BEST HARDEST HITTING ARROW

[Jayrod]

Hello there guys i was just wondering whats the best arrow for knockdown power and flight i am shooting 2018 easton legacy shafts with 125 gr tips and broadheads i really want something that has some punch and durability or someone whos makes the best arrow out there also my bow is 52#@28"

[Jayrod]

Bump anyone?

[slivrslingr]

How hard the arrow hits is mainly a factor of proper bow/arrow tuning.  One thing to keep in mind is that arrows don't knock game down, the broadhead cuts them and the animal bleeds out with penetration being the key.  Tuning and BH sharpness are key to good penetration.  Sometimes even with a very good double lung hit, an animal can go a long ways before falling.  

There are lots of good arrow brands out there right now.  Personally, I'm shooting Gold Tip blems (blemished, basically factory seconds with flaws in the finish).  Depending on your draw length, you should be looking at 0.500 or 0.400 deflection arrows.  In the GT's those are 35/55 or 55/75, respectively.  Post more information about your bow and your draw length, someone ought to give you a better idea of what you need.

[jhansen]

Pred,
The answer to the most durable arrow is easy, get carbons.  Woods, while beautiful and traditional, break.  Aluminums bend easily and require regular straightening.  Eventually they can't be straightened anymore.  Carbons start off straight and stay that way.  Carbons are tough.  I'm not saying they can't be broken but they generally outlast anything else by a large margin.  Most of the carbons I've broken got that way when I get too lazy to pull arrows after shooting half a dozen or so and smack an  arrow in the target with an incoming one.  I'm not bragging about shooting a "Robin Hood" either.  It's simply that if you shoot enough arrows into the same general spot sooner or later you will smack an arrow with an arrow.

Compound shooters mostly tune the bow to the arrow.  Trad shooters mostly tune the arrow to the bow.  Starting with the correct spine for your draw weight and length is basic.  An arrow that flies mostly straight to the target loses less speed.  An arrow that impacts the target in-line with itself penetrates better.  Not that any arrow flies perfectly straight.  Take a look at the high speed videos on this website.   http://www.wernerbeiter.com/en/informations/index.php   It's amazing that any arrow even hits the target considering how they wiggle and squirm.

An overly light arrow flies fast but doesn't necessarily penetrate well, especially when bone is hit.  An overly heavy arrow flies slow and therefore drops more over a given distance but its inertia helps it penetrate.  The best compromise is an arrow of 10-12 grains per pound of bow weight.

In big game hunting, a bow and arrow is nothing more than a means to deliver a broadhead into the vitals of the game animal.  The broadhead does the killing.  While opinions about which brand or style of broadhead is best, I'm safe in saying that bigger and sharper is better.  

I hope some of this helps.
John

[Rob DiStefano]

there is no "best" arrow - or bow or string or quiver or whatever.  

there IS a 'best arrow' for YOU - one that first and foremost flies well outta yer bow, is consistently accurate for you, and has a reasonable mass weight for the holding draw weight of yer bow.

arrow durability is something only you can answer after trying different shaft materials out - arguably, that will be carbon shafting.  but do go out and experiment - your discoveries and answers are what are gonna mean the most, to you.

[straitera]

Excellent advice above. When you say hard hitting, it becomes a matter of physics. Heavy weight in motion at a certain speed is harder to stop than a lighter weight at the same speed (all other conditions being equal). A dumptruck at 30mph stops slower than a VW at 30mph. IMO, trouble comes when corresponding heavy arrow weight becomes a speed adjustment that you the shooter must makes allowances for as in effective shooting distance, etc. Also why so many shoot recurves & hybrids which manage speed better.

[Earl Jeff]

A heavy carbon arrow. They straighten out quick and don't seem to bend as much as wood and aluminum upon impact. My opinion

[SteveB]

Arrows with broadheads don't kill by knocking anything down.

[Whip]

The comments about bow tuning are right on the money.  The arrow with perfect flight will perform better.  Don't sacrifice arrow flight for more weight, heavier points, more durable shaft, etc.  Tuning is by far the most important consideration, and without that all other considerations are irrelevant.

[Stumpkiller]

Hardest hitting would probably be a blunt tip on an arrow of around 13 grains per pound of draw weight.  Worthless for big game, but it would hit very hard because it sheds all of it's energy very quickly on impact.

Big game hunting arrows are not designed to hit hard.  They are designed to slice blood vessels.

[Molson]

As said above, tuning is the most important part.  If you take the time to get your bow and arrows tuned as perfectly as you can you will get much harder hitting blunts and better penetrating broadheads.

Arrows can hit hard though...

 

This was a Heritage 350 front loaded with 300 grains of Snuffer 160 fired from a 67# Ghost recurve.  Hit this deer right at the leg/shoulder joint and crushed the head and totally destroyed the shoulder.

I love wood arrows but a perfectly tuned front loaded carbon definitely has an advantage in durability and penetration.

[Terry Green]

How long have you been shooting Traditional?

[beachbowhunter]

There was a set of Carbon Express Rebels for sale in the classifieds that fit that bill. You could load them up with 250 to 300 grains up front in your set up and get a tough, affordable arrow that weighs 650 grains or better. Proper tuning is a given.

[RC]

Wood,carbon and aluminum all slice hard with a good sharp broadhead. I`ve never not recovered an animal due to what kind of arrow I was shooting or broadhead for that matter.The ones I`ve lost were because I made a bad shot.RC

[trad_bowhunter1965]

The Best arrow is the one that shoots best out of your Bow.

[Canadabowyer]

Keeping in mind all the very good advice given above, I have had very good luck with Arrow Dynamics Hammerhead lite shafts for bows in the 45#-55# range. R/D longbows cut almost to centre. For example my personal bow is 62", 50# at 28" and I draw it 26 3/4". I cut the Hammerhead lite to 28" bop, standard nock and insert and a 200 grain tip. The total weight is 560 grains average and they fly great.Very easy to tune to different bows by changing the tip weight and nock point.  Bob

[LKH]

If you could get all other factors to equal, a carbon arrow is more rigid and would probably not bend as much as wood or Al and therefore would hit harder.  I doubt the difference would be much of a factor in real life.

[Stumpkiller]

If you could get all other factors to equal, a carbon arrow is more rigid and would probably not bend as much as wood or Al and therefore would hit harder.  

Spine is based on inches of deflection ("bend"), so unless they have a different way of determining carbon shaft spine a wood arrow of a certain spine bends the same amount for an equal force as a carbon or aluminum arrow does.  If you're shooting them from the same bow then they should have the same spine.  It's just that you can get a thinner carbon shaft to be stiffer than similar diameter wood shaft, but spine is spine.

At least that's my understanding of it.

[beachbowhunter]

Stump, there is quite a difference in the static spine (like a spine tester) and dynamic spine (includes how fast it recovers from bending). wood and carbon shafts of the same weight and spine hitting a dense target will noodle (wobble) differently. The wood will noodle a lot more which dissapates energy.

[Stumpkiller]

Ah.  Well, I figured there had to be a reason folks were using them.        

I know when fly-fishermen start talking about the "modulus of elasticty" of a graphite rod my eyes glaze over.  I believe it would be the same effect - recovery from stressing.  Makes sense.