who shoots light arrows

[VinnieB]

just wondered if anybody shoots light arrows. i'm thinking about going with some 382 grain 2013 xx75 aluminum arrows with 2 blade magnus broadheads. they are 7.6 gpp with my 50 pound longbow. just wanted to see what kind of success others had with shooting light arrows at deer.

[eagle24]

Vinnie,

I personally think if you shoot enough deer you will at some point regret the light arrows.  There are all kinds of scenarios where a heavier arrow might make the difference in recovering a deer.  I will be hunting this year with two ACS-CX bows both under 50#.  I have a 45# that I am shooting 500gr arrows from and a 41# that currently I am shooting 415gr arrows from.  I am comfortable with the heavier setup, but concerned about the arrow weight with the lighter bow.  I just have'nt been able to get anything heavier flying good from the bow.  Many of the folks on here would consider my heavier setup to be light and to be honest, I would'nt argue with them.  Bottom line, I would go with the heaviest arrow you can to the point you are not willing to sacrifice any more trajectory.  My arguement has always been that a well tuned setup with a heavy arrow is more forgiving, but the trajectory makes it a little harder to hit consistently with beyond 20 yards.

[swampbuck]

Shoot what you shoot best and consider what your shootin at.Whitetails are not that tuff cept if ya hit them in the knuckle of the shoulder in which case an extra heavy arrow probably isn't gonna help but it may.I'd personally go heavier since your only shootin 50#'s but I'd also shoot the same wieght outta 60+ as I would outta 50#s some would say it's to light LOL

I shot a 480gr arrow from a 58#er (8.2gr/#) and they zip thru deer just fine I'm currently shootin a heavier arrow set up because I like the way it shoots better....in the end it's more about accuracy.

I'f your gonna hunt somethin bigger I'd suggest a bit more arrow and maybe even some more umph but again that gets back to what we can handle accurately

[James Wrenn]

I have shot two deer with a 385gn arrow and recovered both.I still like a little more weight because I like the bigger broadheads and it just makes for a heavier arrow.I normally use arrows in the 450 to 500gn range.This year I will be useing 440gn arrows from a 42lb recurve and forsee no problems.My 320gn arrows fly just fine from it but I don't care to shoot little 85g or 100gn broadheads so go with the weight the simmons give me.

[Aeronut]

Last deer I shot was with a 52# bow and a 480 grain arrow at 12 yards and wasn't a complete pass through.  The deer before that was same bow, same yardage, and same broadhead with a shaft of around 600+ grains.  Broke two ribs entering and leaving and the arrow was 10 yards past where the deer was standing when shot.

Both deer were shot under almost identical conditions.  Me, I vote for a heavier arrow for more kinetic energy downrange.

Dennis

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Dennis,

I'm almost inclined to think there was something else going on other than just arrow weight. My paternal grandfather hunted whitetails for close to 40 years with recurves pulling low-40's at his 26" draw length. His hunting arrows, of which I have many, weighed in the mid-400's and he rarely ever kept and arrow in a whitetail. Pass throughs were far more the rule than the exception.

I'm not sure how fast your 480-grain arrows were flying, but last September I shot a bull moose at 10 yards with a 520-grain carbon going 194 fps. It blew completely through, splitting a rib vertically upon exit. It took me longer to find the arrow than the moose.

[James Wrenn]

I agree with Jason.It has been only a couple of times I have had an arrow under 500gns stay in an animal with 45 to 47lb bows.Both of them were hogs.

[Van/TX]

It took me longer to find the arrow than the moose.  

 ...Van

[Aeronut]

I have always been a believer in a heavier arrow, to a point.  I have done a LOT of reloading over the years and the ballistice of heavier bullets in terms of stored kinetic energy is greater than in a light bullet at a higher speed.  The same is true of any projectile.

The trajectory of a heavier arrow is more of an arc but I never take a shot over twenty yards anyway.

Dennis

[indianalongbowshooter]

57# recurve, 480 gr. 2114 Woodsman head, killed 2 does in less then 2 minutess, both died less then 10 yds. apart, shot was 18 yds. from 23 ft. up in tree, arrows were stuck in the ground less then a foot apart. If your arrows fly perfect theyll go through like butter, also broke ribs going in on both deer...

[DAS Kinetic]

Most unexplainable failures to penetrate are caused by poor arrow flight, not insufficient arrow weight.  Lighter arrows require a cleaner release to shoot well, and I'd bet that the improved success that many see with heavier arrows is actually because the arrows are flying better, not because they are heavier.  Tune your set-up carefully, clean up your release, and you'll be amazed at what a light arrow can do.  You'll gain a much flatter trajectory in the bargain.  There are plenty of circumstances where I would favor a heavier arrow, but not because of penetration fears exactly.

David

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

For grins I just put one of his arrows on my grains scale -- 460 right on the button. He also favored cut-on-impact 3-blade heads, his favorite model being 3" long and 1" wide. Like I said, they served him very well on whitetails out of low-40# recurves.

Aeronut: No doubt heavy arrows will penetrate better than light ones. But sometimes we all tend to overthink these things, especially when dealing with something as easy to get an arrow through as a whitetail deer.

[electric blues]

what about lighter arrows with 4 big feathers, like 5" sheilds? I made one and it flew better than anything I've shot.

I'm new to this, but I guess the increased arrow surface would compensate for bad releases and other mistakes in flight.

I know I can't be the only one who wants to be able to take a deer at 30 yards and not have to worry.

[DAS Kinetic]

EB,
   big fletch will do that, but the price is increased drag and you might end up giving back much of what you gained in terms of trajectory.  My 3d arrows fly well and they are only 325grs.  I use 3 4" low profile vanes.  I have some of the 2" blazer broadhead vanes coming to try.  The best approach is to get the best tuning you can with bare shafts, then add the minimum fletch to get the job done.  A well tuned arrow requires less fletching.

David

[eagle24]

I agree with David 100%.  First and foremost is perfect arrow flight (given you are within reason on arrow weight).  I'll take the better flying arrow every time.  Also, I'd give up some weight for a thinner diameter carbon arrow.  There is no doubt in my mind that a thin carbon flying true will out penetrate any other shaft material.

I've been watching this thread because I am dealing with a light arrow issue myself.  I'm shooting my 41# ACS-CX better than anything I own and have started thinking about hunting with it this year.  I've been struggling to get perfect arrow flight from a hunting weight arrow.  As of last night, I have 2 different 410gr carbon arrows flying well.

[ccollier]

eagle24,
If you have achance try some Beman MFX 500 with 100gr brass inserts and 125gr tips.  That's what I'm shooting out of my ACS-CX in the mid-40s.  They are cut 30" and weigh 545grs. To get them to shoot I had to build my side plate out with leather about .200.  They bare shaft perfect, and shoot like darts with three 4" feathers.

Shane

[eagle24]

Shane,  Enjoyed shooting with you GA folks last weekend.  I'm shooting about that weight from my 45#CX (heritage 150's 31-1/2" w/125gr tip).  I was wanting something around 450gr for the 41#CX.  The Heritage 150's fly good with 145gr tips but I wanted a little more speed and flatter trajectory.  I'm shooting some Maxima 150's with 50gr weights behind the insert and 125gr tips (410gr).  They fly perfect and have good FOC.  I may leave it at that and hope I have enough arrow weight.

Vinnie,  My apologies.  Did'nt want to hijack your thread.

[VinnieB]

don't worry about that eagle24. about your 410 grain set up if it flies good i would stick with that. last year i shot a doe(when i say doe i mean fawn) at 7 yards with about a 500+ grain arrow with a 150 grain broadhead(out of a 45 pound recurve) that didn't fly very well and i didn't even have the broadhead stick out the other side. about a month later i shot a doe at eleven yards with the same bow and a 450 grain arrow that flew perfectly and the arrow went down to the fletchings.

i'm seriously thinking about sticking with my 380 grain arrows simply because i have the most confidence in that arrow set up. i know it seems extremely light but i think confidence is more important then anything. i just wanted to see if other people thought this was ethical to cleanly kill a whitetail or sika deer(in case people don't know what they are they are miniature elk that we have free ranging in maryland. they weight from 30-90 pounds). this set up produces 24-25 pounds of kinetic energy assuming the arrows fly 170fps.

Do you guys think this set up will work.

[VinnieB]

well here's some good news i just got a post about how many fps a bear montana get's and they said 188 fps with a 400 grain carbon. mine should be about the same with a 382 grain aluminum.

[Ray Johnson]

I plan on hunting with a 40# BW recurve and a 400gr arrow.I'll be using 160gr Simmons Landsharks.I'm confident that I'll get adequate penetration on whitetails out to 20 yards.
                                  RayJ