Light V.S. Heavy arrows

[BT]

I dont know where it came from but I found a new issue of Buckmasters in my house this morning
The article I read could have come straight off this site and to be honest....I think it did

Whatever the case...it's about time that someone got it

The articles author placed the success ratio of number of kills to shots taken 100% on the speed of the arrow...provided the pin was on the correct spot at the release.
I covered everything in this article on the DVD "Judgment call" and on this site, many times in the past.

The short of it came down to shooting fast enough to eliminate the deers ability to duck out of the shot.
What the article did not go into was distances...choosing instead to speak of speed in relative terms of advantage (always a dangerous path for an educator) which does not really provide usable information for the vast majority.

Anyway....it was good to see a luke warm (typically numb and dumb) publication addressing speed.

[CopperHead]

BT,

This stirred a question? How important do you think how quiet the bow is in relation to the success of the shot? Just curious on opinions here.

[Reaper]

While I am just coming in to part of this conversation or should I say your theory, and I absolutely refuse to even pick up a buckmaster magazine (due to bad experiences with them) I have a question about your arrow theory and speed. I am shooting a 503gr stick (including BH) at 271FPS. Once my new string gets broken in I may pick up a Ft or two. Your chart below shows me at 82ft/lbs of KE. Going on your train of thought, would it be worth it to go to a lighter arrow? I shoot comfortably out to 70yds and am working my way back to my goal of 90, and in my uneducated train of thought I think that extra weight would be critical. Keep in mind that spotting and stalking deer, I would rarely have a shot at 30yds or less. Just curious now that you got me to thinking.
Bill

[BT]

Jul 5, 2009 22:17:19 GMT -5 CopperHead said:

BT,

This stirred a question? How important do you think how quiet the bow is in relation to the success of the shot? Just curious on opinions here.

I have shown that it has no importance at all

Now...having said this, I will clarify that I mean that noise is of no issue within the distance of the bows performance in relation to reaction time.
While a bow shooting an arrow @ 150fps has a 10 yard window of success (regardless of the deers reaction time) ..... a 320fps bow has a 18 yard window of success.
This window is increased 2 yards for either when shooting the bottom of the lung.

At 40 yards and beyond, the noise has no effect, due to the fact that the noise is greatly diminished and does not pose a threating based on the distance that it originates from.
If a deer is eying the area from which the shot comes, it will (in all likelihood) stay put in order to locate the source.
If it is not actively looking at the source, it will (in all likelihood) only lift/turn it's head to observe the source.
A quieter bow would only effect the position of the head in the same situation...assuming that quieter means silent....which is never the case.
I can hear the quietest bow from forty yards

The true area of advantage would only be in the area between the absolute success range and 40 yards.
However... in that area, a shot is definitely heard by any deer and intensity of the noise is not as important as the noise ... if it is going to make a difference.

I have shot both stick and compound and to date.....the most deer missed were to the slow and quite bow....not the fast and loud bow.

[madoktor1]

IMO, for the average hunting shot, it's 6 of one and a 1/2 dozen of the other but, for long shots, I prefer the heavier arrow with higher KE. I consider long shots 50 yds.+ and the average hunting shot 30 yds or less. For a 40-50 yd. shot, I would probably take the lighter faster arrow for the reasons stated above. JMO.

[BT]

Jul 9, 2009 17:26:53 GMT -5 Reaper said:

While I am just coming in to part of this conversation or should I say your theory, and I absolutely refuse to even pick up a buckmaster magazine (due to bad experiences with them)

I hear you!...thats why I was surprised to see it in my house
But I will give credit where it is due.

I have a question about your arrow theory and speed. I am shooting a 503gr stick (including BH) at 271FPS. Once my new string gets broken in I may pick up a Ft or two. Your chart below shows me at 82ft/lbs of KE. Going on your train of thought, would it be worth it to go to a lighter arrow? I shoot comfortably out to 70yds and am working my way back to my goal of 90, and in my uneducated train of thought I think that extra weight would be critical. Keep in mind that spotting and stalking deer, I would rarely have a shot at 30yds or less. Just curious now that you got me to thinking.
Bill

At these distances, the light arrow offers you nothing
In fact...it detracts

While either will work on animals such as deer, the heavier arrow offers better performance on the heavier bone offered by bigger animals.

The heavier arrow also performers better at longer ranges while detracting only minimally in respect to pin gap for distances 70 yards plus.

[Reaper]

Cool, saweet!! My shots ARE longer than many archers, just not extreme distances, but I have been trying for that archery elk tag!! Someday!!

Thanks guys.

[CopperHead]

Thanks BT