Have You Ever Ran Out of Arrows?

[ElkNut1]

Curious as to how many arrows you guys pack in your quiver & if you ever wished you had more? I've run out before! (grin) I won't carry more than 4 & so far it's been enough!

ElkNut1

[Sucobowhunter]

I carry 5.. 4 broaheads and 1 judo..

[cnelk]

My 5 arrow quiver varies in its holdings
Sometimes 3, sometimes 4, seldom 5

Only once did I run out of arrows, missing all 3. I since named that meadow '3 Times'... that was a long, long time ago...

[Panhandle Archer]

Not yet, but I've had a few times where I found myself with only one arrow remaining-- and I had to make it count. Usually the problem was that I didn't replace arrows after using/losing them-- i.e. after shooting a grouse I lost an arrow, lost one during a hike earlier in the day, and then used the final two to kill an elk.

I think 4 is the magic number for me. If for whatever reason I need more I should prob call it quits for the day regardless!

[Lefty]

Almost; lost my quiver with 4 in it,.. had a nocked arrow to hunt with the remainder of the day
Never did find the quiver

[Swede]

In 1996, I had a shot at an elk. The trouble is that my only shot was down into its spine. I looked at the situation and decided that I had enough energy with the 70 pound draw weight bow and 2117 arrows I was shooting, that I could anchor it. I drew back and sent an arrow into the spine. The elk was about thirty yards out and headed down to water. The elk slipped on the hill and turned sideways, but it was paralyzed. I had a quiver that still held five arrows. I shot four of my remaining arrows into that elk. It finally fell over and destroyed all five aluminum arrows. That was the closest I ever came to running out of arrows. Also that was the last time I had a shot down into the spine of an elk.

[pointysticks]

5 arrows. i have only run out once.

i was hunting an upper county in California, and i had all the required tags to take Grouse..grouse! i dont know what it is about those birds..they would be perched on some point, zzzztttth! my arrow will fly harmlessly by and go into some vast valley..or smash into some granite rock..

grouse..makes sense the first few letters are "grrr". nothing like dumping $60 bucks of bow ammo at them, harmlessly.

i had to turn a blind eye towards the Grouse population in Idaho. "i didnt see nutin!"

[>>>---WW---->]

Only once have I ran out. It was back in the early 80s. And if my memory serves me right, I was shooting an old recurve and had 7 arrows with me. I had called in a smallish 4x4 bull that I estimated was 20 yards away and standing broadside. I let on fly and it landed at his feet. It startled him and he jumped sideways back about 5 yards. "Nuts"! I thought, "He must be a little farther than 20". So I held for about 25 and let another one fly. Again it landed at his feet and again he jumped site ways about 5 more yards.

This went on until I was out of arrows. Each time I hit right at his feet and each time he would jump side ways another 5 yds. or so. I was adding the right elevation to my shots for where he had been standing but never taking into account that after each shot, he moved back farther away.

That young bull never did figure out what was happening until I finally was out of arrows and had to get up and go pick them up. But I suppose he wasn't any more stupid than I was for not allowing for that extra 5 yds he moved after every arrow that landed at his feet. DUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

[Bullnuts]

Like a lot of you, I've never run out but I've come pretty close! Never on elk, but for some reason I had a lot of trouble killing a Nebraska deer one year and threw so many arrows at her I had to find a few on the ground before I could shoot again. I rarely carry more than 4 arrows in my quiver plus a judo for those troublesome grouse!

[Gevärssmed]

I have never ran out of arrows while hunting, I carry 3 broadheads and 1 judo. I did run out of arrows once shooting a 3D tournament... Not a good day

[Coveyleader]

Three times. all on deer, all with my Longbow and they all came home with me. One was a spine shot with follow up. How about running out of arrows on a 200 inch Whitetail? Then having to walk back to the truck to get one more to finish the job?

The problem I had with recurves and longbows, is your first shot is normally your best. When you get into panick mode, you see the whole animal and the next thing you know your out of arrows.

I also learned if you spine an animal, if you put another in him and it's a good shot, there is no need for more arrows. I truly believe as you stand there in the sight of the animal they will live much longer vs a good follow up shot, and then just walk away just out of sight where you can keep an eye on them. They will pass much quicker vs you standing over them.

[Swede]

I also learned if you spine an animal, if you put another in him and it's a good shot, there is no need for more arrows. I truly believe as you stand there in the sight of the animal they will live much longer vs a good follow up shot, and then just walk away just out of sight where you can keep an eye on them. They will pass much quicker vs you standing over them.

Coveyleader you are basically very correct. I don't know if standing close by keeps them alive longer or not, but I surely did not need to shoot five arrows into the elk I wrote about above. It was irrational to shoot the last three. It was fresh in my memory then, that two years earlier a friend, who hunted near me, lost a nice bull because he did not want to "waste any meat". He thought he had a good shot into the boiler room of the elk, The elk just stood there for several minutes. My friend expected it to fall over at any moment. For quite a while it stood about ten feet from where it was shot. To make a long story short the bull finally slowly walked off. We spent two days looking for it and never saw hide or hair again. Sometimes irrational decisions are over compensations for episodes like that.
When I deliberately spined the elk, I could see the arrow stuck in it. I saw where every arrow pierced it. Two arrows were surely enough. The excitement at the moment, the thought of that earlier lost elk, plus the desire to be absolutely sure, was the basis for what in hind sight was a waste of arrows. But I did it. Anyway you make a good point, and I replied here because I don't want other hunters to think that I was advocating anything.

[BarW]

I carry 3 arrows no small game tip until I'm shot out of big game tags. I keep the small game tips at camp though. I do have a buddy who basically lost his mind after seeing a 7x7 herd bull and shot all of his arrows at the bull over about a 3 hour period, he carries 6 arrows.

[T/H]

i carry 4 arrows in my quiver. i missed a cow twice this year and there was never any panick about possibly going back to camp and getting more arrows. in fact i penetrated deeper into the wilderness with only 2 arrows after that and almost had a shot at a monster bull.