Come on now. Maybe it's been a while since you were average so take a look at many of the post here. Average Joe would be better at getting better, but that takes seasons to accomplish in the mean time they need an edge and is the reason so many of them now connect. Speed has helped.
With all due respect, nodog... MEADOW MUFFINS! And if the guy has to take home a deer to make his loved ones proud of him, the boy's got a helluva lot more issues to worry about than arrow speed.
We'llassume the premise that Mr Average Joe's shooting skills are less than championship grade, so hehas no business shooting arrows at anything that bleedsbeyond 30 yards, and 20 would probably be better. Not so?
We'll also assume Mr Average Joe has a modern high tech compound. Say his bow will shoot a 500 gn arrow at 250 fps and a 400 gn arrow at 280 fps. Now, everyone knows the light arrow leaves the bow with less energy than the heavy one and in this instance it has more. To do it right, I'd have to adjust the 500 gn arrow's speed upwardsto give it about 2-3 ft/lbs more than the 400 gn, but this is just for illustration and not scientific accuracy. Okay? Work with me here.
So, consider... The difference in flight time over 30 yards between a 500 gn arrow at 250 fps and a 400 gn arrow at 280 fps would besomething around39/1000ths of a second. At 20 yards the difference in contact would only be 26/1000ths of a second. A light arrow slows faster than a heavier one, and over 30 yards a 400 gn arrow at 280 fps willloseapproximately 12 fps over 30 yards. A 500 gn arrow at 250 will lose only 9 fps, so actual flight time would be very slightly less.
I don't care who ya are,that tiny bitof a difference in time between release and arrow contact is nothing at all like a 'big advantage.' In fact, as I've already pointed out, I have given the light arrow an advantage in this example.
Flatter trajectory? Non issue. Even if you ramp the speed for the light one to 300 fps, difference in midrange trajectory at 30 yards is only an inch. Even less at 20.
The extra speed only creates a tiny, miniscule,itsy-bitsy advantage. Not even measureable without a chronograph and sophisticated equipment in a controlled laboratory environment. And the last I checked, regardless of how hardsome people are trying to make it so, we don't hunt deer in a controlled laboratory environment. Well, at least not yet.
The extra speed is not going to make Mr Average Joe a better shot. It's not going to keep hisheart out of his throatwhen he gets a deer in range (frankly, if I had a piece of equipment that did away with that feeling, I'd never use it again. I love that adrenaline rush! Probably why I never quit hunting with
real bows.
)That teensy weensy bit of advantage is just not going to make him a better bowhunter, and it's better bowhunters who take home venison.... or guys who plain get lucky.Sorry, but he's still going to have to suffer through the learning curve before he can make his loved ones proud of him.