Heavy arrow or light arrow

[4ptbuck]

I was originally shooting CX 300 on my ~26" 60" rage one. I have since switched out to a lighter spine arrow, equivalent to a 200, just can't recall the name.

Anyways, I've got the 200's tuned in and shooting well to 40 yds. I setup my shafts with broadheads and tuned those in for the season.

So in order to do a bit more practising, I added my old 300s to my quiver that still had 3 200s.

Anyways during practice, shooting at a bag, I noticed the 300 hit a lot harder than the 200s. Enough so that the 300 started to bust through.

Now this got me thinking about hunting. Should I really be shooting the 200s for hunting? Or should I be looking at a re-tune to the 300s?

Both were shot with 100g heads. Sorry I don't know the total weight of both arrows.

[Bow Walker]

Your heavier spined arrow will hit harder and fly a bit better due to being stiffer and more stored energy transferring itself into arrow momentum.

Given that everything else is the same - except the grains per inch of the arrow, which will make it heavier - you should notice better flight from your 300's than from your 200's.

Short answer is almost impossible to get. Do you want penetration or speed? Are you hunting smaller sized deer or elk, moose, bear, or the like?

Personally, I'd go with the greater penetration (peace of mind) and concentrate on shot placement at that critical moment.

Hope this helps.

[jessbennett]

just depends how much speed you gain. if you gain 10 or 12 fps, you will balance the kinetic energy out. with my hunting setup, i shoot a light arrow at a very fast speed, and with my heavier arrows at a lower speed, i get less kinetic energy. with the faster arrow you get a flatter trajectory. its all about what you want. i hunt with fixed or mechanical heads also. i usually hunt at about 6 grains per inch and have yet to have a pass through with either fixed or mechanical heads.

just my opinion though. id sooner have an arrow that shoots faster, flatter AND hits hard. play with them both and see which one you get better performance and penetration with.:cool:

play away and have fun.

[wsm]

i shoot a heavy arrow at 3ds-slow, my friend is dhooting fast and light he out penetrates me with no problem

[jessbennett]

yeppers.:wink:

[4ptbuck]

so i checked and the lighter arrows are Carbon Force Competition Pro 200.

So if I had a chrono, and could figure out speed. I'd have some solid numbers to work with.

At 20 yds, the 300 sure do smack a whole lot harder....

[jessbennett]

my bow for example.

hoyt trykon, 65 lbs, 335 grain arrow, 317 fps.=74.8lbs/kinetic energy

same bow 65 pounds, 350 grain arrow, 310 fps=74 lbs/kinetic energy.

thats only 1 more pound of energy,

BUT 7 fps can make a big difference is misjudged yardage, and less chance of an animal "jumping" the string.:cool:

[pupper]

the thing about arrow wieght is that even if KE is lower it still has more momentum

[jessbennett]

well kinetic energy is momentum. well caused by momentum actually.



its like taking a pickup truck doing 25 mph and a compact car doing 60 mph. the smaller car is moving faster and hitting harder. plus you have way more time to react to the pickup doing 25 than the car doing 60.

still just an opinion though:mrgreen:

[pupper]

dont make me back this up jess.... dont make me post the artice....
just say Im right and we can end this now :biggrin:

I dont want to, but Im prepared to post the article!!!!!!

[jessbennett]

come on post it!!!!! im ready!!!!!! lol.:biggrin:.

[spongebob]

Simple physics guys. Apples and apples. F=M x a
F=Force (kinetic or stored energy)
M= mass (total weight of arrow)
a= acceleration (speed of arrow)
A compact car travelling MUCH faster will have more kinetic energy, but if it only goes a bit faster, the heavier truck does the most damage. Several variables to consider. I'd say split the line down the middle of you both, and try to reach a 'happy medium' between speed and energy.
Call it a draw!

[FullDraw]

The arrow that flies the best and lands you the best group with the your broad head of choice is the one to use. If it's a lighter arrow and your worried about penatration just shorten up yor shooting distance on your game.

F/D

[diggerpax]

I think the arrow that shoots best for you is most important unless you are hunting heavy, heavy game. For moose or large African game, you will need to weight up a little. For everything else, shot placement is all you need to worry about. I've only seen two well place shots that didn't penetrate enough. One was a moose hit dead center of a rib with a medium weight arrow and a steelforce broadhead. The broadhead didn't quite make it all the way through the rib and a follow up shot was needed. The other was a quartering away shot on a zebra with a medium weight arrow and muzzy- The hindgut of equids is very large, and the arrow entered the righ ventral colon and stopped at the diaphragm- sort of like shooting through a two foot tube of dense hay. Both cases were less than 20 yards with a pretty fast Mathews. Elk, deer, and most other American game aren't as tough. I hope this helps you a bit. I'm not a wiz with all the numbers, but I've taken dozens of big game animals with a bow, and I know what has worked for me.

[islandarcher]

Being a traditional bowhunter, I will generally side for the heavier arrow. However there is a point of diminshing returns. I shoot 58 pounds @ 26" and the arrows I built for moose this year are 650 grain fir arrows tipped with magnus broadheads. The best analogy I have heard is as follows; give a grown man a ping pong ball, adn a 10 year old a golf ball, have them throw the respective balls into a snowbank, guaranteed the golf ball will out penetrate the pingpong ball. I wouldn't dream of shooting less than 9-10 grains a pound, of course a longbow is a litle different than a compound.

On another point, a heavier arrow will absorb more of the bow's energy, resulting in a quieter shot. You can hype speed all you want, but unless you are shooting at the speed of sound, you will not beat a deer ducking the string at the sound of your arrow being released. You will not beat a deers reflexes, period!

[jessbennett]

thing is you can have a fast silent bow.;-) dont really have too many problems with deer ducking the string. but as said. to each their own

[Bowzone_Mikey]

thing is you can have a fast silent bow.;-) dont really have too many problems with deer ducking the string. but as said. to each their own

yep

super tec me

[diggerpax]

Island archer- I couldn't agree with you more about your golf ball analogy, and a heavy arrows are an almost absolute must with stick bows. When high speeds are concerned, and the game animal is not massive, I don't think a heavier arrow will matter- the only difference may be how far the arrow sticks into the tree after passing through the rib cage. Rarely is an animal ever shot side-to-side without a pass through.

As for as jumping the string, a quiet, fast bow will help- but there are no bows fast enough or quiet enough- now and again it will still happen. Set up a target around the corner of a building, or somewhere safe that you can be close to the target while a friend shoots. See how far you can move from the time you hear the bow to the time the arrow hits. Then have them shoot from fourty yards. I think you'll be suprised just how long a fast bow can take to hit the mark.

On another note, what do you all think of scent-lock? For me, no matter how much care I take in storage and all the steps to complete coverage, when the wind changes, the elk always blow out. Have any of you ever had it work with the wind at your back?

[jessbennett]

no bows fast enough or quiet enough???????? come on now.......:roll:that seems abit general dont you think????



ever had a whitetail jump the ole supertec string mikey??????:biggrin:

[diggerpax]

I've been around fast bows- and I've seen well over 100 animals taken with a bow- and sure I've watched deer, elk, and antelope stand there and watch you shoot from 60 yards and never move. Every now and then an animal can spin or slip so fast it will leave you standing there saying there's no way that was possible at 20 yards- then the video will tell the truth.

[jessbennett]

it just depends on the situation dont you think???? if an animal is oblivious to you being there, 99.9999 percent of the time hes not going to jump the string. my bow is fast and almost silent and ive shot deer to 60 yards,with them knowing that i was there and have never had a deer or any animal for that matter, jump the string. really all that matters is shooting what your comfortable with. i prefer a lighter and faster arrow with a very quiet bow. but like i said thats just me....:-P

every now and then people get struck by lightning too. hunting has soo many what ifs ...http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_1.gif

[sealevel]

I have had a whitey jump the string at 25yds it was with my razertec. I was not even close. In this case i do not think that there is a bow made fast enough to have made this shot. Either way you have to give up a little trajectory or penatration. The is no right anser just go with what in comfortable for you.

[Bow Walker]

A fast bow with a somewhat lighter arrow will be a bit noisy compared to the same bow with a slightly hefty shaft.

That being said, I think that whatever you make your first successful kill with wil be your arrow/broadhead/fletching choice for quite some time. It'll take a lot to get you to change your mind and try something else.

"If it ain't broke - don't fix it." Seems that I've heard that somewhere.

[jessbennett]

amen bowwalker...... lolhttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_17_209.gif

[milroy]

hmmmm.... speed of sound 1100 feet per second