I'm calling them arrows from now on

Crossbow Hunting

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ninepointer
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I'm calling them arrows from now on

Post by ninepointer »

The perfectionist in me wants to continue to refer to crossbow bolts as "bolts", but I've found that in common usage, the word "arrows" is more convenient. It's kind of like using the term rifle "clip", when technically its a magazine. Now I've noticed that the Excal website calls them "arrows". If the word "arrows' is good enough for Excalibur, its good enough for me :)
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crazyfarmer
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Post by crazyfarmer »

I use both... most guys dont even know what bolts are so ive found myself saying arrows just so they have a clue as to what I'm talking about. Im just worried someone will think im shooting screws, nuts, and bolts through the bow LOL
fuzzy
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Post by fuzzy »

...
Last edited by fuzzy on Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
joeumholtz
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Post by joeumholtz »

Read an article a couple of years back (Horizontal Bowhunter?) describing the difference between bolts and arrows. Don't remember all the particulars, but bolts as I recall were relatively short 6-8 inches and had no fletching. What we shoot are definitely arrows.
Last edited by joeumholtz on Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joe Umholtz
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DropTine
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Post by DropTine »

I agree with crazyfarmer, there is a couple of "know it alls" that are always around our local hunting store and they didnt know what I meant, they thought I was talking about bolts to put the bow together.........LOL!
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Post by dick195252 »

It has taken me 6 months to call them bolts :? but i have no problem calling them Arrows 8) {So Arrows it is 8) :lol:}
Cossack
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Post by Cossack »

Quote: "there is a couple of "know it alls" that are always around our local hunting store and they didnt know what I meant'

Sound like a great reason to keep callen' 'em bolt to me.
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Post by xbowking »

when im refering to my arrows when talking to people i always say " crossbow arrows" then right away they know that i shoot a crossbow & the arrows are shorter than a verticle bow arrows , But yes arrows it is . :D
DJH
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Post by DJH »

BOLTS AND ARROWS
A look on the lighter side of projectile name-calling.
By Daniel James Hendricks

“Da, well the crossbow ain’t archery `quipment cause it shoots bolts, not arrows!” claims the anti-crossbow expert.

Jeez, I hate it when I hear that statement! I would like to put forward some simple information to clear up this murky subject, once and for all. The modern hunting crossbow does not shoot bolts, it shoots ARROWS! If a projectile has a guidance system in the form of feathers or vanes on the end of it, it is an ARROW!

Can we say the word “ARROW” boys and girls? Crossbows shoot ARROWS! You can argue, rationalize and fantasize, but the fact remains – IT IS AN ARROW!

The crossbow bolt is a short dowel-type projectile that was once used for indoor and outdoor target shooting. It is seldom, if ever used in the twenty-eighth (or so) century of crossbow shooting. Now is time for crossbow shooters, arrow and crossbow manufacturers and even those opposed to the existence of crossbows to all crawl onto the very same page and come to the realization that the crossbow shoots arrows, not bolts.

Those who scorn our weapon of choice claim that we shoot bolts because they are shorter than those shot from vertical archery equipment. Okay, let me get this straight, if that is the definition of a bolt in their superior little minds, then archers that shoot short arrows from an over-draw are shooting bolts, right?

I dare say that if you walked up to a vertical archer who is using short arrows with an over-draw system and say, “Hey Dude, really good looking bolts you are shooting there!” there would be hell to pay.

How about going to a junior archery league where youngsters are using 18-inch youth arrows? Give those kids on the shooting line the all clear and then tell them they can go pull their bolts out of the targets. Even a newbie child knows that they are shooting arrows and not bolts and they will, in no uncertain terms, let you know that you do not have a clue as to what you are talking about.

Why then, do some of us as mature adults insist on calling our arrows, bolts? I understand that a lot of folks just do not know any better. It is a simple matter of knowledge washing away the ignorance. Well, if you are reading this article, then you can no longer plead ignorance! Start calling your projectiles what they are, ARROWS!

If you are shooting something similar to the photographs included with this article, you are shooting bolts. If you are hunting with this type of projectile, you should seriously consider taking up another sport, because “you ain’t right”!

However, if you are hunting with a 20 to 24 inch projectile with feathers or vanes at the nock end, you are shooting an arrow. Get used to the fact and call them what they are.

If you are an arrow manufacturer and you are manufacturing and selling projectiles for crossbows, please take note. If those projectiles look like the photographs in this article, you are indeed manufacturing and marketing bolts. In that case, please feel free to call them bolts.

However, if you are manufacturing projectiles that look like arrows, complete with vanes or feathers on the nock end, then you are manufacturing ARROWS. For Heaven's sake, please call them ARROWS, because that is what they are.

It is time to end the arrow/bolt confusion, people. Crossbow hunters shoot arrows, not bolts. I have heard it said that it doesn’t really make any difference what you call them. Excuse me?

I have also heard it said that a whitetail buck has nice horns, you know what I mean? NO! A buck has ANTLERS; cows and automobiles have horns.

I got a bunch of polecats under my barn, you know what I mean?
NO! You have a bunch of SKUNKS under your barn! Polecats live in Europe and Asia.

Boy there sure is a good crop of akerns, this year, you know what I mean?
NO! There is a good crop of ACORNS this year! There is no such thing as an akern!

My crossbow sure does shoot a bolt fast, you know what I mean?
NO! Your crossbow shoots an ARROW fast, not a bolt. A bolt is a short featherless dowel like projectile once used for target practice at indoor and outdoor ranges.

Just because a lot of folks choose, for whatever reason, to mislabel something, it doesn’t make it right, you know what I mean? So….Let’s all, shooters AND manufacturers, get in the practice of properly addressing our projectiles for what the really are – ARROWS! NOW SAY AMEN!
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Daniel James Hendricks
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joeumholtz
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Post by joeumholtz »

Amen! Dan.

You are 100% right. If we are trying to convince people we are shooting arhery equipment (and we are shooting archery equipment) we should not be confusing the matter of our projectiles and we should most definitely not be giving the opposing side ammunition, so to speak. As I said in my earlier post, WE SHOOT ARROWS.

PS

It was great meeting and talking with you at the Harrisburg show. How many signatures did you end up with?
Joe Umholtz
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DJH
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Post by DJH »

We gathered 1488 signatures in Harrisburg and 2924 in Michigan. That is a lot of folks that favor the use of the crossbow considering the State archery clubs in both states claim that they are the voice of the bowhunter and those bowhunters do not want to see crossbows. I guess it's one of those things that make you say "Hmmm?"

Really glad you stopped by Joe. Thanks for sharing your ideas with us. I just wish I could do that with all of our ACF members.
It's better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not!

Daniel James Hendricks
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sumner4991
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Post by sumner4991 »

I am now educated, thanks DJH!

I was calling them bolts because the guys that I knew that had crossbows, called them bolts. I've struggled with calling them bolts. Now I feel relieved. Arrows, arrows, arrows . . .I feel very relieved. Arrows!
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Woody Williams
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Post by Woody Williams »

The difference in a crossbow arrow and an over draw compound arrow 'might' be 3 - 4 inches. Not a lot, huh?


Crossbow arrows and bolts …

Crossbow “arrows” here…

http://www.onlinesports.com/pages/I,BNT-16078.html

Bass Pro Shop calls them arrows too…

http://tinyurl.com/3869n5

Arrows again..

http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-~crossbow+arrows-p18661070

Arrows..

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=360390

Yep… we shoot arrows..
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wabi
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Post by wabi »

I call them arrows. Pointy little sticks with feathers on one end generally are called arrows. :wink:
When I say bolts I'm talking about threaded rods with a head to hold or turn them.
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DJH
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Post by DJH »

When I say "bolt" I am talking about what women usually do when they see me walk into the room...
It's better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not!

Daniel James Hendricks
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Glenwood, MN 56334
320-634-3660
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.horizontalbowhunter.com
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