BGfisher

OK, I found one with some basic terminology on compound bows. Look, or don't. It's up to you.

http://groups.msn.com/3DandTargetArchery


Ok, I disagree with MO_Bowhunter and for this reason. You are shooting 5" groups at 20 yards while practicing. This is when you are calm and collected. Have the time to do everything right and can think of what you are doing. Under hunting conditions things can and do change dramatically. The adrenilin starts flowing and you get excited. You, in essense, go brain dead and forget all you know about shooting the bow. Your groups can about double in size. That makes a 5" group now a 10" group which is bigger than most vitals on deer.

Like I said. Learn to just shoot form and everything will eventually fall into place. Maybe spend some time this summer competing in some 3D shoots. Shooting under some kind of pressure helps you learn how to control your anxieties. It'll follow you right into the woods-----to a degree.

Along the way you'll learn more about bow tuning and all the little things that make big differences. It's all up to you.

For the record I've been shooting compound bows for 30 years now. I always have top-o-the-line bows because I can. I still shoot form. I'm old, deaf, and half blind. On average days I shoot 3-4" groups at 40 yards. On better days they are half that. On most days I can't shoot 2 arrows at the same bullseye from 20 yards. I see no reason to try to break a $12 arrow just to prove it can happen.

Techy

Most of the time. Bowtechs are one exception. I tested my bow and it was 1 fps faster at 80% because you actually shorten your draw a touch going to 65% on a bowtech

Paul L Mohr

Not all bows change speed with let off differences. It depends on cam design I think. And like BG said, it's pretty minimal any way.

In all honesty what most of us found is that the quest for speed is futile to a point. I have done it as others have. We have played the game and know the results, you can listen to us, or try it for yourself any way. I was told not to worry about it but experimented anyway. I learned a lot, mostly that the other guys were right.

Even if you did everything listed here to gain speed the honest truth is I don't believe it would be enough to be perceptable. You would need a chronograph to tell the performance difference in most cases. Your pin settings would most likely remain the same at 20, 30 and possibly 40 yards. And you wouldn't gain enough down range energy that it would make a difference on a deer. And like said above, 1200 fps is about where you would need to be in order for a deer not hear you or the arrow. I have seen pictures of deer flinching and ducking a muzzle loader bullet!

A quiet bow and a relaxed deer are much better than a fast noisy bow any day.

Like BG said, I would work on learning to shoot better before I worried about how fast or slow my rig was. I feel more important than speed is how well the bow fits you and how forgiving it is to shoot. If making a change is going to effect how well you can shoot the bow, I wouldn't consider it. 5 inches at 20 yards is ok for a beginner, but I would strive for a little better. It will make you more confident when you are in the stand. And for the most part a slower bow is more accurate and forgiving to a point. It gives the arrow more time to recover and straighten out. That is why most target shooters do not worry about speed and use lower poundage bows. Of course they are shooting fixed distances though.

Here are some links for all kinds of information for you to read.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm

http://www.thebowman.com/

http://www.bowhunting.net/bobragsdale/ragsdale.html

http://www.merlin-bows.co.uk/MASTERFRAMESET.htm

Not to mention going to Eastons web site and downloading the easton tuning guide.

Good luck,
Paul

Bob H in NH

first off, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a deer with 220fps. It will work just fine and QUIET is better than fast. My bowhunting partner shoots around 28 inches gets around 22-225 at 60 lbs with heavy arrows and I have yet to see him shoot a deer and NOT get a passthrough.

You want to be carefull raising the poundage on your bow. Depending on the arrows you MIGHT make the bow to strong for the spine of the arrow, the result would be an arrow that bends to much coming out of the bow and doesn't stablize and flies all over the place.

I would concentrate more on getting the accuracy better. Five is groups are good enough to take a deer, but no further than the 20 yards you quoted and it gives you VERY little room for groups to open up which they normally do during hunting due to excitement and the shakes.

--Bob

dohcrxl

I said it once just the other day but I'll say it again: This is the first bowhunting forum I belong to but already I can tell it is a premier site. Each time I've inquired on something I've gotten quality answers. Thank you all.

As a token of my appreciation for the welcome and valuable information, please feel free to come to this car forum:

http://crxresource.org/modules.php?n...ums&file=index

if you have car trouble. I am of course dohcrxl everywhere I go and you can easily find me over there as stated, I'm one of the mods(car question answering slaves)

Regards,

- Heu

BGfisher

So now you owe us all a steak dinner. I'll settle for venison.