Negative bow comments
04-13-2004, 07:04 AM
#24
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 8
RE: Negative bow comments
Hi Gravelotte
I agree 100% with you. I bought the best bow I could afford at that time, and since then, I didn't regret it at all. I have hunted in South Africa with that bow and sight (one of the cheapest sights available) with 100% success. The key is also that I know my bow – no I LOVE my bow!!!
I have just registered, and this seems like a very good site to me. I hope to get some tips from world experienced hunters.
I agree 100% with you. I bought the best bow I could afford at that time, and since then, I didn't regret it at all. I have hunted in South Africa with that bow and sight (one of the cheapest sights available) with 100% success. The key is also that I know my bow – no I LOVE my bow!!!
I have just registered, and this seems like a very good site to me. I hope to get some tips from world experienced hunters.
04-28-2004, 02:57 AM
#25
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 9
RE: Negative bow comments
It seems like you didn’t get your private message?? Anyway so here goes.
(everyone, this was suppose to be a private message so please excuse my incorrect tenses and spelling)
I’m not going to comment on your choice of outfitter, haven’t met him personally, but from what I heard his quite good.
Let me start from scratch…
Except for national parks (like Kruger) and Nature reserves, the greatest percentage of privately owned game farms are managed differently when it comes to hunting. Until recently bowhunting in SA were relatively uncommon and farmers/outfitters concentrated mostly on rifle hunting. Rifle hunting = more game shot = more income from game = less in daily rates. Making rifle hunting more profitable to farmers and outfitters. It also helped to keep game numbers reasonable.
Farms were not equipped with proper hides (blinds).:
Nowadays, most game farms make use of either elevated or ground blinds.
Hides are situated in proper locations keeping in mind wind direction, shooting distance, sunrise and set and normal game paths traveled to and from drinking holes. More farms also make use of salt licks or put out feed around water holes to attract more game and keep them within range for longer periods.
Rifle and bow hunting were practiced on the same piece of land.
This resulted in making game more elusive than they already were.
Most game species in SA stick to the motto of “safety in numbers” decreasing the chances of a successful walk and stalk if dozens of watchful eyes expects danger to come from afar as in the case with rifle hunting.
Most Trackers and outfitters had minimal experience in getting within bowhunting range, but the situation improved as bowhunting established itself in SA. Walk and stalk will always remain a challenging and difficult experience but sooo exiting.
So, now that you got the background on hunting here lets start…
Its called plains game but actually the Limpopo province has little to no plains with mountain ranges and “bushveld” dominating the habitat.
I would say that bowhunting in general are quite the same. I haven’t been so lucky as to hunt whitetail in North America. In SA we have a few farms with reasonable amounts of whitetail. (More towards the southern parts of Africa)
However I had the opportunity to inspect a carcass of a whitetail.
The same equipment you use on whitetail will also work for game up to Impala and even larger game.
This is what I currently use for all game (excluding thick skinned animals) after testing just about every broadhead available in SA. Montech 125gr (slight noise) with Gold Tip Hunter shaft and 4” fletching, total arrow weight 437gr.
Bowtech Patriot set at 70 pounds.
I use to work on a game farm as a PH for about 10 years before I entered the computer business (stupid of me hey?) anyway, from what I gathered from taking American clients on hunting trips is that they tend to shoot a bit high and more towards the back than suppose to, resulting in only a partial lung shot or liver alone making tracking and locating animals more difficult. Yes we do have predators that would leave nothing but the horns, if you’re lucky. Mostly this will occur when taking shots just before sunset or wounded animals have to be left overnight before recovery.
In SA we also use the standard international animals and shot placement layouts when competing in a 3d competition, when I practice on my own however, I ignore the guided kill zones on the animals completely and focus only on the actual hart lung aria – as close as possible to the back of the front leg and 2trd up. This however depends on the animal, for instance if you’re after Blue or Black wildebeest you have to go extremely low, and then some more. I would suggest u making sure beforehand exactly where the correct kill zones are for each animal from your PH. Not just the ones you’re after because funny things can happen when you see different African Game species coming in to drink.
Different Kill Zone, and tougher animals! Remember to trust the PH in locating the kill zone even though the placement feels awkward. Mechanical broadheads are not allowed in some parts of SA. Ensure that whatever broadhead u uses are quiet and strong enough to keep its form after penetrating or meeting structure like ribs and it shoots where u aim. It’s true that our animals are tougher but shot placement is critical, no animal on any continent can go far without lungs or hart. I definitely try not to go for “long” shots, especially when after Impala’s or smaller game. “String jump” is not uncommon – had one just last week on Blesbok and won’t be able to count all previous situations. ………….
Please inform me of the hunting situations u and your PH are planning to follow, that way I can be of more help. If uncertain, please supply me with the contact info of you’re outfitter so I can contact him directly and acquire the needed detail without interfering with any of his duties and jeopardize the much needed trust and understanding between a good PH and his client.
Keeping in mind the decent rainfall over the recent period in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo), vegetation will still include lots of greenish combined with the normal autumn colors. (If u need to know more about the climate and clothing (camo) please let me know.)
We have a two-monthly bowhunting magazine available in SA and I would be more than willing to post /exchange some of them for your local magz’s if there is still time before you arrive. U will definitely benefit from all the interesting and info-rich articles all about African game and their behaviors. – Let me know.
Please remember that this message is just info based on my own experiences and many people would differ from my point of view. I hope you and every bowhunter ever visiting SA enjoys it as much as we do. I also wish every outfitter/PH… in SA the best of luck and may the clients that you entertain appreciate the efforts and hard work involved to ensure them the experience of a lifetime.
(everyone, this was suppose to be a private message so please excuse my incorrect tenses and spelling)
I’m not going to comment on your choice of outfitter, haven’t met him personally, but from what I heard his quite good.
Let me start from scratch…
Except for national parks (like Kruger) and Nature reserves, the greatest percentage of privately owned game farms are managed differently when it comes to hunting. Until recently bowhunting in SA were relatively uncommon and farmers/outfitters concentrated mostly on rifle hunting. Rifle hunting = more game shot = more income from game = less in daily rates. Making rifle hunting more profitable to farmers and outfitters. It also helped to keep game numbers reasonable.
Farms were not equipped with proper hides (blinds).:
Nowadays, most game farms make use of either elevated or ground blinds.
Hides are situated in proper locations keeping in mind wind direction, shooting distance, sunrise and set and normal game paths traveled to and from drinking holes. More farms also make use of salt licks or put out feed around water holes to attract more game and keep them within range for longer periods.
Rifle and bow hunting were practiced on the same piece of land.
This resulted in making game more elusive than they already were.
Most game species in SA stick to the motto of “safety in numbers” decreasing the chances of a successful walk and stalk if dozens of watchful eyes expects danger to come from afar as in the case with rifle hunting.
Most Trackers and outfitters had minimal experience in getting within bowhunting range, but the situation improved as bowhunting established itself in SA. Walk and stalk will always remain a challenging and difficult experience but sooo exiting.
So, now that you got the background on hunting here lets start…
Its called plains game but actually the Limpopo province has little to no plains with mountain ranges and “bushveld” dominating the habitat.
I would say that bowhunting in general are quite the same. I haven’t been so lucky as to hunt whitetail in North America. In SA we have a few farms with reasonable amounts of whitetail. (More towards the southern parts of Africa)
However I had the opportunity to inspect a carcass of a whitetail.
The same equipment you use on whitetail will also work for game up to Impala and even larger game.
This is what I currently use for all game (excluding thick skinned animals) after testing just about every broadhead available in SA. Montech 125gr (slight noise) with Gold Tip Hunter shaft and 4” fletching, total arrow weight 437gr.
Bowtech Patriot set at 70 pounds.
I use to work on a game farm as a PH for about 10 years before I entered the computer business (stupid of me hey?) anyway, from what I gathered from taking American clients on hunting trips is that they tend to shoot a bit high and more towards the back than suppose to, resulting in only a partial lung shot or liver alone making tracking and locating animals more difficult. Yes we do have predators that would leave nothing but the horns, if you’re lucky. Mostly this will occur when taking shots just before sunset or wounded animals have to be left overnight before recovery.
In SA we also use the standard international animals and shot placement layouts when competing in a 3d competition, when I practice on my own however, I ignore the guided kill zones on the animals completely and focus only on the actual hart lung aria – as close as possible to the back of the front leg and 2trd up. This however depends on the animal, for instance if you’re after Blue or Black wildebeest you have to go extremely low, and then some more. I would suggest u making sure beforehand exactly where the correct kill zones are for each animal from your PH. Not just the ones you’re after because funny things can happen when you see different African Game species coming in to drink.
Different Kill Zone, and tougher animals! Remember to trust the PH in locating the kill zone even though the placement feels awkward. Mechanical broadheads are not allowed in some parts of SA. Ensure that whatever broadhead u uses are quiet and strong enough to keep its form after penetrating or meeting structure like ribs and it shoots where u aim. It’s true that our animals are tougher but shot placement is critical, no animal on any continent can go far without lungs or hart. I definitely try not to go for “long” shots, especially when after Impala’s or smaller game. “String jump” is not uncommon – had one just last week on Blesbok and won’t be able to count all previous situations. ………….
Please inform me of the hunting situations u and your PH are planning to follow, that way I can be of more help. If uncertain, please supply me with the contact info of you’re outfitter so I can contact him directly and acquire the needed detail without interfering with any of his duties and jeopardize the much needed trust and understanding between a good PH and his client.
Keeping in mind the decent rainfall over the recent period in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo), vegetation will still include lots of greenish combined with the normal autumn colors. (If u need to know more about the climate and clothing (camo) please let me know.)
We have a two-monthly bowhunting magazine available in SA and I would be more than willing to post /exchange some of them for your local magz’s if there is still time before you arrive. U will definitely benefit from all the interesting and info-rich articles all about African game and their behaviors. – Let me know.
Please remember that this message is just info based on my own experiences and many people would differ from my point of view. I hope you and every bowhunter ever visiting SA enjoys it as much as we do. I also wish every outfitter/PH… in SA the best of luck and may the clients that you entertain appreciate the efforts and hard work involved to ensure them the experience of a lifetime.
04-28-2004, 08:21 AM
#26
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lehigh County PA USA
Posts: 12,157
RE: Negative bow comments
Very impressive display of knowledge. I, for one, appreciate you sharing that info with us.
Back to your original post....would you care to point out any specific threads where someone was bashed, seriously not in humor, for their choice of equipment? I like to think that most folks here are relatively understanding when discussing each other's equipment though the occasional "you don't know what you are talking about, you shoot Brand X" type comments do surface from time to time. I thought that they had been relatively few and far between lately if you don't count all of the "traditional versus compound" posts lately.
Back to your original post....would you care to point out any specific threads where someone was bashed, seriously not in humor, for their choice of equipment? I like to think that most folks here are relatively understanding when discussing each other's equipment though the occasional "you don't know what you are talking about, you shoot Brand X" type comments do surface from time to time. I thought that they had been relatively few and far between lately if you don't count all of the "traditional versus compound" posts lately.
04-28-2004, 02:05 PM
#27
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Middletown PA United States
Posts: 3,625
RE: Negative bow comments
Frank. Articulate???? Now we gotta start using a dictionary just to talk about bows. For some just a bit of speeling and grammar lessons would work wonders. But now, a dictionary????
04-28-2004, 11:40 PM
#29
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 8
RE: Negative bow comments
Gravelotte, everything you say is so true. Shot placement is of the essence here in rugged Africa. I read an article in Africa’s Bowhunter, where a game farm owner was telling about his Bushbuck hunt. He said there that he placed his shot low – as he knows where the vitals are, but that the shot was still a bit to high.
I really think that it would be a very wise for every single American hunter coming to hunt in South Africa to get hold of the Africa’s Bowhunter. The magazine discusses a different animal in every issue. Shot placement and stories about hunting them.
I just hope that the hunters know that they would need a BowTech to hunt in South Africa!!!
I really think that it would be a very wise for every single American hunter coming to hunt in South Africa to get hold of the Africa’s Bowhunter. The magazine discusses a different animal in every issue. Shot placement and stories about hunting them.
I just hope that the hunters know that they would need a BowTech to hunt in South Africa!!!
