Carbon Impact Arrows...my review

I have used Carbon Impact fat shaft XLT arrows for 7 years. In my opinion, they have several strong points and only one negative point to them.
First of all, carbon arrows have the perfect weight. There are different sizes to account for different draw weights and draw lengths. I used the 6000 size shafts. At 8.2 gpi (grains per inch) they are light enough to get good speed, yet heavy enough with the combination of the arrow weight/speed. I get good penetration with these. Lots of kinetic energy means two holes and that means larger and shorter blood trails. I get complete pass-throughs nine out of ten times. I use large diameter mechanical broad heads and still get the pass throughs, whether it be at five yards or forty yards. These arrows are also strong. They are not indestructible but they are very durable. Several times I used the same arrows to harvest several deer. I harvested eleven deer with the same arrow one year. If your getting pass-throughs, then your arrows will remain in one piece, Simple as that!
I have used both camouflage and the plain black fat shaft XLT arrows. I have had almost the same results with both. The only difference between the camouflage and the black that I noticed was that the camouflage was quieter on my arrow rest when drawing my bow back. When they came out with the slick, shiny finish on the camouflage arrows it made them even quieter.
These carbon arrows have a nock called the roto-nock. It seems to makes things more accurate. The nock is so tiny it makes it hard to robin hood your arrows. The roto-nock can be turned to where you want it. Line your vanes up how you want by turning the nock. Since the roto-nocks are so small it does make them easier to crack off compared to a nock that slides into the rear shaft. They do however make other nocks other than the roto-nock. You choose what nock you want.
I have noticed one thing that I don’t like about these arrows that was not always so. I used to be able to get these arrows very easily. I could find them in archery catalogs such as Bass Pro shop or from Cabela’s. The local archery pro shops all carried them. If you needed some more Carbon Impact arrows all you had to do was go get them. If you wanted them cheaper than retail all you had to do was go online. I bought several dozen on Ebay for half what I was paying for them elsewhere. Now, since no one carries them anymore, they are a pain to get when you need them. The easiest way to get them now is to buy them directly from Carbon Impact. You can visit them at their web site at http://www.carbonimpact.com/.
My over all review of the Carbon Impact XLT arrows is that they are a wonderful product. As I have said, I have used these arrows for years now and have harvested several wild boar and over 60 whitetail deer using these arrows. To say I have had great luck with these arrows would be an understatement and would highly recommend them to anyone.

Blood trailing a Whitetail Deer

There are many exciting events in the life of a Whitetail deer hunter. Not only is shooting an animal exciting, but blood trailing can also be a lot of fun. Blood trailing a Whitetail deer depends on many factors, including what kind of shot you took on the deer. There are 8 main places that you can hit on a deer, and the location of the hit depends on how long you need to wait before recovering the deer.
If you double lung a deer, this means puncturing both lungs(generally a broadside of quartering away shot) you will most likely be able to see your deer go down. I have had to track a few double lung hit whitetails that didn’t go down within my site. These are easy trails to fallow. Pinkish colored blood and lots of it. Sometime the blood of a lung hit deer will have little bubbles in it.. If you notice bubbles it’s a good indication of a lung hit animal. If you only hit one lung. The deer can still easily be recovered. You need to give every animal that does not go down in your site at least 30 minus after your shot. This gives the animal time to expire before you start tracking.
A heart shot deer is much like a double lung hit. You will generally see the animal go down. Requires very little trailing. The deer is dead on it’s feet. Very bright red blood.
Next is trailing a whitetail that has been gut shot. This is a hit that you don’t want to make, but the animal can be recovered if you allow plenty of time after the shot. NEVER TRAIL A GUT SHOT DEER WITH OUT LETTING AT LEAST 6 HOURS PASS! A gut shot deer will not bleed very well. Your arrow will be covered in gut material such as corn bits and other things the deer has eaten. The brownish-red covered arrow will smell very badly. The deer will possibly be hunched and walking slowly as it walks away. They usually don’t bleed right away at point of impact. They general travel 50 to 80 yards before you will start to find blood of the ground. They will try to find a bed within 200 yards and lay down. If you were to start tracking right away or even after 30 minus wait, you will jump the deer up. Pushing the gut shot animal will greatly lessen your chanced of recovering that animal. The deer will run off quickly spilling little or no blood making it almost impossible to find them back. This is why it’s so important to give the deer ample time before starting to trail it up.
A liver shot deer is also easy to recover if handled correctly. The liver hit deer will want to bed down very quickly. Usually with in 100 yards from where the animal was shot. Do not try to get down. The liver shot animal will still very able to run off. It will expire often a lot quicker than a gut shot animal. You need to give a liver shot animal 2-3 hours time before trailing. The blood will be a very dark red color. This shot is in the deer’s middle just in front of the intestines.
Next, is a shoulder shot. This is usually because of a poor shot choice. Never shoot at a deer quartering to you to avoid hitting a deer in the shoulder. If you hit a deer in the shoulder blade if will most likely give you very little penetration. Generally 1 to 4 inches of arrow will be all that goes into the shoulder. I have seen 70 pound draw weight bows go in only a couple inches and other times pass through both shoulder blades and stick into the ground. Regardless of what equipment or weight your shooting you should try to avoid hitting the shoulder blade. The heart and lungs are right behind the shoulder blades and if you do penetrate deep enough you should be able to locate your downed animal quickly.
Lastly, is a leg hit animal. This is a very poor shot. You can recover the animal if everything works out perfectly. This is the only time you would want to push the animal and track immediately after the shot. Pushing the deer is your only hope in recovering it. You will tire the animal out and it will require another shot to put the deer down for good.
Even the best archers mess up if they hunt enough. If you give a wounded deer enough time to expire you should be able to recover it. Wait for those good broadside or quartering away shots. Stay calm and pick your spot…..release!