Ashby Bowhunting Foundation Newsletter

February 2025

President’s Message

Being an ethical bowhunter is about far more than just the thrill of the hunt or the satisfaction of filling your freezer; it's about respecting the animals you pursue and ensuring that your actions lead to a quick, clean kill. At the Ashby Bowhunting Foundation, we firmly believe that the foundation of ethical bowhunting is understanding how to deliver a quick, lethal blow effectively and efficiently to the game you're pursuing. The many years of research and reports from hunters in the field have shown that using a properly matched arrow system for the game pursued is the most reliable and ethical approach for achieving deep, consistent penetration, even through the toughest anatomical structures. Adding mass to your arrow system allows for greater momentum and inertia, which, when coupled with a properly built, razor sharp single bevel broadhead, ensures that the arrow maintains its energy throughout its flight and upon impact, delivers a deep and decisive wound that reaches vital organs quickly. This combination maximizes your chances of making a quick, clean, ethical kill and minimizes the risk of prolonged suffering, which is at the heart of what we define as ethical bowhunting.

At the Ashby Bowhunting Foundation, we firmly believe that the foundation of ethical bowhunting is understanding how to deliver a quick, lethal blow effectively and efficiently to the game you're pursuing.

The arrow system isn't just about optimizing for penetration, it is also about aligning the hunter’s skill with their equipment to perform as efficiently as possible under real-world conditions. A properly tuned arrow system ensures that even in the most challenging scenarios, such as long-range shots or when faced with hunting large, thick-skinned animals, your setup will work as designed, giving you a much higher probability of success. It’s not enough to simply have the desire to hunt; you must be prepared to take responsibility for the animals you pursue by ensuring that you’re equipped to bring them down as quickly and ethically as possible. By using these principles, bowhunters commit not just to themselves but to the animals they hunt, understanding that these tools help achieve the ultimate goal: a clean, ethical kill that minimizes unnecessary suffering. It is our belief that bowhunters should always prioritize efficiency and effectiveness, and the systems we have identified allow you to do just that, ensuring the deepest respect for the animals we pursue and the environment we share.

Good hunting and as always, have a nice day.

Rob Neilson

Donations​

The Ashby Bowhunting Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) education and research organization. 100% of your donation will go to the Missions of Ashby Bowhunting Foundation. No salaries are paid by the Foundation. We realize there are many worthwhile organizations out there, and greatly appreciate your consideration and support.

Newsletter Tip

More than 85% of backcountry deaths are the result of exposure or hypothermia, something that is completely avoidable the majority of the time. Keep an SOL Bivvy XL in your pack. It weights 6.6 ounces and is smaller than a pop can. It can easily save your life or the life of someone in your group.

SOL Bivvy XL

To test it out, I’ve slept in it five times without a sleeping bag, tent or pad. The coldest I’ve tested it out in was 15 degrees F. Although I tossed and turned all night, I stayed warm. It stays in my pack for every adventure. I’ve also used it many times to wait out a thunderstorm, simply standing under it and staying completely dry and warm. A game changer.

Events

→ May 1, 2025: Texas Hunter Education Instructor Association Conference - Workshop on Maximizing Arrow and Broadhead Terminal Performance

Ashby System Results - Bowhunter Interview with Tammy Hudson

1. How long have you been a bowhunter?

I’ve been bow hunting for about 10 yrs now. 

2. Do you hunt with traditional equipment, compound, crossbow, or a combination of these?

Yes, I will also use my rifle at times depending on on the animal and the situation I’m given. We also use a lot of night vision rifles night hunting hogs. 

3. What is/are your favorite animal(s) to hunt?

Wow, that’s a tough question… my favorite hunts so far have been my Cape buffalo with my bow. Rob Neilson built my arrows for this hunt and it was spot on! 1arrow and done. I would have to say the “green” Rhino hunt this past year. We were blessed enough to get within 15 yrs of a nice herd and dart an amazing animal! 

4. What is/are your favorite bowhunting method(s): stands, still hunting, spot and stalk, pure stalking, or other?

Again, another hard question! I enjoy hunting whitetail out of box blinds even with my bow. But there’s nothing better than getting a good stalk on a great animal as well! 

5. What event(s) brought you to use Ashby-style arrow setups?

My goal for my first Africa hunt was a Cape buffalo with my bow! I was introduced to Rob and he has been building my arrows ever since! 

6. Could you describe your typical arrow setup(s) for hunting big game?

Umm now I’m shooting about 900 grain total weight. With 375 grain broad head. I’m shootin a Matthew’s Jewel and Matthew’s Avail! Love both. I’m drawing 50 pds on each bow. 1 is a heavy set up and 1 is regular game such as whitetail. Which is a 675 total weight arrow! Both are very efficient.

7. Overall, what has been your experience using Ashby-style arrow setups?

It has been amazing and a game changer for me! Knowing the lethality of my Arrows , give me more confidence every time I hunt. I know that if I hit a bone it’s OK they’re gonna go right through it. I’ve been able to shoot a white tail and get a clean pass through both shoulders with no issue. The Cape Buffalo And Water Buffalo speak volumes for my heavy arrow set up.

I had a situation this past year when we were in Africa, where the tail end of my arrow hit the edge of the window, causing my arrow to completely go sideways in flight, but turned right back and made a shot on the animal, just a few inches behind where I was aiming. I have full confidence in any arrow that I have built with Rob‘s help.

8. Do you have any bowhunting tips you would like to pass along?

Especially for women like myself I would say don’t think you have to pull extremely heavy to be able to shoot large game. Seek advice from people like the Ashby Bow Hunting Foundation and Rob Neilson and have the arrows built so you can hunt the animal of your dream with your bow in confidence. 

From the Field - Getting Within All Six Senses

I started deer hunting with a .243 Winchester rifle and used an 8mm Mauser in thicker cover, which was plentiful in northwest Montana. I couldn’t get enough of spending time afield, whether it was hunting, scouting, fishing, or winter camping in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area.

My goal while scouting or hunting for deer and elk was to get as close as possible to my quarry without being detected, to penetrate all six senses of the animal before firing a shot or releasing an arrow. Any effort less than that left me cold. And I learned so much more about wildlife and wildlife habitat by leaning into all six senses. I never understood the chest beating about taking long shots, whether with a rifle or a bow. For me, that would be tantamount to killing an animal with the bumper of my truck and bragging how tough my truck was. Really? The quarry we pursue deserve better.

Each fall I would do whatever I could to maximize the number of days I was in the field. Upon turning eighteen I graduated from Libby Senior High School and moved to Missoula, Montana to attend the forestry school for the next four years. I fell in love with the area, and enjoyed hunting whitetails east of campus several miles in an area without roads or trails. I never saw anyone up there during the hunting season, allowing me to hunt undisturbed animals, pitting my skills against theirs without dealing with the pressure from the orange army.

I would follow the tracks of large bucks for miles, hoping to get a glimpse. Sometimes I would catch up with them and have a shot but declined as I had several days left of the season and I didn’t want it to end prematurely. Many of the bucks I shot in this area were shot on the last day, sometimes last hours of the season. Time in the field was more important than meat in the freezer.

The last buck I shot with the 8 mm Mauser was in this area. As I approached the buck in the snow, steam rolling off his belly, I realized hunting with a rifle had become too easy. I chose at that point to learn how to bowhunt for whitetail deer and chose the Bitterroot River valley to cut my teeth on this new pursuit. It was November of 1980. Although I had bowhunted for small game and black bears foraging in huckleberry patches earlier, I hadn’t focused on pursuing deer or elk with stick and string yet.

Just south of Lolo, Montana lay a tract of Montana State Land that was perfect for bowhunting whitetails. Back then the season ran from September 6 until mid-February, six months of hunting! The doe tags were three dollars each and the buck tag was thirteen dollars. Only bowhunting was allowed due to the fact the flat ground made it too dangerous to use high powered rifles with ranch homes and livestock scattered along the river corridor between highway 93 and the edge of the timber. There were many vehicle collisions with deer during those years and the state wildlife agency would beg bowhunters to fill all five tags. If our freezers were full they’d pick up the deer at a checkout station, have the meat processed and donate it to a local mission. Those were some incredible years.

By forcing myself to get within all six senses before releasing an arrow, resulted in learning so much more about whitetail deer and what they needed to survive. I’d slip into my ground blind, made out of local natural materials, or treestand, depending on the temperature and air currents. Staying warm in a treestand, sitting motionless, when the temperature dipped below -25 degrees F was as much mental gymnastics as science. The more moisture there was in the air, the easier it was for deer to pick up my scent. Being elevated helped with that problem, at least to some degree. I’d watch them feed within 200 or 300 yards of my stand for hours sometimes, noting when they were calm with twitching tails and alert with the white flag vertical and ears pinned forward.

And there were many other wildlife species that grabbed my attention. I observed a goshawk staring at me from a hundred yards away on a branch at about the same elevation. I raised my binocs and sure enough, it was looking right at me, pivoting from one foot to the other, acting unnerved that I was in this tree. As it became more agitated it flew to a branch about two feet in front of me, doing the same thing, pivoting from one foot to the other and staring at me. I slowly raised my arm, fortunately with my thick winter coat, to shield my face and as soon as the bird couldn’t see my eyes it flew right at me and glanced off my arm and flew away.

I met Gene and Barry Wensel, two traditional bowhuting legends, while hunting on the river. They didn’t tell me their names but offered some great advice for hunting from the ground, which I wanted to do more of. When I mentioned to my roommate who I met on the river, Chuck smiled and said, “Bowhunting Legends!”. That was in the fall of 1982, two years before Barry Wensel’s book, “Hunting Rutting Whitetails” became available. I had the good fortune of sharing a hunting camp in Texas a few times with the Wensel brothers as we pursued javelina and feral hogs.

I spent hundreds of hours along the river hunting whitetails. I hunted before the rut, during the rut, after the rut and during the yarding phase in mid-winter. I learned the movements of individual animals, does and bucks and would wait until I patterned their movements to take a shot, all of which were under twenty yards, the closest shot at ten yards. Those close encounters definitely gave these wild ungulates the advantage and I tipped my hat their way when I was easily outsmarted, which happened often.

This time on the Bitterroot River shaped my time outdoors for decades to come. What a gift that turned out to be.

Celebrating the WILD in wildlife,

David Neils

Doc’s Ramblings

First, I would like to congratulate Chris Melton, our featured interviewee in last month's newsletter, on the Asian Buffalo he harvested in February, which was of the Bubalus Bubalis Subspecies. Chris's Arrow setup, which followed the ABF guidelines for use on Buffalo, resulted in a quick, humane kill. Once again, the appropriateness and effectiveness of using a Plan B arrow have been documented. The whole story will be forthcoming on Chris’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PersonalBestOutdoors.  

We continue to search for a volunteer to develop some Wikipedia pages for the Foundation. If any of our subscribers have the expertise and would like to take on this task, please contact the Foundation. 

I am always interested in our subscriber's thoughts and questions. If there are any specific topics you would like to know my thoughts on, please submit them through our website. 

At this time, I can’t give any new details on ABF’s upcoming 2025 hog hunt giveaway, but details are still being worked on. 

Troy and I have recorded some additional podcasts and added them to his ‘ready list.’ Releases will begin on the first Monday of March.  The beginning segment (there are three, on consecutive Mondays) is part 1 of our interview with Jim Aken, ABF’s crossbow expert advisor. 

I am learning a new AI program thanks to Roman Landes from Ram Broadheads in Germany. Once I breach the learning curve (and learn the other transformational programs required), I hope to post short (approximately 15-minute) AI-generated audio summations of each of the Reports and Updates, posting them on ABF’s YouTube channel. This will allow folks to listen to each Report or Update to get a fast overview of the key takeaways without having to read the entire document(s), which, I know, are detailed and difficult for most folks to read. 

Now, my thoughts for today. For most, their primary hunting season (deer season) is over. Many will put their bow away and not touch it again until the next deer season approaches. Others will focus solely on practicing their shooting skills at the target range. There is, however, another option. This "off-season" Is an excellent time to hone hunting skills. One suggestion is to look at predator calling. Predator calling is one of the best ways to learn "how to shoot animals" – one of the most often overlooked bowhunting skills. Getting a perfect shot away at the target butt and getting a perfect shot away at an alert animal are not the same skill.  

Creatures responding to a varmint call are highly alert because they are expecting another predator of some type to already be on the scene. Learning how to hunt these alert animals can help you develop skills on how to better camouflage yourself to prevent detection and, most importantly, teach you a lot about when to take your shot and how to take your shot. If you can learn to get your shot away at these vigilant animals before they can detect your presence, it will be much easier for you to get your shot away undetected come next deer season. Most hunters consider deer vigilant animals, but they are nowhere near as alert as a predator responding to a varmint call. 

If you want to try this challenging off-season hunting, I'll pass along a tip. In most parts of the country, particularly in the more heavily wooded parts, the bowhunter should use only a very low volume, close range, "squeaker" call. This call will carry only a few hundred yards, even under the best conditions. The great benefit is that you only need to move a few hundred yards to call a brand-new territory. Using longer-range calls, you will need access to a much greater area to hunt if you intend to be able to hunt often. If you use only a low-volume, close-range squeaker call, you do not need access to a large land area to be kept busy hunting predators throughout the offseason. 

Good hunting, my friends,

Dr. Ed Ashby