# Firearms and Shooting > Archery >  NZ Bowhunters Society

## Sako851

Hi all.

Anyone heard of these guys? I just signed up because I intend on getting into bowhunting once settled in Southland.
In their constitution it requires a witness of a big game animal kill to be counted for their competitions so would be keen to team up with someone who is also interested.

Seems to be a very professional organisation with a lot of trophies and awards to work up to, big and small game including bow fishing.

If anyone is interested I have researched the the black hunter bow is an excellent starting point. I like the idea of getting a bear takedown recurve bow.

Check out their website Where to Start | NZ Bowhunters

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## Ryan_Songhurst

> Hi all.
> 
> Anyone heard of these guys? I just signed up because I intend on getting into bowhunting once settled in Southland.
> In their constitution it requires a witness of a big game animal kill to be counted for their competitions so would be keen to team up with someone who is also interested.
> 
> Seems to be a very professional organisation with a lot of trophies and awards to work up to, big and small game including bow fishing.
> 
> If anyone is interested I have researched the the black hunter bow is an excellent starting point. I like the idea of getting a bear takedown recurve bow.
> 
> Check out their website Where to Start | NZ Bowhunters


What part of Southland are you moving to?

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## 7mmwsm

I belonged for quite a few the years back in the nineties. 
Found them very clicky and stuck in their ways.

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## Sako851

Gore but will travel a lot around the place.

Oh I see. I don’t think they allow indicating dogs in the chase of big game if you want to claim it for the award system

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## MarkN

I joined, but have not had any further interactions, because of the vanishingly small chance, that I'll ever get to bag, a trophy animal. But if I could I would...

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## Ryan_Songhurst

> Gore but will travel a lot around the place.
> 
> Oh I see. I don’t think they allow indicating dogs in the chase of big game if you want to claim it for the award system


Let us know when youve moved down, we are close and plenty of fallow  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Sako851

Thanks Ryan appreciate it  :Thumbsup: 

Mark I don’t think they require a massive trophy as long as you take down the target species but they do have awards for best trophy I believe. Might be hard in Auckland though haha.

What bow you using?

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## Ryan_Songhurst

Those black hunters are a great recurve for starting out with, very accurate and forgiving. The only thing I would point out is they do tend to pull more weight than they are rated at, I have a 50lb and at 28" it is actually pulling about 57-58. I only noticed this when I bought another bow that was rated at 50lb also but seemed much easier to draw then while getting my compound set up we ran the scales over them and discovered the black hunter was indeed heavier than advertised. I'd say the 40 would be a good bow, I like my 50 and can shoot it pretty good now but it was a struggle to begin with and I lose the muscle memory to shoot it accurately very quickly if I don't shoot it all the time

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## MarkN

> What bow you using?


I have something which was sold to me as a ~max 70lb ~Kamei Qin, on eBay.

I was sent something else, which is max about 62lb and when queried the seller said, it was an upgrade, cue: Tui's ad "yeah right".

I see that what I ordered is still for sale, with different specs and seller, at https://www.ebay.com/itm/12436071520...YAAOSwNGNfdchW

but the one I got, turned out to be better for me, I've dialled it back to about 55lbs and it's quite accurate, if I keep up the practice, no way I could use a 70lb for  more than 15 minutes.


Pic with hand-made stabilisers, good sight and drop rest , etc

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## MarkN

If I get another bow, I'll be tempted to jump on a plane and go to OZ, for this shop in S.A. https://www.archeryshop.com.au/c/353...-compound.html

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## Sako851

I like the idea of both compound and recurve bows. Have to choose one to start with haha.
Ill go for a 40# or 45# if I go for black hunter recurve.
That shop looks well packed with gear.

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## Boaraxa

> Gore but will travel a lot around the place.
> 
> Oh I see. I don’t think they allow indicating dogs in the chase of big game if you want to claim it for the award system


I’m just south of gay gore , I hunt with a bow but mine is a horizontal one …still works good though  sing out , did one of your rellys have a pub up at waikaia way back in the gold rush days ? .

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## MarkN

That's a nice deer and x-bow, can I ask, did you get the x-bow in NZ? or from the states?  Woss it's brand and model?

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## Boaraxa

Yep got it here , it’s a Ravin R10 iv got 2 hinds & a pig with it now , been meaning to do a bit of a write up about it just haven’t quite got there yet .

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## Sauer

I brought a Ravin R29X in from overseas for my oldest boy. Very similar to Boaraxas crossbow, just a bit faster I think at 450 fps, and maybe a bit shorter and narrower. Ended up buying it from the UK as I had trouble finding an outfit in the US that would send it here.

I was very surprised at just how accurate these bows are. We havent quite worked out how we have this ready to go when hunting when there are two of us as I am not that keen on having such a lethal bow loaded and relying on the safety. At the moment we are playing with having the arrow in place but not properly nocked - using the anti dry fire mechanism as an added layer of safety, but well figure it out I guess.

He hasnt shot a deer with it yet - was lined up on one last week but she was behind some foliage and as he slightly repositioned for a shot as she moved past a gap he put his big hoof on a stick. She bolted at the sound of the stick cracking.

How far did the deer go after being shot, Boaraxa, and what broadheads are you using?

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## Boaraxa

@Sauer hey , yea that will be an awesome bow these things basically have rifle accuracy out to 100y , the whole jumping the string is another beast you will learn about, my shots have been from 53 to 65y first deer I shot ran 40 odd meters and zero blood , next one arrow went in behind the shoulder and exited the offside flank ! It ran around 120m but had a better blood trail , pig ran about 40 as well , I was using thorn 100g but there so expensive coupled with the arrow so I’m now using $2.90 Chinese mechanicals lol that’s what I killed both deer with , surprisingly they are reasonably well built plus I take the blades off an put them through my mates scary knife sharpener .

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## livingwild

@Boaraxa Which broadheads from China do you use? I hunt a lot with my crossbow and spending too much money on broadheads

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## gonetropo

ahhh Gore......remember the best pickup line is "you're pretty, you look just like my sister"

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