Originally posted by JimB:
I don't know if Fred was the first to embrace 10GPP.He almost always shot 65 lbs.I believe when he hunted the big stuff in Africa,he went up to 75 lbs.
Here is an excerpt from an article about this very thing… the source is
http://www.bowyersedge.com/arrows.html Fred, and Howard, Too
In 1943, in an article entitled "Hunting Arrows" published in Ye Sylvan Archer, Fred Bear noted that "the growing popularity of field archery" has "created a demand for light weight, fast arrows." He warned against assuming "that the same qualifications are proper for hunting."
Mr. Bear conducted experiments through a shooting machine with six variously weighted arrows (300-800 grains), each in turn shot through six variously weighted bows (45-68 lbs) to prove his thesis that we should shoot heavy arrows (approximately 10 grains per pound of bow weight) through heavy bows (no less than 60 pounds at full draw for an animal the size of deer). The bows ran a sampling of limb design and materials, some backed, some not, some recurved, some straight, of hickory, yew and osage in various combinations and lengths.
The importance of arrow weight and its impact upon penetration stemmed from his observation that complete pass-through penetration of mortal arrows usually killed humanely and quickly, often near the archer, whereas mortal arrows that stayed within game often caused frightened flight, poor blood trails and, occasionally, even lost game, even when the broadhead exited the opposite side.
Using both a shooting machine and an impact measuring device (a bob, suspended pendulum fashion, that recorded the impact of each arrow with a stylus), Mr. Bear found that on the average "the 400 grain arrow struck 20 per cent harder than the 300 grain, the 500 45 percent, the 600 66 per cent, the 700 82 percent, the 800 100 percent."
He noted also that a 500 grain arrow shot from a 61 pound bow struck with a force within 1 per cent of a 600 grain arrow shot from a 45 pound bow. From the other direction, a 68 pound bow with a 500 grain arrow struck less than 3 percent harder than a 52 pound bow with a 600 grain arrow.
Just as some bows are more stable and forgiving than others, and therefore preferable as hunting weapons, Mr. Bear observed that heavy arrows provide the hunter a margin for error by minimizing mistakes of form likely experienced in less than ideal hunting situations. He observed that heavy arrows, averaging ten grains per pound of draw weight, were "less sensitive to correct loose and form" than lighter arrows, which he labeled comparatively "inaccurate" and "unstable" under hunting conditions.
The implications of all this to the hunting archer? In Hunting the Hard Way, Howard Hill maintained that “all else being equal, penetration is the name of the game.” To my mind and preference, this translates to sturdy two blade broadheads at the end of heavy arrows that don't deflect easily from course, shot from quiet, sympathetic bows with the objective being complete pass-through penetration of vital areas on big game animals. If we don’t always achieve this objective, it should still shape our equipment choices, as well as determine our shot selection, because our quarry’s death is not our only goal.
Topic: Is 7.6 gpp too light? (Read 590 times)
