SAFETY FIRST

Bowhunting Safety Precautions

Safety and being safe is your responsibility. Archery can be a dangerous sport, so you need to be aware of circumstances that can put you in harms way. Treestand's break or bowhunters can fall asleep and fall out injuring themselves. Make sure your treestand in secured to the tree according to manufactures instructions. It is best to use a full body harness not just a waist belt. Make sure to use a safety harness when using a treestand, they could save your life.Take a look at Hunter's Safety System and other treestand harnesses at the previous link. You could shoot a damaged or bent arrow without noticing that it was damaged. Make sure to make a standard practice it inspect you arrow each time you prepare to nock it. You should make sure you flex it and visually inspect it. Putting an arrow through the back of your bow hand could prove very deadly. There is a great new product on the market for the archer called the PROTX Archery Hand Guard by Shooting Edge Technology. It is verry comfortable and is well worth the peace of mind it gives you when shooting. You need to always check your bowhunting gear and make sue it is in proper working order. Archers don't forget protective gear. Don't become a statistic by not using protective gear that could save your life. Most of the protective gear on the market is easy to use and manufactured to be used while Bowhunting as well as target shooting.

WARNING - Follow These Instructions To Avoid Personal Injury

An arrow shaft can become damaged from impacts with hard objects or other arrows or after being shot into a game animal. A damaged arrow could break upon release and injure you or a bystander. You must carefully inspect each arrow shaft, nock, and other components before each shot to see that they have not been damaged. Before shooting, place the arrow between your thumb and fingers, and, using your other hand to slowly rotate the shaft, run your fingertips along the entire arrow length, feeling and looking closely for nicks, cracks, splits, dents, or other marks that could indicate the shaft has been damaged. When checking carbon arrows, perform the following additional tests:

1. Grasp the shaft just above the point and below the nock, then flex the arrow in an arc (bending it away from you and others) with a deflection of 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm), and listen for cracking noises. Perform this test four to six times, rotating the arrow slightly between each flex until you have gone around the entire arrow. If you hear or feel cracking, the carbon has been damaged.
2. While still holding the point and fletching ends, twist the shaft in both directions. If the arrow “relaxes” or twists easily, the carbon has been damaged.

If an arrow has been damaged, or if you believe it has been damaged, do not shoot it again as it could break on release, and sharp arrow pieces could hit and injure you or someone nearby.

Practice Safe Shooting

Carbon arrows may be used for hunting if special precautions are taken. Carbon arrow shafts used in bowhunting could break after being shot into a big game animal. This arrow breakage may be caused by the angle in which the arrow impacts the animal, or by the reaction of the animal itself such as rolling on the shaft or rubbing against a tree. The break may be inside the animal and may not be immediately obvious after recovery of the animal.

Unlike aluminum arrows, when a carbon arrow breaks, it tends to shatter with the resulting creation of many sharp, splinter-like fragments. These fragments can be harmful to humans if ingested; therefore, when game is recovered, the hunter should always carefully determine whether the arrow has broken inside the animal. If the arrow has broken, follow the instructions below:

1. Use extreme caution when removing broken segments of the carbon arrow shaft.
2. When field dressing game animals, use care to avoid splinters of carbon fiber.
3. Carefully remove the flesh in the area of the wounds. It may contain carbon fiber, particularly at the entry and exit points.
4. Thoroughly clean the surrounding area of the wound and inspect for the presence of carbon fragments.
5. Carefully dispose of any meat that might contain carbon splinters. Do not leave for scavengers to eat