Arrow weight?? How much is too much

[SteveB]

Originally posted by Richie Nell:
If you will notice, the people that have only negative things to say about heavy weapons (bows and arrows) are the same guys that try their best to get by with as little arrow and bow weight possible.

Or their experiance shows the equipment they shoot is effective for the game they hunt.

Steve

[Guru]

Thank you Steve!!  That pretty much sums it up right there    

[Autumnarcher]

I have been experimenting with some different weigh arrows, and regardless of weight, one thing is constant- hit a big bone and I dont care what your arrow weighs, you're in trouble.

I am currently shooting some Lam.Birch shafts that weigh 620. They are only 30 gr heavier than my pine shafts, fly wonderful, but really start to drop at about 20 yds.

Like others have said, where the problem comes in is trying to push for the lightest/fastest setup. It may work fine for whitetails, but wehre the problem begins is those who would try that same setup for elk or other heavier-build critters.

For me, I primarily hunt deer, where lighter cedar shafts would be fine(450-500gr) but didnt want to have to adjust from one arrow to another elk or deer. I went to the heavier shaft for everything.

So far so good.

[ozy clint]

i'm with you autumn. if you carry an arrow that will handle the biggest critter your likely to run into. you'll be carrying an arrow that will handle any critter that you do run into. IMHO, there is no such thing as to much penetration. accuracy is paramount!

[Apex Predator]

I'm in the heavy arrow crowd.  They make my bow quieter, are more forgiving of my errors, and penetrate like nobody's business.  I'm not a good enough shot to consistently shoot game past about 25 yards anyway.  I gave up the quest for speed with the wheels.  I don't shoot 3d either.  Plan to get back into it though, so I may have to set up a target bow with lighter arrows.  If I started carrying as many arrows as some of these guys, I may have to shoot lighter ones just so I can carry them.  

[James Wrenn]

I am in the heavy arrow group too.I just have a different idea of what is heavy based on what I am hunting instead of just some large number I have seen in print.    I consider 500gns to be on the heavy side for deer hunting.After about 500gns everything winds up stuck in the ground after you shoot through them so more really does not give me anything.Just like with guns I bases my choices on the animals I am hunting.I would not uise a buff gun to deer or squirrel hunt with although it would kill them because it would just not be the best choice.The same applies to bows and arrows.    Got nothing to do with trying to get by with less because I shoot way more than I would consider mins when hunting on bows and arrows.It is just useing what works well and has proven itself over time.

[O.L. Adcock]

Flatlander37..."In one of the latest TBM magazines there was an article that addressed something like this, and if my memory serves me correctly the "peak" of efficiency was around 11.2 gpp. I don't know if this works for every bow. I personally shoot around 10 gpp. Just my 2 cents."


A little advice, don't take everything you read as gospel. I've talked to the writter, his "KE" graph to arrow weight is wrong. As arrow weight goes up, so does efficiency forever, there is no "peak" or sweet spot. The only time you'll see KE or efficiency drop is if the tester failed to catch tuning problems. Either the arrow is contacting the bow, arrows nocks too tight, or they've allowed some other variable to change. Someone 20 years from now will still be referencing that article as they have with others. It's no wonder the "physics" of bows is confusing for some...O.L.