Depends on the bow you shoot and how heavy or light of an arrow you use. I think you were being fibbed to a bit. Not that those speeds wouldn't be possible, but it sure isn't the norm.

With a normal hunting set up I would think more like 230 fps, if that. Like I said, really depends on the bow, the draw weight and how heavy your arrow is.

I shoot a bowtech mighty might with an IBO speed in the 320's, that is a fairly quick bow. However at 26 inches and 60 lbs of draw you can chop about 100 fps off that figure. These are the speeds I got out of my bow with different set ups.

60 lbs, 25 inches of draw and a 397 grn arrow = 230 ish. This was with the factory hush kit and a brass nock, no peep or anything like that.

53 lbs, 26 inches of draw and a 406 grn arrow = 211. This was with a brass nock, limb savers, puff ball string silencers, the NV system and the hush kit, still no peep sight. Doesn't sound impressive, but when you do the math it is.

60 lbs, 26 inches of draw and a 315 grn arrow = 260. This was with everything listed above and a peep sight.

So my guess would be with a 25.5 inch draw and 60 lbs with a 350 grn arrow you might come close to 250 fps, I doubt you would hit it. It would depend on the bow most likely. My Darton Yukon with that exact set up is closer to 220-230 fps. It has an IBO of 298.

I limit myself to 25-30 yards for whitetail hunting out of a tree. And I use a range finder to set a perimeter around my stand. I also hunt with a heavier arrow, like 400 to 450 grns.

The problem with shooting a lower powered set up is that you have limitations either way. If you use a light arrow to pick up speed, you really lose momentum at longer distances and speed and energy drops off really fast. If you use a heavy arrow you retain a bit more momentum, but because of the weight the trajectory suffers.

I suppose there are people that have shot elk at 40 some yards with lighter set ups and had success. However I haven't. I wouldn't expect a pass thru. But don't fret over your set up. Remember this, people have been hunting with stick bows for ever (still do) with less power then your set up will have. So it will work, you just need to know it's limitations is all.

If you are new to archery and hunting I would surely not suggest shooting a deer at 40 yards. Try to get them within 20 yards and pick the proper place to shoot. We had another thread simular to this not to long ago, I will bump it up or link to it if I can find it.

My personal opinion is that the shop you went to is being a bit overly optimistic with you in order to make a sale. But that is just my opinion.

Paul