(photographer - Cameron Oxnam)

Check out this goldeneye!!  The bird came down crossing about twenty yards out and I made a great shot on him.  Even with the string setup, the arrow flew just like a regularly fletched arrow and hit it’s mark. 

I guess I should mention he was already dead when he came floating past me down river.  My dad was packing a shotgun for backup and had dropped this guy above me.  We didn’t send the dogs so that I could perform some “on bird” testing. 

Everyone should note that this Zebco/Spiderwire is setup as an arrow retrieval system, not a duck retrieval system.  When the arrow passes through the duck, you have to pull the bird in with the arrow.  The drag of the goldeneye in the moderate current put a lot of strain on the reel and line.  I was afraid that I could potentially have a failure at the line/arrow connection.  I didn’t make any progress in bringing the bird to me but it did keep the bird from going down river.  To get the bird and arrow back, I reeled up the line as I walked down river on the bank to get to the bird. 

For those of you with retrievers, it is not safe to send your dog after a duck that has an arrow protruding from it and line that could entagle them or possibly cut their mouths’.  If they are not completely steady, tie them up in order to keep them safe.

To be good to your dogs, you or someone in your group should pack a shotgun so your retrievers get to do what they love to do also.  Don’t worry if you are alone, it’s easy to drop your bow and grab a shotgun if some ducks came by but are heading out without offering an archery opportunity.  Trust me, your dogs will thank you.

In my previous post about this setup, I left off very optimistically about this exciting combination.  After more shooting and more testing I have a definite answer to the post title, “Is Zebco 733 Setup The Aerial Archer’s Dream Setup?”.  The quick answer is No, it is not a dream setup but I am getting closer.  Compared to any other string setup I have tested, this has been the most enjoyable system and feesl most like shooting a free flying arrow.  Still learning though…

My primary concern with any of these new trials is safety.  The primary concern with any string system is the possibility of a line feeding issue that would cause the arrow to recoil back to the archer which can cause serious injury and even death.  One big difference between the Zebco 733 and the AMS Retrieval system if that the 733 requires that the button to be pressed prior to the shot or the line will not feed.  So pushing the button is an obvious no brainer but just in case, I loosened the drag so that some line could still slip out if somehow I forgot to push the button.

The question still remained as to whether or not the arrow would recoil back if the line failed to feed properly.  It did not take very long before I got to find out.  I had made nine shots before a failure on the tenth.  The arrow was speeding toward a passing mallard when the line snapped tight and immediately went slack.  The unfletched and now untethered arrow dove, skipped off the water, and erratically turned straight up in the air flying another twenty feet before dropping down into the rivers swift current.  Watching my $10 drift away I felt a little dejected by this first failure and started to investigate what went wrong.

The button on the reel was still depressed but the line wouldn’t budge.  I pulled the cover off the spincast reel and exposed the heavily twisted, loose, and knotted line.  The arrows have no fletchings so I knew they were not the culprit of the twisted line.  I had foolishly overlooked how the spincast reel winds the line back on when reeling back in.  It twists the line quite a lot especially on those long fifty yard arrow retrieves.  This is probably the biggest down fall of the spincast reel.  Not much you can do here but stopping the arrow as soon as possible after missing a shot helped, because there was significantly less line out to reel in.  The twisted line was only part of the problem.  The other part was the loose line I let enter the reel.  I had not taken enough care to make sure I had good tension on the line while I reeling.  If the line goes on the spool tight, the twisted line won’t have the opportunity to get tangled up and cause a failure.  Over the next couple days, this proved to be helpful and effective.  I also recommend occasionally pulling all the line out and letting it drift down the river to allow some of the twists to unwind.

I was also fortunate/unfortunate to find out that the 50# test line will allow the arrow to break free without recoiling back at the shooter (at least with this bow/arrow combination.)  The bow is a Sky TDX ILF with 60# limbs, the arrow is a GT Trad 7595 with 125gr Zwickey.  I went with the ILF so that I could screw the reel seat right into the riser.  The metal riser is not nearly as comfortable in the cold as a wood riser.

I ended up breaking off three additional arrows and was lucky enough to retrieve each of them in shallow water.  The twisted and loose line was not the cause of these additional line failures.  It was simply operator error and not having the button pressed.  In my defense, I do believe that I had pushed the button each time but as I shuffled the bow, called, and ducked for cover, I believe I bumped the reel’s handle, engaging the retrieval gears.  By the end I got in the habit of checking regularly to make sure the button was still engaged and I didn’t have any more line breaks.  The system is functional but I will continue to test and tweak so that I can be even better.

I know what you are thinking and you are right, flu flu arrows are so much easier to deal with, but the line systems have been opening up so many more waterfowling opportunities that it’s worth it to work out the kinks.

(photographs courtesy of Cameron Oxnam)

Here is a tip for the spiral fletching that i wish I had included on the video.  A binder clip can greatly simplify the spiral fletch process.  If you someone is not familiar with binder clips, you can pick these up at any office supply store:

Placing a binder clip on the front tip of the feather at the beginning and end of the wrap can really help to hold the feather’s ends down until the glue fully cures.  Also, pulling the feather over the corner or edge of a table or desk can put some curl into the feather so it will wrap around and stay wrapped a little easier.

I was very excited to get some waterfowl archery action with the new Zebco 733/Spiderwire setup.  My minimal tests at home showed very promising results and all I needed was a river and ducks to get the real work under way.  After a long drive and very short night, I awoke to the gloomy scene of rain pooring down in the darkness.  “So much for pictures or filming”, was my first thought that morning and unfortunately proved to be prophetic.  The rain was persistant but failed to prevent me from settling into the trees on the banks of the Snake River.  In the dim light of the morning, I froze as a couple mallards cupped their wings and glided towards a tiny spread of just over half a dozen decoys.  As the birds got closer they drifted off their perfect course to land a little up river.  After all my anticipation, I was not about to let them pass by with out get my shot off.  The twenty five yard crossing shot was improbable but impossible if I never shot.  So with little hesitation, the unfletched arrow sped from the bow and rapidly drew more and more line from the silver reel.  I watched in amazement and was distracted from the birds by the arrows impressive trajectory.  The arrow passed a couple feet behind the drake, but I was so thrilled by the arrow/line/reel combination I hardly noticed

My usual AMS Reel only had about 25 yards of line so the arrow never sailed very far before the arrow would lurch to stop and had always lost a significant of energy before hitting the end. 

But that arrow maintained an impressive trajectory and had already pulled nearly 50 yards of line before I regained the presence of mind to put a stop to it’s flight.  In the  river’s swift current it took some effort to get the arrow and line reeled in before it all became entagled in the brush and low hanging branches.

Lesson #1 – It’s important to stop the arrow as soon as it has passed the bird to minimize arrow retrieval time and risk of loosing the arrow as a result of entanglement. 

I was immediately convinced that this system was the solution I had been looking for to expand my bird bowhunting opportunites.  Big water ducks and geese here I come.  Can I really come to this conclusion after such little testing…we’ll see.

I don’t have any pictures or video because it is dark right now, but I am very excited.  I just went out and shot my Zebco 733 with the 50lb test Spiderwire and it functioned flawlessly!! The arrow flew well and seemed to have minimal energy loss especially compared to the AMS which isn’t a very fair comparison.  Now it’s time to test it on some ducks.  I’ll report later on how the field tests go.