Hi Mike,

Sorry, but this will have to be a real ' rambling' answer.

When we did the broadhead portion of the study we used only two bows - trying for some degree of ' uniformity' - eliminating any possible " inadequate" bow weight' s from the results of the broadhead' s capabilities. They were an 85# Martin Warthog compound and a 94# longbow (straight end longbow, for what it' s worth).

I didn' t get to chose the parimeters of the testing - it was a Park' s Board run test. In the new project I' m starting, I' ll be using measured launch momentum and calculated impact momentum (and Kinetic Energy, too, ' cause some folks just can' t yet accept that KE is not a valid formula for indicating penetration, by it' s very definition, and has proven in all my test so far to have no correlation when graphed against actual measured penetration in real animals).

I have done a little ' off the cuff' testing though, and found that I could push an 790 - 810 grain arrow (an original Forgewood), with a Grizzly broadhead, through the shoulder and scapula of a fresh killed zebra with a 55# HH longbow (but it WOULDN" T break the ball joint or humerus bone - and not one of the scapular hits landed right on the scapular ridge, either!). Those ' casual' tests were not part of our data base findings. I don' t have my notes handy to refer to at the moment, but I took about five or six whacks at it, from both ten and twenty yards, and the penetration averaged around 10" THROUGH the scapula. The shots taken from 20 yards penetrated slightly farther than the close ones, on the average - less arrow flex, straighter line force vector, I think.

As to what I would recommend - that' s simple. All the bow one can handle. The object is to kill as quickly, efficiently, and humanely as possible. With a bow, there simply is no such thing as " over gunned" - AS LONG AS ONE CAN HANDLE IT. And I' m not saying one should ever be over bowed for their strength - ' gotta be able to shoot it ' fore you can hit with it!

I' ve killed a lot of game with the combination of lighter draw bows (42# to 55#), heavy for bow weight arrows, and tough, low resistance to penetration, broadheads. Unfortunately, I' ve wacked a few heavy bones that they wouldn' t take out too - thus the ' decidedly overkill' I prefer to hunt with.

Using any of my bows of from about 80# up, I haven' t encountered any problem at all whan using my 900 grain Forgewoods and 190 grain Grizzlies. Seem to be able to take any ' standard' big game animal (that excludes the REAL heavy duty stuff) from most any reasonable shot angle and have a lethal hit. If I were really nailed down, I' d say that I prefer at least 70# for a trad. bow for the bigger ' standard' animals, and I' d try to avoid some of the poorer shot angles I usually do take (just for the data' s sake).

I think I' ll be able to give you a much better answer after the next test is finished - and I can reference the arrow' s momentum at impact to the field-measured results. That' s the data we really need to be refering to for true ' indicators' . Then one can chrongraph their own bow/arrow combo' s velocity, do the calculations and have some idea what it SHOULD do - if the arrow system is tough enough for the job. You' ll just have to wait a few years for that one!

Dr. Ed Ashby