Wood vs Carbon

[stonewall]

I hunt with carbons and they are tuned, But in the off season I shoot wood. But let me tell you the woods group tighter and have less fliers. I only hunt with the carbons because of the penetration, and I'm only hunting with 45#. Man I wish I could get up the nerve to hunt with wood out of this bow. The reason I don't is because I've Had some shoot through problems with wood out of my 52 # problems in the past .

[JR Williams]

Just curious, what carbons are you shooting? If the carbons are tuned and so is the wood the carbons SHOULD be more consistent, although I have shot some amazingly consistent wood arrows.

 I did have a lot of trouble with some Gold Tip arrows at one point, when I put them on a spine tester they were very inconsistent so it could be that.

But I do believe that at the end of the day, if the wood arrows are shooting good, and you have a sharp broadhead on, the you should be confident in your setup.

[stonewall]

I've always shot Gold Tip carbon. They shoot good and group and kill good. But they don't shoot good as my woods.

[rraming]

Are the carbons Blems?

[stonewall]

Yep I shoot Trads and Blems . And as far as variance I have found in deflection and and straightness has been the same. I usually weed out the ones in the groups with the closest numbers for hunting. The same way I do my woods for shooting. But you can go broke trying to match a dozen carbons as far as numbers go in my experience.

I hunt with wood arrows and bows in the low fifties at 26" draw left handed and 26.5" right handed.  My wife shoots wood under 40 pounds at 26" plus.  Neither one of us had ever had penetration problems on whitetail deer.   If you want to increase penetration, you could go to Surewoods or a heavier point with a step up in spine on cedars.  If you are getting wood arrows to fly best for you, unless you are hunting buffalo, I think you may be worried about nothing.

[Tedd]

My most accurate arrows are tapered wood.

[rraming]

I have never bought or used blems but have had some huge variances in carbon shafts, I would check the spine of those shafts. I have nothing against blems, just never purchased them.

[stonewall]

rraming check out my 3erd post.

[Crittergetter]

I have both wood and carbon in my quiver that are tuned to my bow. As long as I do my part they group together!
Woods are quieter tho!

[durp]

sound like you need to check the penetration of both of them again...straight flying arrow will win over skinny every time...jm2cw

[jackdaw]

Gentleman, I love wooden arrows  and shoot them ALOT.... But no, they cannot match carbon as far as accuracy is concerned. However, at hunting distances they can be very close..!!! If wood was the most accurate, all the archers in the Olympics would shoot it.....! !!! I have shot them all, Tapered, barrel-tapered, straight.....they all work well. Trick is making sure they stay dead straight.  Carbon is tougher than most woods that I have a shot, a lot tougher. But, like I said before, Still prefer to shoot a lot of wooden arrows...To me they just go hand-in-hand with traditional archery....jmo

[Russ Clagett]

I shoot surewood doug fir shafts and have never had to straighten one.

Have had pass thrus on deer in the past...

A properly tuned wood arrow will kill anything you might hunt....they have for a very long time now...

[Jim Wright]

Out of a well tuned bow, properly spined wood, carbon and aluminum arrows will all be more accurate than the person shooting them. I have shot all 3 and just personally like wood more, it makes beautiful arrows that are quieter on the bow. They are fun to make and dare I say they look and actually are a bit more "traditional".

I don't think that anyone is arguing what can be done with carbon arrows.  With the Olympic shooters it is all about repeatability with any given shooter, they go through a lot of arrows and they are not trying to shoot through shoulder bones.  A trad hunting bow can be quite a different thing than a center shot target bow, which is quite often where people have to jump through hoops to get carbons to work right.  For many it is simply easier to get a good flying wood arrow.  I have found that a wood arrow can have more tolerance to the short draw odd position hunting shot than a carbon, probably caused because I was on the verge of being to stiff.   I made up a dozen that ended up being 31" long and I hated them because of all of that extra length.  I gave them to someone that could get use out of them.  For a shorter draw person having shorter arrows is a handling bonus and if the head is used as a draw check, it is also a good draw length reminder similar in effect as a clicker.   It is very difficult for a lighter bow shooter with a shorter draw to get a shorter carbon to tune right.  In the end it is all about what works for the individual and how they feel about their own archery experience.

[Wudstix]

Most of my arrows end up on the ground on opposite side of game no matter what I shoot.  Carbons are harder to get heavy enough, so as not to dry fire my bows.      

[trubltrubl]

May I suggest woody weights for your wood arrows.....with the heavier arrow and weight up front to boot..it will boost your penetration. You might have to go up in spine depending on your set up. I hunt with carbon mostly now. but certain bows and selfbows just need wood arrows for the "mojo"

I have killed 5 moose...3 with wood arrows and two with carbon...
the first two moose were with fir shafts..about 600 grains..then next was with a laminated birch about 650 graains....the last two were with carbons with about 630 grains...
Arrow flight is the most important aspect , then weight , and two blades not three...if you want penetration
one elk with wood arrow (laminated birch 630 grains) with all wood bow...lots of deer with both carbon and wood
the only problem I had once was with a three blade from a lighter bow...my mistake...I only got one lung on a moose and lost him...I was very upset..

I think as long as they fly great and are sharp and heavy enough...either is fine

[NY Yankee]

It's funny when we are talking about bow hunting, some one always brings up Olympic shooters. Two entirely different worlds. Usually it is to nock whatever the OP is asking about. Wonder why we dont see Olympic shooters posting here?

[Shadowhnter]

Olympic shooters will shoot as light of an arrow as possible, with just enough foc to be accurate. That way the arrow is shooting as flat as possible, minimizing the effects of imperfection down range. It would be a HORRIBLE hunting arrow though as a result.

If you get the proper weight and foc wood arrow, using as efficient of a broadhead as possible that is razor sharp,,,,wood arrows are just as effective at killing most game as the next arrow material type. A preferred pass through shot, made right through lungs, equals a dead and recovered animal. If you arent getting pass through shots on game with wood, you need to go back to the thinking chair and work out a better arrow combination, because its not that difficult to obtain. Wood killed millions of animals for thousands of years...and we worry?

+2 on the woody weights...    

I have never played with woody weights, but it seems that with cedar shafts, less than 50 pound bows and shorter draws that quite often the weights fall right into the ten gpp or slightly higher category with 145 or 160 grain heads.  My wife's arrows that are 27" bop fall in the 425 to 450  range, depending on the head for her slightly under 40 pounds of draw.   The thing to try to do when going to wood is to try to keep your arrows at about the same weight range. When you find a spine and weight that works, be very specific about how heavy those shafts were and make that known in very clear terms to the supplier.  It has been my experience with Wapiti and Surewood that they will do their very best to repeat what worked for you.