The Draw

WORKS FOR ME

Thirty-seven years of bowhunting leads to strong preferences on gear

By Brandon Ray

Brandon with a fine aoudad ram from 2017. Gear included a Bear Arena 34 bow, HHA Optimizer Lite sight and an Iron Will broadhead.

It was a quick stalk. The big, blackcolored boar wandered down a Panhandle river bottom at sunset, so I abandoned my blind and took off on foot. When I peeked around a short cedar, the wild hog sensed my presence. He stopped broadside to glare my way. I had no time for a rangefinder, just enough time to jerk the bow to full draw, estimate the distance and cut the shot.

The arrow hit the big boar low in the chest with an audible whack! He took off down the creek like a banshee with half the arrow sticking out, wagging back and forth with each stride. Any concerns about penetration were soon forgotten when I saw the hog tip over just 60 yards down the trail. With a scary-sharp broadhead through his heart, death came swift.

I’ve shot a lot of feral hogs over the years. With thick, mudcrusted hide and stout bones, a mature boar is a real test for any bow rig. On that day last November, my 61-pound draw weight bow delivered a stiff, 425-grain carbon arrow led by an Iron Will broadhead across 37 yards to the hog’s chest. Despite a glancing blow to the leg bone, it still had enough energy to penetrate 12 inches for a quick kill.

Most of the questions I get from readers regarding this column are about equipment. I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on anything, but after 37 years of being obsessed with all things bows and arrows and having a decent amount of success, I’m glad to share my views on what works. Most of my experience is on game like whitetails, mule deer, antelope, hogs, aoudad and turkeys, but I’ve also taken a few black bears, elk and assorted plains game in Africa. What works for me might be different than what works for you.

Bows

More so than any specific brand or bow model, I look for certain attributes when choosing a new bow. The draw cycle is important. For hunting, I want something that rolls over smoothly, no sudden “drop” or jerk at full draw. It must also let down easily, no jerky movements.

It must be quiet at the shot. I like a solid wall at full draw with just a little valley. Something in the 75-85 percent let-off range suits me. A slim grip ensures consistent hand placement.

For both ground blind hunting and spot-and-stalk, I like designs with a 30- to 34-inch axle-to-axle length. A brace height of 6 to 7 inches is ideal. At my 28-inch draw length, I usually shoot 58-63 pounds of draw weight. You don’t need 70 pounds to kill a deer.

A smooth, comfortable draw cycle and good shot placement

A close-up of the string loop and fletching the author prefers. The number on the vane is what that arrow weighs in grains. Add a 100-grain broadhead to that arrow, and it’s a 424-grain, hunt-ready arrow.

are way more important than heavy draw weight on deer-sized game. Coupled with my hunting arrows, such a rig usually shoots 260-275 fps. I would trust my one shot of the fall at a big buck to multiple flag ship bows from brands like Hoyt, Mathews, Prime, PSE, BowTech, Bear or Elite. A few favorites for 2022 include the Mathews V3X, Prime Inline, PSE Levitate and the Hoyt RX-7. A custom string, like the Ghost XV from Gas Bowstrings, is a nice upgrade to ensure no string stretch over the course of the season.

Arrows

For more than 10 years, I’ve been hunting with “skinny” carbon arrows. Benefits to a skinny shaft include less wind drift at longer distances due to less surface area and improved penetration. The best of these are designs like the Victory VAP, Victory VAP TKO, Easton 4mm Long Range and Gold Tip’s Air Strike. Especially from a modest poundage bow rig like mine, I believe these skinny shafts penetrate better. I fletch mine with three, AAE Max Hunter vanes at a slight offset using AAE Max Bond glue on a right helical Bitzenberger jig. I like bright colors like orange, pink and fluorescent yellow so I can see where my arrow impacts an animal and recover the arrow after a pass through. I prefer titanium, stainless steel, or brass inserts. Softer aluminum inserts have a higher chance of bending on hard impact. I load more weight on the front of my arrows for a higher front-of-center balance (FOC) which also aids with deep penetration. Last year’s deer arrows were 28-inch Victory VAP TKO shafts in size 350 with an Easton 4mm Microlite nock, Easton Titanium half out (55 grains) and a 100-grain point. Total arrow weight was 425 grains. Something in the 400-450 grain finished weight range seems well-suited for deer-sized game.

Broadheads

I’ve invested a small fortune in testing broadheads. I’ve shot them through plywood, carpet, hog carcasses and foam. I keep coming back to a similar design. I prefer a compact, fixed-blade 100-grain head with four razor sharp blades.

I like both a chisel tip or a knife-edge tip with two bleeders. My current favorites include Slick Trick standard, Wasp Dart, Iron Will Solid and Iron Will Wide. From a well-tuned bow, I have no trouble getting these designs to hit in fist-sized groups at 50 yards. They penetrate deep, usually pass throughs, and produce good blood trails. I’ve tried multiple mechanical broadhead designs over the years, some with spectacular results and others experiencing complete failure. Fixed-blade heads seem to offer more consistent performance. For spring turkeys, I prefer something totally different. I like head and neck shots versus a body shot. For this specific application, I use a 100-grain Magnus Bullhead or 100-grain Gobbler Guillotine. A stiff carbon shaft with three, 4-inch real barred turkey feathers steer that arrow better than small vanes.

Accessories

About 10 years ago, I noticed trouble with my vision. At the time I was using a sight with five pins set for 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards. All the fiber optic pins blurred together, blocking most of the target and making precise aiming difficult. At the encouragement of a friend going through something similar, I switched to a moveable, single pin sight.

With that one aiming point, less of the target was blocked and I could focus on that one pin more precisely. My groups tightened immediately. Today, I use an HHA Optimizer Lite sight with a .019 pin size. For hunting deer, wild hogs and turkeys from blinds in Texas, I leave the sight set on 20 yards. For spot-and-stalk hunting, you must remember to move the sight for the exact yardage before taking the shot. However, I also practice at longer distances with the sight still set on 20 yards, learning the holdover for different distances, for hunts like that stalk on the big boar at the river when there is no time to move the sight.

Other details of my current setup include a peep with either a 7⁄32inch or ¼-inch hole. I center the bow sight’s round housing inside the peep at full draw. I’ve tried smaller peeps, but they don’t let in enough light at dawn and dusk. I like Tru-Peeps from Fletcher and Raptor Peeps from Hamskea Archery.

Most of my recent bow rigs were outfitted with a 10-inch stabilizer, although if I know I’ll be hunting from a tight ground blind, I use an 8-inch stabilizer. A few top brands here include Bee Stinger’s Microhex, assorted designs from Doinker and Mathews Flatline. I include a wrist sling with my stabilizer so I can shoot with a slightly relaxed grip. My go-to rest for the last few years has been either a QAD Ultrarest HDX or a QAD Integrate MX drop-away. I prefer an index finger release to trigger the shot combined with a fluorescent green string loop. The flo green string loop is more visible in low light, making hook-ups easier at first and last light. I’ve had good luck with the Scott Echo release. I always carry an extra release in my backpack.

Today’s archer has lots of gear to choose from. There are certainly other options, but this works for me.

A close-up of a 100-grain, 4-blade Wasp Dart broadhead next to a whitetail buck’s antler base. It’s one of the author’s favorite broadheads for deer-sized game.

A close-up of the QAD Ultrarest HDX on the author’s Prime Inline bow. You can also see the single pin sight he prefers, an HHA Optimizer Lite.