After 30 years of bowhunting, I have killed 65 deer with a bow. Several with fixed heads and a lot more with 2 blade rage heads. Out of all those kills, 95% of my arrows were sub 400 gr. Pulling 70 pounds. Aside from a few spine hit deer, every deer that I have killed when hit in the correct place I have had a complete pass through. Only one deer that I can remember did not go all the way through. A 200 lb VA buck with a 90 gr 4 blade muzzy and a very very light arrow. the arrow was sticking out of both sides and the deer was down in 40 yds. I have this year, gone to a heavier arrow finally. But I am seeing so many kills on youtube/tv with very few passing through. I understand that heavy arrows penetrate better but even with lighter arrows, 360-380 gr and mech heads I have gotten pass throughs. Maybe VA deer are just much smaller or something but I am seeing a lot of arrows staying in the deer these days.
IMO, it's mostly confirmation bias that makes you think you're seeing this more frequently now than before. You're subconsciously looking for it to confirm what people keep saying about penetration, or lack thereof. I don't think it's happening any more than it always has.
maybe so. But especially with today's bow and engery stored I would think we would see very few not pass through.
Due to advances in bio-sciences, Cervidae have evolved to withstand traumatic penetration. According to data pulled from a 2023 study by M.Y.S.E.L.F, Cervidae hide has thickened from 140mils to 400mils, Rib bones have increased in mass by 200%, shoulder blades have thickened by 150%. All of these statistics are completely false and I have no idea what I'm talking about.
thru the years, Ive killed dozens of deer (bucks/Does, over 80 ) with both mech's and fixed .. I'll have both in my quiver again this season ... Ive not seen the 'no pass thru' problem with mechs .. I will say, I was shooting 70#'s back then too (380-395 gr GT's, now at 430 grs) and my Rockets blew thru every deer it seemed ... never lost a deer to lack of penetration of either style of heads, other reasons, yes ..... since Ive dropped poundage (to 60lbs now), my KE/MO has stayed pretty much the same (78lbke), mostly due to advances in bow technology .. are these TV guys bows tuned ? ... are they shooting super light draw weights so they can hold forever for the camera and using a wide cut ? ... does the arrow 'seem' to bounce back/work its way out after hitting the opposite leg ? ....
Quit watching deer porn. I do not like watching other people have sex, fish or hunt. Your new set up will do well.
I get bored, I mean the Cowboys aren't even fun to watch anymore, they pound everyone.. JK, they will lose when least expected. The offense is suspect and the D can only carry them so far.
I sure hope the guys in them videos, grunting, farting and barely getting their cam over the hump are pulling over 50 lb. Hell my wife gets pass through's with a 45lb bow and fixed heads so I don't think that's a problem. I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that you don't see as many videos of shots on 3 1/2 year old 8 points like you use to, most videos today are of someone shooting a 5 1/2 year or older buck with much more bone density, being harder to penetrate and causing deflection.
Poorly tuned bows with arrows that fishtail in flight will often not penetrate fully. That goes for both mechanicals or fixed broadheads. But combine poor arrow flight with big cut mechanicals and the problem gets worse.
. Hey in all fairness. If we apply darwinism then after hunting them for another 5000 years or so they may evolve to grow armor instead of hide.
I absolutely have seen a big influx of super heavy is better information out there. There are a few talking heads that have always been around, they just now have a social media platform or 20 to push their views. They aren't wrong, the science/physics is correct. However, I think more often than not, for most shots on say whitetails, its entirely overkill. I too have been at this for a long time. 35 years. I killed deer with stupid low foc's back in the aluminum arrow days when none of us even know what heck foc even was. Easton Super Slams... 2117's with a 90gr muzzy to lighten it up a bit... lol. Heavy arrow, but I can't imagine the foc's were much more that 5%.. heck it could have been -5%.. haha... screaming out of a 200fps at best bow. But you know what... I killed plenty of deer, most a pass through, with that ancient setup. Todays bows, arrows and broadheads are far more efficient than they were back then. When I modernized my bow/arrows back in the late 90's, I shot through a ton of deer with a 250fps bow and a 380gr arrow, even after I started playing with mechanicals after they hit the. market (good ol' rocky mountain snyper). In my opinion. I well tuned bow, one that can shoot field points, bare shafts, and broadheads into the same group, with a reasonable arrow weight is far more important than 600gr arrows and high foc.
There is no room in this discussion for your logical opinion. If you don't go ultra heavy, you clearly don't care about recovering your animals and/or you're being paid off by the Big Mechanical industry.
Take it easy Justin. I've been quietly waiting for my wife to buy a new broom and stealing the handle off it. She's pissed, but I'm finally up to a half dozen bare shafts for my heavy arrow build and will be in the "cool club" before you know it.
I am just getting used to a "heavier" arrow. and for me heavy is 480 gr. Been doing the 360-385 gr. for a very long time. I never had issues with killing deer even with 2" mech heads. But for some reason these heavier arrows shoot more accurately than the lighter ones. But I do feel that anything over 500 gr is a bit overboard. I mean isn't there a point in which you get negative returns?
There is but I think it's all bow dependent. It gets into what I call sweet spot for each case. My bow is quick enough at 550gr that my pin gap is manageable. Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
