Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
Shooting Light Arrows
Swamp Bow:
Well you can take a log and hit something at 3 miles an hour, and then take a feather and bring it up to light speed and get the same result. That is plain physics. What is practical in the real world is another matter. This is purely conjecture, but I suspect that even the "fastest" compounds can't bring some of the super light arrows up to a high enough speed to get the same effect as the "slower" traditional bows with heavy arrows. The light arrows will fly flatter and get there quicker, but just won't have as much energy left on target. I have no idea where the line is and it would take a very scientific approach with release machines and the like to get real results. Then you have to take into account angles and muscle variance for animal to animal even within species... More than I want to deal with. Personally, I think it is more practical to use a heavier arrow, up to a point of course. I also don't want to have to shoot up at an 80* angle to hit a target 20yds away because of arrow drop, or shoot a really heavy draw because the bow spent all of it's energy just getting the arrow going.
Choo-wa-chobee: I agree. I'd rather be on the giving end of the 50/70 for one or two shots, but I'd much rather use the .243 if I'm gonna put a few hundred rounds down range. Just like I'd rather use a 45-50# rather than a 70-80# bow to target shoot all day. You can use the heavier ones, but ouch. Always a compromise.
Swamp
Mechslasher:
my phylosophy is that i want an arrow that will perform in a worst case scenario. this arrow should be flying a minimum of 150fps, with an foc of at least 15-20% and weight of 500gr. all these are minimum numbers, imo. this should give enough momentum to penetrate all but the toughest of bones, in a worst case scenario. most of the animals i've killed with a bow were not hit where i was aiming, simply because animals move! eddie can tell ya'll about the first boar i killed at alexacarrie plantation. ;D released the arrow with him broadside, but the arrow hit him in the jaw with him facing me. all of the idio...i mean gentlemen that argued always came back to the number of pass throughs they've had on broadside shots using light arrows. hell, at any point in the respiratory process the chest cavity is just alot of hot air separated with a bunch of spongy tissue so what wouldn't pass through this? but what happens when the animal moves, say take a quarter step facing you? now you are looking at having to punch through the humerous or the shoulder blade, but the arrow is on its way. the only thing i can think of is that in some parts of this country, animals are rather lazy and move very slow to validate their opinions.
Kegan:
I'm with you Mechslasher, 500 gr at 150 fps is a good minimum. There are alot of hunters who've killed elk and moose with 500 gr arrows moving at 175+ fps, and obviously heavier arrows have proven their worth more than once!
So far 600 gr is all I can really get out of my arrows at the moment to keep the weight, so I'm just trying to tweak a little more speed from my heavier bows. Nice to be able to shoot the same arrows from bows 65-80# though :)
aznboi3644:
one thing to consider...on impact a lighter arrow will flex more and that is lost energy for penetration.
FlintWalker:
--- Quote from: Kegan on January 26, 2010, 08:37:48 pm ---If a 40-45# bow will kill a deer, then let's assume that means with a 400-450 gr. arrow would about be the minimum. So the weight of your arrow is a better indication than just the bow weight, since the arrow can't really accept alot of excess energy, or else we'd all be shooting flight arrows at 200+ fps.
So going up against a scapula with a 350 gr arrow would be like trying to shoot through a shoulder with a 35# bow. And that's not something alot of people will look so kindly on ::)
My evil-shafted-arrows weigh in at 600 gr. so they would have the force of a 60# bow even though I'm shooting 70-80# at the moment. Which I can believe.
--- End quote ---
Not necessarily....It's very possible to build a carbon arrow that will finish out at around 300 grains or less, including the point that will spine out at 70 -80 lbs. So saying a 350 grain arrow can only impart the energy of a 35# bow is not really so. 10 grains of arrow weight doesn't equal 1# of spine stiffness, and the weight of the arrow doesn't limit the amount of force that can be applied to it, the materail does.
I'm like Justin in that I don't rely on GPP of draw. If a 450 grain arrow comming out of a decent performing 45# bow is enough...then that same arrow coming out of a decent performing 60# bow is more than enough. I also don't think that just because a fella shoots an 80-100# bow, that an 800-100grain arrow is necessary.
I like arrows in the 500-600 grain range regardless of the bow weight.
BTW, I've personally seen arrows bounce off a deers scapula ::)
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