there is no way your just 5" low at 40yds ....... I am at 285fps, 427 gr arrow and will drop 7-9" at 40 yds... I know this for sure as I just measured it this past Friday.. I am a full 30" draw length and 61Lbs ... KE is upper 70's and MO is low .50's ... I have shot a single pin for 20 yrs, I leave it set at 25 yds and my full kill zone is 33yds . I drop 3-4" at that distance with the 25 yd setting ... I am super deadly with this set up ... hell, when I was at 305 fps, I dropped 7" at 40 yds at 64 lbs/30" draw ....
Yes, it will work perfectly well staying back in soft tissue. But, why hunt with an arrow set up where you are reluctant to go near the shoulder? The heart is behind the shoulder. The purpose of the heavier arrow is to have it work out when the shot hits bone.
My physics maybe be slightly off in the truest technical sense of it. It has been a few years since I have studied it. However, the fixation on contact, a deer dies becomes of the contact made by the arrow. Does it not make sense to build arrow that will have the beat chance of going all the way through the deer. Deer have bones, skin and muscles in addition to the lungs. Shouldn’t an arrow be built to go through all of that? The heart is behind the shoulder, why not have arrow that maximizes the possibility of getting to the heart? Yet, common knowledge suggests most people shoot back to avoid the shoulder. Maybe because those people hunt with arrows inadequate to the task?
To answer the OP, as you add weight you will add ke and momentum within reason. The diminishing return is do you need more or is higher velocity more beneficial. Long story short I bought the wrong broadheads and was shooting a lighter than normal set up. I arrived a mature buck at 12 yards. I got a complete pass through and the arrow embedded in the ground 3-4 inches. Last years buck at 28 yards I squared a rib complete pass through found the arrow 10 or so yards past the deer. How much penetration is really needed? I hope to not find out how my setup does vs a shoulder. I believe it would still be lethal. Higher velocity helps if you misjudge the distance and less time to jump the string. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
It's just me, I have always tried to avoid the shoulder. The crease has always done me well. Probably all doubt would be removed if I shot a coc head, but I have seen what rage heads do and it is devastating.. Especially for me. I am no way a great shot. I kill them, but if I had to shoot 3d or spots or whatever they do, Id suck balls.
I am right there with in not being the best shot. Sounds like the only difference is that i prefer to miss forward if my shot is off. I think a deer has a better chance of surviving a brisket shot than a gut shot if the gut shot is unrecoverable. For that, a shoulder penetrating arrow is needed which is why I have built my arrows on the heavy side.
https://iowawhitetail.com/forum/threads/deer-anatomy-recovery-reminder-pics-diagrams.57975/ Heart is not behind the shoulder. Do you mean the bone on the top of the ulna? I think it is called the olecranon tuner or something. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I understand shooting through the shoulder scapula, but I never try for it.Is it deadly? yes, very. But I can kill em just as dead right behind the shoulder. heart shots are deadly, but if he can't breathe he can't live with the double lung...
I'll admit it: If a deer is slightly quartering to, I'm elevated and I have a shot then yes, I'll aim for a double lung right through the scapula. I've taken that shot multiple times and it's always resulted in a deer that was dead in short order. A scapula is not going to stop my arrow and I don't consider it an obstacle at all. Maybe that's the beauty of a heavy, high FOC arrow set-up. I'll add that I've never hunted from a ground blind and I wouldn't try that shot from the ground. Totally different situation.
I have done that shot from a tree stand and a ground blind. The last deer I killed that went down in sight was a doe quartering to at 21 yards from a ground blind. It is just as deadly from the ground and long as you line it up correctly, which I think can be harder to do. I think it is easier to tell the deer's body position relative to broadside, quartering away/to, when elevated.
This is all true, and like many others said before, you will adequately kill deer with double lung shots behind the shoulder with your current setup. I guess the main question here is why limit yourself? Why not be able to take the shoulder shot or be confident that if you miss a little forward that it will pass through? I think the argument for a heavier arrow is even greater in your case specifically because you only take short shots inside of 25 yards. The arrows time to get to the deer will be almost identical (very small increase in time) with a heavier setup and more deadly on shoulder hits.
I wonder how many deer will be wounded and not recovered because the heavy arrow crowd thinks they can shoot through shoulders like they're ribs. We used to measure the prowess of a bowhunter based on their ability to get close to animals, wait for the right shot opportunity, and make a quick/clean kill. That meant 20 yards and under, with a broadside or quartering-away shot. That was every bowhunter's wet dream and the outcome that brought high-fives from your buddies who helped you drag your deer out. The closer, the better! Now, we're less worried about our hunting abilities and more concerned with what products we can use to make up for those eroding or undeveloped skills. We worry about how far we can shoot and what bones we can shoot through rather than how close we can get and which are the best shots to take. The idea of letting a deer get away is something we are no longer okay with, so we look for every opportunity to overcome this unacceptable scenario - regardless of how far it brings us from what once made bowhunting and incredibly challenging endeavor.
Yeh I can see that. Honestly, I just want be able to shoot to 25 yds with one pen and not have to hold high or low and any yardage from say 8-25 yds.. I have in the last 20+ years been able to accomplish this.. back then it was with an overdraw, now our bows are much faster. now 25 yds is a poke for me and I rarely have them farther than 20...but I have taken a few at 25+ but always under 30.I too, like Justin said, want to get close. I like em about 12-15 yds... If I can get a 425-450 grain arrow to do that, then I will go up next year to that.
