Rookie mistake..

[Bow Walker]

Was out sighting in my new Alpha V5 sight the other day and had gotten my 20, 30, and 40 yard pins all nicely settled in. Took about an hour and a half, what with all the walking back and forth, and only shooting 4 arrow groups.

I started on my 50 yard pin and was inching my group up to my intended P.O.I. when I made two, dumb mistakes. One was moving the pin in the wrong direction - I moved it down instead of moving it up. The other was to change my P.O.I. to the upper bullseye on my target.

Yup - combine those two bloopers and I shot over the target all together.:(

I was out in a quiet area in the bush on an overgrown skidder trail and of course my arrow sailed high over the target by about 18 inches, then came down "somewhere" out of sight, behind the target in the grass, weeds, and underbrush.

I finally gave up and called it a day after looking for an hour. Geez, they disappear fast! There's $15 - $18 up the spout. :evil:

Goes to show you that "old dogs" can (and do) make idiot mistakes.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

yes rookie ... when sighting in a bow .... chase the arrow with the pins .... ;) senile moment again????

[blackwater moose]

yes rookie ... when sighting in a bow .... chase the arrow with the pins .... ;) senile moment again????

what do you mean by" chase the arrows with the pins" ?

[Bowzone_Mikey]

if you are hitting high ... then raise the pins in your sight .... if you are hitting left ... move the pins left etc.....
you are chasing the arrow with your pins

[Franko Manini]

"Chase the arrow with the pins" means....
If your arrow goest left, move the pin left. If it is high, move the pin up, etc...

It's a good way to remember how to sight in a bow. Of course if you're left handed, it's just the opposite. ;-)

[blackwater moose]

if you are hitting high ... then raise the pins in your sight .... if you are hitting left ... move the pins left etc.....
you are chasing the arrow with your pins


thanks for the info, when explained ,it makes sense

[Bow Walker]

yes rookie ... when sighting in a bow .... chase the arrow with the pins .... ;) senile moment again????

Yup. I had stopped for a cuppa, and neglected to move the pin before stopping. Then moved the gerschtunken thing the wrong way. Doesn't take much at 50 yards to miss a Bulldog target. Damn! I'm going back up there to look for the arrow again. If nothing else, I'm stubborn.


I once was walking in the bush with my longbow - doing some stump shooting - when the arrow glanced off the top of the butt end of a log. Damn thing went up int he air about 60 yards and down-range about 80 yards. Landed somewhere in the undergrowth, back in off the road I was walking.

Took me 4 separate times going up there and bush whacking to find that arrow. But find it I did.

Cheap S.O.B.? Maybe. I prefer to think of it as being frugal.

[Piledriver]

yes rookie ... when sighting in a bow .... chase the arrow with the pins .... ;) senile moment again????
Hey thanks for the offer of assistance! After (20+) years of leaving my ancient Browning Compound in the safe I've decided to bowhunt again. I successfully used Easton 2117 Aluminum before and just got "em" re-vaned and trued. Any advantage to switching over to the newer composite arrows? I just got back form the butts and can still hit 6" targets all day under 30yds with my old gear.
Thanks again!

[BiG Boar]

I have to say it's guys like you that are slowly switching me into a bow hunter. Sure is a rush and every trophy is a good one! Bows are tricky to get into though as they require set up to you and seem to need constant finicking. Got to say I love the challenge they provide! Arrows are not cheap to lose either. I spent 30 minutes recovering a pass through arrow the other day and the gun hunters just could t understand it. Looking forward to chasing a grizz real soon though!

[Bow Walker]

Good luck on that one Big Boar - I don't have the cajones for that! Grizz, Polar, Kodiak...those are all bears that will sniff you out, hunt you down, kill you, and eat you. I'd maybe do it with my rifle, but not with my bow.

[Bow Walker]

Well it looks like it's Bush Undergrowth - 1 vs Bow Walker - 0

Short of taking a mower and/or a chainsaw up there I think I lost that arrow...just cannot find the darned thing.

Amazing how they can just disappear.

[Mike26]

Good luck on that one Big Boar - I don't have the cajones for that! Grizz, Polar, Kodiak...those are all bears that will sniff you out, hunt you down, kill you, and eat you. I'd maybe do it with my rifle, but not with my bow.

hahah I thought that said "I'd maybe do it with my wife" not rifle hahaha

[Mike26]

Well it looks like it's Bush Undergrowth - 1 vs Bow Walker - 0

Short of taking a mower and/or a chainsaw up there I think I lost that arrow...just cannot find the darned thing.

Amazing how they can just disappear.

take me with you, i have always been able to find the proverbial needle in a haystack

[uraarchr]

I just lost one last week in the bush.Might spend some time looking next time I go shooting up there.I'll tell my kid that theres 5 bucks in it for him.He'll be out there like a houndog!It's funny sometimes i'll go over a year without losing one:and this last month I've lost 2.Maybe I'm practicin a lot more with the new bow!

[Bowzone_Mikey]

****warning this is a joke .... No BWs or BSers were harmed in the making of the following post ....****


...... Grizz, Polar, Kodiak...those are all bears that will sniff you out, hunt you down, kill you, and eat you. ......
Hahahahaha ...
you know how your brother kept telling you that you wont amount to shit ...... Go hunting one of them critters and Prove him wrong


****Thank you ... Had this not have been a joke ... BW would surely end up as shit !*****

[Bow Walker]

My older brother might've said something like that - once. Pretty hard to talk with a fat lip.:wink:

BS'er is more tolerant of my shortcomings...

You forgot to mention the little bells that would be in that pile of krap...:mrgreen:

[Bow Walker]

take me with you, i have always been able to find the proverbial needle in a haystack
It's up off Farmer Rd. Just inside the gate there is a little (almost over grown) spur that goes off to the right. There's a rock that sits a bit high in the middle of the spur - about 30 yards down from the main road. That's where I place my target. If you look close, you might see a ripped off vane in the middle of the road, marking the spot.

As mentioned. I was shooting from 50 yards and my arrow passed about 2 feet over my Bull Dog target. I figured that it hit somewhere on the middle-left of the spur road, about 15 to 20 yards past the target. Maybe disappeared under the grass, or maybe skipped off something. I searched that spur road all up and down behind the target - right back to the abandoned camper shell, and the recently abandoned vehicle. I searched both sides of the spur to about5 or 6 yards into the thick stuff. Nothing.

What with all the new Spring growth up there, I don't think that the arrow went too far. It's pretty thick. But damned if I can find it.

It's a Gold Tip 5575 black, Expedition Hunter (28" long tip to tip), fletched with 2" Blazers - red cock vane and white hen vanes. It's tipped with a 100 grain field point and the nock end is equipped with Gold Tip's pin nock bushing and a white pin nock.

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's apparently invisible?

[Mike26]

It's up off Farmer Rd. Just inside the gate there is a little (almost over grown) spur that goes off to the right. There's a rock that sits a bit high in the middle of the spur - about 30 yards down from the main road. That's where I place my target. If you look close, you might see a ripped off vane in the middle of the road, marking the spot.

As mentioned. I was shooting from 50 yards and my arrow passed about 2 feet over my Bull Dog target. I figured that it hit somewhere on the middle-left of the spur road, about 15 to 20 yards past the target. Maybe disappeared under the grass, or maybe skipped off something. I searched that spur road all up and down behind the target - right back to the abandoned camper shell, and the recently abandoned vehicle. I searched both sides of the spur to about5 or 6 yards into the thick stuff. Nothing.

What with all the new Spring growth up there, I don't think that the arrow went too far. It's pretty thick. But damned if I can find it.

It's a Gold Tip 5575 black, Expedition Hunter (28" long tip to tip), fletched with 2" Blazers - red cock vane and white hen vanes. It's tipped with a 100 grain field point and the nock end is equipped with Gold Tip's pin nock bushing and a white pin nock.

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's apparently invisible?

Found it! Just kidding, where's farmer road. this sounds like a good saturday project for me.

[Bow Walker]

If you really want ot drive out to see if you can find it, here are the directions. If you DO find it, I'll take all the flack that I know will be coming (especially from BZM, or Eagle1 when he reads this) - it'll be worth it.

If found, please drop off at Eagle Eye Outfitters (1/2 km further out on Hwy 14 - by the Post Office, on the right) and tell them to phone Dan. Leave a contact number of your own.

Main road into Sooke. Once in sooke there are 3 traffic lights. The third light is the intersection of Otter Point Rd and Sooke Rd (Hwy 14). Turn right and follow Otter Point until you go past the Otter Point Fire Hall on your right. Farmer Rd is the next right turn after that. Halfway up Farmer Rd is a gated access road on your right. Plenty of room to park, and then it's a short stroll in to the aforementioned area.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Farmer+Dr

[Mike26]

well my kid is supposed to be in the oakbay tea party parade on Saturday but if we are done at a reasonable time that sounds like a fun afternoon trip, plus it sounds like an area we maybe able to get a little hiking in.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

am I the only one that finds it Ironic that if someone finds BW arra ... that it should be dropped off at Eagle Eye outfitters .... Perhaps Eagle Eye is not an apropiate place for BW to be associated with

[Bow Walker]

am I the only one that finds it Ironic that if someone finds BW arra ... that it should be dropped off at Eagle Eye outfitters .... Perhaps Eagle Eye is not an apropiate place for BW to be associated with
Ha, ha....
Point taken.

I used to be associated with EE - but they went strictly Fishing (90% Salt Water fishing at that) and got rid of all there hunting/archery/outdoor camping gear.

It seemed like an appropriate place to drop the arrow (IF it's found) as they're open 7 days/week this time of year.

They moved from their old location - in the old house - to a newer place about a mile up the road, just beside the post office.

[Flingin' Sticks]

I try not to think of it as losing an arrow...rather, I'm just keeping some archeologist 500 years down the road busy....

I've lost my fair share over the past few years, but the majority of what I've left out in the bush is chunks of Cedar that exploded when meeting (insert hard, immovable object of choice here). On the plus side, It costs me about 5 bucks an arrow as opposed to nearly 20.

[Bow Walker]

Yeah, this isn't my first arrow that's gone astray. They have a nasty habit of surprising you that way, mostly when it's least expected. I once shot a grouse sitting in a tree just off the roadway. The shot was on a slight upward angle and the grouse was just visible between the branches. He thought he was invisible, sitting there like that.

My arrow (judo point tipped) threaded the needle between the branches and hit the grouse perfectly. Trouble was - it passed right through the damned thing and kept on going, never to be seen again. The grouse? He jumped off the branch, spread his wings and glided off down the bank, passing out of sight while still in 'glide mode' - also never to be seen again. Double piss-off.

[The Hermit]

I could understand the concern if you had lost a good Darkhorse Arrow but one of those things?? pfffft! ;-)

[Bow Walker]

Can you imagine the archeologists scratching their collective heads, trying to figure out WTF? Why is a primitive weapon's missile buried here, in the muddle of an ancient, indigenous, native, North American's sacred burial ground?!?

Kinda makes me want to leave it out there....