Showdown of the small game heads!
One of the great things about traditional archery is stump shooting, or roaming around through the woods shooting at whatever stumps, clumps, and cow pies (preferably dry) catch your eye. Stump shooting is great practice but there are several different small game heads and stump shooting heads to choose from. I recently ordered four different kinds of small game and stump shooting heads from 3RiversArchery and put them to the test. In this video we see how the judo, hex head, tiger claw, and hammer head measure up against one another in terms of reliability, cost, versatility, and durability. We even shoot some rocks in slow motion! And to top it off, you can get 5% off your first order at 3Rivers by entering TWISTED16 at checkout.
If you’re not familiar with the video sponsors, you should check them out. Traditional Bowhunter Magazine is the go-to place for all things trad bowhunting. Abe at Cari-bow is building some absolutely gorgeous bows, Blake with Eclipse Broadheads is… well, he’s just being Blake (and he makes a pretty good broadhead too). And Joel Turner with Ironmind Hunting is putting out some awesome shooting and elk calling instruction (Joel’s a badass!).
3Rivers Discount Details: Enter TWISTED16 to get 5% off your order. Sale items, bows, and bow kits do not qualify. Retail only.
Hey clay good info and how many shots will it take to make that rock smaller Lol. Good stuff
Well done Clay. A thorough analysis of the most popular stumpers (good inclusion of the rock, by the way). When you started talking about weights, and mentioned you shot 190 grains, I immediately thought you’d need Woodie Weights with the Judo’s……you were a step ahead. Nice complete job! Rob Green
I like to melt lead pellets with my butane torch and pour that into my blunts for added weight.
Thanks Clay for are your commitment to traditional archery.
I’ve been a Judo shooter for thousands of shots and I’ve loved them. But I recently changed my broadhead weight to 175 grains and the screw-in Judo were not heavy enough to match my broadheads so I tried the Hammer Heads. I immediately started to ruin my Alaska Sitka carbon shafts. I have a theory why… I believe, when the Judo strikes something hard, the force the impact is straight down the shaft with little side torque. But with the Hammer Head, the diameter of the head caused more side torque on the shaft upon impact and will break the wall of the shaft in the front couple of inches.It happened to me several times. I decided to get a glue-on Judo and glue it to a screw-in broached ferrel and check the weight…end up just about 175 on the average. I stopped using the Hammer Heads and use the Judos…no more shattered shafts. I believe the Hammer Heads are rugged and high quality, but they are hard on carbon arrows, even when shot from a 50 pound recurve.
Tom, thanks for the info. I could see how that might happen.
I’ve tried that with field tips but I never was able to add enough without making the taper too shallow.
Thanks Rob
Ha, I think I’ve got a few more shots in that old thing!
Hi Clay,
Great video, I use the same assortment of blunts, I also really like the hard rubber bludgeon blunts. I once shot a gray squirrel with one and it completely opened the top of its skull from one side to the other( lucky shot). I was using a 55 lb recurve and was amazed by the damage a hard rubber blunt could do.
P.S. Really liked the shooting from mountain bike clips. -mike
Thanks Mike
Thanks Clay. Great information. One thing I wanted to mention from my experience is that I’ve been using the 250 grain Hammer, with a Muzzy Grasshopper behind it to create a heavier “Judo” so to speak. However, when used with Carbon Express Heritage 250’s and 100 grain brass inserts, the shaft of the Hammer often breaks when hitting something hard. This ruins the Hammer head and leaves the threaded shaft in the insert. Frustrating. I think I’ll try an adapter glued into a glue on Judo. That sounds like a better idea. Thanks.
Love the video. It’s got me interested in roving/stump shooting. Just the joy of being outdoors and shooting my bow
Hey Clay, Great work. You should have shot them into a fat rotten stump and and not rotten one and see who they pull out I like the public land owner shirt! .
Dang, that’s a great idea Joseph. Should have done that!
Thanks Gene, it’s great fun.
That sounds like it should work well.