Arrow Weight Advice Needed

[Tatersalad]

I want your advice! I have a moose hunt planned for this Sept and am playing with arrow weight in an effort to come up with the best trade off of speed (shooting distance) and penetration.
I'm shooting an Acadian Woods recurve at 50# at 29 1/2" with 3555 GT Tradional carbon arrows (30" arrows at 284 grains w/ insert and knock) tipped with 150 grain ABS Samurai broadhead. I have the 8 gpi weight tubes (240 grains) from 3Rivers and am considering ordering the 3 and 5 to see which gives me the best arrow flight (speed and penetration). This puts my total arrow weight at about 675 grains.

Since increasing my arrow weight with the weight tubes (240 grains) plus beefing up my broadhead from 125 grains to 150 grains i can definately see my arrow start to drop fairly significantly when shooting past past 20 yds. Before i started adding weight to my arrows I was pretty effective out to 30 yds...now beyond 20 my arrows have some significant drop.

Sorry for the long post before actually presenting my question...just wanted everyone to have the facts.

So here is my question...what arrow weight should i be striving for to balance pentration and speed?

If i were to use the 5 gpi tubes my arrow weight would be 585 grains and if i used the 3 gpi my weight would be 525 grains.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Michael

[Pinecone]

I would be trying to achieve around 12 GPP.  Of the options you provided, the 585 grain arrow comes very close, so that is the option I would probably select.

Claudia

[Tatersalad]

Claudia

Thanks for the advice.

michael

[Tatersalad]

Claudia

By the way...i recognized your picture on the wall at the Spearhead ranch last year.  I had plans to go back this year but they booked up to fast and i missed out.  Looks like it will be 2011 before i get back to the Spearhead ranch.  You going this year?

Michael

[Shedrock]

50#, 9-10 gpp arrow, and a sharp double bevel broadhead put in the right spot, will kill anything in North America.

Have a fun hunt!

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Just for the sake of discussion:

I shot my bull with a 499-grain unweighted carbon arrow tipped with a 125-grain Ace Standard. Through my chronograph, the arrow goes 194 fps. I had a complete pass through on the moose. If I had it to do over again, I'd use the exact same arrow setup.

Moose are big. They can look a lot closer than they are, and if you're hunting in cutovers, judging distance can be a real problem. Personally, I wouldn't hunt them with a slow, lobbing trajectory.

[straitera]

2 days ago spoke lengthy with my (guide) friend in Maine about hunting their Moose they call swamp donkeys. He says (bow)killing is not the problem but packing out is. Tom said they are so large they appear closer than they actually are for a bow shot. Stay with what you're comfortable shooting plus razor sharp 2-blade BH's precisely in the boiler to max penetration. 10gpp should be OK. More is better.

[Fletcher]

As much as possible I recommend using point weight to up your arrow weight.  Increasing your FOC only has positive effects as long as the arrow spine handles it.

Moose are big animals with a big kill zone.  I've held a moose rib and it is a serious piece of bone.  I'd be quite willing to sacrifice a little trajectory for penetration.  600 gr would be my minimum arrow weight, 650 even better, with as high an FOC as I could get.  JMHO

[Shedrock]

I used a 58# recurve, Gordan glass shaft, 145 gr. Journyman Eclipse on my bull. Total arrow weight was around 545 gr. I almost got a pass-through. I hit the bull through his heart then into the off front leg bone. The bone was broke, and the bull made it a whole 22 yards and fell dead.

I personally don't believe in this hype about single bevel heads and high F.O.C. arrows, especially for the average guy hunting N.A. species. 9-10 gpp with a sharp head will do the trick if you can put it where it needs to go.

Shoot what you shoot the best.

[FerretWYO]

Originally posted by Shedrock:

Shoot what you shoot the best.

I have been up close and personal on two moose hunt in wyoming.

The first being with my Dad. 60" 61@27 weight 465 longbow with a Golt Tip Trad 55-75 and a 125gr magnus stinger. PASS through twice. Both arrows hit ribs.

Second Friend Kendall 60" 55@28 weeight 470 longbow. Golttip 55-75 Magnus stinger. Penatration to the offside legbone.

All the advice about high FOC, single bevel, and super heavy arrows is helpful and will help penatration, BUT if you cant put it in the right place because it is not what you shoot well you still got nothing.

Just a thought from a little experience.

[oldtimerbow]

10gpp and perfect arrow flight put in the boiler room will get the job done with no problem.

[jhg]

Originally posted by FerretWYO:
     

Originally posted by Shedrock:

Shoot what you shoot the best.

...All the advice about high FOC, single bevel, and super heavy arrows is helpful and will help penatration, BUT if you cant put it in the right place because it is not what you shoot well you still got nothing.

Just a thought from a little experience. [/b]

I think this bears repeating. Do some testing on your own and see how they work/fly.


OL Adcock has a great way of describing what FOC offers by way of improved flight requiring smaller fletching and w/less sensitivity to deflections. Worth looking into and is aside from the penetration issue which is the one that seems to get many staking their ground regarding arrow weights.

Any gain in flight efficency seems like a good thing to me. His tuning methods seem to suggest that you should be able to have perfect flight regardless of arrow weight if tuned correctly to your bow.
So shooting an arrow well is an issue of tuning, given your form is the constant (good/fair/other) no matter what arrow you nock.

Its only that one arrow is tuned better to your bow than the other(s), not whether or not you the archer shoot one better than the others.

 Its tuning, not you, if they fly better or worse.

 I like the sound of the 585grn arrow myself, if you shoot it well, but I am not an expert.

And I hope this does not degenerate into another FOC vs lighter non-FOC arrows argument in terms of penetration,  if its necessay, better, or blowing smoke.

Joshua

I hit a moose with a 20 foot Minnesota III kevlar canoe portaging through an alder thicket in Canada.  She was standing her ground to protect her calf and I wasn't watching where I was going.  I got no penetration at all, but it turns out that I am a world class sprinter in alder thickets.  I would go with the lighter grain.  Moose really do look closer than they appear and flopping out a fence post heavy arrow is not so easy in moose cover at times.

[Orion]

Keep in mind that most of the folks above who are talking about passthroughs on moose are shooting heavier bows than you are.  Your 29 1/2 inch draw length will help, but I'd opt for the heavier arrow as well, and I'd try to reach the weight by increasing the FOC rather than using weight tubes, as Fletcher suggests.  Good luck.  BTW, I killed a fairly large Alaskan Yukon moose a while back with a 66# longbow and 725 grain wood arrows.

[Pinecone]

Michael,

I'll be back at Spearhead this year and hopefully, next year too.  Hope to see you in 2011!

Claudia

[trubltrubl]

I have shot four moose.
1. 65 lb  hill stlye longbow made by QUARTERMOON  BOWS wood arrow 600 grain fir shaft with  full penestration at 17 yds..

2. 65 lb hill longbow made by QUARTERMOON  BOWS
  600 grain fir shaft full penetration at 25 yds

3. 62 lb reflex/deflex longbow 650 grains lainated birch arrow sticking out other side by 8 inches at 33 yds.

4. 63 lb recurve carbon arrow 660 grains Weight forward set up . I took a shot I probably should not have taken, but I felt good about it at the time as the small bull was quartering to me at about 16 yds and I focused on a small shadow and the arrow went through one lung , liver and out  the other side in the hip area and the arrow was sticking out like an antenna when we found the bull 80 yds away on his side. The fletch was only inside leaving 23 inches of arrow sticking out the "off side" of the shot. Very good penetration.

I really believe in the FOC since I have tried it. I also believe good arrow flight is the most critical point and of course sharp broadheads. I don't claim to be an expert , but heavy arrows do the job . That being said , trajectory is more critical with heavy arrows and I would shoot the same weight arrows all the time for all game and then you won't have to adjust  your mental imagery on any target or game.

[trubltrubl]

I also have a friend who shot a large bull last year with a 52 lb hill longbow made by himself QUARTERMOON BOWS (Bert Frelink) I believe he used a heavy carbon arrow around 700 grains and had a complete pass through. I think he was under 20 yds and the moose fell over infront of him a short distance away. His arrow was heavy at the front as well.

[Traditional-Archer]

Tatersalad,
If you are looking to try something new, a different arrow or something like that. I shoot a 55# tip, I’m shooting Grizzlystik Alaskans they are worth every cent to me. With your draw length you would be at 625-650 g with no weight tubes. Built in weight forward, 125-150g broadhead I would think. I shoot 175g but my arrows are at 27.5 total arrow weight is 635g. Absolutely the best shooting arrows I’ve shot. I started with the goltips 35/55 then shot the 55/75 with 200 field tip and a 100g brass insert they shot very well.
I seemed to have a hard time keeping the inserts and tips on the arrow when stumping with the GT.  
Bruce  

[Rob DiStefano]

i think the number one consideration should be consistently accurate arrow placement under hunting conditions.

considering a viable bow holding weight, and sharp coc broadhead, all the other stuff (arrow flight, gpp, foc, lmnop, etc) are of lesser importance.

however, once you have the accuracy under yer belt, it might pay a dividend to think about that ancillary techie stuff.  or maybe not.  your hunt, your call.

[Don Stokes]

Perfect arrow flight should be your #1 consideration, wherever you end up in arrow weight, with a razor sharp cutting tip broadhead. Shoot him in the right place and he's dead, which is the objective.