New shooter, new member, howdy everyone! (semi-large photos)

[JohnnyWayne]

Hiya and welcome - great bunch of guys here you made the right choice. I too work in IT, it's funny, many of our thoughts are the same regarding simpler things (traditional shooting, less tech)  

I am pretty new too but feel free to drop me a line and I'll be happy to help anyway I can, welcome to the fun    

[EL Mejor]

WELCOME,,,YOUR IN GOOD HANDS HERE,,,ENJOY,,,

[WanderingSoul]

Originally posted by Shawn Leonard:
Where in NY are ya? Arrow weight is important but the spine is what you really have to get right to get an arrow to fly well from traditional bows, so no a stiff arrow is not good, an arrow that is stiff you can weaken and make fly well but you need to add a lot of point weight to do that. A .400 spine out of that bow will require a lot of point weight even if left full length and cut to 30"s they woulld require at least 250 grains of point weight and most likely more. Keep asking lots of questions as most peoplehere can be very helpful! Shawn

Thanks for the information, no one would really know my town name, it's a SMALL town in Washington County. I always tell people it's about 20 minutes EAST of Glens Falls. Close to the VT border.

I'm noticing more and more that this world is designed towards compounds. Of course that's where shops make the most $$$. I had one shop down in Albany tell me only crazy and weird people buy recurve bows when I asked if I could shoot one. I promptly left. He was full of himself, he shot competition and is in the Hoyt catalog (like I cared...).

I've been playing with the Stu Miller calculator some, the "sweet spot". I've heard mixed reviews about the accuracy of this spreadsheet. Either way, I found that CE Predator II's 3050's with a 100grain point gave me an exact match on the Dynamic Spine number between bow and arrow (65.2 lbs)

I was even more confused to find that arrow manufacturer's denote spine deflection two different (maybe more) ways. Easton says the higher the number the more flexible the spine, while CE says the higher the number the stiffer the spine.

I'm still looking but I've got a few arrow and tip setups to go to the shop with. If they can't fulfill at least one... I'll need to find a new shop, or order them online.

Thanks again for the information, and thanks to everyone for the warm welcome.

[JimL]

Welcome, nice looking bow

[WanderingSoul]

Originally posted by JohnnyWayne:
Hiya and welcome - great bunch of guys here you made the right choice. I too work in IT, it's funny, many of our thoughts are the same regarding simpler things (traditional shooting, less tech)    

I am pretty new too but feel free to drop me a line and I'll be happy to help anyway I can, welcome to the fun      

I guess troubleshooting complex issues all day makes us not want to bring those same complex problems home. I want to enjoy my past times, not have to fix them or "tune' them all the time. At least that's how I feel. Glad to hear I'm not the only IT person around!

[creekwood]

I would think that Tony (White Wolf) would be willing to help you select the proper arrow.  I would also be careful about what a "Pro Shop" employee tells you, most of them have no working knowledge of a stick bow. Enjoy the ride. The destination is endless.

[mmisciag]

My experience with the pro shop is not good. I have found that a good mentor is the way to go when matching an arrow to a bow. There are several methods and thoughts about how to tune an arrow to the bow. Recently, I purchased a Leon Stewart bow. I was not sure of what to do.

I did go to Lancaster Archery where John, the Trad guy, told me to use full length arrows as he was a Gap shooter. I shot the arrows with the bow until I was close to a weak spine.

I didn't like long the arrows. I had a new great friend Tim that has forgotten more about Traditional Archery then I may ever learn. He had me paper tune the arrows. We were able to cut the arrow length to just past my draw length and still get good arrow flight. Tim had many field tip of differnent wieghts. This was done with trial and error. Tim however knew exactly what to look for when I was shooting. Nothing can come close to having a knowlegable person with you. Plus you make new friends.

Tim is about 40 minutes away from me. I find it hard to get over to where he lives. However, every time we get together, I have a great time and learn something new.

Martin

[joekeith]

First off....forget the "Pro Shops".  If you have a shop to got to that knows about Trad gear consider yourself lucky.  If not, you're like most of us and end up having to do it yourself.  This is the best place for info.  Lot's of good, experienced people here.
 

1.) Look up above at the sponsors list and go to Big Jims Bow Company.  He has blemished GT 35/55 for about $42.  They're great arrows to get started with.  Don't cut them unless necessary.  Cutting them will make them stiffer.

2.)  Forget the 100 grn. tips.  You may use them for something like 3D but not much else.  Think of the broadheads you'll end up using.  You'll end up wanting to match them.  Heavier gives better penetration.  Penetration is GOOD.  I'd get points from 125 to 200 grn.  Heavier tip will weaken spine.  

The length of the arrow, and weight of the tip is how you tune the arrow.  That and brace height are pretty much it.  So don't cut too quick.  Harbor Freight sells a little cut off saw for about $25.  Get it and you don't need to take them to someone else. Welcome, good luck, and the most impotant thing....HAVE FUN.  

[WanderingSoul]

Originally posted by joekeith:
First off....forget the "Pro Shops".  If you have a shop to got to that knows about Trad gear consider yourself lucky.  If not, you're like most of us and end up having to do it yourself.  This is the best place for info.  Lot's of good, experienced people here.
 

1.) Look up above at the sponsors list and go to Big Jims Bow Company.  He has blemished GT 35/55 for about $42.  They're great arrows to get started with.  Don't cut them unless necessary.  Cutting them will make them stiffer.

2.)  Forget the 100 grn. tips.  You may use them for something like 3D but not much else.  Think of the broadheads you'll end up using.  You'll end up wanting to match them.  Heavier gives better penetration.  Penetration is GOOD.  I'd get points from 125 to 200 grn.  Heavier tip will weaken spine.  

The length of the arrow, and weight of the tip is how you tune the arrow.  That and brace height are pretty much it.  So don't cut too quick.  Harbor Freight sells a little cut off saw for about $25.  Get it and you don't need to take them to someone else. Welcome, good luck, and the most impotant thing....HAVE FUN.    

You guys are right, I've been staring at these stupid charts, and not even looking at what ultimately matters. I was only looking for field points and not realizing that the arrows others (outside of this forum) recommended are below the GPP of 8-10. So I guess the way I'm reading things (without calculators and chart), if I have a heavy tip (175gr say...) and a stiff arrow I should be good since the heavier tip reduces overall stiffness of the arrow.

After looking at the Stu Miller calculator and doing some things for myself I'm coming more familiar with what is required.

It's still a little discouraging with the differences in the way manufacturer's mark their arrows. GT's may be the end game for me, but in the meantime I might pick up some different arrows to see how things go.

According to the numbers, and I'd like to check what others think as well, so chime in:

CE Pildriver 350 @ 225gr tip
CE Piledriver 250 @ 150gr tip
CE Maxima Hunter 350 @ 225gr tip
CE Predator II 4560 @ 175gr tip
CE Predator II 6075 @ 225gr tip
CE Mayhem Hunter 250 @ 150gr tip
CE Mutiny 350 @ 250gr tip
CE Mutiny 250 @ 175gr tip

Now being completely new to Stu's calculator, he nailed my longbow @ 65.2 dynamic spine required. All of the arrows I listed fall within 2-5lbs of that number.

They assume 3x4" feathers, I was wondering if someone from the real, uncalculated world would sound off if those arrows sound ridiculous or semi-decent.

I know they're all CE, unfortunately they seem to be the bane of everyone's existence around here, popular with the wheel folks.

Where I was confused before was the call for a .500 spined arrow, but all of the spine deflection numbers for CE arrows are lower than.500, unless the numbers game is being played again. The AMO deflection on the above arrows range from .278 to .345.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Shawn Leonard]

Chris PM me, the little envelope with 2 people holding hands in the post box. I know lots of towns over there. I go to Beecrofts all the time, fish in Cassayunna lake, go to the fair, used to have friends in Arglye. I am only half hour or so away. If you want to hook up, let me know. I have plenty of carbons here and can get you set up with what you need. Than when you buy, you could get shafts and vanes and I could even make them up for you. Let me know! Shawn

[WanderingSoul]

Originally posted by Shawn Leonard:
Chris PM me, the little envelope with 2 people holding hands in the post box. I know lots of towns over there. I go to Beecrofts all the time, fish in Cassayunna lake, go to the fair, used to have friends in Arglye. I am only half hour or so away. If you want to hook up, let me know. I have plenty of carbons here and can get you set up with what you need. Than when you buy, you could get shafts and vanes and I could even make them up for you. Let me know! Shawn

PM Sent.

Just received the bow, it's a beautiful piece of work. Strung it up already and the weight isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

[beachbowhunter]

Chris, I shoot Carbon Express shafts almost exclusively and all of those in your list will be way too stiff regardless of how much weight you put up front. Go with the GTs as suggested for your first set.

You mentioned not putting on a nock point...DON'T do that unless you want to lose an eye!!!!

Best of luck, have fun.

[WanderingSoul]

Originally posted by beachbowhunter:
Chris, I shoot Carbon Express shafts almost exclusively and all of those in your list will be way too stiff regardless of how much weight you put up front. Go with the GTs as suggested for your first set.

You mentioned not putting on a nock point...DON'T do that unless you want to lose an eye!!!!

Best of luck, have fun.

Thanks!, someone said to not set a nock point and "test" it first, I forget who mentioned that in this post (I didn't look back). I'll be sure to set one. No eye loss needed today.

[Mike Most]

Hey,

Just wait till you discover the wonderful world of wood arrows......    

I think that bow is just screaming for wood arrows....
   

Welcome

[seven crows]

Make sure to rest when your tired. So as not to develop any bad habits that can arise under undo strain.7C

[creekwood]

PM sent.

[straitera]

Most welcome WS. Wealth of info & tried n true hunter experience to choose from. Plenty of different opinions but we get along. Not everyone shoots recurves, nor LB's, nor 45# so value opinion accordingly. One thing for sure, nobody here would give bad info on purpose. Good luck.