CLUB OFFICERS President:Steve Williamson(597-6917) Vice President:Dick Sousa(592-8045) Secretary:Tom Bockman(344-8019) Treasurer:Brent Simmerman(597-9497) Trustee:Ed Rebarich(345-7608) News Editor:Lee Pereksta(592-3856) Tournament Director: Mike Vandeman(332-4625) NBBC Event CoordinatorSteve Doty(850-7681) Indoor Range Coordinator: Mike Nickels(326-5779)
Indoor range phone (734-7272)
Key Dates to Remember
August 22 - Saturday, 8am, indoor range, Workparty to replace Cardboard
August 31 — Club meeting, indoor range 7pm
September 15 —Opening of Nebraska deer season
August Club Meeting The August meeting was held on August 3. There were 13 members in attendance. We discussed the last 3D shoot, replacing the indoor range backstops, and other items.
September Meeting Date Change: Note: the September meeting will be on August 31 (because the first Monday is the 7th - Labor Day).
Workparty to Replace Backstops Jot this down on your calendar, and be sure to be there to assist. Saturday August 22, 8am at the indoor range. This is another work party where the more help we get the faster we will be done. And we will need a lot of help at this work party.
Mike Nickels and Steve Williamson have been experimenting with an update to our backstops and they think they found a perfect configuration.
The backstops will be shorter and will have rods between each set of backstops compressing them so pass through’s will be minimal. To do this, we need to haul out all of the old cardboard, build bases for each set of backstops, cut the new cardboard to size, stack the new cardboard, and assemble the rods and tops of the backstops.
We will need lots of manpower, plus people with some carpentry experience to do the framing of the new bases.
If you have not yet made your workparty commitment for 2009, this is your chance to catch up a little.
For all members that use the indoor range, this workparty is for you, so help us update our backstops. Hopefully, when we are done, pass through’s will not happen, even with higher poundage bows.
Annual Meeting:
Here’s a note on the annual meeting. It will not be until January, but we do have positions that will need to be filled. Specifically the positions of President, Vice President, and Secretary.
Steve, Dick, and Tom have held these positions for 3 or more years now, and it is not fair to expect them to make those career positions. It is fair though to expect them to still be active club members, and we do also have members that are always there to help when we need it. New officers will have plenty of support, but we do need to fill those key positions.
If you have any thoughts of holding a position on the board, discuss it with a current board member, attend a club meeting and discuss the possibility there.
More Indoor Range News The pop machine has finally quit. We are planning to haul it out, and do not have a line on a replacement.
Our current plan is to have pop just kept in the refrigerator at the indoor range, and put a can there for money and just sell pop on the honor system.
Newsletter Items If you have a hunting picture or story, please send it to me, I’d like to put it in the newsletter.
If you have an item for sale, send me the information to put in the newsletter as well.
Please email me anything you would like to add to the newsletter, or contact me for my mailing address. You can even give me your article at a club meeting.
Hunting News:
Only one more month until the hunting season starts. Hopefully you are pretty much set up and are focusing on your shooting right now. When it gets even closer, you will need to spend some time getting your broadheads set up to be sure they shoot properly.
Fixed blade broadheads act as a set of fins on your arrow, and if your bow isn’t properly tuned, they will cause your arrow to plane off of target. At a minimum, you need to reset your sights for your broadheads. For maximum performance, you need to retune your bow while shooting bradheads. Even expandable broadheads are different enough from field points that you do need to check your sights and possibly retune while shooting them.
I found a great article on bow tuning on the web at redhawk-archery.com. The article was specifically at http://redhawk-archery.com/bh-tuning.html. I don’t have enough room for the entire article, but here’s the key things I found from it:
Broadhead Tuning: Keep in mind that all the tuning methods that are available WILL NOT work if: 1. There is rest interference with the fletch and/or shaft 2. You are excessively torqueing the bow 3. You are "punching" the release 4. You are grabbing at the bow upon the shot 5. The draw length is incorrect (usually, too long) 6. The arrow is grossly under/over spined and/or crooked 7. The string is slapping your arm/armguard or clothing 8. The nocks are too tight/loose or misaligned
Strings and cables seem to last longer and are more consistent if the are 2 twists per inch in them.
A fall away rest is the most forgiving type of rest for release shooters.
Use a rubber tube instead of a solid cable/cord to activate the rest. A cord with a spring may also be better than an all cable/cord set up.
Maximum support is required for maximum accuracy. Adjust the cord/tube until you have rest interference. You can do this by turning the nock so that you WILL HAVE interference. Then adjust the cord/tube so that there is just barely no interference. This will give maximum support and accuracy. This DOES NOT mean that other styles of rests will not work well. This is for absolute maximum accuracy. Many will not see any difference..
I always tune my bows while wearing a cotton jersey glove on my bow hand. I always hunt with a glove on my bow hand so that’s the way I tune my bow. The cotton glove is a fantastic method to eliminate excessive hand torque and makes it much easier for you to repeat the same hand placement on the bow.
The first thing to do is to make sure: 1. All arrows are straight (within .001). With the new generation of carbon arrows that most bowhunters now use there is no way to straighten the shaft. Some arrows are advertised with a straightness of .006!!!! Personally, I wouldn’t touch these with a 10ft pole. If you are going to scrimp monetarily on any item of equipment it MUST NOT be your arrows!!!!! Buy a cheaper bow and spend the extra cash on the best arrows available. I think that the Easton ACC is a great shaft.
2. all nocks are on exactly the same rotation and perfectly straight
3. that your field point arrows are leaving the bow without deflecting off of the rest
If your fletching or the back end of the shaft is touching the rest as it leaves, you have to fix this problem first. You are wasting time doing anything else. Coat the fletch, nock, and the last 12 inches of the arrow with spray foot powder. This will leave a fine white coat of powder on the surfaces. Shoot an arrow into a bale (not thru paper). Carefully remove the arrow so not to touch any of the area that is coated with the powder. Inspect for any areas that has the powder removed. This will tell you if there is any rest and/or cable/riser contact. You must fix this before going any further!!
I prefer as much helical as possible and at least a 3 inch fletch to provide maximum spin to the arrow for ultimate accuracy. However, this increases the chance for fletch/shaft interference with the arrow rest.
Next make sure the broadhead is on absolutely straight with the shaft. Do the spin test on the palm of your hand.
If the arrow appears to wobble where the shaft and BH meet, the BH is not straight. Heat the insert and re-align. Unfortunately, most carbon shafts are assembled using an epoxy/super glue type adhesive and heating the point to a temperature that would allow realignment will damage the carbon shaft. An alternative is to buy some small ‘wavy” washers and install them between the BH and the insert. This helps sometimes but not always. I can guarantee that if the BH “wobbles during the spin test, it will not shoot with acceptable accuracy
Rest Position: The arrow rest should be aligned vertically so that the arrow is in the center of the rest attachment (plunger) hole. Horizontal placement has a lot of debate. My opinion is that very few, if any, compound bows have the string in the physical center of the bow. Most are offset to the left of center for right hand shooters. Whatever distance this happens to be is the distance that the rest should be offset to the left. Matthews and PSE have this dimension marked on the grip or riser on some models of bows. Why all manufacturers don’t do this is beyond understanding.
One reason to move the rest from the proper/perfect position is in the case of excessive hand torque. Torque is usually caused by gripping (“strangling”) the riser, grabbing the bow at the moment of the shot or having the bow hand too deep. (outside the “lifeline” in the hand).
Fletch, Broadhead Alignment In my book it doesn’t make any difference. However, if you believe that it does then by all means do what you need to do!!
OK, we are ready to start shooting. I am a proponent of paper tuning. Start at 10ft. Always correct the up/down tear first. If the nock is high move the nocking point down. If this does not correct the problem try reducing the tension on the support arm(s).
Usually, right hand shooters have broadheads that impact low, right of their field points.
Next, correct the left/right problem. Ideally this should be done by adjusting the draw weight and/or the point weight and or the length of the arrow. A nock left tear (right hander) indicates a weak shaft. Try lowering the draw weight or reducing the tip weight. I suggest making BIG changes. Lower/raise the draw weight by 6#’s or change the tip weight by at least 25grains. Shorten the arrow by 1 inch. Make the changes one at a time.
Somewhere along the line, you should be getting a decent tear/hole in the paper. The BIGGEST detriment to having a well tuned bow is PUNCHING the release. It is very difficult to tune the equipment if the shooter is HAMMERING the trigger.
Let’s shoot a broadhead!!! Start at 15 yards for safety reasons. First shoot a broadhead. Then shoot a field point. Hopefully they will hit in the same spot.??? No?
If the BH impacts lower than the field point we need to move the nocking point down (small increments). Or we can weaken the support arm tension more. Remember to fix the up/down problem first. Shoot both again and make corrections. A left and right problem is fixed the same way that we paper tuned.
If the BH hits right of the FP reduce the bow weight, reduce the tip weight or possibly cut the arrow shorter.
If you cannot get the BH & FP to hit together you may want to try a different shaft size. If the BH continually impacts to the right of the FP you will need a stiffer spined arrow.
After your BH/FP hit the exact same space at 15yds, mover to a longer distance and continue to fine tune.
Again, this article was found on redhawk-archery.com. The author was not identified, but it is an excellent article on tuning your bow for broadheads.
