ORIGINAL: MDBUCKHUNTER
1. Indians were putting rocks on the end of their arrows long before Ashbey came out with those reports. I have even seen old cedar arrowsthat date back as early as the 1940's and 1950'sthat had brass/lead inserts in the front. (Washington DC Museum Special Exhibit on Native American Weapons)
Yes, but was it an extreme FOC? If so, what was it? Also, where's the published material that teaches others why it was done and what advantages it has? I'm not talking about high FOC. I'm referring to Extreme FOC. I have a stack of archery books and bowhunting magazines that would reach to my ceiling and then some. No where in any of them can I find information on Extreme FOCs. In fact I don't think I've ever seen another article recommending shooting over 18% FOC. Most common recommendations are from 14-16% for the maximum. Ashby's data represents FOCs up to 30%.
Ashbey's information is nothing new.
I would really like it if anyone can reference any published material on extreme FOC of 20% and above. How about single edge broadhead penetration. I've never seen anything on this before Ashby and I've read tons of bowhunting material. Any other studies on the strength of wood arrows vs carbon and aluminum? How about the lack of correlation between KE and penetration on live animals? I've never seen a study like that before. If this isn't new information, where has it been published before?
2. I strive for speed to be accurate in guessing yardage. A faster bow = less pins = less guessing of the yardage. No, I am not lazy. I do shoot in plenty of 3D shoots and am quite good atknowing yardage. I feel like I owe it to the deer tohunt as ethical as possible. Shooting a big, slow arrow IMO only defeats this purpose.
I can't remember the last time I guessed on yardage when shooting an animal. My range finder works quite well and my preparation at my stands gives me exact yardage - I owe myself that much when putting all the time I do into hunting, plus I think it's somewhat unethical to shoot when you don't know the yardage (unless you know it's close enough that it doesn't matter). I know that when an animal gets within my effective range, and it offers a shot opportunity, my big slow arrows are going to hit the mark and kill it very quickly. Form breaks won't affect my shots nearly as much. Doesn't sound very unethical to me.
3. Davepjr is not hijacking your thread. You guys preach about proper form, etc and when somebody asks you a question/challenges a belief you have, you guys freak out! What's up with that?
The only people I see freaking out, are the ones who feel challenged by the fact that their fast, unforgiving setups, are being questioned. I'm here challenging those who state that Ashby's studies or something similar have been done before, to reference it. I'm questioning the notion that speed is an advantage or that fast bows designs or light and fast arrows are easy to shoot with the form flaws that occur for most while hunting. How is speed an advantage for a prepared person who knows the yardage? If the person is unprepared on something that simple and easy to do, they are probably unprepared for a lot of other things and would be far better served by the forgiving setup that is much easier to shoot with poor form, wind, twigs, odd angles and all the other things that murphy offers while hunting. The number of casual bowhunters out there shooting fast bows and not recovering deer is way too large. The speed ain't helping very much.