Ive been noticing a trend in a lot of people going to heavier arrows and more forward weight, Just a few years ago it was lighter and smaller diameter arrows, Heck when I started out in archery the rage was over draw with 23 to 25 inch arrows. What the advantage of going heavy with more forward weight? Longer range? more penetration? more accurate? My bow shoots over 300fps and with the technology in new carbon arrows its deadly accurate out to 40 yards, and I get pass thru on most deer I shoot , BTW im shooting Easton 330 Da torch's at 28.5"
Exactly. Just make sure you watch more than a couple episodes to fully get it. Sent from my SM-G960U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
piss on the "Farm Pixie" ... never could stand the guy, same for the Ashby types, I'm not chasing Cape Buffalo ... when using compounds, one has to look at what critter one is after with MANY variables that one can look at .. Bows IBO, draw weight, draw length, arrow spine, type of BH being used, tuning capabilities, etc ... for deer, including BIG deer, I havnt been over 430 grs in 20+ years and yet Ive NEVER had a loss due to lack of penetration, I want and usually achieve two holes and prefer a full pass thru .. Ive used Mechs and Fixed and still use both, but prefer a good fixed head, and will have both in my quiver again this season ... thru the years, bow efficiency has went up, bows store and produce more energy which translates into more Momentum/ke for a given arrow weight ... I want the happy medium, IE. speed and penetration, and I get both ... if one hunts bigger game, up the grs,, but dont over think this .. if one is border line on stiffness, opt for the stiffer arrow... Ive been a Goldtip user since they came out well over 20 yrs back, havnt found a need to change.. Hunter XT's and Velocity XT's have never failed me ....
Like I said, there is a lot to it. Some don't care for the concept or the actual guy and I started looking for information after a failed shot last year with a light set up and a fixed head. Obviously there are a million opinions out there, but i started tinkering till i found a heavier set up that was exremely accutmrate at 40 yards and in. Ranch fairy helped me accomplish that. Sent from my SM-G960U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I like the Ranch Fairy, it's a perspective that is new to me so some good information to be had. I'm building a heavier arrow this year. My last batch of arrows were maybe 360-390 which were fine and fast but my bow is a little louder than I would like. I'm keeping it simple and moving up to around 525-540 in hope's of a quieter bow. That and I've purchased some broadheads that I hope to be the last set I ever purchase, Grizzlystik Alaskan single bevel 200gr. For both my compound and my recurve. Their is a lot of info out there and it has been fun reading up on it and thinking about it from another perspective. I like the concept behind the heavy arrow it makes sense but I'm not ready to build a 650gr log.
I used to shoot a 368gr arrow. Being a short draw archer, I needed all the help I could get with speed, so I thought. Then I shot a deer with that setup and received little penetration. Recovered my deer, but was less than impressed. Did my research on spine, weight, FOC. I'm now sporting a 425gr arrow. Doesnt seem like a huge jump in weight, but the difference now is that I've got way more weight up front. These suckers go deep. Shooting my previous bow at 260fps, I was putting arrows 4-6in deeper into a target than a couple buddies that were shooting way faster than me. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk
It isn't a "new thing" to a plethora of hunters all across the globe. It might be a new thing to some, but it is not at all a new concept or way of thinking.
It is to maximize penetration. It doesn't take much of an arrow to blow through a deer, or even an elk, if it is hit behind the shoulder. But, hit it in the shoulder, which most mean the scapula when they say shoulder, and that lighter arrow doesn't do as well. Sooner or later we all mess up a shot and hit the shoulder. If you're sitting in ambush and will pretty much know the yardage of your shot, why not build an arrow that can go right through the shoulder if you mess up? I'm more of a balance guy, especially with my elk hunting method and a short DL, but completely understand building an arrow that can go through the scapula with ease. I have to pass on shots that they can take with confidence. The main thing is just knowing what your set up is capable of and then having the self control to only take shots that are within your own abilities as well as your setup's abilities.
Heavier arrow: Receives more energy from the bow (less lost in noise, vibration etc) Increases penetration Makes bow quieter Retains more of it velocity (energy) down range
I know I'm going to take some heat for this, but it also opens up quartering-to shot selection. Put it right in the inside seam of the shoulder. Assuming you are 250fps, a 500gr+ TAW with a fixed head should have zero issues on this shot within 25 yards.
First off, I'd like to tackle this comment "Ive been noticing a trend in a lot of people going to heavier arrows and more forward weight, Just a few years ago it was lighter and smaller diameter arrows" Personally speaking, I haven't seen any marketing toward lighter arrows in recent memory. In fact, most arrow marketing I see makes no mention of weight whatsoever. Most of the time it's straightness tolerances, durability, or other features. Weight is rarely mentioned in marketing. Maybe this was a thing 25 years ago when overdraws when popular, but that ship has sailed long ago. Also, arrow weight and diameter really don't have any correlation as there are a lot of really good, heavy, small diameter arrows on the market today. Smaller diameter arrows resist wind drift better and penetrate better due to less surface area. IMO, there is no good reason to shoot a standard diameter carbon arrow anymore. Now, let's move to the topic of the trend towards heavier arrows. Personally speaking, I am glad to see hunters going heavier than lighter. As many have discussed, going to a heavier arrow has quite a few benefits including a quieter bow, less vibration and better penetration thanks to an increase in kinetic energy/momentum. I'd rather see someone with a 500 grain arrow than a 385 grain arrow. So yes, this trend is a good thing. HOWEVER, I believe that some people are taking this to extremes that are completely unnecessary for the modern bowhunter. There's no question a 600-800 grain arrow with a fixed blade head and a ton of weight up front is going to blow through just about anything you shoot with it. Ashby proved that years ago. Long before the Fairy came around to tell us what we already knew. When I go hunting I'm in the game of killing the animal I'm shooting at. That's my sole purpose. I'm not in a competition to see how far my arrow can go after it gets through the animal. All of that is just for show and makes zero difference in how dead the animal is after I shoot it. A whitetail deer's chest cavity is about 12 inches across when they are standing broadside - less than that near the top of the ribcage. 10-12" of penetration is all you need to get both lungs. Whether you get 12 inches of penetration of 12 feet of penetration, the deer will be just as dead in the same amount of time. Penetration, IN MOST CASES, is an optics thing. It makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside when our arrow blows through the animal and sticks in the ground on the other side. I enjoy that feeling as much as any other bowhunter. But the reality is, a dead animal is a dead animal. Period. I've been around and talked to a lot of bowhunters in my day. Including several outfitters that guide and participate first-hand in the killing of more than 100 animals each year with archery equipment. They see more animals get shot in one year than most will kill in a lifetime of bowhunting. And you know what they all say? When people miss, they tend to miss back. Way more animals are shot in the liver and guts than in the shoulder on an annual basis. So this idea of needing a setup capable of killing a cape buffalo to shoot a whitetail because you "might" hit the shoulder 1 in every 50 times is, in my opinion, misguided. If everyone spent as much time practicing as they do watching YouTube videos on how to build heavier arrows, we'd be a lot better off. But like all things hunting, we look to products to cure what ails us. Save me from bad shots, oh Desciples of Ashby! I'll wrap this up by saying I personally know a bowhunter with only a few years under his belt, and more misses/wounds than kills. The type that obsesses over his gear and tries every new thing they see on a YouTube video or hear on a Podcast. Last year, with his single-bevel head and ultra heavy arrow, he tried to "break down" a deer by purposely shooting it in the shoulder. He didn't want her to run far. 2 days and several miles of tracking later, she was never recovered. Put that in your brass insert and smoke it.
Um.....would need to know vastly more about set up, but still it is ignorant and dumb to purposely shoot the shoulder by choice. SMH....
