Heavy fan advocate here. Huge advocate for passing on hard quartering to shot choices. I cannot stress enough, you build heavy arrows for better arrow flight, increased penetration, quieter bow and if bad impact spot occurs. You DO NOT build a heavy arrow to start being ignorant with shot selections. I've said it before I do not fear the shoulder of a deer, but there is a HUGE difference between not fearing it and purposely taking shots to take it on. I see that mentality just as bad as someone launching a pool noodle light arrow with piss poor penetration power....neither IMO are being good stewards in our pursuit of deer.
good points... what I have found is that there is a point of diminishing returns on a heavy arrow.. too heavy and speed, MO, and KE all go down...now, just according to a calculator, once my arrow gets past 450 gr I lose all 3. so for me, anything above 450 gr would not be beneficial...I assume??
Speed and KE go down, but I'm not seeing a drop in momentum. using this calculator: https://www.westernwhitetail.com/tools/archery/arrow-kinetic-energy-calculator/ my light arrow - 383gr at a calculated 280fps speed 280 fps, KE = 66.61 MO = 0.4758 M Heavy arrow - 680gr at a calculated 180fps speed 180 fps, KE = 48.87 MO = 0.5430 M Full disclosure, I used the westernwhitetail.com speed calculator as well - same bow data for both just changed to weights from my Lyman Digital scale. so your speed and KE will go down, I'm not sure at what point you might see a drop in Momentum (if any). But I'm not a mathmetizer either. for what its worth, I think that works out to: 35% drop in speed 26% drop in KE 14% increase in Momentum
well that's good to know! I don't think going from my current arrow weight, 385 gr to 445 gr is a lot of difference in fps.. something like 14 fps... I think it would put me close 270 fps. which is perfect. I think i would still be fast enough to shoot one pin to 25-27 yds...i think and that's all I want.. no shots past that point for me...
This is spot on; heavy arrows are better in the event that a bad shot happens and hard bone is impacted. That is NOT AN EXCUSE for intentionally taking a bad shot just because you are naïve enough to think a heavy arrow is magic. There is a balance between the two views in approaching this topic. In my personal experience, I found that my bow shoots better with an arrow that is 550-600 grains than it does with a sub 500 grain arrow. There is plenty of well done science out there to suggest that heavier arrows are better when a bad shot happens. And it does happen because animals are not stationary targets. But, on the flip side, anyone advocating that a heavier arrow allows them to purposefully take poor shots is at best completely ignorant of the purpose in using a heavier arrow, and at worst, unethical and should not be looked to as a positive representative of hunting.
be like saying "I am going to shoot a 2.5" mech head so i can shoot them in the guts if it's the only shot i get"...lol but it is interesting, because it seems that most companies are making very light arrows and only provide one heavier arrow line.
It will take some time, but expect this to change in the next 2-3 years. It takes bigger companies awhile to catch on to new trends, validate that they aren't just a flash in the pan, and start creating products for them. The same goes for retailers who stock and sell these products. While it may seem like heavy arrows are everywhere to those of us who are very active online, the average guy running into Scheels or Cabela's to grab arrows and broadheads a week before the season has no idea this is happening. Nobody wants to make or stock products that aren't going to drive consumer demand at the point of sale. A few years ago brass inserts were tough to find and not many people made them. Now, we have all sorts of heavy insert and weight options for arrows. In time, the arrows will come as well.
Personally, and this coming from following the science from Ashby Bowhunting Foundation, I would rather them keep the lighter weights but invest in components like footers that will increase overall weight, FOC and improve the structural integrity of the arrow at the business end. Increasing the overall weight of the carbon shaft is going make it harder to get a decent FOC.
it's not like that at all. Behind the shoulder/humerous is mostly all heart/lungs/arteries. Plus a deer isn't running very far when both front legs don't work. Behind the gut is pretty much just more gut.
I haven’t seen much popularity in heavy arrow/ mechanical head. Do these two choices clash? Is the heavy arrow too much for the mechanical device at a certain point? I’m guessing you wouldn’t ever be able to reuse a head.
I think most folks who are interested in heavies are familiar with Dr. Ashby's work. This tends to lead to fixed blade broadheads due to increased efficiency at / after impact. but I'm not entirely certain. The thing I initial found attractive about mechanicals was the whole 'flies like a field point' thing. After bareshaft tuning my arrows I'm not worried about that. The 200gr fixed blades in my avatar are 'flying like field points', same point of impact. YMMV
I never understood the whole " I shoot mech because they fly like field points".... tune the bow and you can shoot pretty much any thing you want. Most people have no clue if their bow is tuned....the best way to find out? shoot a 3 blade muzzy at 25, 30, 35 yds... you will get your answer.... I shoot mechs because I love the huge hole and lots of blood.. it helps me. I have killed a number of deer with fixed heads too. They all did great when i did my part.
@DarkTater nailed the answer to your question. If a person is familiar with the Ashby research, using a mechanical with thin flimsy blades compared to a solid fixed head, doesn't make a lot of sense. It could probably be done and be successful so long as you avoided hitting the shoulder, but if a shoulder hit happens, what then? Not worth the risk for people familiar with the Ashby principles.
I never heard so much talk about hitting shoulders...it was always too far back and paunch hits for years.. I guess the trend I should say is people shooting tighter to the shoulder these days instead of behind the shoulder...I assume? I still shoot for behind the shoulder.
IT all goes back to what @Justin spoke to about how companies don't have many heavy lines yet. Most guys (we are a minority even within bow hunting ranks) have no clue what FOC means, let alone why their broadheads are not flying the same as their field points....hence why slapping a mechanical makes them happy. They have no clue that something isn't quite right and their rig is not operating or launching arrows at peak efficiency.
