POC with heavier bows (60# +)

[Jesse_83]

I'm about to order some new shafts for a 65#@27" longbow.  I've shot hexshafts in the past that were 28.5" BOP, spined 70-74#, with 125gn zwickeys giving me an average total arrow weight of 615 gns.  This set up, from a 66#@27" longbow, was good enough to put one through the lungs of the bull moose in my avatar, leaving the broadhead 6" through the far side.  With that being said, I'm more than happy with around 9.5 gpi.  My question is: would I be able to get POC shafts that would get me to that weight?  I could use 145gn BH's, but would still need the bare shaft to weigh about 460 gns. Any info is much appreciated!

Thanks

Jesse

[cacciatore]

I have killed my mt. lion with a recurve 65# POC 650gns 145bh. The shaft was cut at 29 1/2 75/80#
If you enquire a good cedarsmith he can find you some matched shafts that meet your poundage and weight.POC vary quite a bit in weight also at the same #s.

[Bjorn]

Doug Fir would make it a lot easier and these days might be a better shaft choice.

[trubltrubl]

you can add "woody weights" to the POC and get your weight up there...they com in weights from 75 gr. to 200 gr. . Buy them direct or from 3 rivers or Archery Past. You also achieve FOC weight...

[magnus]

There are a lot of ways to get an arrow up in weight. All the above posts are correct. Internal footing is another option as well as soaking the shafts in Watco Danish oil. Hardwoods are another option to consider.

[Jim Wright]

I'm not saying it could not be done but in my experience finding good, straight cedar is difficult, finding good straight, exceptionally heavy cedar would seem to be quite a task. Good, straight, beautifully grained heavy douglas fir is a piece of cake, call surewood shafts

[overbo]

Ya Surewoods will solve your problem.Very good quality,mass weight,and more strength.NO BRAINER!!!!!!.I shoot about the same draw and weight and w/ a 145/160gr head I get 580's to low 600's gr.

[Doug in MN]

I will just echo what has been said, Surewood Douglas Fir shafting is the way to go.

[Orion]

You can get 23/64 cedar in the weight range you're looking for (spine and physical weight).  As others have already pointed out though, the grain may not be too good.  I agree, too, that Surewood Doug firs are excellent shafts, and it would be pretty easy to get them in 11/32 in the spine and physical weight you want.

[lpcjon2]

I shoot a 70# @ 28 and have used 80-85# cedar with 125-160gr up front and they will do the job on anything in the US.If you talk to Fletcher(Rick Stillman) of the feathered shaft he could get you some good POC. I recently started with Surewoods and they are unbelievable shafts, I still shoot POC as well both are great woods and will do the job.Aiming is always the most important aspect of hunting..

[hvyhitter]

I really like a heavy wood shaft and standard weight head out of my heavier longbows. Good POC is very hard to find as I like the smaller diameter shafts. Maple is great when you can find it too,and laminated birtch or maple work well also. I just picked up a DZ surewoods to try this week . I did play around with EFOC a bit with woody weights but wood just doesnt seem to recover and fly right so I stick with standard weight heads.

[Jesse_83]

So I'm getting the idea that even from Kustomking and 3Rivers, the quality of POC just isn't there anymore...

[Jim Wright]

Jesse, some of the last cedar I bought was to have footed and supplied to an arrowsmith to make some fancy, high end arrows. I was assured the shafts were 1st rate and high quality and the short story is that after they were made up I could not keep them as straight as douglas fir practically stays on it's own. It was an expensive lesson and I say again, I believe high quality, heavy cedar shafting will be hard to come by.

[Emerald Traditional]

Wood arrows are as good or bad as the seller that is doing the sorting, period, end of story. So many people these days are throwing around their biased opinions about woodies these days, that the facts easily get lost. Can you get high quality, straight, matched shafts? Absolutely!  They're out there, available from many 1st class vendors. But you won't get them from someone not willing to grade them to a high standard. As for straightness, it doesn't take much practice to tweak a shaft to arrow straight(pun intended). In general, the heavier spines are more dense, and more apt to stay straight. It has nothing to do with the type of wood. You're not going to have a sealed wood shaft in a particular spine be more or less likely to remain straight than an equivalently spined shaft of another material. I've shot plenty of trees, rocks, and other nasty stuff with both fir and cedar without blowing them into toothpicks. Sometimes they do. I shoot 11/32, 80/85 spined cedars and can tell you first hand that they are some tough s.o.b.'s, as are the fir. The raw cedar shafts are 470 grain. You most likely will have an easier time finding fir in weights heavier than cedar on average. My recommendation to anyone wanting to go with woodies, would be to find a reliable source and stick with it. The price of wood shafting has gone up, but what hasn't.

[Don Stokes]

In the "good ol' days" POC was harvested from snags and downed logs after the live trees had been logged from an area. The arrow shaft makers bucked the logs into short lengths, and split off the surface layer to get the grain alignment for sawing. POC has natural durability that allows logs to lay on the ground for many years without decaying, and those years of rest allowed the natural tension in the wood of the living tree to dissipate, so, in a nutshell, the wood of living or recently dead trees is harder to keep straight than wood from long dead trees. Nowadays the snags have to be left for spotted owls and such, the downed logs have to be left as "nursery logs" where seedlings can take root, and the supply of dead, quality logs has declined significantly. The supply has been dwindling because of these environmental considerations, and demand from the orient, primarily the Japanese, who value the wood very highly. Much of the POC and Alaskan yellow cedar has been purchased as standing timber by oriental buyers, according to my sources. Much of the POC on the market today is from younger trees than it was in the past, and the average quality available has suffered as a result.

That's not to say that quality POC cannot be had. It can, but the price is higher and availability is lower because of these factors.

[Jim Wright]

I would respectfully submit that my previous replies on this topic are indeed my own personal opinion. Further, that opinion is based on the fact that I have found high quality and heavy douglas fir shafts easy to come by from more than one source and I have yet to find that same quality in any of the cedar that I have obtained from multiple suppliers.

[rraming]

I know Douglas Fir would meet your weight requirement, as would laminated birch and hickory. The heaviest POC would make it as well, some vendors would let me say how heavy I wanted the shafts if I ordered a dozen at a time. I know nothing of the "good ol days" of POC and am still "new" to this (since 2005) I have never been disappointed with POC, except for once and I believe that was a bad vendor.

[cedar]

If you want POC, try Dan and Kathy at wapitiarchery.com.