scubasteven

How much KE is needed for a complete pass through on a whitetail Deer, lets say for a broad side shot? Just wondering due to my set up with my recurve; I used the calculator on Bow Jackson's site and I came up with 33lbs of KE for my 411 grain arrows at ~190fps. Is 33 foot pounds enough considering I will be shooting a razor sharp 125g 2 blade Magnus broadhead?

DaBoys

Never thought of it but in wisconsin 30# of bow weight is min..
what differnce as long as the arrow hits were you aim and cuts at least on good hole in both lungs(nicer if you could see the feathers sticking out the heart). I do think that a pass through could be over rated as a lodged arrow could continuely due damadge as
as the deer runs......

JeffB

I would say with a broadside shot at 20 yards and under, 30-35 would be an absolute minimum. Though at this level of KE I'd be more worried about momentum (i.e. usinga heavier arrow) and also would suggest a stout cut to the tip broadhead.

I personally don't care for anything under 65 pounds of KE for shooting mechs ('cos I like those with larger cutting diameter), and prefer to have at least 70 pounds of KE.

The more the merrier as long as you are not giving up accuracy/killing yourself to get the bow back.

RTA47

That may be all true about the "min" speed of the bow and K.E and sharp broadhead. But i was just thinking? what about the size deer your talking about when you say complete pass through? 75lb doe or 285lb buck? would 33lb on your bow still get a pass through on a buck that size. I would think that the size animal would have something to do with it?

c903

The higher the KE, the better the odds of a pass through. However, a minimum rate of KE and higher does not guarantee a through and through. Complete penetration is plus for possibly providing a better blood trail, but a complete pentration is not necessary for a kill.

scubasteven

Jeff you must have a hell of a stout set-up because with 65lbs of KE you could bring down a Cape Buffalo. What are you hunting Polar Bear?

warmdaze

Hey Scuba, your KE is very low to be using a mechanical broadhead, here's a suggestion I would like to imply a cut on contact or fixed blade broadhead. Trust me two seconds of reading here will save you hours in the field tracking. My KE is 62 and I don't believe it's enough.

JeffB

As I said, my preference is bigger cut mechanicals (1.5" plus), and I want plenty of horsepower with them. For fixed blades, as long as I have about 50-55 pounds I'm OK, but again I prefer more. Never know if something is gonna happen and you clip a shoulder by accident..I'd rather have the extra energy to get that broadhead into the boilerworks and/or out the back side.

GordonGekko

Not much to add here except, scubasteven, you are talking about a Recurve shooting 190 fps with a 411 grain arrow, correct? I think some people got a little mixed up. I don't know how much KE you need but, I think you're probably O.K. for a 2-blade fixed broadhead like the one you're using. You may not get a complete passthrough, but that depends. I would think you may want to look more at momentum with the setup you're describing, but I really don't know much about traditional archery setups.

Gordon

scubasteven

Opps! I am shooting a 27.25" 481 grain Carbonwood v-maxx 4000 off of my 58lb recurve @ 171 fps which yields 31 flps of KE. How does this translate into momentum? Once again I am shooting a razor sharp 125Grain Magnus 2 blade.