Well another year and another season of hunting has come and gone. I hope your year went well. Whitetails gave me the fits but I did manage to collect a record book Columbian blacktail deer. I also had the opportunity to use some products I wanted to share with you. Some of them I have used before and some were new to me; some are sponsors on this site, some are not. This review is a little long so I split it in two. This is part 1.
Tuff Goat Vanes and Glue
I like to make my own arrows. First I apply cresting and then attach three 2” Opti-Vanes by Tuff Goat using my old standby E-Z Fletch by Arizona Rim. The GT fletching glue makes the job quick and easy. The GT Impact Glue is the best I’ve used for attaching inserts. I don’t know where the Goat came from but I can promise you they are “Tuff”. GT makes really good products.
Broadheads
The past two years I have used two broadheads.
The RazorTrick from Slick Trick Archery is an incredible head. The 4 bladed, 100 grain head has a 1 1/8” cutting surface. The .40 SS Lutz Mercedes blades are super sharp out of the pack. Trust me they are sharp and you need to be careful when handling them. Since I only shoot a 52-55 pound bow I prefer a cut on contact head for big game. Even with this low poundage I have taken many big game animals and often had pass throughs with this head. In addition to being sharp they fly great; I’ve never had a flyer when shooting the RazorTricks. The head is well made, strong and will stand up to the challenge. I can vouch for the dependability of the RazorTrick.
100-grain-2) makes a great expandable. I prefer the 100 grain head and have had good results with it. Although I have only used them on turkeys I plan to try them on deer this year. The head has two .032” stainless steel blades tipped with a hardened high-carbon steel point. The blades fold up to 1” in flight and open to 2” after penetration. They are deadly on turkeys, I know from personal experience. I talked to the Swhacker inventor Rick Forrest at the ATA show about using them on big game and shooting relatively low poundage as I do. He assured me I shouldn’t be concerned. With that being said, I will use them this year.
Arrow Rest
The original LimbDriver as the only rest I used this year.
The prongs on the rest securely hold your arrow in place and the rest is completely adjustable. The unique aspect of this rest is that it is activated by the upper limb of your bow. This results in the rest dropping quicker than traditional dropaway rests. The new LimbDriver Pro-V provides more arrow containment than the original by encasing the arrow in a cage style enclosure. Do I like it? You bet. I truly believe it’s the best rest I have ever used.
Through the years I’ve watched Cobra Archery grow and have occasionally used their sights but it’s been a while since I had one on a bow. Then I noticed the Python Toolless sight in an ad and it caught my eye. The sight has two unique features. First it is toolless meaning you can leave the wrenches in your tool box. Initially you will need Allen end wrenches to get the yardages set. After that if you need to adjust for changes due to string stretch, bumping your bow, etc; you can use the knobs to loosen the horizontal and vertical adjustments. At first I was concerned the knobs would come loose as I climbed a tree and banged the bow around, but that was not the case.
The sight can be bought with 3 or 5 .019” fiber optic pins and a rheostat light. The light comes in handy for turkey hunting in a blind where light can be a problem. The mounting bracket can be mounted in an up or down position depending on your preferences and needs. The sight only weighs 7.6 ounces.
It’s a sturdy sight that will satisfy your requirements for something you can depend on.
Until this year I had never shot an Alpine bow. I was in for a pleasant surprise and realized I had been missing out by overlooking them in the past. My bow was a Nitrous. Like the name, this bow is explosive when it comes to speed. Even at my low poundage the speeds were exceptionally good. It felt good in my hand but the draw took some getting used to. In today’s bows most people are looking for speed. Smooth draw and speed aren’t synonymous. The first few inches of the draw cycle present the most resistance, but once you reach the breakover, it is smooth as butter. The accuracy was as good as any I’ve shot.
Stats on this bow:
- Weight 4.2 pounds
- Axle to axle 33.25 inches
- Brace height 7.25 (the longer the better for me, just my preference)
- IBO speed 325 fps
- Suggested price $619
When you’re in the market for your next bow you should check them out, it’s worth the effort.
Next I’ll cover the accessories I used in the field in Part 2.
