DJ 17

John,

I was actually wondering the same thing about the blades basically working independently and causing the problem, but the angle was very slight, it wasn't a hard quarter by any stretch of the imagination. 

Also, I remembered a discussion at an archery shop this summer in which guys and the shop owner were discussing that they each knew people that had used the hypodermics and had the point bend over on impact.  I thought of this today and wondered if that may have happened to my arrow? Obviously no way to know unless I happen to find the arrow.  Anyway, I have gone back to the Rage originals for now. I will definitely explore some fixed blade options in the off season.

Yeah the sight thing really bugged me. I do shoot frequently and have never had this issue before with any weapon, so I will obviously be more diligent there.  I can still see that arrow hitting and the way it reacted was very strange, the fact that it was loosely flopping as the deer took off really bugs me.  If it stuck  in a bone I don't think it would be flopping around like that, I would think it should have been stuck fast in the bone.  Not that it matters at this point, just can't get it out of my head.

NO LEAVES, BRANCHES OR TWIGS.  Since I guess you thought I wasn't feeling bad enough already, thanks for the extra kick while I'm down. 

I've got an English Male Yellow..  Kenai.  He is now 9 1/2 and is a step slower and stiffer, but the fire still burns in those eyes anytime he hears a honk or I run the action on a gun.  I don't know how many years he has left but I am not ready for him to be gone that's for sure.

He was at 30 yds and the amount of quartering angle was very small.  The fact that the arrow only penetrated a minimal amount without hitting any bone is what really concerned me about the broadhead. The placement was entirely my error but doesn't account for lack of broadhead performance.  I forgot to add above that I went home and hit the range and found out that my sight was 5" left at 30 yds which I obviously didn't know or I would have fixed it.

Unfortunately I have to add I believe a negative rage story... I will try to keep it short.

Friday Night I had a really good buck chasing a doe towards me. In a field of weeds/goldenrod.  The doe goes through some thick stuff 15 yds from me in which there is one lane to shoot through.  It was thick enough that it took her nearly 30 seconds to negotiate it. I passed up a 35 yd shot at the buck thinking he will follow her trail because he is grunting like crazy, even heard him "roar".  She goes by me at 15yds.  He follows  a few seconds behind.  He enters the brush and I start to slowly draw. Somehow, and I still don't know how he gets through that stuff in maybe 2 seconds and catches me half drawn.   So he is obviously staring at me, after 20-30 seconds at half draw I have to finish the cycle or I'm done.  I get it back and he stares at me for probably another 1:30, by now he is getting nervous and turns and bounds away.  After 2 bounds I grunt and he stops quartering away slightly, I had ranged the doe by a bush earlier that was 37 yds and he was in front of that a bit so I shot him for 30 yds. As I let it go he began to wheel and turn.  Ended up hitting him high and back, but here is the rage part.  The arrow only went in about 5 inches! He obviously takes off and I can see the arrow flopping as he bounds away.  It didn't sound like it hit any bone, So I can't account for the lack of penetration at what I consider to be a reasonable shooting distance.

I let him lay overnight hoping/praying that I somehow hit the femoral artery ( yeah it was that bad a shot).  Went in at daylight with 3 guys helping.  Tracked him over 1000 yds total.  A lot of which was across standing hay ( no fun).  found ok blood on the other side of the hay field, but then hit a dead end when he entered the hay again.  The wind blowing 25 mph didn't help with leaves blowing everywhere and the hay moving as well.

After losing blood did grid searches for another 3 hours and came up empty.  I do honestly believe that he survived the hit, definitely hoping he did.  In the 1000yds he never bedded once.

I know I did things wrong in the shot sequence for sure, but as far as broadhead performance I can't comprehend why that it didn't penetrate at all??  There was absolutely nothing between me and him, I am shooting 68# with Easton Bowforce 400 arrows and it was a 100 grain Rage Hypodermic.  To say my confidence is shaken would be a large understatement.  Sorry it wasn't a short story.

x2 Nanofil  

You better control a SERIOUSLY large amount of ground to justify letting that deer walk, otherwise he's going to get it from the first person he walks in front of.  Overall, I believe people have become WAY to wrapped up into what a buck will score instead of the beauty of the hunt.  If a buck walks in and your heart rate goes through the roof and your excited, that's the buck you should shoot.  Don't worry about the naysayers because they will always be there no matter how big of a deer you harvest.

The deer we were on the other night did exactly that.  Burrowed into the depths of hell only to turn around and backtrack, twice!

What really sucks about where we are is if someone hits it bad and you should wait, It is a double edge sword because of the damn coyotes.  They are on EVERYTHING almost immediately.

At times, you can also tell quite a bit of info from how the deer reacts on impact.  If it hunches up and sticks its back in the air and kind of shuffles off it is more than likely a hit that was back towards the guts.

I got a quote from RLS, D&J, and a few others.  I ended up going with Burkholder Bros out of Dundee.  They did site prep, building, doors, windows, light panels in roof, and concrete floor for the same or less money than the competitors wanted just for the building.  The only thing I bought besides was the stone for the foundation under the concrete.  They were great to work with, fast and efficient.  I got their name from a very large Dairy farm up the road from me and they were very pleased with them as well.  Oh, they also removed an inground propane tank for me at no extra charge.

Mike,

I like the twilli tips.  They are universal, and if they get twisted in the rod holder they still work just fine.  Like mentioned above roller tips can be fussy at times.   I have 2 10 ft eagle claw dipsy rods and 2 8 ft Okuma dipsy rods.  I like them both, the longer ones are more limber thus they are more fun for FLX fish, but I have also landed 30# kings on them.  The shorter Okuma's I'm starting to like more and more.  My 4 yr old twins landed rainbows and lakers on both this summer so either one will work just fine.  If you ever plan on running 4 dipsys at once I would get 2 of each, then you can run the shorter rods low and inside and the longer ones high and outside.   Hope this helps.

John,

Its funny you mention that name.  A buddy called me last night to help track a doe he hit yesterday morning.  He is friends with Matt Sacco, talked to him, but for some reason he couldn't come up.  We followed it for quite awhile 1/4-1/2 mile before we ran out of blood, but putting all the pieces together I truly believe he just grazed her low in the front and the deer will survive.  It looked to be "muscular" blood and we found white hair at the impact site.  The deer also never bedded once.  But it did manage to take us through the thickest nastiest crap in the woods.  We both had so many stickers on our clothes that it looked like we were wearing ghilly suits!

John,

Since your not doing it anymore this year do you have any suggestions on who to call in our area if necessary?

Obviously, I don't really need better groups, its just part of the fun trying to get it done. Always chasing the cloverleaf!

Dan,

Did you find anything in particular to tighten up your groups with your handloads?  I could push the bullet out farther in the case and it will fit in the chamber fine, but it will not fit in the clip.  Did you ever experiment with more or less powder? Results?  Have better luck with 1 casing vs another?  I just bought fresh Hornady cases that the 3 shots were fired form, also have Nosler brass.

Finally got to spend some time behind the Tikka.  Fired some 120gr Fusions. they were all over the place. The 140's were much better and got it in the neighborhood. Fired 3 handloads that were 120 gr Barnes ttsx (Thanks Dan) and 44 grains of 4350.  They were about a 1" group 2 inches high at 100 yds so I am getting there.  Happy with the gun so far, but I do wish the clip was more rugged.  Also, shot some 140 gr Nosler Partition factory loads as well as some 154 gr round nose sierra's I believe that my Dad had laying around.  Both of those rounds shot fairly well and if I played with them I think they would shoot fine, at this point I am leaning towards the Barnes 120's.

Don't you think that asking someone if they bait with corn or apples in a state in which it is illegal to do so is a negative reply?

Might want to switch dipsys over to wire line and be done with it. You will get more depth and less stretch.  With the regular size dipsy and the regular ring it is close enough to a 3:1 ratio to get you in the ball park ( I.E. 240 ft of line out should get you around 80 ft down on a 1.5 setting) up until the point where line drags overtakes your diving capability and the diver planes out.  I believe Mag dipsys are closer to a 2:1 ratio.  This is obviously not exact but it should help.

Your boards are always going to run higher in the front due to the fact that the drag and weight is behind them as well as your rod tip is pointing up in the air to some degree.  Hope this helps.

I don't have any pics handy but mine is just the cheap orange Home Depot tool box, I believe it is 19". Took out the tray that came with it and cut dividers to fit the width and height.  I made my dividers out of backing material I had for framing pictures, but you can use whatever you would like.  I then cut 15 notches across the top of each divider to hold the hooks.  I glued a piece of closed cell foam to the under side of the lid of the box to keep the hooks from jumping out while in transport.  Drill half a dozen weep holes along the bottom on each side and that's it.

That is a beautiful buck.

Don't let the haters diminish your excitement in chasing such a great deer.  It is amazing to me how many people in this world spend their time trying to knock people down rather that just give a simple compliment or say nothing at all.  Good Luck, Hope you get him.

Tons of options... Like FX said go somewhere you trust and shoot different models until you are happy.

It has become necessary to perfect the fine art of helping without advertising. 

This is in part due to those that over harvest and/or spot burn and ruin it.

In the tree last night and a pack of coyotes started yipping and howling a half hour before dark! First thing through my mind was Brian. Too damn many of em that's for sure.

I have a Super Black Eagle and love it.  I hunted with a buddy last year who had a Nova and it froze up so bad it wouldn't even fire, plus it kicks the crap out of him.  I actually have a story opposite of misdemeanors.  We were hunting the edge of a field of corn that never got picked and the snow drifted in around it.  We dug holes in the drifts and the morning started great, until guns started freezing up: a BPS, and 1100, and 1 other that I can't remember.  The only one that continued to work was the Benelli SBE.  One disclaimer: it was only 10 degrees and windy, not quite as bad as what his conditions were in Alaska.

Question?  In terms of trying to promote the health of the fishery and the size and quality of the fish taken,why not increase the size limit for a king to 25 or 30"?  I would think it would make sense to try and protect the fish that do survive the gauntlet of predators while maturing from fry.