Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Speed. How important is it?

Yeah, wife shoots a 25", 49# draw bow (Bear Homewrecker), and she has smoked three deer with it. Shot a doe 2 yrs back that hit the back hip after being deflected by a branch and the Muzzy MX-3 cut cleanly through the onside hip and exited the other ham. Amazingly the deer was down dead after somehow going about 40 yds.

I shoot pretty quick compounds and a pretty slow longbow (50# w/ 620 grn. arrows). The broadheads from the longbow will penetrate and kill as well, or better, than those from my compounds every time. The question is whether I can hit the intended target. This is where speed is an advantage. One of the hardest things to make bow hunters understand is that speed (minus mass) adds nothing to the lethality of an arrow.

Im not sure what you mean by that,but ,take a 500 gr arrow at 150 fps,versus one at 250.
the faster one will shoot flatter,and penetrate deeper.


How can that add nothing?

What he is saying is fast featherweight arrows just wont penetrate like a heavier arrow will even if the heavier arrow is at a somewhat slower velocity. Speed and KE dont mean schitt. Momentum is what brings home the bacon. A superlight fast arrow may give a high KE number. But upon impact there isnt ample momentum so its like a crotch rocket hitting a wall at 100mph. And for those that cant think or understand the illustration, no the arrow may not actually stop but it certainly wont penetrate like a heavier arrow will. Ill take a 400+ grain arrow with a 15-17% FOC @260 fps over a 350 grain arrow with a 10 or 11%FOC @ 310fps any day.

Right...a 40lb longbow will shoot a solid fiberglass fishing arrow through a steel drum. A 70# coumpound shooting a 350 grn carbon will bounce right off.

Another reason why speed is one of my top priorities. I shoot 30-1/2" MFX Classic shafts with Simmons Screw On 190gr Tree Sharks which comes to 570grs with 19.9 F.O.C. and 12.0 G.P.P. at about 174fps. I could shoot light set ups at around 200fps..rather go with all the benefits of a heavy arrow up to the point of too slow..arching flight.

The way I shoot my recurves I can look at where I want to hit and out to right at 25 steps the arrow hits the mark with some zip on it.

Past that I have to start holding over....99.9% of my shots at deer are 15yds and less.

how long do you have to bbq those steel drums before they get tender?
Im mostly interested in targets I can eat.

and ,its a good thing the dang barrel cant get out of the way very fast,that fishing arrow will take awhile to get 30 yards,seeing how you'd have to shoot ten feet high to drop it in there.
it would still penetrate nice ,though.

Speed. How important is it? It isn't important at all. With a bow they say speed is accuracy...but only if you can handle it.

I started off shooting recurves went to the dark side for one year. Thinking I could kill better with a compound. (read speed kills into that) Heck everybody was using them. That year my freezer went unfilled. Switched back to a curve and my freezer has been full.

For me bowhunting isn't about shooting game at long distance (over 25 yards) that's why I have a rifle. Bowhunting for me is to get closer and then get 10 more steps closer. Speed means nothing to me. At 10 feet I don't care if my bow is shooting 170fps or 200fps. Now if we want to talk power that's a different subject.

I just weighed my carbon arrows, with a 100 gr broadhead they weighed in at 462.97 grains.
with the Bear archery Encounter bow with an IBO rating of 310,using these calculators stickem calculator I should be getting around 230 fps,which gives me about 54 ft lbs of KE.
how does that stack up?
oh,and my FOC is 8.8%.

I also weighed my aluminum arrows, easton 2117 ,same length,521.7 grains.

Think custom when you think traditional. I've shot and owned a lot of factory recurves over the years. And done well with them. But they pale in comparison to my Brackenbury. Worlds of difference there.

And since for some reason compounds that cost 100 in the 80s now cost 1000 the customs are not that expensive in comparison.

I plan on shooting several. Got to find the smoothest, most accurate, best feeling, FASTEST recurve out there. The ability to completely take down the bow, the fact that the Hoyt does extremely well with carbon arrows, and the ability to tiller tune make it very appealing. Or maybe Ill just learn to shoot a compound instinctively. That way I can keep my speed lol

I buy custom recurves and they end up costing me right at $1,400.00 for a stick and string. That's one with speed to push fairly heavy arrows with big wide broadheads..2" wide, fast enough to get good penetration with no more than 50lb. draw weight.

I'm sure the Hoyt Buffalo is a fine bow, but IMO you'd be much better off going the ILF route. ILF = International Limb Fitting.

The Tradtech Titan riser with any of the upper end ILF limbs sounds like the ticket for you.

My brack fits in a hard arrow case.... it shoots carbons just fine. I've yet to shoot a factory bow thats even in the same league. Of course this hoyt could be the example.

But folks buy what they consider the best in compounds, no matter the cost, and then when going trad, they skimp and wonder why...

I still remember trying to shoot a pearson longbow years ago. Actually hurt my hand to shoot it, the shock was so bad. Never did get good with it. While a custom long bow would be WAY different.

Animals shot with arrows succumb to organ/overall system failure through blood loss from hemorrhaging created by sharp azz blades put into vital organs and tissue. Keep your blades sharp and your shots true on unsuspecting animals and all will end well. Speed and KE is for boolits and rifles. It is a much wasted verbiage in the stick and string game.

True, the KE number is over-hyped to some extent, but speed is useful, as a flatter trajectory and shorter flight time lends itself to accuracy, especially within 30ish yards. Makes yardage estimation less critical.

Speed is overrated when it comes to bows. I mean it's fine if you can achieve it without it costing you too much in other areas but that can be hard to do.

Many bow companies boost the speed of their bows by adding really aggressive cams but they can make the draw cycle really harsh. This may be no problem on flat ground in your back yard. In 20 degree weather, 25 foot up a tree, in bulky clothing that harsh draw cycle may come back to haunt you.

They also often boost speed by reducing the brace height on a bow. This gives you a longer power stroke and more speed. But it also means the arrow is still in contact with the string longer after your release. This will greatly amplify any imperfections in shooting form and accuracy will suffer.

I'd way rather have a quiet easy to shoot bow slinging an arrow at 250 to 260 fps than one that launches arrows at 320 fps but sounds like you dropped a paint bucket on a hardwood floor with each shot.

Silence and accuracy kills in the bow hunting world. Speed? It just impresses the people who hang around the bow shop a lot.

My wife shoots a 26" 600 spine easton axis, helical fletched with 2" blazers, 23" draw length, 100gr NAP thunderhead, out of a Parker Sidekick Extreme @ 51 lb draw weight. It's quiet, accurate, and tuned well.

I have no idea what KE numbers or speed she has, but a slightly quartering away shot on a 3-4 year old mule deer buck at 16-18 yards, the arrow stopped in the offside shoulder bone and the deer went about 100 yards in a few seconds before piling up.