Sonoran Bowhunting Products, Inc. - SBP

Hi,
My name is Rick Forrest, inventor and President of Sonoran Bowhunting Products Inc.

When I started bowhunting over 30 years ago, archery equipment was pretty basic. If you had a bow that shot arrows at 200-220 FPS, you had a fast bow.

Tucson, AZ was a great place to grow up in archery. There was a ton of talent and knowledge located in what was then a small desert town. PSE was located here, and through my tournament shooting I was able to meet and shoot with some of the all-time greats such as Frank and Becky Pearson and Terry and Michele Ragsdale.

I remember when the first over draw came out on the PSE Mach1. It raised the arrow speeds to a whopping 240 FPS. This was a big deal. Living and bowhunting in the open desert, long shots were the norm. Laser range finders didn't exist, and yardage estimation was critical. Desert hunting is tough with only 1 in 10 bowhunters tagging a deer each year. We were all looking for an advantage, we all needed a flatter trajectory. Before long we were shortening our limbs and putting on bigger cams. By 1985 we were building wildcat bows and shooting arrows at over 320 FPS.

This was all fine and great, but getting broadheads to fly was next to impossible. Then I saw my first mechanical head. I was skeptical at first, after all penetration seemed to be a critical requirement of a head, and this one seemed to violate that rule. None the less I gave it a try. It only took one harvest for me to see the benefits of a mechanical head. The head left a devastating hole in both sides of the deer I harvested. Not only was I getting a head that flew at 300+ FPS, but a head that made holes like I had never seen before. That was in 1986 and I've not used a fixed blade since.

A few years later, and after dozens of harvests using mechanicals, I designed the Sonoran line of broadheads. Since then I've taken over 100 big game animals with mechanicals.

Most years there's five hunters in my Elk camp (when we manage to get elk tags). We've been fortunate enough to draw 45 tags in the last 11 years. During those hunts we've collectively taken 38 elk, all with mechanical heads. Cutting widths ranged from 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 inches. Draw weights ranged from 55 lbs. to 80 lbs. All elk ran less than 60 yards except for the two gut shot that went 200 yards. Both were recovered.

We've had pass through shots with 3 inch exit holes and no blood trails due to the hole in the hide not lining up with the hole in the cavity. We've had no exit holes and tremendous blood trails because the shaft kept the holes through the hide lined up with the hole in the cavity. We've had low hits with little blood; we've had high hits with lots of blood.

I've had guys swear the animal was perfectly broadside only to discover it was severely quartering. I've had guys say they got no penetration only to find out that they broke ribs on the far side. There are many different circumstances with many different results.

The bottom line is this: if you shoot the animal where you're supposed to, it doesn't matter what size the broadhead is you shoot, but if you have a bad hit, and it happens, these new, very small heads give you no margin of error. I personally know 9 hunters last year that hit and lost elk using these small heads. Now I'm not saying the heads are bad. What I am saying is that all 9 made marginal hits with a tiny head on a big animal and all 9 were never recovered. All 9 got pass-throughs, and all 9 swear they were dot shots, but the pass-through penetration didn't put the animal on the ground.

The 36 elk we harvested--the ones that went down in under 60 yards--didn't bleed to death in that distance. It only took them a few seconds to travel the 60 yards. They all died of asphyxiation. Their lungs collapsed. There is no doubt that the bigger cut directly contributes to the total collapse of the lungs.

Let me ask you this. If you accidentally hit an elk back in the guts, would you want a 1 inch cut or a 2 ¼ inch cut?

If you have the energy to shoot a larger cutting head then why wouldn't you take the advantage that larger cut gives you?

Over the years I have recovered many animals with bad hits that I am convinced I would have lost otherwise.

Keep an open mind when it comes to mechanical heads. My success as a bowhunter comes first before my success as a manufacturer. I wouldn't risk a single hunt on equipment I didn't have faith in.

Shoot straight!

Rick