It seems like the trend these days is starting to lean towards the shoot-ability of the bow rather than the speed of the bow. The best and most comfortable bows hang out in the IBO speed rating of 320 - 330. Nothing is worse than shooting a bow that feels as comfortable as a wet fart. Another one for memory lane: remember those game trackers that had the string in the spool as a stabilizer that attached behind the broadhead so when the animal ran off you just had to follow the string?
My bow is flinging a 391 grain arrow almost 300 fps. I shot an arrow through the shoulder of a doe and stuck in the ground almost 6". I'm good with those results especially since I doubt I will ever see a big mature buck in the area I hunt. I've seen pictures of kids that kill big bucks with 330 grain arrows and shooting less than 40lbs. I'm sure if the time comes where I do see a big buck I could kill him with my set up. But I do agree speed isn't everything, I just picked a arrow I liked and that's it.
Man that is old school. ;-) I got away from the speed game more and more. I still like a quick bow, just refuse to shoot anything less than a 7" brace height to get it. The thing I'm beginning to see more and more of with these manufacturers is they are getting speeds with shorter brace heights. Even companies like Elite, who have been known for shootable, smooth bows has caved a bit and put out two new bows this year, both with 6" brace heights. One advantage of faster bows, is that combined with a heavier arrow, the KE goes up. Now, for whitetails, the KE produced by most of these bows is ridiculous and overkill is 99% of shot situations. My setup, for example, even at a measly 63lbs, is putting out over 70 ft/lbs of KE. Enough to kill dangerous African game! But again, speed for me is an after thought. The Bowtech Experience I shoot now is a 7" brace height bow, with somewhat aggressive cams. At 63lbs, it pulls easy, has tons of KE, is quiet and I get the added bonus of speed, even with heavier arrows.
Feel and shootability (if that's a word) is what it's about. My Carbon Knight advertises 335FPS and I know with a 26.5 draw and shooting 57lbs I'll never get close to that. I'll never get close to the max FPS on any bow. Animals will die at 400FPS and 250FPS. You don't need 350+ FPS if you hit the right spot.
Attached are the results from a little "science experiment" I did over the weekend in comparing one arrow to another, same bow, same shooter. One arrow was 400 grs the other was 435 grs. A chronograph was set up about 1 yard away from the target and the shooter shot from 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards to get speed readings at the the target, not the bow all the time. Notice how KE falls off at a faster rate than momentum. KE decreases faster because of the square of the velocity. Momentum is more linear and KE is a power function. All in all, you get pretty much the same result with the two arrows as far as conservation of energy (and momentum). One arrow though gives you the advantage of a flatter trajectory and gets you to the target a little faster. The slope of the line for the velocity for the heavier arrow also seemed to decelerate at a faster rate than the lighter arrow, more parabolic flight path maybe?? It is true, there are a lot more setups out there that do not shoot over 260 fps. This was a result of my curiosity getting the best of me. Most normal people would not have even wasted their time doing this...
Honest question... Why are people concerned with speed of their bow and why is it one of the top, if not the top selling point?
I've come to the conclusion that 90% of bowhunters have no concept of how fast their bow shoots in a real world hunting scenario. They simply see an IBO speed rating posted somewhere and assume that's how fast the bow shoots at all draw lengths, draw weights and arrow weights. They truly have no concept of how IBO speeds are measured. The fact of the matter remains that the vast majority of bowhunters will never see their bow achieve the IBO speed that is posted on the tag. Personally, I wish bow companies would adopt a new standard of 29", 70 lbs with a 400 grain arrow for their speed ratings. Seems like it would give people a much clearer idea of what to expect from their bow when they're shooting at an animal. I believe you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a 30" draw hunting with a 350 grain arrow. If you do chances are they're shooting some sort of PSE with a 5" brace height and driving a truck with a No Fear sticker in the back window and a set of truck nuts hanging off the back of it. Any outdoor writer who says 345 fps is too slow is either A. ignorant or B. trying to get people to talk about his ignorant article.
Easy: It's the single simplest number for people to understand and try to gauge a bow's performance. Just like looking at horsepower ratings on vehicles. Everyone wants the highest number.
the only thing that speed can do is give more of a flatter shooting arrow. maybe make your pins tighter. unless you hunt out west where 40-60 yard shots are common, speed really isn't going to be a benefit. some guys just like speed. always have. that is fine with me, but I don't even have to worry about it, no bow in the world will get me to 300 fps with a hunting set up.
I remember reading an article written by randy ulmer he said the perfect arrow speed for hunting is around 280. One of the main reason was noise. He was mostly refering to mostly mulies jumping the string. Justin is spot on they need a standard measurement for hunting for that is realistic.
I remember that. 280 was the deal. I would like to see a 28" 70# 400 gr arrow with kisser, peep, d loop IBO. that would really give some real world speeds. Most people really don't want to know the true speed of their bow. I was one of those guys years ago. Maturity and experience has been the best educator for me.
LOL. That is pretty much my setup. Easton XX with 125 Thunderheads and my bow at 31" draw and 70 lbs sends my 560g arrows downfield at a whopping 255 fps. They are Orc arrows though. 70+ KE Sounds good on paper... LOL
This is true. I see guys all the time saying they are shooting an arrow 325 fps when they post they have a 27" DL and shooting 60# because that was the number on the bow. I would gladly see bow companies not even list IBO as a spec. Most bows these days are pretty close. I don't mind a 6" brace height bow like some people do. But I buy bows based on how they feel to me when I shoot them, not the IBO. Nobody believes me when I say that because I always say how much I liked my old RPM360, but that wasn't for speed. It really was a smooth drawing (at my DL) bow that was very quiet, and held steady like a much longer bow.
