Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 149 - Cam Hanes’ Bow Set-Up

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

Dive into the gear that powers bowhunter Cam Hanes through epic backcountry hunts. In this quick podcast episode, Cam breaks down what he uses for his bow, arrows, broadheads and more! Whether you're a newbie archer or seasoned hunter, discover how this setup delivers deadly accuracy at any range. Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com Timestamps: 00:00:00  Arrows 00:07:03  Broadheads 00:11:54  Easton Arrows: The Gold Shaft Standard 00:14:58  The Role of Confidence & the Gear You Use 00:16:14  Releases 00:21:16  Bow String, Peep, and Kisser 00:23:45  Cam’s Bow Setup: Riser, Stabalizer, Wrist Strap, etc. 00:29:44  Importance of a Forgiving Bow 00:31:18  Bow Sight 00:40:59  Feather on Cam’s Bow: An Ode to the Old Days 00:42:15  Why Cam Doesn’t Use Lighted Nocks Thank you to our sponsors: LMNT: Visit https://drinklmnt.com/cam for a free sample pack with any purchase Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv use code CAM for 10% off Sig Sauer: https://www.sigsauer.com/ use code CAM10 for 10% off optics Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ Use code CAM for 10% off  MTN OPS Supplements: https://mtnops.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off and Free Shipping Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% your first order

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chili, or mixed chocolate salt into your morning coffee for a mean mocha. Element is offering listeners of the podcast a free element sample pack with any purchase at www. W. Drink LMNT. com backslash cam also try new element sparkling a bold 16 ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water hoy began with a dream and a simple desire create the best bow hunting and target archery equipment possible and since 1931 that is exactly what they have been doing i'm skeptical every year that this year's bow will be better than last years yet somehow their engineers seem to figure it out i think that's what sets them apart is their engineer are all avid hunters themselves,

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using code C-A-M. That's Cam. Every step I take, I move my truth. Every time they tell me stop I use. Every comment, hate that makes me. my fuel gather up my energy and boom i had them talking saying the way that i'm moving so reckless that is a part of my mind i've been blessed with giving my blood so i am relentless okay so uh you got a haircut i know yeah we talked about your haircut too

did you yeah yeah so uh i can't remember how we something about gonna rip me on the podcast I said no. But mine turned out good. Yeah. And Conner's turned out good. Yours turned out, whatever. So this is Keep Crammering Collective. I don't even know how to say Keep Hammering Collective anymore.

I don't think anybody does. No, nobody does. But I had a couple, I wanted to do a couple quick podcasts. One of them just specifically about the gear I use to hunt with, like the equipment, the actual bow, why I choose what I choose, why I use what I use, why it's important to me, why it matters. And so I just never talk about equipment, right? True. So a lot of influencers love talking about equipment. about equipment and love giving their codes and love saying blah, blah, blah, I don't give

a fuck what you use, just to be honest. All I care about is what I use, what's going to work, what's going to get animals on the ground. If you're successful with what you use and there's a reason why you choose it, great. That has nothing to do with me. I want you to be, it'd be nice if you're successful. If you're, it'd be nice if you could offer the animal a quick kill. And if you can do that with whatever you choose, perfect.

That's all I care about. But I'm not convincing anybody to use anything. I don't care. But I'm going to explain how I get to the point where I'm using what I use. First of all, when we talk about arrows, do you have any questions on arrows, by the way? Some, yeah, I mean, they're kind of a mix.

Oh, okay. Well, one, I wanted to ask why you're an idiot and you use four Fletches. Was it a, you're a, what do you say? I can't remember. You say you're a f***ing dumbass? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah. So we talked about that, I believe, on the last podcast.

Why I like control. I like heavy. I like accurate. And if you think about Fletch too, some people, you can steer the arrow with less Fletch, say with three. I like these low profile veins. Like a lot of times, like the old blazer veins were taller. When they're taller,

this edge here is more, is steeper, which means when it cuts air, it's louder. When it's low profile, this is quieter. So you could say, well, four veins, you're a idiot for using them. Maybe, maybe not. It's what I use. But you could get away with four lower profile veins, which in my mind are probably quieter

than those old blazer veins, the steep, tall ones I used to use. I haven't compared them recently. I just like more control. So that's why I use these veins. But any other questions? Where do you kind of draw the line between? heavy enough to get the penetration you want but not so heavy to where it slows down your speed that kind of thing yeah i mean it's a that's kind of where the guy who made that comment he's always like

he thinks it's stupid to shoot a heavy arrow he's like 400 grain arrow he also i think has like a 47 inch draw length so makes a little bit different i mean draw length arrow selection poundage all adds up to how fast and how hard hitting that arrow is going to be Right. But there's a point of diminishing return. You can go, generally speaking, a heavy arrow penetrates better than a lighter arrow. You can get to a point of diminishing return at like 800 grains. 800 grains is going to be, you're just not going to get the results you want with that heavier arrow.

So I shoot, and this is another part of my process here. Let me see here. Got to get it to grains. I weigh every arrow I shoot. This arrow right here. I used to have the weights on here, but these are my practice arrows, and I'll tell you how I determine what's practice. So this arrow weighs 476.

My arrows that I hunted with are 481. So this arrow is five grains light, which should be one reason why I didn't use it. It might have been only three grains, but this is one of my practice broadheads and I broke off one of the blades here. So this is a carnivore. And once I practice with them,

of course I never hunt them, hunt with them. This broadhead after, you know, multiple practice rounds, lost one blade. So that's probably why it's a little lighter. But the point is I weigh every arrow. If it's not within two grains,

I don't hunt with it. I only practice with it. So I'll put a P on, I'll write P on here. And that means just practice is not for hunting. it's all about precision everything matters every detail matters so first of all your arrows have to weigh exactly the same i don't think a lot of people weigh their arrows but you should because i've had arrows that come that get to me at uh like so this is 488 this one was 476 so that's 11 grades that's going to hit different this is going to hit low at distance again that one's missing a blade but

I've had them where they, that's what you get. Sometimes there's a little more epoxy in there, sometimes a little more glue back here on the veins. It adds up. It makes an arrow heavier or lighter. That's going to affect impact. That's why I weigh on. Nobody's perfect. The bow rack does a great job on arrows, but still it's my responsibility. When an arrow comes out of this bow, I have to own what it does, whether it's heavy, light, accurate, not accurate, tune, not tune. That's on me. So I can't say, well, you guys, this arrow was too heavy. It cost me this animal. Yeah.

I think also, I mean, that's got a field tip, obviously. So that kind of shows the importance of shooting with the heads you're going to use too. You know, have some practice heads like you have. Yeah, yeah. I definitely, so here's what I do. I always practice with the broadheads that I'm going to hunt with. And that's this carnivore. But again, this has foam in it.

Once I shoot it into a target, it's never going. going in in my quiver to hunt with. Every time I go on a hunt, I open a new pack of broadheads. I buy these broadheads from the bow rack. They're $50 for four. I don't care about sponsorship on all some of this stuff. It's just like I just want to, I don't care. I'm not going to deal with trying to be sponsored for everything.

The broadhead you choose is one of the most important aspects of the hunt and how it's going to, whether you're going to be successful or not, how this performs. So I buy these. I put a brand new one on every single time. Yes, you could like these, I hunted with these in Oregon, so they're brand new. They've been in my quiver, but I still take them out and don't hunt with them because they've been, they're not brand new.

I want a brand new edge. And then once they come out, I have this little sunglasses case of practice broadheads right here. So yes, I have all these practice ones. I have these ones. I have even there's an iron will single bevel in there. Another iron will. And just in general, I practice with fixed blade heads. Like this is a little, this is an archery country, maybe a slick trick or something. But fixed blade heads are less forgiving as far as flight than an expandable. An expandable will be very similar to a practice point because it doesn't have those blades sticking out. It's more similar to the field point than a fixed blade. So what happens is when there's a fixed blade head flying,

it's more susceptible to wind, to tuning, to things like that. If you make an error in your technique, it's going to show up. So I practice with fixed blade heads all the time, knowing that I'm going to be even better on the hunt with an expandable. But that's just kind of my process. I want to I want to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, basically. And that's kind of my approach on that. I think the other thing, too, that people might miss is like, like you said, write a little P or I have a buddy who, Luca, who numbers all his and has like a journal. Yeah. And shoots them and writes how they fly. And then when he goes to hunt, he knows, okay, number three is my best. So that's going to be the first arrow I pull out of my flavor. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

That's the way to do it. And this is what I say. It's like details matter. And when I look at how somebody carries themselves just in general, I look at social media. I see what people are putting up. If, say, for example, there's a failed influencer that's showing the meat they got from and harvest, but the meat sitting in the sun with flies on it, first of all, I'm wondering, how much do you actually respect the hunt? How much do you respect and honor the animal? If you're willing to let the animal, the meat from the animal, which is we owe it

to the animal to take care of that meat at the highest level until it's in the freezer or until we're cooking it. Sitting in the sun with flies on it, not even in a cooler is as disrespectful as it gets, especially when that person is taking that time out to make a social media video instead of taking care of the meat. But to me, a person like that probably isn't as detail oriented as I am on everything that I choose and why I choose it. Because to me, if the meat doesn't mean that much to you, what does all this mean to you? What that, where that's reflected is on the hunt when we know that the line between success and failure is infinitely small, all these little things matter. But if you don't even take care of the meat, you probably don't take care of

anything else. You're probably just shooting and wounding animals and who knows what happens out there, right? So like I said, all of this matters. Do you have to do it to be a bow hunter? No, you don't. Anybody can go buy a license, you can buy a bow, you can get whatever. You can go out there and you can shoot a shit. And yeah, it's on you.

I mean, there is no crowd. There is no nobody applauding or contradicting any decision you make. It's you. You have to own it. So we have to hold ourselves to a very, high standard. And that's what I try to do because that's what bow hunting means to me. But again, in regard to arrows, too, there's so many people who love to talk about arrows. I don't, again, I don't care what you use. If you, there's a million different arrow manufacturers out there,

I don't understand why you do use anything, but an Eastern parallel pro and X10, this is a shaft that I think the stat is every gold medalist since 1996 in the Olympics has used this shaft. So if they're judged on accuracy, they're representing their country in accuracy, they're taking hold gold medals based on how well they can shoot an arrow. And this is one they use. Kind of hard to argue. It's good enough for me. But very accurate, hard hitting.

I do like the weight, like I said, we're around 480. I shoot high poundage. I like that heavy arrow. I like the foreflesh. I like the forgiving. I like a tall brace height here because I like that forgiving setup. I like a long axle to axle like this. This is not long compared to back in the day, but this long for now.

And this brace height is tall for now. All that adds up to make a, if I do what I need to do right, I don't have to overcome my equipment. I don't have to overcome poor choices or not thinking about things. ignoring details. I can just do what I do. And if I'm successful, then great because all those decisions played a part of that. Right.

Yeah, it's like you said before, you know, the equipment you get to shoot perfectly, you know, you guys set it up on that, what is that called? Hooter shooter? Yeah, hooter shooter. And, you know, it'll send an arrow through the same exact hole each time. So you're just trying to get as close to not getting in the way of that as possible. Yeah, you get out of the way of the equipment and it'll be very accurate. You know, as, you know, you mentioned that hooter shooter at 20 yards, it'll put the one arrow after another

in the exact same hole. So that's what the equipment's capable of. We screw that up. Yeah. We screw that up by not preparing right, by not, you know, matching up arrows, broadheads, bow, our ability, poundage, strength, things like that. But when you think about everything and you let the bow do what it can do, they're amazing. So yeah, that's kind of my thoughts on arrows specifically. Just, again, care, care and think about it. If you have a, if there's a reason you choose a broadhead or a shaft and it's like very well thought out and it might not be what I agree with or what I would do, but you're like,

it matters to you. I'm good with that. Right. It's just the people who don't put that. It's just like throw whatever in. Oh, this weighs the same. Different brand, but it weighs the same. That doesn't mean anything.

That doesn't mean it's going to fly the same. So it's got to matter. So like with golf, you know, a bunch of guys are headcases about their putter. I mean, nowadays they're all super similar, but it's all about confidence. Yeah. So how much do you think confidence plays a role in like how well you know your gear,

how well you shoot and the confidence you have in it? Everything. Yeah. Confidence. You know, our mind. are very powerful. If, you know, it can come and go, but I've had, I think we talked about the last one, I had a couple shots that didn't hit this year.

Right. And if I wasn't as confident, and my confidence waivers too, I mean, I'm not saying I'm perfect. I shoot every day. And some days, my confidence is down. Some days I'm like, I can't miss. But in general, my confidence is very high because I put in the work. but yeah it can come and go for sure one shitty arrow you miss a target one time and that's your

last shot before a hunt that you can be thinking about that and you don't want to be thinking about that you want to be thinking about this arrow flies perfect and if I put the pin there arrow's going to hit right where that pin is and that's generally the confidence level I'm out but it's uh bow hunting's tough it's not guaranteed that you're going to be perfect um Oh, one other big thing too. And like, I don't know what your thoughts are on this, but release. I have like a bunch of like back tension or hinge or thumb button, whatever the hell you want to call it. Releases.

So you could not beat this one. I mean, I don't, I don't care. I don't care what anybody says. I killed animals this year or I punched the shit out of this trigger because I had to. Yeah. It was, well, the bull and the win-ah. Frick, I had to send that right then. There was no like waiting for the click to go and pulling and floating.

That's not hunting. That's not, that's hunting sometimes hardly ever for me. So you can't say target archery and hunting not the same. the, I guess the releases they're using for target archery, that back tension hinge, all that BS, you have all the time in the world you need. The target's not going anywhere. You can stand there at 20 yards and do whatever. Float, do all this shit, click, you know, pull hard on your, all that.

Okay, that's not hunting. No. It's not hunting. It's never going to be hunting. What I say is if those were so superior to the index release, the guys, so those guys are better shots than me, right?

So if that was a superior selection on how to release that arrow, those releases, and they're better than me, they would never miss. They would be infallible. Yeah. And they're not.

Those biggest names screw up all the time. And so if they can screw up on a hunt, Yeah, I'm not saying, I mean, they're shooting 300, 300s with, I don't know how many X's. I don't give a fuck about that. But if they're that good on the target and then they're trying to do the same thing on an animal and it doesn't work, to me, that's a selection error on what they're using. They should be perfect. They're perfect on the target.

Right. So, I don't know. I think there's times, yes, we're. We want to practice. We want to be relaxed. We want to keep the pin there. We want to pull through the shot. We don't want to be punching.

I get that. But in hunting sometimes, I got to shoot. I got to release arrow right now. Yeah, I feel like all the head cases I know shoot back tension. I get target panic. And it's like, yeah, I mean, you're not ever going to get a perfect shot where it's just like, you know, to me waiting for it to go off and give me more anxiety with an animal. I don't know.

I've tried it. done it all. But with hunting, I just, I just don't believe. Okay, so let's think about the most successful hunters I know. Not I'm going to target target. I mean, the best target shooters, Levi Morgan's incredible, right? So, I mean, and he, he can probably take that whatever release he uses out and it translates, but he's best in the world to ever do it, right?

So, okay, that's my point. I'm not considering him. But when I think about the best hunters, so let's say Remy Warren, Stud, kills a lot of stuff, right? Adam Green Tree, stud. Stud kills a lot of stuff. Waddell, straight killer.

What type of releases do you think they use? Yeah. So what are you looking at? This is, I mean, and for me, I don't care about anything. I don't care about sponsors. I don't care about you. I don't care about anything

than getting an atom on the ground to the best of my ability. And nothing else matters. So if I'm using this, what are you waiting for? This is all I care about. I'm not influenced by anything else. All I care about is getting a bull on the ground.

Yeah. This is the best way to do it. Yeah. I mean, I know some people that shoot, you know, thumb release or the thumb button, which is great. I mean, you can control that too, but my problem with that is a couple of those buddies have been drawing back in mid-draw, they hit that button. It's just not quite as safe as tucking all your fingers behind that.

No. Yeah. I mean, those are so, I don't know, just kind of a weird. No, and I get people, and I don't know, you're so distract. I mean, there's a, I was talking to somebody, mid-hunt, they switch from one release to another, and of course, fucked up the shot. So don't do Yeah. I hear people talk about like what material for the D loop and what string and like, oh, you should use this material because this one's too. It could slide through your calipers. I'm like, what the fuck are you guys wasting time on? You're wasting time on shit that you shouldn't even be thinking about. So you go to a good pro shop like the bow rack. I don't I don't care what material. I just know whatever they put on there works. and it works for everyone. And it's not like some guessing game every time. Like, what should we try this time? Right.

A gas bowstring and whatever the hell this D loop is, this is my kisser button, this is my nose button, this is my peep sight. All these are anchor points, right? The string I've had in all sorts of different conditions, hot, cold, rain, snow, whatever you want, flying, dry. diving, this string and this peep has not moved at all. It's not stretched at all. Back in the day,

we would get our bows ready, like when we first started killing all these things and we'd be heading back into the wilderness. We'd stop shooting because the strings were going to stretch and everything would change. So you would like not even practice. You want to, but no. Either the serving is going to break and you have to replace the serving, which means I have to replace everything or the string's going to stretch and it's going to change left to right and everything. So I just can't shoot. Well, gas bow strings is like top of the industry, best ever. And these do not move an inch.

I haven't done one thing to this string as far as wax. I haven't done anything. Just drug it through basically the rocks and brush and whatever for a couple months now. killed, you know, starting in May, started to kill with it and then all the way through this, you know, through September. So string is money. But anyway, get a good bow string. The stock strings, the companies will tell you they're just as good.

They're not just as good. They're not just as good. You got to spend whatever, 150 bucks or something on a string to make sure it's not going to move. Do it. Any questions on that? Not on the string. Not on the string. When I'm glassing ridges for elk or mule deer, I can't afford to miss any movement.

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this is always the arrow I take first arrow out right here this is one I killed the Winoha bowl with and every other arrow is brand new there this is generally my practice broadhead in case I just need to verify something I have a practice one and then I have all these are brand new sharp I use a sidebar here to offset the weight of the quiver I don't know if we can see that but you got this quiver weight here this will be on the other side. How it works best is when your bow is balanced and everything happens quick and you're not, what happens is in the heat of the moment,

sometimes you got draw fast. You look at your level on your site. You level up. If your bow's unbalanced, that takes a little time. You're like, oh, too far to the left, too far to the right. That bubbles kind of bouncing back and forth takes time. time is the enemy you've got to get that arrow off sometimes so the more balanced your bow is the quicker that level comes the quicker you're picking that spot and that pin isn't moving the quicker the arrows on

the way right a bit a perfectly balanced bow will help that happen sooner any questions on that why not longer or shorter stabilizer um this is considered considered long. Generally, if you look at like the tournament guys, they'll have a three, four, 10 foot stabilizer. So that, to me, that tells me, again, I look at those guys. They're all about accuracy. So that's why, you know, the shaft makes a decision or, I mean, weighs in on what they use compared to what I use. But they also use super long stabilizers because it helps them hold steadier. So I'm not going to have a three or four foot stabilizer, but I'm going to have a 12 inch stabilizer. And it's going to help me. I'm used to it. It helps

you again lock in and hold steadier. So that's that. I like skinny all the way here and then weight at the end. It feels like it balances better. This little thing here. All this little stuff just kind of absorbs vibration and sound, which makes this bow super quiet. This is the AX2, keep hammering addition.

I, in this, I get this question all the time. I use a metal riser, so that's an aluminum riser. I like heavy. I like a heavier bow because just like a heavier rifle. Generally, they're more accurate. I can hold it better. You're only shooting one time on a hunt, so it's not like you're holding that bow up 50 times,

starting to get 50 arrows off. It's one time. On that one shot, I want a heavy, solid, good anchor, and I want to release that arrow as quick as possible. So a wrist strap here, so you're not holding on. Some people don't even realize that. I mean, we've been doing this forever, but you don't want to be gripping this bow. A wrist strap helps you relax and just have your fingers rest lightly on the front of the

riser here. And then your bow is not falling out of your hand. So that's just so you can relax. Again, if we let the bow do his job, we come back here. We're not holding here. We're not wrist torquing here. We're not doing anything crazy twisting the D loop or the string back there. So basically the bow, you don't have the string tight in your face like this where it has to come around.

So basically the strings right here, barely touching my nose, corner my mouth. I'm not gripping. So essentially that string is going unimpeded. The bow is firing just like a hooter shooter. And as long as I don't lock it up, that arrow's going to be perfect. Right. And that's 32, axle to axle? Yeah, yeah.

So if you had to like choose one quality that you deem most important, it would be forgiveness. Yeah, forgiveness. That's, I mean, you know, when you're tired, you can imagine like say on that one, a ha-huh, ha, middle of the day, sweating your ass off, you got 10 days worth of food on your back, little fatigued, your shoulders probably aren't as like strong as normal because you've been, you know, packing around. So I know I'm not going to be perfect technique-wise. I mean, because I'm compromised a little bit.

You know, I mean, I train so I'm not. But anybody, after 10 days in the mounds, you're going to make a different. It's going to feel a little bit different. So I want a bow that's as forgiving as possible. So when I have that pack point on my shoulders, when I'm like maybe my posture's not perfect, maybe I'm like leaning over something like that I want a forgiving bow a bow that's

with a light arrow short axle axle short brace height it's going to be fast but you're just going to miss faster right it's that speed doesn't mean shit if you're not accurate yeah I don't I think a lot of people are like oh lighter bow you know easier to hold the thing about and this makes sense for cameras because you add weight to make it more stable. So that makes sense, but I don't think to a lot of people it does. You know, the heavier something is, the less you can do a bunch of these little micro movements that are obviously going to make you less accurate. Right. But yeah, okay, what about site pin wise? Oh yeah. So here's another, another thing people I think screw up on. This site is such

an important tool. What I do, so I have three pins on the site. It's all pretty much a single post. I mean, it's three different posts, but it's all right in line. What I do is when I'm outcunning, I put my top pin on 20. My second pin will be on 31, my fourth, my third pin on 41. So essentially 20, 30, 40. I know if I'm expecting a bowl to come in to 20 yards, my top pin's good. But if he hangs up and I can judge 30 pretty good. I'm used to shooting you know 30 and 40 back here in my backyard so I did I don't need to range find it again um and I'll I'll just say I'll do a caveat it's always best to range find the animal because you can screw that up you can think oh he's just right there I've missed a bowl in 2009 it was uh this is the last tag I didn't fill on an alcon

2009 and me and roy were in Wyoming this bull was coming down the ridge at six by six I range this tree the bull was going to be right the same line as that tree so I arranged the tree shot at the bull when he stopped or I think I stopped him with that like that and stopped him and I shot and shot under him he was a he's like five or I don't know how many yards further than the tree so I arranged a tree thinking he's coming in that same line

instead of ranging the animal itself. If you have time, you always range the animal. But in the heat of the moment, sometimes at the bull coming in, maybe he comes into 20 spooks, stops at 30. I have a 30-yard pin and then a 40-yard pin if I need it. I don't think people utilize the multiple pins. They might practice with them, but they're not intentionally thinking, okay, on the hunt,

what do I want these pins set out? And I do that every time. Every time, 2030, 40, I know in my head, 20, 30, 40. The hard part is if you never practice with that bottom pin, you might think that, oh, the bull came into 20, spooked to 40. He's at 40. I need to use my, you know, that 40 ear pin. They're so used to using the top pin. They use the top pin again. Right. Because it's like they've shot the top pin thousands of thousands of times. Even though they know that that's 20 and the bottom pin's 40 in the heat of the moment with all that adrenaline, you forget or you get distracted.

And you're like, you just do what you've done over and over and over and that's use that top pin. So I intentionally shoot my second and third pin out here all the time and know on the hunt 2030 40, 2030 40. That's what it's at. And we just got to be conscious about this stuff. Just again, everything matters. But again, a spot hog.

This is the boony. why you'd ease anything but a spot hog? I have no fucking idea because so durable, I have never had a failure. In fact, I've never had a failure on anything on my bow. My bow has never failed. People breaking limbs and shit in risers

and delamining limbs all the time. Never had it happen. I've never had a failure on equipment on sites. You know, back in the day, I had sites that broke off right here. in a compound with no site it's tough we had to duct tape this on it was like one a it's like a graphite site but but the point is these spot hog sites are indestructible and again you don't want to be thinking about is my equipment durable is it working like it's supposed to it's I mean that has to

be a non-issue yeah you want to when you can focus on just getting him bowels. range of the animal and releasing a perfect arrow, that's it. That's where you're your best. Okay. I don't know if you've ever heard this. I've heard it a couple times and it's probably just someone being lazy, but I've always heard like, okay, with a fast enough bow, you know, and I've never trusted this, but it's like if the animal you're trying to shoot is somewhere within that 40 yard range or closer, just stack your pins, choose the middle one, put it on a good spot the body and shoot. And that to me is like, I don't know why you would do that if you, unless you haven't practiced, you're not confident, but, um, just because people like to be

the authority on stupid shit. Yeah. Like if you say something with confidence, there's a certain group of people, it'll be like, yeah, this fucking guy knows. He knows what he's talking about. It's just like, well, no, did you listen to what he said? He, he delivered it like he knew what he's talking about, but it's been retarded. So, yeah, I mean, bow hunting is a game of accuracy, of hemorrhage, of thinking about anatomy, of body angles on that animal, of making high, high percentage shots, not forcing frontals, not, not, you know, trying to get away with shortcuts. It's about precision. For precision. For precision. decision you need that the yard is to the animal you want to put your sight right on that same yard

and then you want to do what you do do what you practiced anytime you're like try to get away with something even like i explained the 20 30 40 that's not ideal i don't want to do that right i only do that if i'm confident that that bull is 30 yards he spooked from 20 he went to 30 i know i know this is 31 yards right here and let's think about it and elk does have lungs this big If you stay away from that shoulder, you're going to get those longer, that liver maybe, and that bull's going to be dead. So we're not hitting X's. Right.

So you can get away with a little bit, but still accuracy is king. Yeah. I also feel like, you know, the more leniency you give yourself, okay, a little bit here turns into a lot, and now all of a sudden you're making mistakes you shouldn't be. I've played the game before. I used to say that I'm an outdoor. writer. I'm making money from this and that's why I can go on out of state hunts. What I forgot to think about was I'm an outdoor writer that was getting paid $25 for an

for an Oregon hunter article, but I was like justifying spending $3,000 to go to the YO Ranch in Texas for some writer's event because I'm a pro. I've 25, $3,000. So yeah, you can justify a of shit in your head. You keep justifying decisions like that over and over and over justifying little shortcuts on either on the hunt or with equipment. Eventually all those things add up and you suck and the animal suffers because you're wounding shit. Yeah. I feel like that's kind of a hard pill to swallow for some people. But a lot of the time it's probably best that the person puts down the bow for another year and picks up the gun. Well, that's usually where most people get to. I mean, Everybody wants to be a bow hunter.

It's really hard. So they usually get their dick kicked in for a couple of years. And then they're back to the gun. They just say, I didn't have time. It's like, well, yeah, I mean, well, it's hard. And you didn't dedicate enough of yourself to it. Yeah. Which, realistically, it's probably best.

It is good. It's best for the animal. I know that. I hate thinking about animals out there wounded. Yeah, I mean, we owe it to them to be at our very best. I understand we're, you know, even like with a four vein, three vein, dumbass, whatever, it's like I do know, because I've been like this too, if the crowd goes this way, I want to go this way because those sheep.

I'm going to do my own thing. So I do get, it's cool to be an individual, it's cool to be unique and have your own, reasons for things, to a point. Yeah. To a point. I mean, I'm not going to use some Kmart Arrow. when all the Olympic champions use this and I'm trying to release just as accurate as arrow that probably means more than a target because it's an animal's life I'm not going to try to be my own

thing yeah and not follow I mean there's there's good decisions bad decisions there's things you can argue and and that makes sense and that's fine but yeah just make sure you're putting thought into it and and you believe in I mean that's the biggest thing I I shoot what I shoot because I believe in it to the highest level. If I was in my head thought that I wonder if that is better, I'd be using that. So if I believe it's the best, that's what I use. If you believe what you use is the best, great. That's it.

You have confidence. With confidence, we can deliver those perfect arrows. And I'm not saying you have to use exactly what I use to have that confidence. I just want you to have the same type of confidence I have. my equipment and yours anything else that was it for um equipment yeah no i'm oh yeah i know i talked about that i talked about yeah i mean the heavy poundage uh the feathers just for i mean people have asked about that i just like having something like if an animal's here that's just something else to break up like i can a lot of times if these animals are coming in um you don't want to be like

this because our faces. So I'm like, I always put like my bow in front of my face. It breaks up that own face basically. But even that Larry Jones back in the day, Larry D. Jones is one of my. They used to put in like a fur bow right here. And that would really, and I did that too, but this is just kind of like an ode to the old days with Larry Jones and what I would do with the fur bow. And just feathers look cool. So I try to find a feather from where if I'm hunting and throw on there and just kind of honor the country and the experience but not poet away yeah i mean that's exactly what i was thinking uh yeah anyway that's uh that's why he's what to use good make sense i'm sure people have lots of questions and arguments yeah well well they know best they're wrong

and i'm right and keep hammering hmm Oh, actually, real quick. Why no lighted knocks? So, generally speaking, weight back here does not, I mean, we talk about, okay, that's a whole another thing, front of center. Yeah. You know, I mean, there's a, there's a calculation where you want a percentage, 14%. And what that is, is like you take the exact center of the arrow, which is the exact center

would be somewhere right here. I'm not measuring it. The balance point is forward of that. So that percentage of the difference between that and that, that's your front and center, right? Generally, you want more weight up front. The arrow's going to fly better if it has more weight up front. Putting weight back here hurts your front and center, which theoretically could hurt your arrow flight. Right. You could add the 11 to 15 grains back here for the lighted knock.

and then offset it with heavier out here. My arrows are perfectly, they're where I want. I don't want to add weight to the back, extra weight with the lighted knock. It's kind of handy to see and find your arrow sometimes, but I shoot these pretty bright fletch, and I feel like maybe I get the same, not quite as good, but similar results with this.

But I just don't want to put weight on the back of my arrow. Makes sense. That's it. All right. All right. Keep hammering. All right, hunters, listen up. Honey season's here. And the last thing you want is to tap out before the action starts. That's why I'm dialing in with Mountain Ops Ignite. Ignite isn't your average energy drink. It delivers smooth, long-lasting energy, no jitters, plus mental clarity that cuts through the backcountry fog. Powered by amino acids and brain blend of neutropics and 200 milligrams of clean caffeine. Ignite keeps you sharp and pushing hard mile after mile. Whether you're glassing ridges, packing in before dawn, or heading to elk camp, one scoop in your bottle, and you're locked in. It's my go-to, every hunt, every hike, every long drive. And Mountain Ops isn't just about performance.

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