Light arrows and deer?

[cjones]

I have read so many posts on here by people wanting to know how much arrow weight ya need to kill deer. I shoot 50# at my 29" draw length. My arrows weighed in at 392 grains and i like to shoot snuffers. Now will this be enough to kill a whitetail?

[cjones]

Well i went out hunting this evening to field test this combo as that is the only way i could think of to find out if it is enough weight to get the job done. I had fawns running around playing and acting like they were scared to death of the squirels. At 5:30 i looked to my left to see a doe and fawn coming in. She walked up to 7 yards and stopped broadside. I figured it was now or never and brought the zipper to full draw. At the shot i thought the arrow looked to be a bit back of where i was aiming. I didn't hear a crash but i figured she didn't go far. I went back to the house to get the camera and to get some traking help.
 

[cjones]

We returned to start tracking and found blood right away. I only went about 30 yards before i could see her lying about 40 yards ahead.  So the end result of my field test is that at 7 yards the shot was a total pass through and stuck about 3 inches into the ground. Now maybe with more weight i could have penetrated into the dirt a lil farther.  :D   7 yard shot and 70 yard recovery for my first deer of the season.
 

[Arrow4Christ]

Way to go    I know way too many people I respect that shoot light arrows with GREAT success to deem them inadequate. I like a 400-450gr. arrow out of my 52#@30" DAS.
Great shot on the doe! She'll be good eatin!
Craig

[Dr. Ed Ashby]

"A deer can be killed with most any combination if no heavy bones are struck but what is needed is something that will crash through where the going is tough." – Fred Bear; "Hunting Arrows"; published in Ye Sylvan Archer, 1943.

"all else being equal, penetration is the name of the game" – Howard Hill; referring to the success or failure of any given hit; "Hunting the Hard Way"

I've got a collection of broadheads recovered from rifle-killed whitetails, collected for me (still imbeded in the tissue) by commercial game-meat processors in Georgia. Somebody, somewhere is using arrows that aren't penetrating enough; at least on some hits on some whitetails ... and it's more than just a few!      

Ed

[Guru]

Way to go bro!

[Stone Knife]

Nice deer, just under two weeks before we get our chance.

[Danny Rowan]

Way to go Chad. Me, however I like heavy so my hunting and target arrows weigh 800gr+. Out of 60/65# bows. I never need to ask if I have enough bow or arrow,LOL.

Danny

[bluegrassbowhunter]

Nice job Chad...Congrats.

[Biggie Hoffman]

if you hit ribs on both sides or a leg bone, you'll be disapointed with the results. Remember, penetration = mass x velocity. My favorite analogy is; throw a golfball into a snowbank then throw a pingpong ball into a snowbank.

But I like the way you baited us on the origiinal question :-)

[the Ferret]

Hey Chad I was gone for the weekend and meant to email you wishing you luck for the season opener. Guess you didn't need the well wishes ha ha. Congrats. Was that at the farm or behind the house? See any bucks?

Gosh your little girl is growing like a weed! Dianne and I need to get up and see her.

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Great Job Chad. Shoot what your comfortable with.

[JC]

Well done Chad, you certainly have made light arrows work for you.

[LBR]

Doesn't take much to shoot through a whitetail if everything goes right.  Personally, I rather push the envelope in the other direction--I've never heard of too much penetration.  Hunting ain't target archery--think Jason Westbrock has (or at least had) that in his signiature.  Even my rabbit arrows weigh in at 600 grains or better.

Congrats on scoring early on--glad it worked out for you.

Chad

[ishiwannabe]

Congrats. It looks like your arrows work ok, my only concern reading this was your bow. 392 is enough by factory standards? Would hate to see a pretty bow get hurt. Nice shooting, and good luck on the antlered variety.

[Golden Hawk]

Way to go Buddy! Don't take out too many before I get there in a few weeks.

[Otto]

Chad

What took ya so long to kill one brother.  I mean the season has been open for almost 2 days now.

Went out Sat and saw an 8, a 6 and a 4.  I coulda spit on the 6 & the 4.  Not a doe in town.

[SteveB]

Great shooting Chad.

For me, the best wght arrow to shoot at most game in NA is a combination of the one with the best flight and most accurate for me at unmarked hunting ranges (up to 35yds or so). To choose an arrow that might do slightly better on a bad hit, but be less accurate for me at unknown yardages would only serve to increase my need for that arrow.

In other words, for me using an arrow to be prepared for bad hits would only cause more bad hits.

Deer and elk this year with a 420gn ACC from a 51@28 DAS Elite.

Steve

[geno]

congrats on the scientific experiment   . That is a good looking set up. And a better looking little Girl.

[hoebow]

Ok here is a formula for us scientific types.
grains/450,800m x arrow speed squared= ft lbs of energy. 40= good for deer 50=good for elk. your case
392gr / 450,800 x (your arrow speed squared)=ft lbs
And remember Dead is Dead no matter what formula you use