Easton FlatLine Arrow

Last year while hunting whitetails, I stumbled onto a nice buck that offered me a quick shot on the way to my treestand. There was no time for a rangefinder and little time to judge distance. It was truly a now-or-never situation. My quick guess was 35 yards. When I drew my bow and settled in, both my 30- and 40-yard pins were within the buck's vitals. That's a terrific feeling -- almost as terrific as watching my fletching disappear into the buck's chest!

I was using an Easton FlatLine arrow that day, and boy am I glad I was. In the past, very few of the "bad" shots I've made with a hunting bow have been windage related -- they are almost always elevation related. Easton FlatLines are designed to boost velocity and minimize misjudgments in yardage. FlatLine carbon shafts combine Easton's SuperLite carbon and MicroLite Speed components. The Flatline is available in spine sizes of .340 (8.2 grains/inch), .400 (7.4 grains/inch) and .500 (6.5 grains/inch) and come equipped with MicroLite Super Nocks and Inserts, which are 45-percent lighter than standard components.

New for 2010 is the Easton FlatLine Surgical -- a shaft that's offered in the same spines and ultralight weights as the standard FlatLine, but with an even tighter straightness tolerance of +„- .001-inch. I must admit that at one point last year, I was worried the FlatLine was just too light for big-game hunting, regardless of how quickly my bow was spitting them out.

On that whitetail hunt, however, my Hoyt AlphaMax was shooting a 345-grain FlatLine, tipped with a sharp cut-on-contact broadhead, at 312 fps. That arrow punched right through the heavy base of the buck's scapula before passing through the rest of the chest cavity cleanly. So, is the lightning-fast FlatLine heavy enough for big game? For this bowhunter, the proof is in the backstraps. MSRP: $100/dz (Flatline); $140/dz (Flatline Surgical)

Contact: Easton Technical Products, 801-539-1400; www.eastonarchery.com

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