With any choice of a bow, I prefer longbows or at least bows that point like a Hill style longbow, the fastest one is always fun. However, the interesting posts that break down the arrows arrival times I find most interesting. I have a couple of longbows that are very fast and they shoot nice with arrows that are 500 grains to 545 grains, which is 8.2 grains per pound to about 8.5 grains per pound. Pass throughs on whitetails with all of these bows has been nearly a given. With all of these faster bows, my point on varies just a few yards, 51 to 54 yards, the with my current form no matter which arrow is being used. Apparently, the arrival times of the arrow is very close, even with the 50 grains of arrow weight difference. The post about his game moving on the shot and getting his miss that was not a matter of arrow speed, rings very true for me. I had a deer at 35 yards do a complete end to end turn and departure, which put the arrow past his tail. I know the shot was on I got a glimpse of it just above where I wanted it to hit in flight. From that glimpse to the deer, the deer spun and moved out of the way. That bow was tested at 245 fps, it was a compound, and I could consistantly shoot apple sized groups at that range. The deer had looked at me a few seconds earlier and then ignored me, I was on the ground. What made me miss that deer was time and sound. It took too much time to get the bow on target and the bow made to much sound. If I could have gotten the shot off smoother and faster with a quieter bow I would have had the buck. For me, being a ground hunter, over the years I have found that game can detect the slightest motions and will react in about the same amount of time whether I take a very slow shot or a quicker and smoother fast shot. I love fast bows, but slight speed differences make no difference if the game is gone when the arrow gets there. A smooth quick shot and a silent bow makes up for a lot of speed. If one goes for a stiff exagerated form to get a longer draw that also makes taking a hunting shot more difficult, just for a bit more speed, it may cost him some meat in the freezer. Going for speed is fun, going for heavy shaft penetration is fun, however, I would hope that this thread does not lead some to think that they are completely out of the game because they are not set up to get blinding arrow speed with super heavy shafts. The middle of road is still a good place to be.
Topic: How fast is fast? (Read 3827 times)
