Low Poundage Bows and Light Wt Arrow II

[Friend]

A friend of mine which I shoot with often, is planning to hunt deer with a 45# @ 28" bow, which he draws ~26", and 348 gn arrows.

We are at the extremes for what I choose for an arrow design. I have strongly suggested that his arrow weight selection is far too light for hunting deer. Yes, I believe a perfect shot with a 2 blade BH would work, but that would be what he would be restricted to.

This set-up disturbs me.


My concern here is not at all with the ~39# @ 26 draw wt. The concern deals with the arrow wt selected (348 gns) to be utilized in conjunction with ~39# @ 26” bow.

I have no experience when it comes to light poundage and light arrows for hunting deer. My objective here is to provide proper guidance for this 1st time traditional hunter.

We are very good friends.


Suggestions for helping this archer out would be highly appreciated.


Note: There is a previous post "Low Poundage Bow and Light Weight Arrow". Much due to me inputting incorrect information and me specifically stating that I believed it to be unethical caused some heart ache. For those transgressions, I sincerely apologise.

My objective here is to provide this friend with solid advice. I do hope the Trad Gang members will find forgiveness and continue to respond.

[DeerSpotter]

Most people shoot a heavier poundage bow all their life and come to the place where they may have to drop it down in poundage.  I have been just the opposite all my life .I have longer upper arms and shorter muscle mass

I was 2 1/2 pounds when I was born over 60 years ago .I never have had strong arms . So my poundage in bows have been from 36# to 45# .

The arrow weights for my 36# Is at 425 Gr Total arrow weight .I have 150 gr Up front.

My 43 pound bow total arrow weight is 460 gr.With 170 gr. up front.

My 46 pound bow I am developing an arrow for it and it will be 550 with 200 up front.

The one thing that I have learned off of Trad gang ,Is that a lot of people talk about turning the bow. But I have learned more from quite a few people that have pointed me the other direction you tune the arrow to the bow.

I always used to think that the more silencers or different silencers you put on the string is gonna make a difference ,two words takes care of noise from string "Brace height" . You need to start with the bow For your friend and what the arrow lays on is important,Both in height and thickness. The next step is the string ,What is the string made off ,is it the proper amount of strands ,is your nocking point at the right place .Because if all these things are not in order ,I don't care what you do with the arrow,It just won't work .

The other thing you should be concerned about, If your friend appreciates his bow, he needs to have the proper arrow weight so that he's not
 "Dry firing" his bow with two light of arrow, YES 348 gr We'll work But overtime is he doing damage to his bow limbs ,Realistically you can never have too heavy of an arrow in your bow, to a point, But I would most definitely suggest to him to increase it by 100 gr. To where it was at least 438gr and 475gr would be better for hunting. He will find he will be more consistent, and it won't be as apt to wind changes. He may have to get rid of his "Compound attitude "

I'm speaking from experience ,Speed is not everything .

Don't take offense just trying to help from what I know .And the guys on here are a great bunch of guys that know a lot. So listen and learn .And also point Him in this direction, get him on here.So that it's not secondhand.

It's better that he does it right ,Then getting frustrated and quitting With the wrong equipment to do the right thing.

Carl

[Friend]

DeerSpotter- Thank you for your both informative and candid response.

[Workaholic1]

Friend-
  I'm slowly working up an arrow for a lighter draw bow (it's all in my head, now, just waiting for the opportunity to get the arrow built up and tune them to the bow).  And I'm still (a year and a half later) working on the finding what I like best for an arrow for my lever limb.
  From what I've read (and am going to be putting into practice) on the 10-12 gpp he's a little low on weight.  Going off of my preferences, I think DeerSpotter hit the nail on the head, and that your instincts are spot on, too.  I would suggest increasing his weight to 440-475.  Going off what little I know, I think he'll see a performance increase, and have a lot of fun in the process.

[Night Wing]

I have a 37# bow and I'm going to a lighter arrow this year. A 2212 aluminium arrow. Below are it's stats.

Blacktail TD Recurve: 66", 37# @ 30". BS: 12StrDyna97. NP: 5/8". BrcHt: 8 1/8". Arrow: 32", 2212. PW: 85 Grains. AW: 431 Grains. SPD: 172 fps. GPP: (11.64). FOC: 10.0%

To compensate for the low FOC percentage, I'm going to shoot, if Magnus doesn't discontinue it, a 2 Blade Magnus 85 grain Stinger broadhead which is 2" long and 7/8" wide.

My wife draws about 26&14" at 37 pounds with a recurve and 39 with her NAT and shoots 425 grain woods with either Grizzly or Eskimos. She only hunts from the ground and takes shot under 25 yards. She has gotten either pass through or complete penetration on the five deer she has killed without one loss.  She broke a rib this year on a two year old doe, the arrow was almost a pass through. It fell out when the deer was running away.  I think perfect arrow flight is the key to get the most out of light setups along with the sharp head of course.

[Don Stokes]

Friend, it might help to point out to your friend that a heavier arrow will quieten the bow and be more stable in flight, as well as improving penetration.

[Bjorn]

My son Adam had just turned 12 when we went on his first hog hunt. He had worked out all summer and was able to comfortably draw about 38# max.  On that hunt he shot a 100# hog using a 2 blade head and total arrow weight of  about 525 grains. (18-20 yd shot)
Although the power was not there  Adam had killed his share of ground squirrels and was already a very accurate shot.
It takes a lot of different elements to put together a fatal shot with a stick and string, if your friend has the rest covered and listens to you he may do ok. A shot in the rump from a 65# bow won't kill anything either!

[straitera]

Glad to see you're ethically involved. Experience is the best teacher IMO. Old salts may know how, when, & where to loose a heavier arrow from a lighter string for a clean kill. It's concern for the animal that drives me. No expert; but, 48 years bowhunting experience is worth something no matter how contrary to public opinion. JFTR, never mean to judge folks.