amazing pictures

[cowgirl8]

For once, we were lucky enough to be under popup storms here in texas in July. Usually, we watch from a distance while others get rain, but not yesterday, the tiny storm let loose over almost all our 2500 acres. We really needed the rain, it is texas after all. I'm not sure what we did right to get it.

Along with the rain, we got wind. On my morning rounds, i came across this down the road. Who knew, hay bales are not lite and fluffy, these fellas are 1200 pounders

[Darlene]

Dang...I have a couple of those rolls and they sure don't move easily. Musta been some really strong winds. Kewl pics though.

[cowgirl8]

lol........i was wondering if i was the only one impressed. Not only did they blow, but they went uphill too. Thats some colossal wind

[Nytehunter]

I was impressed just got lost wondering how I could get one of those for my back yard to shoot at but then my bow will shoot through it so I have to come up with a different solution.

[cowgirl8]

what the heck kind of bow do you have that would shoot though one of these hay bales???????

[Nytehunter]

any bow faster then 280 feet per second will slice right through one like butter especially if your testing your broadheads you need something more dense I use a thick foam square but the bullseye is getting all opened up and to be hoenst sometimes i shoot through that even in that prime time between warming up and my arm getting tired.

[sassenach]

I don't think so nyte! They are super dense... go ahead and try it sometimes if a farmer doesnt care that you try it! lol. That gave me a belly laugh!

That really is incredible Cowgirl. That wind must have really been something! They really are heavy.

 

I used to see them combust into burning in the fields in north GA during the summer heat. I never knew a heavy wind would push them around though!

[Nytehunter]

Ive tried shooting through the rectangle ones arrows go right through I'll have to try the round bales see if they are more dense I'm also worried about loosing an arrow in the bale itself if it doesnt go through.

 

 

[cowgirl8]

An arrow can probably be pushed through a normal round bale of hay, but the method that you would have to use would not be normal. A broad head, even if it was razor sharp would be the worst choice for a point. The purpose of the broad head is to cause a massive amount of trauma to its target and transfer its energy into the target. If you wanted to shoot through a bale of hay, you would want your arrow to retain as much of its energy as possible so it would be able to make the trip completely thought the 5ft bale. To pull off this shot, you would need to make your arrow as aerodynamically slick as possible. Put a field point on it, have some form of oil or lube so there will be less friction between the grass and the arrow, and build a launching system that will push your arrow to at least 750 fps. Basically I'm saying that an arrow can be pushed through a bale of hay, but never with a standard hunting setup.

 

P.S. I just threw some figures in my ballistic calculator and I don't think that it would ever work. Maybe if you had a 3 year old bale to shoot at it would go through. But not one that is solid enough to roll across a road. I would nearly bet that a 5.56x45mm standard nato bullet would not go through a solid bale

[Louis1]

Ive tried shooting through the rectangle ones arrows go right through I'll have to try the round bales see if they are more dense I'm also worried about loosing an arrow in the bale itself if it doesnt go through.

 

All you'll do is lose the arrow somewhere in the center of a round bale, lol.

 

Don't do it!

[Nytehunter]

Thats good to know I've never shot into round bales but the square ones were a menace when I tried them so I switched to Foam but theres still the problem of possibly loosing an arrow in bale itself which would be a pain at 8 bucks a pop.

 

 

 

[sassenach]

From some recent research I did on fps due to draw weight and drawstring length , you may be getting about 300+ fps with a very light arrow and broadhead, a very strong draw weight is needed... also depends on what yardage you are shooting at ..... I don't think it would be possible, even with plain field tips and greasing an arrow..... I think you would lose that arrow in the round bale!

A worthy experiment, but why bother if you lose the arrow? It would be very difficult to recover it and not damage the bale too, which opens it up for rain to get in and mold, so a costly thing for a farmer to donate one! Costly if you have to buy the bale as well.

Cowgirl I do like the way you think of how to do it though!

Cowgirl, do you know the average weight of those round bales?

[cowgirl8]

depends on if you are baling for yourself or someone else. We average 1200, but can go up to 1500 depending on what your baling and how wet it is(wetness is the reason why some catch fire, spontaneous combustion). There are smaller ones too, but since we bale for our own cows, the more hay in them the less time you have in feeding them. People who bale for sale, will bale smaller bales(obvious reasons since most charge by bale). There are balers that just bale smaller bales but even with our big baler, you can just stop at say, 700, and finish it. I'm no expert on hay balers, I go by green, red, orange, yellow.....but I can tell the difference in size and weight.

 

Nyte, were you at first talking about the small square bales people buy for horses or the giant ones they bale up wheat straw in, i have no idea how much those monsters weigh? I can see an arrow going through one of those small ones, they aren't nearly packed at tight as a rolled bale nor anywhere as big, no comparison.

[sassenach]

Even the western alfalfa rectangular bales, that weighed over 100 pounds because it is so dense, field tipped arrows went at most 6 inches deep into them... up here we have large round baling, but it is just grass hay, so probably around the 700lb+ mark, maybe?

So, the type of hay would affect how well an arrow would travel through it as well as density and weight, which certainly does vary around the country....

and yep, it was the moisture and heat combined that made the bales combust in the hot sun....

[Nytehunter]

The bales I Tried were over at my Cousin Lances hes bales a mix but mostly alfalfa but his gear is ancient and im willing to bet the bales are quite loose I shot 30 shots and all but 5 went straight through with a 65 lbs draw Bear compound bow and 29 inch carbon fiber arrows and 1 inch diameter broadhead and 125 grain field points I was trying to see if I could replace my foam square thingy with bales so I don't have to go out and purchase one of those expensive target squares

 

edit and yes they are the small rectangular ones he has horses .

 

[Nytehunter]

and would wrapping the bale in plastic help catch the arrow so it doesnt get stuck in the bale

 

A nice large round bale would be perfect big enough so that even when I'm sighting in a new bow I wouldnt over shoot or under shoot and it would fit nicely in the corner of my yard facing the field.

[cowgirl8]

Do you have the equipment to move one there......and don't be talked into just dumping it out of a truck bed, even if the ground looks level, those things have a mind of their own and will roll through a fence like it isn't there once they get momentum., not to mention over a human trying to keep it from rolling

[Nytehunter]

oh yeah my cousin has several heavy duty fork lifts and front end loaders I'm actually trying to talk him into upgrading to the round bales for his cows but hes still debating

[cowgirl8]

what, is he feeding square? How many cows is he feeding, i couldnt imagine feeding our 300 momma cows square bales. Lets see, if each of our 5 herds eats 2 1500lb bales a day, uh, that would be, wow mind boggling..

[Nytehunter]

he doesnt have as many cows prolly 100 odd but hes got sheep and goats and horses and pigs lots of pigs but he feeds them grain ducks chickens rabbits and donkeys

[Amishway Homesteaders]

any bow faster then 280 feet per second will slice right through one like butter especially if your testing your broadheads you need something more dense I use a thick foam square but the bullseye is getting all opened up and to be hoenst sometimes i shoot through that even in that prime time between warming up and my arm getting tired.

 

Try this -

get a small piece of foam (or cut off a corner) and just cut out a square of the bullseye and replace it with the new piece. Gets replace the whole target - just because you are good and only use the middle.

 

if you cut out the middle with a slight wedge to it the new piece will stay put when you push it in.

 

[Nytehunter]

Not necessarily good just practice until my fingers bleed today I over shot and got and arrow stuck in a tree went in 2 inches ended up had to break the arrow off couldn't seem to work it loose I'm sighting in with a new sight and my new overdraw. Oh well I gotta cut the arrows down to 27 inches now anyway. Yeah I could cut a foam square for the middle Man that bow is heavy I cant wait until I can upgrade to a lighter one.