Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Anybody using the Pod?

Just kidding! Probably lots of young guys don't even know about them. When were they used, 60's to 70's? I swear some TV personalities use them still. I see some horrible shots on camera and all animals are recovered, no problem.

Anybody have any experience with them from years ago?

i remember when you could buy them back in the early 70's. seems to me they are illegal in almost every state now (although mississippi might still allow them). i use either a recurve or longbow, with cedar shafts. pods and trad bows don't belong in the same woods imo.

I've been doing this for 20+ years and the POD is a new one on me. Is it one of the string tracker things?

Some sort of surgical tubing (?) that would be slid over the end of the shaft, behind the broadhead and poison somehow rolled up in it. At impact, the tubing would roll back and the poison would hit the blood stream and death was fairly quick?

I remember reading about it in early Bowhunter magazines.

String trackers! Good memories of those from the 80's! Looked like a mess of kite string all over the woods a couple times, lol.

Looks like it had a patent....

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4463953.html

POD= tranqilliser broad head. I watch the shows mostly for the gear, never saw them used, FWIW.
W

I started bow hunting in 1977, in Mississippi. Pods were widely used at that time. I used them but never hit a deer with them. The powder used in the pod could be purchased from a veternarian. I don't recall what it was called.
A friend killed two deer with poor broad heads and very poor shot placement with pods. Neither deer would have been recovered without the pod. Neither deer traveled 50 yards.

Along with the string trackers, does anyone remember the inserts that went into the aluminum shafts and gave off a signal to a receiver that would guide you to the downed animal? Anyone ever use them? Also, I just remembered the ads for a rest that allowed two arrows to be nocked one above the other by a couple of inches, providing twice the wound/blood trail. Anyone remember or have experience with that? Another ad that I remember was for a hanging stand that emphasized its strength by showing a picutre of one with a number of cow elk hanging from it. There was an uproar over the picture and later ads had a VW beetle hanging from it instead of the elk. The ads from the time also seemed to feature way more left-handed shooters than the percentage in the general population would have indicated.

I do remember the double rest although I manufacturer slips my mind. The ad for the treestand was the Screaming Eagle: Paul Brunner and ECO outdoors? I have been using that stand for 15 years and still have 1/2 dozen in the fleet, shot lots of deer from them in the past and hope to use then for many years to come.

I believe they are still available.

I used the POD several times in the late 80's in the MS area. The POD is a piece of molded plastic that has 4 chambers and a rubber O-ring on the fletching side of the POD. You would get a balloon and run it over the POD where the open end of the balloon would be on the side of the broadhead. The when arrow hit the animal the balloon would roll up the arrow releasing the ANECTINE into the animal. The animal never ran more than 50-60 yards. When using the POD the Anectine was more effective when the animal was hit in a muscle and not as effective when hit in the chest cavity but when hit in the chest cavity it really wasn't needed. I've seen several deer shot using Anectine and there is no doubt that it was effective. From what I know, the Anectine attacks the respiratory system and closes down the function of the lungs. I can't remember where I got the Anectine but I don't think that I got it from a vet.

Nevertheless, this stuff worked wonders as you rarely heard of a lost animal.

Hopefully this has helped someone know and understand how these PODS looked, the drug that was used, and the effectiveness of their use.

dkhnt's post is dead on. I live in Mississippi and you can buy pods and "poison" at many archery shops. I've been told you can no longer get anectine from veterinarians and the stuff archery shops have is so diluted that it may not work.

For those not familiar with Anectine it is a pharaceuitcal grade smooth muscle paralytic. It is a very effective and fast acting paralytic that will immobilize any smooth muscle to include respiratory functions. It is commonly used for intubation in the medical field with effect from IV administrations in under a mintue. the common name is succhynocholine (sp). I have never heard of it used for hunting but then again i have no doubt it was very effective upon entering the bloodstream.

That said it is not a poison in any way but a drug, and the effects do not really last that long, but likely long enough for the effects of the broadhead on a questionable shot ot kill the animal without it being able to travel very far

Still in use? Didn't expect that.

Would this drug effect the meat at all OR the guy gutting/processing the animal??

That was my first question when I started bowhunting a long time ago and the answer I got was NO. I've processed many deer that have been shot with pods. My guess is once this powder is released from the balloon rolling off the pod, it is spread thin enough that if you did get a little in a cut on your hand, you would not be drugged. I've heard all kinds of rediculous stories about the stuff, but I've never heard of anyone getting sick or going belly up from skinning and processing a deer shot with a pod or a hypodermic needle. However, if you were to have an accident and fall on a broadhead with a pod loaded with potent stuff, there would be a good chance that you would be buzzard and coyote food.