The DIY Hunter

50 yard Robin Hood Shot with Series 22 Shafts and NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter Vanes

 50 Yard Robin Hood Shot with Series 22 shafts and NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter Vanes.

For starters I should explain my setup. My bows are 1990 technology Browning Adrenaline bows with a few modifications to fit my needs. I have a 32 1/2" draw length although I prefer to shoot at a 32" draw length. This improves my accuracy with a more relaxed left arm holding the bow. To get the additional draw length beyond the stock Adrenaline bow I replaced the 15" limbs for 15 1/2" limbs and then I made some custom strings to fit. The draw weight is set at 75 lbs and with the 32" draw I am pushing my 463g arrows at 290 fps.

I started experimenting with the Gold Tip Big Game shafts, Gold Tip 5575 shafts and Gold Tip's Series 22 shafts (the old heavy Series 22 not the UL version they now make). I also experimented with different vanes. After all the experimenting was done the most accurate shaft was clearly the Series 22.

NAP QuikSpin ST Speed Hunter Arrow Vanes and 5" AAE Arrow Vanes

50 yard Robin Hood Shot with Series 22 Shafts and NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter Vanes

I believe the combination of the longer draw length and the heavy draw weight demanded a lot of help from the vanes to keep the arrow on course. I tried a couple of different vanes. At the time almost everyone was shooting 4" Duravanes, Bohning or AAE vanes. Those vanes just didn't produce the accuracy that I demanded. I tried the 5" AAE vanes and that did the trick. The vane is nice and long and has a texture on the vane that provides excellent steering to the arrow. So for the past 7 years I have shot and hunted with the 5" AAE vane and had excellent success with it.

In 2008 the tinkering bug got the best of me and I decided to give some of the NAP QuikSpin vanes a try. I fletched a couple of NAP QuikSpin 2.25" vanes and some of the NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter vanes. The QuikSpin 2.25" vanes would not hold a group at all. On the other hand the QuikSpin Speed Hunters were great. For a period of a couple of weeks on a daily basis I would shoot my old reliable 5" AAE vanes along side of the QuikSpin Speed Hunters. The QuikSpin shot very well indeed. It was hard at first to find any distinguishable difference in the accuracy of one over the other. After shooting them together for a month or so I started to lean towards the Speed Hunter being just a little more accurate. I also liked the QuikSpin Speed Hunter over the 5" AAE vanes for two other reasons...well make that three. First the Speed Hunter would be less susceptible to cross winds blowing the arrow off course at longer ranges.  Second, vane clearance issues with my arrow rest are non-existent. And third, the cool factor. The short stubby vanes do look really cool on the shafts.

I did find some slight negatives to the Speed Hunters. They are difficult to see in flight compared to the large 5" AAE vanes. I also found that at long ranges the Speed Hunters would group lower than the 5" vanes. At 70 yards they hit the target about six inches lower. If I could chronograph the arrow at various ranges I would bet that the Speed Hunter has a little more drag than the 5" AAE vanes causing it to slow down a little quicker. And lastly the QuikSpin Speed Hunters are a more expensive, but I think they are well worth it.

50 yard Robin Hood Shot with Series 22 Shafts and NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter Vanes

I have made a handful of Robin Hood shots over the years in the 30 yard range. In fact I rarely practice under 50 yards because I damage far too many shafts from hitting one another, shafts I can't afford to damage because Gold Tip doesn't make them any more. As you can see in the photos using the Speed Hunter I got my first Robin Hood at 50 yards and it also happened to be on my first and second shot of the six arrow group.

If your thinking about using the NAP QuikSpin Speed Hunter vanes I don't think you could go wrong. I would get a bright orange or the like color and consider cresting your shafts so that you can follow the flight of the arrow better. Now, if I only could convince Gold Tip to bring back at least a limited run of the Old Series 22 arrow shaft, I'd be a happy camper. It is a great fat carbon hunting shaft. I need to stock up to last a few more years and pickens have been slim on eBay lately.