Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Experience requested

I have shot bows for years. I just recently started bowhunting seriously the last couple of years. I am shooting a completely different set up than I am use to so looking for advice. Whitetails and maybe bears and hogs are the critters being persued. Would you rather shoot a 355 gr arrow at 290 fps, 388 gr arrow at 280 fps, 400 gr arrow at 275 fps, a 436 gr arrow at 263 fps, or a 466 gr arrow at 253 fps?

There really isn't a sure fire answer to that.

This is what my opinion would be. Shoot the Arrow that is best suited to your ablity. By that I mean a draw weight that you can handle drawing without struggling and moving all over the place. That is the correct spine for your set-up. That shoots well for you. Then add a Slick Trick or Razor Trick and go practice.

Ill agree with MCH and add this. KE and momentum are what drive arrows through things. I tend to lean towards a properly spined arrow with a finished weight of at least 400 grains with an FOC around 14%. With my setup it gets me 282 fps and around 68 lb/ft KE. Thats my preference. Think of it like this, if someone throws a rock at you, which one gonna hurt more? A little bitty rock? Or a heavier one?

280, pretty much nailed it.
IMHO, speed just helps with less than perfect range estimation.

I have gone to almost exclusively using longbow or recurve.
Fast for me is 170 fps. Don't weigh 'em, don' care.
The heaviest shaft with the heaviest heads that will fly true.

Of course, 40 yds. is long range, most days.

Compounds? 400gr. +/-. Then tune to the best performance.

Speed helps you hit, weight helps you penetrate. I say that you should shoot the heaviest arrow that you can hit the target with.

+1

I like as light of an arrow as possible within reason. Generally I'm at about 5gr/lb. If you do the KE calculations the difference between a slow, heavy arrow and a fast, light arrow out of the same bow are so close to the same as to not matter. A fast arrow will allow better FIELD accuracy because there is less drop so you're more likely to hit where your pin is. Just think of a 30/30 versus a 300Mag at 300yds, the 30/30 might be a super accurate rifle but at 300yds the drop is so much that hitting the target can be an issue.

I've always shot fast bows and I've never had an arrow stop in a deer except for a couple spine shots. So a fast light arrow will penetrate more than neccesssary on any deer that ever walked. My current set up in 59lbs shooting a 300gr arrow at about 330fps. I've shot 6 deer with this set up and never had one stop in the deer.

http://www.eastonarchery.com/store/kinetic_calculator

You find as Reelman mention not much difference comparing 355gr to 466gr arrow.

That KE figure is measured when arrow leaves the bow. Like a rifle bullet, the heavier one will retain more energy down range. Take one of the light arrows and one of the heavier ones, back up to 30 yds and shoot a target with each. Given same shaft diameter and same tip the heavier arrow will not only strike the target harder but will penetrate more. Its not just KE that counts. Its momentum that matters as well. I have attended a factory tech/shooter school taught by people that know whats what. So this isnt something I dreamed up. But to each his own

We have some guy who started good site and it's interesting reading what they have to say.

http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-12-00/archery/139-arrow-weight-setups

Pepoles opinions dont change the laws of physics. Light fast arrows will produce relatively similar KE numbers off the arrow shelf as a heavier arrow at a slower speed. But that energy is shed quickly downrange. And for western hunting(which was mentioned more than once in your link) more often than not requires longer shots. Same reason you see guys step up to heavy for caliber bullets for LR rifle work. Ill take 400 grains + at 280fps all day long over 350 grains at 330. As for error margin...learn how to judge yardage or buy a range finder.

280Ackleyrized you can't reason or shed light on stupidity!

Light fast arrows suck for hunting period.

Thanks for the insult! My "stupidity" is gained from 30 years of bowhunting and a whole bunch of game taken. Granted it's only whitetail and black bear but I've never had an issue with light, fast arrows not penetrating. Please explain why a light fast arrow sucks for hunting.

For those saying that light arrows shed speed faster than a heavy arrow have you ever shot light and heavy arrows through a chrono at 30, 40, 50yds, etc.? I never have but I'm guessing that the KE is roughly the same at say 50yds for a light, fast arrow and a heavy, slow arrow.

Lets see I shoot light fast arrows out of my 3D set-up they don't get near the penetration that my huning arrows get in the same targets from the same distances.

Oh and now lets talk noise and vibration!!!!!!!

I never said that light fast arrows wouldn't kill something. I said they suck at it. Which is a true and proven thing.

Take your light fast arrow and make a marginal shot on a deer and hit bone. Yeah well maybe now you can see where you are missing the boat.

Kinda...a faster arrow definitely makes it easier to hit your target. Unlike a bullet however, the energy you get out of your arrow (fast or slow) is almost the same at the bow as it is at the furthest point of trajectory. I'm not arguing fast, or slow. I want them "just right". You gotta hit 'em right, AND the projectile has to do the job when it gets there. Now...if I could just do better about this damn wind.

Thats where momentum(what is going to make the arrow penetrate) comes into play. An arrow with a finished weight of at least 400 grains and an FOC of at least 12% and a velocity of around 280fps is just about perfect for a hunting arrow.

Avoid extremes on either end and you should be fine. Setups in the 260-280fps range with 400ish gr arrows work great for deer and elk sized game. Now you can spend your time practicing and forget about this stuff.