Straightarrow

As a hunter, performance means penetration to me. Speed is irrelevant in regard to performance. A few years back I went from 70 lbs to lower 60s and my performance is far better now. The reason - I added substantial weight to my arrows. Deer don't stand a chance against my 650 gr arrows shot with about 62 lbs. Even shoulders aren't likely to keep them from killing.If I were forced to go to 50 lbs of draw, I would probably bump the weight up even a bit more.

The rule of thumb - when draw weight or draw length is low, go with more weight on the arrow. On the other hand, if you were referring to something for 3d, then go with weight-weenie arrows.

bigcountry

I am a huge advocate for heavy arrows. Especially for my longbow. I shoot 460gr arrows out of my liberty now. But I like also to shoot over 250fps with a 460gr arrow. And not sure I will be able to match rev's specs. with a 60# bow.

I shoot 175fps with a 600gr arrow from my longbow, but the big difference is that thing is so quiet, the deer suredoesnt jump any string like a compound noise. If I could take away the sound of the arrow hitting the ground, I can easily get off another shot.

HLTJR

how are yall getting those speeds with such low poundage? I am shooting 64lbs and st axis 500's @305 grains with a 27" draw. I am only shooting 253fps.

Straightarrow

I guess it's a matter of the definition of "heavy". To me, 460 grains is medium light. I would never be confortable hunting big game with something that weight.

I'm currently shooting a 650 gr arrow out of both my recurve and my compound. A person would be hard pressed to tell which is quieter. I spent a great deal of time making sure it was that quiet. The 650 gr arrow helps in that area quite a bit. My recurve is not loud and happens to be quieter than my longbow. The compound shoots the arrow about 20 fps faster, but not enough to care about. Then again, I never care about speed. I've never had a big game animal "jump an arrow", and even if I did, I wouldn't reach for a faster arrow. I'd wait for a better opportunity or try to be even quieter. My point is, I wouldn't give up performance so I could try to keep the deer from "jumping the string". I think the performance of the truly heavy arrow to be far more important to the success of a hunt.

bigcountry, I'm not trying to nitpick on your weight choice, I just think those reading might benefit from thinking about what really qualifies as performance when it comes to shooting big game.

Straightarrow

Drawlength makes a huge difference. Comparing a 27" drawlength with somebody that might be 30" or 31" is not a fair contest.

DROCK

yep, drawlength. You can account for (-)10fps, for every inch of drawlength you lose.

stalkingbear

Bigcountry-what you will lose is a lil bit of kinetic energy. My new bow,mathews switchback xt,I ordered to max out at 60 pounds. With my size and upper body strength,people can't believe I went down to 60 pounds. The thing is my shoulders and back are shot thus the lower poundage. Funny thing is I don't feel any less macho or less capable to harvest any game animal in north america I used to hunt when a little younger and in better shape.

HLTJR

So guys should I change to a heavier arrow and lose some of my speed to compensate for my short drawlength?

JoshKeller

if your good at range estimation, or have a range finder, I dont see any reason NOT to get heavier arrows. And that pretyt much goes for any draw length/weight.

HLTJR

Will going to the axis 400's drop my overall speed? Is this sufficent? Or should I goheavier? But since the season is right around the corner how well do you think the axis 500's that I an shooting will do ?How much does speed really account for? I do have a range finder just bought a leupold rx II camo. Pd 200 for it 100 bucks cheaper than cabelas and bass pro even with shipping added.