail. Sourced a 6" bee stinger, QAD hdx and half a dozen maxima red arrows from the local shop. Found a Scott little goose release on sale as well as a new 2016 tight spot in 5-arrow config on sale from black ovis gear. The kuiu dip vs the tight spot dip dont match the best, but it is livable for now.
I pieced everything back together myself, installed and leveled the sight myself. The initial set-up of the rest was left to the local bow shop as it came with a "free" installation with purchase. immediately after I was wrecking vanes at 20 yards after not having sent an arrow downrange in over 15 years. At this point I thought sweet, shes all tuned and ready to go....wrong. lots of practice out to 60-70 yards ensued shooting almost everyday I could. I kept chasing my tail with an out of tune bow and sighting in that never seemed consistent. (think 4" groups at 40yds). Did some more research on shooting form and walk back tuning and got a little more dialed but things seemed not quite right still. Thought it was just me the whole time. played around with 100 gr vs 125 gr heads thinking I was on the verge of arrow spine but to no avail. was fighting vane contact with blazer vanes and the HDX drop away as well. so I figured out how to re-time that by reading ontarget7 advise.
Then paper tuning ensued....rigged up a paper stand and found a 3" low left tear right off the bow. (I was warned from the previous owner that the bow would not bullet hole right off the bow no matter what was changed. but was ok at 14 yds). Well a simple relocation of the rest and the nock point up 1/8" produced bullet holes at all distances. Arrow flight was night and day. now breaking arrows at 40 yards with little effort if I shoot groups.
At the end of the day she is spitting out 448 grain arrows at 30"dl and 66lbs at 296 fps though my rifle chrono.
This new archer is now about 4" groups at 60 yards on a pretty consistent basis. I have a way to go before the season to tighten those up. I have been shooting in multiple positions, shitty weather and in any adverse conditions I can find...all in the fact that I owe it to the intended quarry to be as clean and concise as possible.
Live and learn. If i had to do it differently, I would have went with a multi-pin slider to reach out further in practice for more fun factor. Probably would have went with some black eagle spartan arrows (most likely will in the future). I like the QAD hdx and the tightspot is great. No other complaints at this point really, You know what they say, you dont notice good gear when in use.
Lessons learned from the "archery new guy"...
1) there is a ton of info out there on the net, but excellent, some not so much.
2) a local bow shop can be a great resource for knowledge.
3) learn how to tune your own equipment. its not that hard at the end of the day.
4) This sport can be as cheap and expensive as you want to make it.
5) Get out there and enjoy it. I sure am.
up next, fine tune with some 125 gr grim reaper fatal steels over the summer and go from there.
thanks Rokslide.
and last but not least, a pic of my junk..
I found my self looking to increase my season of opportunity, specifically on moose and elk in the rut up here in select bow zones in Alberta.
I picked up a used 2009 mathews monster xlr8 on the cheap. I know what your thinking at this point...you picked a 350ibo bow with a 5" brace height and POS torque inducing grip as your first bow?? smart? Well, I like performance and this would not be a deer specific setup. It will be 100% for the larger variety big game.
first things first, Tore it down and had the riser and limbs hydro-dipped in kuiu vias here locally. didnt turn out the best as the riser was a little too complex of a shape for the applicator. So a cheap price insued. Next step was some 30" mods from mathews (i measure out at almost 31"dl but 30 was the max in this case.)
I had almost a year to the season opener so I could take my time, do a ton of research on tuning and products and shop for deals along the way. So no great rush to put it together. Pickup up a 5 pin spot hog hunter for less than half retail. Sourced a 6" bee stinger, QAD hdx and half a dozen maxima red arrows from the local shop. Found a Scott little goose release on sale as well as a new 2016 tight spot in 5-arrow config on sale from black ovis gear. The kuiu dip vs the tight spot dip dont match the best, but it is livable for now.
I pieced everything back together myself, installed and leveled the sight myself. The initial set-up of the rest was left to the local bow shop as it came with a "free" installation with purchase. immediately after I was wrecking vanes at 20 yards after not having sent an arrow downrange in over 15 years. At this point I thought sweet, shes all tuned and ready to go....wrong. lots of practice out to 60-70 yards ensued shooting almost everyday I could. I kept chasing my tail with an out of tune bow and sighting in that never seemed consistent. (think 4" groups at 40yds). Did some more research on shooting form and walk back tuning and got a little more dialed but things seemed not quite right still. Thought it was just me the whole time. played around with 100 gr vs 125 gr heads thinking I was on the verge of arrow spine but to no avail. was fighting vane contact with blazer vanes and the HDX drop away as well. so I figured out how to re-time that by reading ontarget7 advise.
Then paper tuning ensued....rigged up a paper stand and found a 3" low left tear right off the bow. (I was warned from the previous owner that the bow would not bullet hole right off the bow no matter what was changed. but was ok at 14 yds). Well a simple relocation of the rest and the nock point up 1/8" produced bullet holes at all distances. Arrow flight was night and day. now breaking arrows at 40 yards with little effort if I shoot groups.
At the end of the day she is spitting out 448 grain arrows at 30"dl and 66lbs at 296 fps though my rifle chrono.
This new archer is now about 4" groups at 60 yards on a pretty consistent basis. I have a way to go before the season to tighten those up. I have been shooting in multiple positions, shitty weather and in any adverse conditions I can find...all in the fact that I owe it to the intended quarry to be as clean and concise as possible.
Live and learn. If i had to do it differently, I would have went with a multi-pin slider to reach out further in practice for more fun factor. Probably would have went with some black eagle spartan arrows (most likely will in the future). I like the QAD hdx and the tightspot is great. No other complaints at this point really, You know what they say, you dont notice good gear when in use.
Lessons learned from the "archery new guy"...
1) there is a ton of info out there on the net, but excellent, some not so much.
2) a local bow shop can be a great resource for knowledge.
3) learn how to tune your own equipment. its not that hard at the end of the day.
4) This sport can be as cheap and expensive as you want to make it.
5) Get out there and enjoy it. I sure am.
up next, fine tune with some 125 gr grim reaper fatal steels over the summer and go from there.
thanks Rokslide.
and last but not least, a pic of my junk..
