425 Grains

[RC]

I had arrows that were a bit weak at the point weight I wanted. 12 gpp for me at 45 lbs. I added a piece of a stick tooth pick size under the side plate and it straightened the arrow out.
  A lot of people like the lite weight arrows I dont. I shot 450 grain arrows from a 47 lb bow part of season and could tell a big difference in penetration on deer from the 525 grain arrows I had been using.Good shooting,RC.

[Coach Jones]

27 1/8 carbon to carbon and it bareshafts nicely with a 145 grain point.   Just never shot an arrow that short before.   As long as I don't get over excited and draw my bow over 27 inches guess I am safe.   That ups my arrow weight to about 440 grains.  10.7 grains per pound.

[2bird]

Originally posted by Coach Jones:
27 1/8 carbon to carbon and it bareshafts nicely with a 145 grain point.   Just never shot an arrow that short before.   As long as I don't get over excited and draw my bow over 27 inches guess I am safe.   That ups my arrow weight to about 440 grains.  10.7 grains per pound.

Good deal, just be careful not to pull the nock off the string and dry fire your bow...

[LBR]

Heavy actually does penetrate well, assuming everything else is correct (tuning, sharp head, etc.).  Do you need exceptionally heavy on whitetail?  What is heavy?

The young lady I referenced earlier in this thread was shooting arrows that were over 16 gpp.  Were her arrows heavy?  They were 400+ grains.  Heavy for a 25# draw, but not heavy in general.

I know one deer she killed was approximately 25 yds away--her dad stepped it off at 26 paces.

What's a "rainbow" shot?  I have a selfbow that's pretty dang slow...but I've won tournaments with it, including the Howard Hill (twice).  I have another that was probably even slower that I won the TN Classic Selfbow Challenge with--shot a better score with it than I did with my much faster longbow and recurve.

Point being, there are few if any absolutes.  What is heavy, what is fast, etc. depends on lots of variables.

Most won't have to obsess over arrow weight, F.O.C., etc. to kill deer cleanly...but if that's your cup of tea, that's fine too.  I have no idea what my F.O.C. is, but I shoot through stuff so I don't worry about it.  If I ever get to go on a really big game hunt again, then I will pay better attention to such things, especially arrow weight.

[Slimpikins]

I have killed many deer with exactly 425 grains of arrow. Shooting them out of a 48# at 28" recurve. Wensel Woodsman up front and 2 holes on everything.

[Flatshooter]

I like heavy arrows and so do both my Black Widows. I have a PLX 51# @ 28" and a CHX 47# @ 28" I shoot the same 31.5" CX 250 with 300 grains up front and they shoot great! Total weight 622gr. That's a little over 13gpp for the CHX and 12.1 gpp for my PLX. I may be out of the box but it works for me. I draw a tad over 28".

[Coach Jones]

Fletched up 4 arrows cut 27.5 carbon to carbon with 3 5 inch helical feathers.  Funny thing is I get my best grouping and best flight with a 175 grain point even though they bare shaft ever so slightly weak.  My total arrow weight is 476 grains.  At 41 lbs that puts me at 11.6 grains per inch.   Going to order new arrows tomorrow and shoot them with a 170 grain Zwickey.

[Terry Lightle]

For deer take it to the woods,put it in the right place and watch the blood fly
Terry

[COMPOUNDLESS IN CONCRETE]

My deer hunting setup for the upcoming season is going to finish out at between 425-475 grains.  I'm moving down to a 45lb bow due to an elbow injury so I'm going to focus on getting the bare shafts and fletched arrows grouping together.  By my estimations they'll hit somewhere in the 425-475 range, the FOC will be what it will be.

[bgremill]

Just to put some things into perspective for ya.  
I knew that I shot a similar bow with similar poundage as Fred Eichler so I had a conversation with him one time about his arrow setup used during his grand slam hunts. He said he used Easton 400 carbon shafts, full length, with a 125gr Muzzy 2 blade broadhead. In his words, "right around 400 grains". I asked him if he did anything to his arrows to make them heavier for the larger animals. His answer was, "nope, I tried to things the same as much as I could.  I was pretty confident with that setup and did not feel the need to change it."
That was some powerful words as people on here kept talking about needing 600+ grain arrows to kill hogs, elk, big bear, etc.  
Then people were saying that Fred is a really big man with a long draw so he gets crazy arrow speeds.
So I had a conversation with Mr. Ken Beck from Black Widow bows. He had just returned from Africa and I saw pics of some really nice animals he took while on that trip. I asked him if he used a really heavy arrow to get more penetration while in Africa and he responded, "yes, I increased my arrow weight to just over 400 grains, shot a two blade broad head, and shot through every animal".
If those two men were comfortable shooting the trophies they shot with "around 400gr", I don't know why anyone else should be.  Granted, both men had their equipment tuned to the max and both men can shoot. A 400gr arrow was of 0 concern for them.
Hope that helps.

[Coach Jones]

Been playing around with different weight points.   145 and 175 points both fly well fletched.   But spine weak bare shaft.   Those 125's bare shaft fly right with my fletched arrows.   Just leads me to believe that with broadheads I would be much better shooting the weight that bare shafts the best.   I weighed them and with a 125 they come in at exactly 426 grains.   10.39 grains per pound.  

One thing I noticed shooting the different weighted points together is that everytime the 125's stick into the block target further.   I know its not bone or ribs but my thoughts are still with a 125 grain head for the best results.

[WESTBROOK]

Trimming a 1/4-1/2" off the shaft would make it stiff enough for the 175 and still leave them an inch longer than your draw...

[last arrow]

The reason most recommend that you bare shaft to a slightly weak condition is because when you fletch your arrows the weight of the fletch (about 20 grains for me) stiffens the arrow.  I always find the what bares shafts well groups better fletched when I add 25 grains of head weight. So bare shafting is a starting point.

With your fletched arrows your broad head should group with your field points.  The easiest way I have found to test this is to shoot groups at 10, 15, 20, 25 yards.  If the broad head location relative to the field points moves left as you get further away, the shaft is stiff and needs a heavier head (right handed shooters). If it moves right as you move away, the shaft is weak and needs a lighter head. Don't worry about group size, only relative grouping of field points versus broad heads and shoot multiple groups at each distance and chart an average. Also, throw out any arrow that you feel had a form variance from what you typically do.  Another helpful hint is put a spot on the target and shoot point on all the time, not worrying about group location, so you eliminate aiming variances as much as possible.

This is a lot of work but will let you determine the best arrow spine, length, head weight combination for you and that bow, no matter what your abilities.  Also you will learn a lot about how each change you make affect things so you can quickly adjust to changes in equipment in the future and determine what you like best.

As far as arrow weight goes, I would not worry about it as long as you are over 400 grains for deer.  I feel heavier arrows are always better - but that's me. I shoot 600 grain arrows from a 45 lb bow.  Since I have went to that weight I have never had a deer run away with an arrow - they have all went through and stuck in the ground.  Something I can not say for the 500 grain arrows from a 60 lb bow that I shot when I was younger.