Hunting weight arrows and overkill.

[doublewhopper]

I have been experimenting with my setup arrow weight for hunting. I am currently only getting 44lbs at 26 inch draw out of my recurve and am shooting 28 inch easton 2018's with 300 grains up wensel woodsman and 100 grain steel adapters up front totaling 625 grain arrows.  On the other hand I was thinking about using some cedars that come in at 450 grains with a 125 grain old bear greenheads.  I believe I get better flight with the woodies and am more accurate too.  
Is the 450 grain cedar arrows enough to blast through deer ribs?  Or is the heavy aluminums overkill on my lighter set up?

[Charlie Lamb]

Yes! The cedars will do great. Accurate and straight flying will out penetrate heavy and bad flying every time.

I'm surprised that aluminum flys at all.

[Steertalker]

doublewhopper,

625 grs out of a 44 lb bow is way overkill.  If you will stay in the 9.5 grs/lb range you will get the most efficiency out of your bow.  In other words....418 grs +/- would be perfect for your setup and be more than enough to get pass thrus on an average WT contigent upon proper shot placement.

Brett

[geno]

I think you should sell me the 2018'S at a real good price and go with QUALITY cedar.  

[jeff / sc]

Depending on the bow I'm using, I'm pulling 45- 47 lbs and using almost the exact same setup as you, just using cx150's instead of 2018. On my little hand scacle they weight the same and both shoot the same.  I also sometimes wonder if that's not a little overkill....then again it does make a believer out of a 200+ lb hog.

[Lewis Brookshire III]

I shoot a 600gr arrow out of a 48# bow and it flys great as long as you arent shooting over 25 yards then its starts to drop a good bit.

[Bjorn]

What you want is perfect flight at a weight that works for you. Some prefer heavy and others differ. Personally, I would go for somewhere in between the two weights you mentioned. My bow is just a bit heavier than yours, and a cedar arrow with a total weight of 600 grains is just right for me. Experiment, and come up with what suits you the best and don't settle for anything less. Second to you, your arrow and how it flies is the most important component.

[Apex Predator]

I draw 46@27 and shoot 600 grain arrows.  Never found a lighter one I like, but am currently waiting on some new ones to try.

[swampbuck]

If all your shooting is deer even big Northern deer I'd choose accuracy first and foremost either weight arrow will get the job done.

Good luck

[Grant Young]

With all due respect to everyone who responded, listen to Charlie Lamb. 9-10 grns of arrow per lb. of bow is really pretty tough to beat. A sharp head and a straight flying arrow will handle most game in your neck of the woods. A deer is pretty thin skinned and the ribs are pretty light weight. Now, if you're gonna shoot the monsters that the Wensels and some of these guys shoot...                       Grant

[deadpool]

go with the cedars!!

that weight is friggen perfect for the bow you'll be shootin out of.....and being more consistant with those arrows only sweatins the deal!

[laddy]

You would maybe have better arrow flight with 1820s than 2018.  Inserts are hard to come by.  Or get them swaged, but I have not found anyone setup to do them for 1820s.  My wife uses cedars and 1818s and has gotten pass through on modest size deer several times with 38 pounds at 26''.

[SteveB]

 I believe I get better flight with the woodies and am more accurate too.
 

Answered your own question there.

Steve

[Shawn Leonard]

Dtala, that has been proven not to be true. It has been proven a light arrow with high FOC will penetrate as well as considerable heavier arrow without high FOC. Example 525 grain arrow with 225 grain point weight will outpenetrate a 525 grain arrow with 125 grain point weight. That same 525 arrow with 225 up front will out penetrate just as well or better than a 625 grain arrow with 125 grain point. That is why arrow companies are putting weight forward technology right into their carbon shafts now. Shawn

[BillyBobHowdieVern]

careful shawn your dealing with a master in troy!!!!  

[Stykbow62]

What Shawn said.

[ArrowAtomik]

9-10 is not a peak efficiency.  Bow efficiency always increases with arrow weight (that is why heavier is quieter, there is more energy transferred to the arrow and less energy lost in the limb vibration), but at some point there are diminishing returns.  In my mind 9-10 is the lower range for hunting and works okay for best vertical accuracy.  For some that is the preference, but if you are shooting 10-20 yards and in, I don't see it as the optimum choice.

Shawn is right with the FOC, but assuming FOC and spine being equal, the heavier will make a more penetrating and quieter kill shot.  

Either setup will kill, so shoot what feels best to you.  If these are your only two arrow choices, try bare shafting or paper shooting to see which one flies best.  

A straight arrow will out-penetrate a sideways arrow regardless of all the other variables.

Lastly there is the mystique and beauty of the cedar to consider.  It is quite possible that may trancend science.

[Bill Carlsen]

Shawn is right. My wife shoots a 500 grain carbon. She shoots 45# @ 26" and has 200 grains up front. She always gets two holes in animals and she shoots four blade heads. High FOC is a real factor in good penetration.

[Dave Rice]

Given that you're shooting cedars better, that's your answer.

In general, rather than sticking to a gr/# I go with the heaviest arrows that give me the trajectory I'm seeking--that with which I'm most accurate at hunting distances--with absolutely true flight. If I had a chrono, I'd match my bows and arrows to X FPS.

[Dave Lay]

for me, 9-10 gpp is perfect in that trajectory stays reasonable and the arrows penetrate Very well.. arrow flight is a big conrtibutor to penetration as well.