MO_Bowhnter

Carbon or aluminum...if your bow is well tuned then you will have pass throughs no matter what if you don't hit bone. I believe practice, placement and sharp broadheads are more important than arrow material.

ijimmy

Comparing guns and archery , does not work , they kill in diferant ways . Guns , by hydralic shock , and archery by cutting and bleeding out . The most important thing is accuracy , as most bows today create enough energy to passthru , or penitrate our north american game , with a deadly sharp broadhead . If you are not afraid of the sharpness of your broadheads , they are not sharp enough . Now I would not go after moose with a 50 lb bow , but I bet there as some who would , and if they know their equipment and limitations , probably have sucess at it .

BGfisher

Sniper, who you calling a speed freak? Wanna meet in the alley and settle this? Seriously, I am one of those speed freaks, but I don understand that a bow must be whisper quiet and very user friendly (easy to draw) when hunting. I always look for that compromise between speed and quiet, with the edge going to quiet. I am coming to the realization the last couple years that speed for most hunting situations is worried about too much. You just don't see much difference in trajectory between 240fps and 280fps at 20-25 yards. And I have bows that do both these speeds.

From a personal standpoint my bow doesn't stay tuned from year to year. I rarely have a bow much longer than that, but if I do then I'm always playing around with it anyway. I change things often to see what new and what works, and how it works with what results. I'm constantly shooting my bows and tuning and tinkering. Lody Be, I had 8 different drop away rests on my new bow this year just to try them. When crunch time came and I wanted a hunting setup I just bolterd on the old "tried and true" Star Hunter. You know---KISS. And another thing I usually do that is opposite of what many do is that I shoot all year long, and when it gets down to hunting I tuen my bow DOWN a few pounds. I may be a speed freak, but I'm not a KE dude. These are deer we hunt here, not cape buffalo.

Anyway, now that I know you were kidding about the .375 thing I can relax. I also notice you live pretty close to me. Something like 30 miles. Do you belong to Hemlock? Do you shoot the 3D Winter League?

Sniper151

Hi BG. I guess I'm a bit old fashion. I used the same bow, an Oregon, for over 15 years. One string change, one cable change with yearly R&R on axles, cams and bushings. Now I shoot a Hoyt Protec with the XL limbs. Like 46 3/4" axle to axle because I still enjoy shoot fingers. I really enjoy shooting with the release shooters and their door slamers Yes, I do belong to Hemlock. I guess its about 26 years now and will see you at Big Buck in a few weeks.
Jap.

BOWFANATIC

When talking about shooting at foam targets or 3d targets , then yes , because of shaft diameter , the nod goes to carbons for penetration.

When we're talking about hunting it's a whole different ball game. That same shaft , wether small diameter carbon or larger diameter aluminum , now has a razor sharp broadhead on the front opening a path for that shaft , eliminating the diameter (path of least resistance) difference.

I've seen some major penetration differences between fast carbons and slower aluminums on hogs and the nod always went to the aluminums.

I personally shoot both , but I feel too many people today are steered away from aluminums for what I consider to be b.s. reasons.

BobCo19-65

Or you could do as Dr. Ashby has done in the past and insert an aluminum arrow inside of an aluminum arrow to keep the OD to a minimum.

BGfisher

Doug, really I tend to agree with you that some of the friction is negated due to the blades opening th path of entry. I think, though that tuning so that the arrow's momentum is stright behine that broadhead giving a better driving force. The number of blades doing the cutting, the weight of the arrow. The thickness of muscle where you hit, the angle of entry. There are so many variables that one can never get a picture of what happens in the real world. 3D targets are not flesh. Gel is not flesh. It's an imperfect scenerio.

I know I have shot deer years ago with aluminum producing 40lbs/ft of energy and a few years ago with carbon producing 39lbs/ft of energy and the results were very similar. All passthroughs with the arrow not going very far afterwards. But how far does it have to go afterwards?

I've also shot deer with both arrows and hit solid bone. Results, again, being about the same. The deer runs off with a slight flesh wound. I've shot deer with arrows weighing 300gr and blown right through. I've shot them with arrows weighing 450gr and not blown through. There are just no absolutes when in the hunting world.

I do often times shoot aluminum during our winter 3D league (outdoors). Those 2212's pull loads easier than most carbon out of McKenzies. Rineharts are another matter. They're a dream.

Arthur P

And right there is one of the very bestest reasons for shooting aluminum!! Especially if you've got a bad back. I have hurt myself, on several different ocassions, wrestling with McKenzie targets trying to pull carbon arrows. And you don't even have to rub magical ointments and unguents on aluminums before shooting them to get 'em to come out.

BGfisher

Arthur P, you are absolutely right. NO LUBE NEEDED. And I know about the struggling with Carbons. I DO have a bad back. I've shot with guys shooting Korean Express and it takes two to pull the arrows. Then they grab hold of my 2212's. I almost always get some remark like "Man, I'll pull your arrows all day long". There's that much difference.

I'm shooting Vapor 23 Speeds right now while playing with the bow. Getting the most speed out of it and all. Man I gotta back down to 47lbs to get ASA legal at 288fps. Anyway, my aluminums weigh a bit more and will be slower, but our winter league says nothing over 35 yards so it's kinda a mute point between 305 and 295fps. And this is just for fun anyway. They give out pins to the first 3 places in each class but I just give mine to the kids---when I get one. And lighting up some kid"s face is more fun than winning it for myself.