How on earth do you find them again is my question!!! What draw weight is your footbow Alan? I see what you mean about good foot protectors now....that thing is nuts!
There are bits of arrow and razor blade vanes embedded all over the bow riser and foot shields. There is one recent gouge in the metal riser that is a half inch deep, and it has me re-thinking the shields. I think this happened with one of my last shots at Smith Creek. I remember feeling like I was sprayed with what felt like tiny bits of broken glass at release. I Checked myself for damage, and saw a shattered half of the stainless steel arrow point lying next to me. I picked it up and it was so hot that it sizzled my finger tips. It almost felt like I grabbed the end of a hot soldering iron. I made some adjustments afterward which has really helped prevent these kinds of misfires. So I am expecting much smoother shooting next time.
To answer how the arrows are found, the most important thing is accuracy. The closer I can group the arrows so they fall along a line, the easier it is for the search team to find them. I can usually keep the arrows within a few yards of the line As long as there isn’t any significant cross wind. I also have someone take notes on each shot. They record the arrow serial number, the wind direction and speed, the draw length, and the shape of the hole the arrow leaves in the paper holder. This helps guide where other arrows probably landed relative to any that were found first. I keep a of this information for each of my arrows, and that gives me a pretty good idea of how far out it probably is. Assigning permanent serial numbers to the arrows, and keeping a log of the shots has been extremely valuable for the development of better performing arrows.
The most important key to finding the arrows is to make sure they are shot in a place that has the best surface to stop the arrows above ground. The ideal surface should also be smooth and uniform in color. Color variation and a broken uneven surface is like camouflage. It makes it almost impossible. This is where I have failed repeatedly, and the reason I lost so many arrows this year. Next year, I would rather spend an extra hour or two scouting out the surrounding area before shooting so that shoot direction will give the best chances of finding the arrows. This is a much better use of time compared to wasting many hours of the field crew’s time to find just a fraction of the arrows shot.
I will not plan to shoot this bow at Bonneville again. Bonneville is great for flight shooting wood arrows or much longer arrows, but it is just futile shooting these tiny extreme distance arrows.
I don’t know the draw weight of the bow limbs I shot. I hadn’t finished them in time to take the usual force-draw curve and chronograph testing. I was pretty nervous shooting untested bow limbs. They seemed relatively light in draw weight. I am still cleaning up my shop, but I will measure a force-draw curve and report back. I am curious also!
Alan
