Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Matching arrows to the bow

I read the below in another thread and it really got me thinking about some of the basics to matching arrows to bows, based on bow speed and any other relevant factors.




I did not want to hi-jack the other thread so I am starting a new one here. What are the basics in matching arrows to a bow? There must be some considerations regarding arrow weight and spine stiffness, etc.

Just look at any Mfg chart for arrow spine to draw weight and in some cases cam design I think these charts tend to show minimum spine for the bow.

There is a lot involved with draw length too. A lot of people will write about heavy arrows and use 500 or 550 grains or even heavier. It's difficult to shoot arrows that heavy very fast with a 26" draw length unless your shooting 80 pounds!

In my experience in Africa with lots of hunters and lots of game, arrows 350 grains or less do not penetrate sufficient. Add an expandable broad head and its a disaster.

Arrows starting at 400 begin to work well but still not perfect with expandables. At 430-450 using fixed blade heads things start coming together providing exits most of the time on medium size game. Equal in size to mule deer and hogs in America. If only whitetail deer are shot then certainly 380-400 grain with a fixed blade head is dependable.

I don't think there is a formula you can use to select the perfect arrow.
Draw length
Draw weight
Cam design
Broad head
And intended game
Throw in your maximum range too.

Guys that are fit, over 6' tall with a big wingspan can shoot much more powerful gear then a 5'5" guy that is a seasonal shooter with a lower draw weight.

A friend of mine shoots his 70lb bow limbs cranked down getting about 74 lbs. his draw is 30.5" he shoots 520 grain arrows as fast and flat as my 425 grain arrows at 28.5" draw and 63 lbs.

No cut and paste answer, the best I can suggest is shoot a bit stiffer spine rather then softer, if you cannot get 60fpe with your combination then use a cut on contact broad head. They are far better at penetrating then any other type.

My intended game is whitetail deer. If I ever move up the game chain to mule deer or elk, I'd need to make some changes. My DL is 27.5". I shot at 56DW this past year and used fixed blades (Viper Tricks). I will be shooting 60DW this coming year and was thinking of going to mechanical heads, but could always stick with the fixed blades. My max distance is 30 yards...period.

Based on these and the advice above, it sounds like I need arrows that are 380-400 grn if I go fixed blade. How does that change if I wanted to do mechanicals?

My opinion,

Viper tricks are as good as it gets. I've killed more then a dozen bears and many dozens of hogs with them using only 63lb draw at 28.5"

Mechanicals require quite a bit of power to penetrate properly.
I prefer exits, I don't like an arrow that sticks half way into an animal.

My opinion is that many mechanicals need 70 fpe to deploy and penetrate good. I base this on the game I've seen my hunters shoot in Africa of all sizes.

I still use viper tricks 99% of the time, never struggled and they exit every time. (So far)

That's hard logic to argue with. I was more than surprised & pleased with the holes they put on a good sized doe for me. I still have the 2 sets and could easily use them, but have heard such good things about grim reaper mechanicals and their accuracy.

Regardless, you suggested some good specs to start with on arrow selection.

I'll take momentum over speed any day of the week. Many criticize my set up and I admit I'm no expert. Hunting large animals, elk, moose, etc., I'm shooting a 690 grain arrow.

I have an Elite 35, 28.5" DL, and am currently shooting the bow at a DW of 61lbs. However I'll increase that to 65 lbs before the hunt. At 61lbs the arrow is around 225FPS. The BH is a single bevel BH that weighs 225 grains.

Pros - Maximum penetration and momentum if a bad shot is made and the arrow hits bown. Extremely quiet, less affected by wind or slight deflections by unseen branches.

Cons - Well I guess an elk or moose can jump the string. Need to know the yardage because this heavy of an arrow will drop out of the kill zone quickly.

I may start to experiment with an arrow set up in the 500-550 grain area but so far I'm happy with what I have. I will also admit I have just started to archery hunt and have not killed an animal yet with my bow. However shooting 3D this bow and arrow set up shoots darts. Very pleased with the grouping and results in practice.

I really believe in heavier stiffer arrows over light weight fast arrows.

I am always impressed with the speed of arrows going 310-330 fps. They are on the target it seems at the instant the trigger is touched.

There is certainly a cool factor to that set up. However in real world use they simply don't harpoon animals as a heavy spear type of projectile will

There is a similarity to this with firearms to use as an analogy.

A 22-250 shoots a crazy high velocity but it's not a good big game rifle.
A 458 win mag shots a really heavy bullet slow it's brilliant for the biggest game. With a rainbow trajectory by comparison.

Neither are all around good options so most folks shoot 30 caliber cartridges for big game A happy medium.

I think the 450 plus or minus arrows at 250-280 fps are like the 30 caliber example.

I shot some bears and pigs with 600 grain arrows that blew through even big hogs. Reduced to 500 grains, shot some more. No perceptible difference. My buddy shooting 340 grain arrows had a total failure on the shield of big hogs.

Somewhere well over 340 grains and at or below 500 grains seems like the weight range to me that works consistently. This is with fixed heads only. Mechanicals change the requirements quite a bit in my experience.

Look up the Ashby arrow lethality studies. Good info for students of arrow lethality. Traditional guys just about always match arrows to bows and more often then not shoot heavy arrows as the bows just can't provide the speeds compounds can.

I prefer both arrow weight and speed. A good friend of mine owns a bow which is IMO achieving the pinnacle of both. He regularly hunts with this beast and is extremely accurate with it. One thing for sure tho...his bow isn't for everyone. It is a custom built PSE, done by John Mosier aka Breathn. Johns Custom Archery in Ringgold, VA. The bow is called the XxX Roid. 114#dw, 600+grain arrow at 342fps. KE around 168. He shoots the NAP Killzone. The heads have held up well with the punishment they take when he let's them fly. And anything on the receiving end is guaranteed a bad day

My personal setup runs 388grn arrow @ 311fps. And the ST mag destroyed heavy bone on the doe I killed this year. Both front legs busted where heavy bone meets the shoulder blades and the brisket area. The BE Carnivore never slowed down. I will however add 42 grain brass inserts for next hunting season. That should provide me plenty of weight and great FOC. And I'll still be running 300+.