You guys miss the part about "in heavy cover"? You got the stones to stand there and take careful aim on the head of a charging griz with a .223? I seriously do doubt it. Point is, you have a very limited shot selection with the .223 and you have to be right on for it to work. I've got a much greater selection of potentially lethal hits with the 45-70 and a better chance of stopping that charging bear.
t's pretty hard to argue with success...
Yep, and I'll stack my 50 years of success with heavy arrows up against... well, however many you've got.
Do light, fast arrows work? Yes, if you can drive them fast enough. If you hit precisely where you aim. If you have proper shot selection. If you don't try and stretch the shot distance so far the light arrow bleeds off too much speed and energy just cutting through the air. If, if, if....
On the other hand, a heavy arrow has far fewer "if's" and, when shot from the same bow, it ALWAYS arrives on target with more energy and momentum than a light arrow for better penetratation potential. Does that matter with deer? Not really, not if everything goes right. It's those times Murphy takes a hand in the process though...