# Chief AJ HFX Slingbow 40lbs Draw



## truthornothing

Hello,

I am a slingshot neophyte, I just started with a cheapo a few weeks ago and then got A wooden slingshot from China that was difficult to shoot. Though I have since gotten better with it and am hitting cans at 10 yard now. Anyway I am a raw newbie

I was checking out Chief AJ's site and his videos last week while waiting on my Pocket Predator HTS Sniper to get here( won't be until next week) I had seen his stuff before but really gave it a good earnest search this past week. His videos are entertaining and since I am a hunter and a bit of a prepper(not overboard but any good boy scout knows to be prepared) I was very interested in having something so compact that can take down big game(grizzlies included) without bullets. As I was reviewing his contact information I saw that he lived just 20 minutes south. I sent him an e-mail asking if I could pay a visit and check out his wares and he said "come on down and shoot with me". I said "great" and payed him a visit. He had his new "Elite" Series out and a new release. He showed me the ropes of using the system and I came across as clumsy as a person could. Its been a long time since I'd used a bow. I was a tab shooter when I bow hunted so I had a difficult time with the release....I also used sights on my bow so no sights here my first shot stuck in his shed. That was not the only shot to do so lol. Undeterred, We tried several variations and I had the best luck with the HFX with a non mechanical release. I love the release. Simple and effective, It is a little bit of genius. I was on target in not in the center, there were no more shed shots. I bought the grab and go pack above.I paid and extra $25 for the folding brace, I believe its well worth it for the convenience. It came with the non mechanical release, a take down arrow with helios fletching(which Chief AJ made while I waited) 7/16 steel balls 40 pound tubes, the super pouch which shoots balls and arrows, a muzzy cut on contact broad head and a fanny pack to put it all in. This is the same set up the Chief used to take down the Grizzly.

Once I got home I started practicing. I get nervous when people are watching. Once I figured out my aiming point. Left fork tip on target, I started hitting the bulls eye pretty regularly. I still have some fliers which I know are technique related. This is a very sturdily constructed and thought out product. The arrow rest flips out of the way and push button pops it right up. I have no doubt that I can take a deer with this with a little more practice.

I will post more as I become familiar and can get some pics / video. Overall I'd say this is a must have for anyone interested in sling bow hunting, and the Chief is a super guy and I appreciate him taking time out of his Saturday to accommodate me. He is top notch.


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## JTslinger

I have the same setup with 30lbs draw as well as a set of 40 lbs draw tubes. I really enjoy mine.


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## truthornothing

I need some practice, I am either on the Bullseye or way off it. I think its my follow through that is bad. What arrow and fletching combination are you using? Have you taken any big game with it yet. I'd like to go on a feral hog hunt


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## Henry the Hermit

Despite the fact that some have taken big game with slingbows, I consider it very irresponsible and dangerous to hunt big game with a slingbow. I've seen too many animals lost when shot with rifles or shotguns.


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## truthornothing

I would not use it if I were not sure that I could make an accurate enough shot for heart and lungs, and at a distance of not more than 20 yards. If you can do that then I see no reason hunting with it should be any different than with a regular bow, which I have used to harvest deer. A bad shot has no business hunting anyway.


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## JTslinger

I have not taken any game with mine yet. Found out shortly after getting mine that I am highly allergic to deer, even though I have taken numerous deer in the past with no allergic reaction.


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## truthornothing

JTslinger said:


> I have not taken any game with mine yet. Found out shortly after getting mine that I am highly allergic to deer, even though I have taken numerous deer in the past with no allergic reaction.


The first deer I ever shot I broke out with a rash on my hands and wrists, but have never had any trouble since, and I have slain and devoured many. I do want to point out that I am not a trophy hunter. I am a meat hunter. I totally utilize what I harvest.

I went home for lunch and practiced some more. Accuracy improved by leaps and bounds. It was my release and hand movement during that was causing the issue. The last 3 shots I fired before coming back to work were all touching the bulls eye. I may get the hang of this yet


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## JTslinger

I am also a meat hunter. I went years without any reaction to being around deer that I, or someone else in camp, has taken. A few years ago I was helping someone in camp move a deer they had just taken onto an ATV to take it back to camp. My eyes got itchy and I could barely breath. That has happened every time since when I get close to any deer.


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## truthornothing

Allergies are funny things, they can come upon you all at once. My favorite meat animals are squirrels and rabbits, so very tasty. As I said my sling shot skills are not there yet.Now with my trusty Barnett crossbow...I can shoot eyes out at 30 yds lol


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## JTslinger

Very true, stupid allergies. I have not been deer hunting the past few years. Partially due to allergies, partially due to work schedule.


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## truthornothing

Shot the HFX before work this morning, at 10 yards, first shot touching bulls eye, second shot touching bulls eye, third shot touching bulls eye.....should have stopped at 3. The 4th shot was a flier. It was my release. I concentrated hard on the next shot and boom touching bulls eye. I'd like to point out that this is better than I can do with balls on my other slingshot. I am going to take it to the archery range Saturday ....Bet I will get some looks lol I am going to see how I do at 20 on bulls ey targets and then moving to 3d Deer and turkey. If that goes well I'll be getting ready for hunting season. I still like this sling bow a lot. Very sturdy and well thought out.


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## lunasling

I own the HFX as well 40# pull, fine tough and compact

its my go to when the proverbial SHF goes down !

Joe.


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## truthornothing

lunasling said:


> I own the HFX as well 40# pull, fine tough and compact
> 
> its my go to when the proverbial SHF goes down !
> 
> Joe.


I bought it with SHTF in mind. My Crossbow is my main hunting instrument, but as you said the HFX is tough compact and fits easily on my person take down arrow and all. I am now deadly at 10 yards bullsey after bullseye. Going to step it out to 20 yds this weekend at the archery range and see how we do.


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## romanljc

I think slingbow would be ok under 20 yards with 45ib draw weight and a Indian syle broadhead but you better be a good shot .. or don't even try it ..
On deer size game ..


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## lunasling

Chief AJ uses a slightly heavyer band for deer and larger game as for me I would go for smaller game if I had to use it or when it comes time to use it for now it's hybrinating in its SHITF pack

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G850A using Tapatalk


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## romanljc

I have seen primitive wood bow with stone arrow heads with only 40 ib draw wieght go right through a deer carcass in a test someone did on YouTube . Link below the key is get close be on target


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## namazu

I mean no disrespect to those who use slingbows but Im leaving arrow chucking to my bows . I use my hfx mainly for large steel lead and hex nuts that fit it . Istarted slingshot habbit as an alternative to shooting . Now I shoot steel and marbles more than bullets.


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## lunasling

namazu said:


> I mean no disrespect to those who use slingbows but Im leaving arrow chucking to my bows . I use my hfx mainly for large steel lead and hex nuts that fit it . Istarted slingshot habbit as an alternative to shooting . Now I shoot steel and marbles more than bullets.
> 
> Namz
> 
> dont knock it till ya try it brudda , for small game its ideal , i have a cross bow sitting dorment cause its a chore to pull back on it to load
> 
> im trying to find some one to fabricate a takedown PVC bow that won't cost an arm and a leg and a 1st born lol , i too am a fan of archery !


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## namazu

Try the sammick sage takedown recurvebow very reasonable. I guess I should give it a go and see what it can do


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## lunasling

namazu said:


> Try the sammick sage takedown recurvebow very reasonable. I guess I should give it a go and see what it can do
> 
> Nam
> 
> where do i find this bow ?


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## namazu

Lancacter archery online has the best price I've seen . Also 3 rivers archerh has for a little more but there service is unbeatable. You can purchase extra limbs in what ever wieght from 30 lbs up to 65 lbs


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## namazu

Sorry that's 3rivers archery .com


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## lunasling

namazu said:


> Sorry that's 3rivers archery .com
> 
> Nam
> 
> yea i checked the bow on line $ 139.00 they askin for maybe when i get my tax return i'll see bout gettin one thanks.


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## namazu

Hey lunasling check out the reviews on youtube all are very good . Good luck . I'm going to get a sling bow band for hfx just trying to decide between 30 or 40 pnd. band set. Giving its short range I can shoot it in the back yard.


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## lunasling

namazu said:


> Hey lunasling check out the reviews on youtube all are very good . Good luck . I'm going to get a sling bow band for hfx just trying to decide between 30 or 40 pnd. band set. Giving its short range I can shoot it in the back yard.
> 
> Nam
> 
> start with the light band build up accuracy then go for the heavy bands ,
> 
> i read somewhere that chief AJ took out a bear with his with a HD band set up .


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## namazu

Thanks for advice ill go with 30pounds then.


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## Chuck Daehler

I agreed with Henry because, and this is merely my personal ex-hunter postion on arrow hunting, arrow hunting is cruel, it tortures the game if big game and it's not a quick death necessarily whereas big bore hunting usually is. I realize it is an excellent thing to be able to down big game, meat animals, with a bow and certainly with a hard draw slingbow for survival purposes and obviously one must practice on big game to be sure he can down a deer or such. It would be insane to try to down a bear in my opinion, without a friend with a big bore aimed at him as back up in case he charges you the shooter. And even then I wouldn't do it.

An atlatl can kill a deer, poster this month to wit.

It's that I have a heart for all animals and wish they be done quickly and cleanly with no suffering.

So it's a two edged sword...practice makes perfect vs don't do it. I can see both camps. But personally I only hunted big game with big bore...never an arrow. Small game, sure, an arrow nabbed many a rabbit when I was young and the animal died quickly...can't run far with an arrow through the heart...and never took a long shot except once and I even got that one.

Slingbows are an up and coming sport and perhaps I'll get into ti as well. I love archery so it's a given I should try slingbows..not for hunting but for kicks.

As to draw, one might try 30lbs or even 25 at first to get the feel, then up the pull a bit at a time to full draw force. Arrows are many times more massive than ball ammo hence the powerful draw requirement.


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## calinb

namazu said:


> Lancacter archery online has the best price I've seen . Also 3 rivers archerh has for a little more but there service is unbeatable. You can purchase extra limbs in what ever wieght from 30 lbs up to 65 lbs


As a concerned warning to my friends here, I must disagree with your assessment of 3RiversArchery. In my experience, 3Rivers service is unbeatable ...unbeatably bad, that is! My tribulation with 3rivers is far too long to fully relate here, but I recently placed my first order with them for some wood arrows and, due to their ridiculously inadequate packaging (a flimsy rectangular cardboard box), nearly every last arrow was destroyed by USPS. Even worse, several members of the 3rivers staff were completely incompetent, disrespectful, and argumentative in handling my claim. 3Rivers staff repeatedly reported to me that they had issued a refund to my credit card, but it failed to post to my account as promised. After over a month and roughly 20 emails, I filed a dispute with my credit card company. In my 57 years, I have never experienced such a terrible retail transaction. 3Rivers has a seriously broken company culture when it comes to customer service! Perhaps 3Rivers is fine when everything goes satisfactorily, but beware otherwise (and online retail transactions will occasionally require customer support--even from the best of vendors selling the best of products). Normally I don't complain about retailer shortcomings in a public forum, but I was completely blown away by 3river's unprecedented (in my lifetime) dismal performance. Beware!

As I recommended to 3rivers staff (and was disrespectfully rebuffed), my recent order from Forrester Wood Shafts arrived safely and well-protected in a rigid tube. The Forrester packaging and service was far superior to 3rivers and Forrester's shipping and "handling" charge was much more reasonable too. I'll buy my wood shafts from Forrester and otherwise shop at Lancaster--or my time-tested favorites of MidwayUSA, Cabela's, or Brownell's, who have all proven themselves to me as providers of exceptional customer support.


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## calinb

Chuck Daehler said:


> I agreed with Henry because, and this is merely my personal ex-hunter postion on arrow hunting, arrow hunting is cruel, it tortures the game if big game and it's not a quick death necessarily whereas big bore hunting usually is.


Though I never pass judgement on bow hunters, I hunt big game (no carnivores) with high power rifles and big bore muzzle loaders (at relatively short range) for this reason. How one hunts or obtains their food is a personal choice. Like you Chuck, my preference is to limit the animal's suffering and my goal is to inflict a far quicker kill than the prey's other natural enemies can usually manage to achieve. Nature kills rather gruesomely, on the whole, but I can use a high power rifle to limit a game animal's suffering and also limit the number of animals that I consume that were raised in horrid conditions as commercial livestock. When I hunt, a game animal is doing exactly what it was born to do (evade me) and I the same, but I use my brain to both empathize with the plight of prey and limit its pain and suffering as much as possible.

As for griz, brownies, and polars, many arms (or pepper spray) will just anger them! I remember the record brown bear taken in self-defense by a deer hunter in Alaska a few years ago. As I recall, he shot it a few times with a 7mm Rem Ultra Mag and downed it. The authorities confiscated it, because it was self-defense and not hunted in season (the deer hunter was not charged with a crime) and found quite a few 38 spl. rounds in the bear and also the remains of the guy who had shot it several days earlier!


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## namazu

I'm so sorry for the expiriance you endured with 3 rivers and ill be aware . Thanks as to the hunting animals with archery and the torment the feel . I for am not a hunter yet . But I'm looking for an alternative to using guns . Meaning when bullets run out what your option . Remember people have been hunting for thousands of years with the bow and similaar implements . I am looking at hunting as a means of survival not pleasure. No disrepect meant to hunters at all . Just learning a new alternative.


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## truthornothing

calinb said:


> Chuck Daehler said:
> 
> 
> 
> I agreed with Henry because, and this is merely my personal ex-hunter postion on arrow hunting, arrow hunting is cruel, it tortures the game if big game and it's not a quick death necessarily whereas big bore hunting usually is.
> 
> 
> 
> Though I never pass judgement on bow hunters, I hunt big game (no carnivores) with high power rifles and big bore muzzle loaders (at relatively short range) for this reason. How one hunts or obtains their food is a personal choice. Like you Chuck, my preference is to limit the animal's suffering and my goal is to inflict a far quicker kill than the prey's other natural enemies can usually manage to achieve. Nature kills rather gruesomely, on the whole, but I can use a high power rifle to limit a game animal's suffering and also limit the number of animals that I consume that were raised in horrid conditions as commercial livestock. When I hunt, a game animal is doing exactly what it was born to do (evade me) and I the same, but I use my brain to both empathize with the plight of prey and limit its pain and suffering as much as possible.
> 
> As for griz, brownies, and polars, many arms (or pepper spray) will just anger them! I remember the record brown bear taken in self-defense by a deer hunter in Alaska a few years ago. As I recall, he shot it a few times with a 7mm Rem Ultra Mag and downed it. The authorities confiscated it, because it was self-defense and not hunted in season (the deer hunter was not charged with a crime) and found quite a few 38 spl. rounds in the bear and also the remains of the guy who had shot it several days earlier!
Click to expand...

Brownies are no joke, there are many instances of deer hunters blowing a grunt call and calling up a brownie instead ....a hungry murderous brownie. I saw a full mounted one in a standing position and it was very scary even stuffed


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## calinb

namazu said:


> I'm so sorry for the expiriance you endured with 3 rivers and ill be aware . Thanks as to the hunting animals with archery and the torment the feel . I for am not a hunter yet . But I'm looking for an alternative to using guns . Meaning when bullets run out what your option . Remember people have been hunting for thousands of years with the bow and similaar implements . I am looking at hunting as a means of survival not pleasure. No disrepect meant to hunters at all . Just learning a new alternative.


I agree and its makes sense. I have no disrespect for any hunters, short of someone committing outright torture (which isn't even hunting). It's natural to get pleasure from hunting. In fact, predators, including humans, have evolved to enjoy it. Just watch your cat! Yes--sometimes a domesticated cat does things that can be considered torture but a domesticated cat or caged animal can be very bored and we have the brains to recognize it. Usually a wild cat tends not to have the luxury to torture prey. Filling its belly is its main concern!

I've often watched nature videos and thought about how nature is "cruel" to the predator as well as the prey. One mistake or mishap on a hunt and a predator is often injured and doomed to starve to death.


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## namazu

I'm afraid what deam cruel are hard facts of life . Its real nice to talk about these facts it make us aware how alive all creature are . Including us.


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## lunasling

namazu said:


> I'm so sorry for the expiriance you endured with 3 rivers and ill be aware . Thanks as to the hunting animals with archery and the torment the feel . I for am not a hunter yet . But I'm looking for an alternative to using guns . Meaning when bullets run out what your option . Remember people have been hunting for thousands of years with the bow and similaar implements . I am looking at hunting as a means of survival not pleasure. No disrepect meant to hunters at all . Just learning a new alternative.
> 
> Nam !
> 
> I'm in total agreement when the bullets and powder dry up ya gotta go for the alternative
> 
> and screw political correctness survival is all that matters!


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## namazu

It woke me up when .22s dry up here in arizona . That what got me into slingshots and now archery . Airguns also come to mind too. I forgot how fun slingshots were and I just can't stop.


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## calinb

namazu said:


> It woke me up when .22s dry up here in arizona . That what got me into slingshots and now archery . Airguns also come to mind too. I forgot how fun slingshots were and I just can't stop.


I've have only used a slingshot for pest elimination but found it to be very effective (as it would be when hunting small game, which are usually just pests that do not happen to be causing trouble to us humans at the time they are killed). A slingshot is easy to carry and thus handy when the opportunity arises and I've found them to be a better option than a BB gun or an air pistol. Like air rifles and BB guns, they have a lower chance of causing collateral damage than a firearm.

I have several air rifles and, given the opportunity to use one, I prefer them to all other arms for eliminating small pests. But more so than other weapons, slingshots often give you a second chance at a shot, if necessary. When I have a pest causing trouble in or near my home, I use a variety of means to eliminate them, including live traps and distant relocation into the wild. Though catch and release often results in the death of the pest too, at least it gets a chance to survive and, more likely, feeds another animal, which is its primary role at the bottom of the animal food chain!

By the way, I'm doing a lot of slingbow development work and I think I might be able to match or even top a good hunting recurve's speed at the same or lighter draw weight. I'm up to 150 fps at about 32-34 lbs on a cool day (high 40s to high 50s) with 442 gr. arrows. Extrapolating from my data, I might be able to eventually hit 180 fps across my chrony

at 38 lbs (finger released), which would be a very good number for a hunting recurve or reflex-deflex longbow. It will take some custom hardware to do it though, which I'll post about in these forums when I'm done experimenting.


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## namazu

Look forward to seeing you results.


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## namazu

Hi guys I've odered a 40lbs. Bandset for my hfx with arrow knock and a release I pick up in prescott . I'm going try shooting it lefty but may get a new right hand flipper for shooting it right handed .


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