I shoot a Bear TRX 32 at 55 lbs, 29" draw. My CE Terminator Hunter Selects way 477grains a piece. Is that too much? What kind of speeds am I looking at? Thanks 4 any input
some people will say, not heavy enough some people like me will say ,not light enough
let me put it to you in my prtspective. a 350grain arrow will pass thru deer to elk size game as easily as a 477 Grain arrow with a little more speed and flatter trajectory
but yhat is JMO[8D]
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Me too, I say you can shoot a much lighter arrow to gain more speed, but there really is no maximum. Heavier means less noise from the bow. It'll just shoot a lot slower, that's all. And me, being a speed freak go for all I can get, within the realm of reason. My hunting arrows weigh 316gr and 3D arrows weigh 265gr, shooting 53 lbs. The speeds are 280+ and 308 fps respectively. For hunting I can sight in a single pin for 25 yards and shoot about anything within 33 yards by holding the middle of the chest cavity. I get about 3" drop at 33 yards. My spread between 20 yards and 30 yards is less than 2 1/2". Makes life kinda easy.
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I read once that a good technique is to use a 6 to 7 grain arrow per pound of bow draw for a good deer hunting arrow. I've found this to work well for me and think it makes sense. So, that would put you at 330 grains on the light side, 385 on the heavier side, and 357 right in the middle. In the end, it's what you feel comfortable with. Just my 2 cents.[8D]
pros -- fast flat trajectory
don't have to worry about yardage as much
cons -- makes bow noisy
drifts more in wind
not as much down range KE
straght arrows cost more
shot placement a must ie. (no shoulder bones)
ALUMINUMS
pros -- quites bow
more KE (can hit bone)
tough ie.(2219)
can shoot big heavy broadheads with
don't have to worry about wind drift as much
straghter then carbons
cons -- slow
have to know yardages
This is just my opinon
This year I'm sitching from cx select 60/75 w/muzzy 100gr 4 blade (466gr) total arrow weight fps.266
to 2219 xx75 w/either rocket buckblaster 125gr 2 3/4" or magnus snuffer 150gr total weight from 600grs to 625grs w/fps around 235
thanks for the help, i'll probably increase my poundage 60-65 once hunting season starts again to counteract the heavier arrrow. SHot a buck in the shoulder this year and got barely any penetration with 55lbs and a thunderhead. I like to pull light for league though.
a 350grain arrow will pass thru deer to elk size game as easily as a 477 Grain arrow
Absolutely not true.
Assuming that you would use the same bow set at the same poundage and draw length to do a test........
A heavier arrow will outpenetrate a lighter arrow given that they are fletched the same, the same diameters, and the same length. The heavier arrow will absorbe more of the bows available energy than the lighter arrow will. That's why when you shoot a light arrow the bow is noisier because the bow did not transfer as much available energy to the arrow as it would a heavier arrow. The longer an arrow stays on the string the more energy it gets from the bows available stored energy.
The heavy arrow will have a tad bit more KE and a good bit more momentum. It is harder to stop a heavy slow moving projectile than it is to stop a light but fast projectile.
Of course you can go too heavy or too light. There is a point of diminished returns when talking about arrow weight.
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Bluefeather's advice is good, for a 70 pound bow. IMO, as draw weight and kinetic energy decreases, grains per pound should INCREASE. You have to offset the KE loss with an increase in momentum to ensure adequate penetration. The light arrow/high speed/high KE theory works for only one reason... They are driving those light arrows out of high performance, high poundage bows fast enough to generate a heavy dose of momentum. For example, a 350 grain arrow weighs half as much as a 700 grain arrow. It has to be traveling twice as fast and carrying twice the KE to equal the momentum of the 700 grain arrow. Or, to say it another way, it has to be traveling twice as fast and with twice the KE in order to equal the penetration potential of a 700 grain arrow, all else being equal.
So, when you shoot a bow that simply won't generate those high speeds and high KE numbers, you have to get your momentum the old fashioned way, by using proportionally heavier arrows.
As for trajectory, when you're talking about hunting whitetail deer where the national average shot distance is less than 23 yards, then trajectory is a non-issue.
So, ghillie, I think you've got a fine arrow for hunting. You might want to go to a lighter one for shooting 3D, where the targets are often at longer distances than you'll ever shoot while hunting.
Arrow weight question
