Nilgai with 43# Bow
"Great visiting with you on the phone today. As I mentioned, attached are the field pics and hanging pics of the nilgai. As I mentioned, considering the recommended gun for these strong animals is a .375 H&H Magnum, Rhonda’s was the most impressive kill I’ve seen in years of archery. She has a 43# draw weight and using a 125 grain Silver Flame obtained a complete pass through on a quartering shot taking out both lungs – but you couldn’t tell that with all the red foam coming out of his nose! Bull was dead w/in 75 yards of the treestand. She did it all on her own as no guide was there. I shot mine with a 125 grain Samurai and he went down within 50-60 yards of the treestand, a complete pass through - both shoulders. Both bulls had 9”+ horns, but Rhonda’s was a more mature, heavier horned bull. The Silver Flame in the photo was launched off my wife’s bow set at 43#, complete pass through on a slightly quartering forward shot. Estimated bull live weight was 700#. The blade is still razor shaving sharp as I just tested it on my arm. Clean it up, touch it on the strop a few times and it is ready to go again. I’m personally blown away she had a pass through on this big and dense of an animal with that light of draw weight....that speaks volumes for that head. The 125 grain single bevel Samurai was launched off my bow set at 71#, but I crushed both shoulder bones and ribs as the animal was crouched down/tensed up coming through a fence crossing along a trail when I slammed him.I know this picture makes you cringe after what you have been through, so let me tell you the rest of the story....my friend hunting with the nipple tip Muzzy 3 blade head made a similar shot that I did on his bull and the broadhead stuck in the entry shoulder and stopped with about 1” of penetration. The arrow mushroomed around the insert and ferrule and then bounced back at my friend like he had shot a tree, leaving the broadhead and insert stuck in the shoulder. The bull was not recovered and no blood trail. My friend was shooting a Matthews z7 mag set at 70 pounds, no significant difference than my Hoyt in draw weight. The difference was the broadhead and overall arrow weight. While the Sam is pretty gnarled up, I do have the bull in the freezer! Oh, you should have heard the SCHMACK, and then the death bellow a few seconds later....absolutely soul cleansing." - Rob Neilson