Fast bows vs Slow bows?

[Redfeathers]

1. How the handle/grip fits my hand.
2. Hand Shock.
3. Cast.
4. Quite.

[lbshooter]

For my hunting, speed equates to arrow weight and penetration. With deer hunting to 40 yards a 10-20 FPS difference seems to have had little relevance to my success over the years.   I am more concerned with the bows stability, ergonomics, and accuracy being comparable with my shooting style.

[tracker12]

I haven't put a traditional bow or for that matter a wheel bow thru a crony for over 20 years.  Even it may have only been a couple times.  Guess that answers the question how much I care about speed.

[Tim]

Dennis,

I still remember when the fast flight string came on the scene and was the gotta have.  That extra 7 fps was incredible but it wasn't a free lunch and the extra fps came with some noise issues that we had to contend with.  A few years went by and most buyers reluctantly made the change over to allowing the use of FF on their bows.  Some designs were just the ticket, better chrono speeds and less noise issues.  

Fast forward to today, we now have foam cores and carbon, skinny ff strings and highly stressed limbs that offer incredible performance.  Even though some of the faster designs can be critical of a bad release these "speed enhancements" have allowed many of us the opportunity to shoot lighter weight bows with more control and in the end, better accuracy while still maintaining good kinetic energy.  

I have a chrono in my shop and run every bow that comes through my door through it, just for fun.  I've found very little difference among most bows. Yes, you get some barn burners and some slugs but most are within 5-6 fps of each other if the variables are the same for each bow and arrow combo.

After years and years of tinkering I've found it more important to find the bow that fits the individual. Most often this can be attained through a grip that fits just right. If you can get a bow to shoot naturally where you are looking early on and acquire good consistent flight, there's really no reason to look any farther.  With good form, a solid release and a well tuned bow, accuracy and speed will follow.

[3arrows]

Slow bow means you have to PULL more weight to do the same work.Fast bow means you pull less weight to do the same work.So its up to the owner, do you want to do it the HARD way or the EASY way.

[dougbutt]

I have a shorter draw than some, so i like to have a faster bow to make up for it.  I got a Bigfoot SS that's 57 lbs at 27.5".  It will shoot the same weight arrow at my draw length within a few fps of my friends bow that's 64 lbs at 30" at his draw length. Not only is it fast but I've been shooting tighter groups with this bow than I ever have with any of my other bows.  And it is as quiet or quieter than my other bows.  I want a fast bow because it gives me the performance of a heavier weight bow.

[dougedwards]

Fast is good whether shooting wheelies or stickbows but at what price?  All other things being equal give me the fastest bow you got but all else is never the same.

I like quiet and smooth and fast enough.  But what is fast enough?  Well, for a guy like me who is only pulling 43-47 lbs I like to be somewhere around 175 fps with a 10gr per pound of draw weight arrow which virtually eliminates straight limbed Hill style bows that I love to shoot.

Each bow has it's own unique characteristics which is why I love them so much. I would have an array of probably 50-60 stickbows hanging up for me to use at any particular whim but my wife just won't allow that.

 Doug

[Sam McMichael]

Never having been a wheelie bow shooter, speed has never been an overriding factor in my bow selection. On the few times I have used a chrono I have found that my bows shoot consistently slower than many of my friends' bows. No problem, but I quit using a chrono!

Hill bows are not known as race horses, but they sure are effective. My belief, and this is only my personal belief, is that speed should never trump quiet. Slow bows are deadly when you put the shot in the right place. Consequently, it is quietness and ability to shoot accurately that is paramount. Others may disagree, which is fine.  

One observation I made when I used to shoot at several ranges frequented by compound shooters was that speed, above all else, seemed to drive their setup. Some of these bows sounded like .22 rifles when they were shot.

I don't know if noise is a major player here, but I have heard a whole lot more compound shooters talk of sticking an animal but not recovering it than I have trad guys saying the same.

[dbd870]

I'm not to concerned with how fast a bow is, as long as it's super quite and I can shoot it well.

That's how I feel.

[gringol]

I dont know why we think we cant have fast, forgiving, and quiet all in one bow.  I dont see any reason that isnt possible.  In fact I know a couple of bowyers that do it everyday.  The best bow has a blend of the three, it may not be the fastest or the quietest, but it has a balance that makes it fun to shoot.

[KeganM]

A well designed bow is an efficient bow. Look at the Bigfoot bows. Some of the fastest bows around, and all that stored energy goes into the arrow, so no extra noise, and no handshock. With slower designs, you almost have to shoot a heavy arrow just to quiet it down and get the handshock manageable.

I think 3Arrows put it best, do you want to do it the easy way, or the hard way?

[buckeye_hunter]

Accuracy and quietness is my goal. Hit where I look and not alert the animal due to noise. If the animal does not move due to noise then the arrow hits where I aim. Hopefully my aim is true....

I'm not arguing with anyone. Just my preference. Never worried about speed personally.

Hand shock is also a BIG consideration for me.

[Vesty]

At the chosen distances I shoot at game(15yds. and less) I have always opted for silence and the ability to cast a heavy arrow with authority. This is why my chosen hunting bows are Hill styles. Two Tracks Echo and N.M. Whisper. Not all that fast but certainly lethal. When I release an arrow, I have one objective in mind; a quickly dead deer.

[DanielB89]

I personally believe that everyone wants both and that majority of the times we will sacrifice one for the other.  If you could shoot a bow that shot 150fps and very little noise and a bow that shoots 185fps with very little noise, why wouldn't I want to shoot the faster of the two bows(these bows are the same poundage).

[overbo]

Interesting that most of the members that are advocates for fast bow designs have a high member number. Seems as we age we learn the most important part of archery is ''consistence in accuracy''.

We now hear this word ''efficient'' being thrown around. Makes the design sound like it has everything an archer would want. But what dose it mean? Is it the mechanical aspect of a limb design to force an arrow w/ the least amount of energy lost? Again, another hot new catch phrase ''energy lost''. If all I did was shoot my bow thru a chrono, I too would be concerned how these catch phrase word's effect me but I like killing game w/ a bow and repeatable accuracy is bottom line!

[Tradcat]

Hill bows, IMHO....were designed to shoot a HEAVY hunting arrow very quiet....pair that up with good accuracy, and you have a perfect HUNTING bow setup. IF you can gain "speed" without sacrificing the previous characteristics that I mentioned, then go for it ! If TARGET shooting is your only goal, then by all means shoot the fastest setup that you can shoot ACCURATELY !

[Pointer]

For me a bow has to be comfortable to shoot, speed would be secondary but I like to have it. I enjoy shooting my Hill Half Breed which is very slow compared to my other bows but I can't deny that, hand shock and all, it shoots where I look most of the time. It's 62 lbs at my 30" draw and I use a 640 grain shaft out of it so its dead quiet. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with it. I have a 62lb Northern Mist on order that I expect will be the same.

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by overbo:
Interesting that most of the members that are advocates for fast bow designs have a high member number. Seems as we age we learn the most important part of archery is ''consistence in accuracy''.

I've been here a while and haven't shot a compound since 1982.  But I still don't recall ever wishing one of my recurves was 15 fps slower.

I'm hunting with 12 gpp arrows.  Whatever I can do to get them moving a little quicker is worth doing . . . provided it doesn't risk the bow or increase noise.  I'm not fanaical about it (use B-50 on even my modern recurves) but I CERTAINLY appreciate a design that has speed and is otherwise a good hunting design.


I like hunting with older designs from the 1960's +/- and my favorite bows happen to also be my fastest.  I do better with the all important first shot when I have less trajectory to dope out.

[larry]

I like fast bows, in fact I own some of the fastest, BUT I don't like fast arrows...my mind is trained for mid 170's in the fps department. So, yeah, I like fast bows, heavy arrows too  

[SELFBOW19953]

As noted by others, I shoot heavy arrows, usually hardwood.  I have never chronographed a bow, so have no idea how fast my bows shoot.  For me, speed really isn't important. I decide which bow I want to hunt with-recurve, longbow, R/D, selfbow, composite bow, from the 50's, modern materials-and shoot it until I am very comfortable with it, practicing in the woods, shooting through openings, between trees, so that I have a pretty good idea how and where it shoots.  Most of my shots are 15 yards or less, so quiet is much more important to me than speed.