Kodabow

Machinist ..... we will look at the schedule ...we have been in NY at Rushville, Old Forge in July and August and now Palenville in early September. Chuck

Visit and shoot with Kodabow Crossbows all day on Saturday, 6 September. Location Address is Rip Van Winkle Gun Club, Mountain Turnpike, Palenville, NY 12463 518-731-1952. Start time is 11:00 AM and end time is 4:00 PM. Learn about crossbow shooting, arrows and bolts, pros and cons of different equipment choices and advanced crossbow hunting techniques with Chuck Matasic, one of the leading figures in crossbow hunting and the President of Kodabow Crossbows. Shoot Kodabow Crossbows - no obligation - but as an attendee and participant, Kodabow will provide a voucher for a Free Premium Crossbow Case ($70.00 value)should you make the decision to purchase a Kodabow online prior to this year's hunting season..........just to say thanks for coming out and getting involved.

Terry, Personal opinion.... I prefer a 1 piece all steel broadhead that is "cut on contact" rather than a chisel tip. Consequently, I rule out the replaceable blade types ---- because I won't shoot and then resharpen that style. Either way, the idea of sighting in with one of these broadheads and then having the other 5 "new and ready to go" (and having never been shot)can yield results with high variance. A hunter going on a bear hunt last year visited our company range and was in disbelief when we told him the "new" broadheads he had in his quiver would likely not group well. They shot a 6" group at 20 yards. He tossed them -- put on a Killzone and killed his bear. No issues. Chuck at Kodabow PS..... but then again, everyone has an opinion and if you can achieve good results, go with what you have confidence in.

re crossbow fixed blades....they are not generally "crossbow specific" types but what we know that will deliver the best results (in our experience) is smaller profile types like Hellrazor or Montec. A less desirable choice would be a blade we tend to use on our traditional vertical bows like a big Magnus. In our view, it is important in the crossbow world to shoot the actual fixed blade broadhead on the specific arrow that it is installed on in advance and then resharpen. It will take about 45 minutes to get 5 arrows sorted out and to optimize results; we will often switch broadheads from arrow to arrow but you should be able to end up with at least 3 or 4 arrows that will shoot within a 1" square repetitively at 30 yards ..... we then step back to 50 yards and use our 50 yard scope aim point and expect that arrow to also drop into that same 1" square at 50 yards. That results in high confidence when you head to the woods.

Over the weekend at a Crossbow Shoot in Rushville, NY, we had some good discussions with NY hunters on broadheads and the regulation language describing broadheads. We all know that Game Regulations will differ state by state and at one point, we were all a little confused. Here is New York state info on broadheads that prohibit "barbed" broadheads... simple enough but the discussion was about mechanicals and whether they were considered "barbed." Looking at the chart, it would appear that our favorite mechanicals (Spitfire and Killzone) retract and pivot at withdrawal, so they would be OK as shown on this chart. (99% of the time, withdrawal is not an issue --- the arrow will pass through the game animal.) On a recent bear hunt with Killzones which is our Number #1 choice, that was the case for 2 bears - the bears only traveled 10 yards after the shot. If you use mechanicals on your crossbow, we would suggest you always use "crossbow specific" mechanical broadheads since they are engineered to remain closed during arrow acceleration. See our Accessories section at www.kodabow.com for some descriptions of the broadheads and examples.

Alternate phone number to reach us on Sunday is 610-620-4352 . All are welcome for the Shoot.

Gary --- we will be there as planned .... look forward to meeting you ..........and hopefully you will be interested in pulling the trigger and sending some arrows downrange. See you Sunday. Chuck

BGF, Advances in archery are interesting and sometimes not really advances at all ---- but I agree completely that most of the knowledge goes back to traditional archery. There is nothing better than a helical fletched traditional bow arrow. Having that background helps us build a better crossbow (I think.) With a crossbow - we can learn more about the technical performance (arrows for example) since we can nearly take the human variance out of the equation when shooting from a bench. I could never shoot my recurve into the same hole at 20 yards but with a crossbow, I expect to do it everytime (from a bench)and not be off more than 1.32" if even that much. So being able to measure down to that level can quickly demonstrate which arrows fly better, whether to use brass or aluminum front inserts etc. --- so for the real technically minded individual, there can be a lot of experimentation and satisfaction. Chuck

What happens is that the crossbow bowstring stays centered on what we call the "String Catch" when the bow is cocked. So you are correct about the pressure at the center serving. Once there and in place, the bowstring doesn't slide around left or right. This doesn't come in to play too much as long as the shooter replicates his cocking method every time. Some shooters will mark their string with white paint to ensure it is in the trigger group at the same place every time but I have never found the need to do this personally. We have seen a shooter buy a compound crossbow one year ----- but the next year ---- it is throwing the same arrows "funny" for the first 20 yards and then they stabilize. Same bow - same arrows. What happened? during the off season, cables and strings stretched and the bow's timing at the cams was no longer coordinated. In a recurve bow, the limbs will always move the same way ---- even with a string change. However, if the bowstring starts in one place and as the bowstring comes down the rail, has some left or right movement at the center serving because the limbs are out of balance as the bowstring finishes its travel down the rail, --- I think it is like a golfer putting some spin on a golf ball ..... (in this case, the rear nock) that will cause some "jump" as the arrow leaves the rail which is undesirable. Now most hunters will not even get down to this level and many will not even notice it ----- but our limbs and string on a Kodabow will travel straight down the rail --- and an easy way to check this is to look at the string wear from where the "string catch" releases the bowstring in the trigger group. There will be a mark on the center serving from the friction at release. If that mark is centered on the rail when the bowstring is fully relaxed after the shot...then we can confirm that the string was centered at both the beginning and end of the launch sequence. The slow motion video in the link above a few posts earlier is pretty insightful. If you get a chance to look at other bows in slow motion, you might see amazing things ---- like extreme movement in the scope rail for example. Chuck at Kodabow

biggamefish --- good post. We teach traditional archery at our facility where we make crossbows. You had us thinking. We enjoy the discussion. Here is another perspective. Unlike vertical traditional bows, there is no riser for a the short crossbow arrow "to go around" as the arrow travels forward..... and a good crossbow arrow should be strong, straight and firm with no " flex" moving down the rail and will leave the crossbow like a laser. This is helped by the fact that most crossbow arrows are 20" in length and just like in traditional archery, shorter arrows flex less. The spine physics don't apply in a crossbow the same way they work in a traditional bow. Some compound crossbows get out of timing and will cast the arrow sideways at launch and it will take some distance for the arrow to stabilize ----- and if the arrow is designed OK with a high FOC% (we like 18% in a crossbow arrow while 10% is fine in a vertical bow) FOC% = Weight Forward of Center Balance Point...... the arrow will stabilize. Here is a link that shows a crossbow arrow moving through a soda can in slow motion at about 12 yards after being shot from a Kodabow.....it is filmed at 10,000 frames per second and its about 10 seconds into the video. A traditional arrow would still be moving in a sine wave at that distance while a crossbow arrow should be very stable as shown. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbU7YenN_Do So in summary, I think when you have this issue with a crossbow it is a bow timing problem (cams out of timing in a compound bow or one limb stronger than the other in a recurve crossbow) especially if the arrow is always canted the same direction .....but if the arrow is canted in random directions, it could be simple arrow instability caused by failing to have proper FOC%. What do you think?

Sometimes the internal construction of a target will cause an arrow to shift at impact --- but any instability at 20 - 30 yards would come from (1) arrows themselves that do not fly in a stable manner (2) arrows coming off the crossbow rail in an unstable manner caused by either a. cams out of timing, b. one limb stronger than the other or c. possible cocking errors. Instability that far down range really suggests arrow problems to me since 30 yards should be plenty of time for a good arrow to recover and correct any launch issues. This instability will significantly reduce penetration on a game animal at impact and is very undesirable. Adding a heavier broadhead could make a light, whippy arrow flex even further and dance around but the idea of more front end weight is generally a good idea for flight stability on a well built arrow. You might like this video and check your balance point (FOC%) Forward of Center Percentage on your arrows. Hope this is helpful. Chuck @ Kodabow Crossbows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj73q2YgD3I

Short of a hurricane --- this event will be "Rain or Shine." We have "buildings" lined up on the property to shoot inside if required! - Chuck

Kodabow Crossbows will be in the Canandaigua, NY area on Sunday, 20 July 2014 for a casual day of shooting on a 14 acre property. Here is the info: Kodabow Canandaigua NY Demo Day Visit and shoot with Kodabow Crossbows all day on Sunday, 20 July. Location Address: 4074 State Rt 247, Canandaigua, NY, 14424. (1) There will be a SIGN at the entrance. (2) Please register in advance at 484-947-5471 and let us know you're coming. The range will be open between 10:00 AM in the morning to 4 PM in the afternoon. Learn about crossbow shooting, arrows and bolts, pros and cons of different equipment choices and advanced crossbow hunting techniques from Chuck Matasic, one of the leading authorities on crossbow hunting and the President of Kodabow Crossbows. Shoot Kodabow Crossbows - there's no obligation ..... but as an attendee and participant in the Canandaigua, NY Demo Day, you will receive a Kodabow Premium Crossbow Case ($70.00 value) at no charge if you purchase a Kodabow prior to this year's hunting season........just to say thanks for coming out and getting involved.

Ranger --- these crossbows are all built in the same manner and the limbs are interchangeable ...so every once in awhile, a user will want a set of real light limbs for fooling around or hunting small game --- say 125 lb set ..... and then opt to also own a set of 200 lb limbs for bear/deer hunting ---- but shoot them all on the same platform ..... we actually have 5 limb weights --- 225 , 200 , 185 , 155 and 125 ...........the most popular bows are the 185 and 200 and they represent a very high percentage of our sales.

Thank you for the interest. At this time, we have not built out a dealer network in New York State. Here are 4 ideas: (1) During the 2nd half of June and during the month of July, invite Kodabow to your local hunting club or group and we would be pleased to schedule a morning or afternoon Kodabow shoot. (2) Suggest that your local dealer look into Kodabow. If they have an interest, we will get them going. (3) If you are down this way for any reason, you have an invite to visit our facility. (4) or if you just need one now, call us up and order one (and since there is not a dealer in your area, we will ship directly pronto.) Today 4/29 -- our bows are headed everywhere from Idaho and Minnesota to South America. (Idaho bear season is open for another month I think!) Chuck