Penetration concerns.

[Gooserbat]

Your 535 gr recipe is probably a good place to start but most importantly tune it to your bow.  Once you get good arrow flight and couple that with a 500+ gr arrow your in the deer killing business

[drewsbow]

shoot a heavy arrow , period

[Ram_n_arrows]

Is 535 gr heavy enough ?  The spine calculator says it would match perfectly with my set up I intend to buy.

[Mint]

Hitting the scapula is iffy in my experience. Sometimes you can blow through and other times not get any penetration. I think it has more to do with what reaction of the shot of the particular deer. If it is moving at the shot it is going to be able to absorb more of the hit. Remember that shoulder is held in place by muscle.
Do to this fact I switched to a big 4 blade or big 3 blade head and I back off the shoulder knowing that if I hit liver or back of the lungs I'm going to get a big hole and find the deer easily.

[Tajue17]

Originally posted by Ram_n_arrows:
Is 535 gr heavy enough ?  The spine calculator says it would match perfectly with my set up I intend to buy.

my arrows are usually 540 to 560 for 48 to 52lb bows,,, Jacob keep in mind the weight is also for quieting the bow and the bow feels more smooth at the release,, if I shoot arrows 450gr i just don't like the way it feels and how it sounds/

speed really isn't a concern at all,, I have a 46# selfbow shooting a 520gr cedar arrow with big banana fletch that an honest guess will say its maybe 150fps and dropping fast! maybe even slower but i have absolutely no concern about speed and penetration cause I know those arrows are bare shaft tuned as best as possible for woodies and they carry very sharp Ace Standards.

last year with a 50 pound at 26 inch draw Hill style bow and a rather long shot, my 490 grain serrated Hill tipped arrow center cut horizontally through a rib on entry without breaking the rib cut a trough in the back side of the heart and cut half way through a rib on exit, then ricocheted off of an oak sapling snapped the feathered end off into the deep brush.  the buck ran 62 paces and went down hard.  If you are are worried about penetration put the power in the head you choose.   Some years back two compound teens were having a terrible time hitting deer , but not getting penetration and not finding deer.  They switched to Hill 140 heads, file sharpened and declared that they a had a magical secret weapon.   Can you imagine what they would have declared if they would have gone to Grizzly heads?   Since then, they have gotten into the longbow thing and moved west so they hunt big stuff.

[JamesKerr]

Your set up will kill any deer and most other large game animals on this continent no problem. The key to making any clean kill and I know this gets old, but shot placement really is key. Second to that is an arrow system that is both well built, meaning there are as few weak points as possible and perfect arrow flight.

If you're concerned with your bows performance than look up the Ashby reports and do a search on here for a thread that was posted some time ago "Bh Pics, holes they leave" It was a great thread with a lot of testimony showing the lethality of traditional equipment. I can honestly say though that the first time you arrow a deer with your recurve and the arrow is in the ground on the other side without even slowing down after going through the chest cavity, all doubts will be erased.

[BradLantz]

I fought it a long time ... and when people say shoot heavy arrows and 2 blade heads they mean it, its experience talking

get in the 600+ total weight, a stout 2 blade COI head

penetration will follow

[oldrubline]

I have only used heavy hardwood arrows and shavin' sharp 2 blade broadheads. This will kill them fast and even from bows under 50 pounds. I did hit one 8 point in the spine with this type of set up, arrow crushed his spine and severed the spinal cord dropping him in his tracks. Friend of mine who hunts with compound frequently calling over the years upset with lost deer that he saw hit square in the chest. Light super fast systems and too high up in the tree making high single holes....not a good thing.

Dan

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

here is the best advice I can give regarding penetration with a recurve.

Don't shoot at distances beyond what you are capable of.

Don't shoot at moving deer.

Don't take shot on animals quartering to.

shoot razor sharp heads.

[drewsbow]

I like to be a little heavier than that but yes 535 should work with good shot placement

[Chain2]

I 2nd what the man from Rugged SE Minnesota said

[oldrubline]

....I agree that the ideal shot is one where the deer isnt moving, but that isn't always going to happen. Bucks coming down the rub lines I hunt over are not always going to stop and work a tree.  I think that shooting at a walking deer at close range (under 20 yards) is reasonable and humane. If I were hunting over bait, it might be a more reasonable expectation. My rules are to have shaving sharp 2 blade, heavy very well tuned shaft (I am not satisfied until the bare shafts fly to where I am looking and group with the fletched at 15 yards), no quartering away or questionable shots, and no significant rain or chance of rain so that I don't lose a blood trail.

Dan

[KeganM]

I've been shooting around 45-50# and moderate weight arrows (430-550 gr) the last few years and still have no issues getting consistent pass throughs, even using big Simmons Tree Sharks on a really big buck last year.

The #1 difference between shooting a trad bow and a compound is the broadhead and #2 is shot selection. It doesn't take much energy to put a razor sharp COC two blade through a deer, but it takes a heck of a lot to put an expandable through. It's made worse by the number of guys shooting too far or when the angle is bad.

Sharp Magnus Stingers should make penetration a non-issue!

[LBR]

We tend to blame the equipment when things don't go as planned.  Deer aren't tanks.  Don't shoot them in the shoulder would be my first piece of advise.

Good shot placement is the key.  If the deer isn't standing in the right position, or close enough, or won't stand still, etc....don't shoot.  It's that simple.  It won't matter if you are shooting a 1,000 grain arrow from a 150# bow, if you don't hit the vitals you won't get the deer.

I've posted many times about my best friend's daughter who has killed several deer pulling around 25# @ 25" with an arrow that weighed around 400 grains.  She put the arrow in the right spot, dead deer.  (MS has no minimum draw weight in case anyone was wondering) I think her longest recovery was 65 yds or so.

Practice until you can hit the spot consistently, stick with shots you can make consistently, and go hunting.