So what is your guys opinon on energy to kill a Whitetail
(pass thru)?

Um I guess I would go with a pass thru because if you can get a pass thru then you KE is good enough.

Well I haven't ever seen a study on what it takes to pass thru and animal but most studies recommend adequate KE to "kill" certain animals and they would be a minimum of 45 ft lbs for deer sized animals and 55 ft lbs for elk sized animals. That is not to say that animals cannot be successfully taken with less however, shot placement is crucial......

I've seen those figures too, Rob, and have to say it's total BS. Ifit were true, then nobody shooting a recurve or longbow of less than 55 pounds would ever kill a deer because they don't get that much KE. Back in the 60's, the most common draw weight for deer hunting was 45 pounds. A great many elk have been taken with 50 pound recurves.

I don't know what those guys doing the studies have been smoking when doing their work, but they were definitely in Neverneverland when they came up with those numbers.

How much energy you need depends on a whole mess of different factors.

What weight are the arrows you're shooting? Lighter arrows have to have more KE to get the job done than heavier ones.

What kind of broadhead is on them? Mechanicals have to have more KE to do the job than replaceable blade fixed heads. Replaceable blade fixed heads have to have more KE than 3-blade cut on contact heads. 3-blade cut on contact heads have to have more KE than 2-blade cut on contact heads. In all cases, heads with a larger cutting diameter have to have more KE than heads with a smaller diameter. You could even get into the length to width ratio too!

Are you shooting from the ground or from a treestand? An angled shot needs more KE to penetrate to the vitals than a straight on shot.

Anybody that tells you that you need X amount of KE to kill animal Y, without giving specific information on all the above is blowing smoke.

Aurthur, I couldn't agree with you more but that's the only figures available "per study", and I'd bet more than not it's all about compounds. You and I both know that a recurve/longbow shooting a heavy wooden arrow of the past not only killed deer but probably every bit or more efficiently than todays technological advancements and light arrows....


Like you said, my earlier study was true, it'd be near impossible to pass thru and animal with less and we know that is not true but like I said, it's about shot placement....and then woodsmanship.

It would depend on your broadhead and distance. KE is calculated at peak speed. The further out the less there is. Cut to tip, Fixed or mechanical require different KE. Because of all the variables I'd give you an answer of "Depends". If I was going with a fixed I'd say give me 50 for a passthrough at out to 30. For a mechanical, give me 60. Then again, it all depends on broadhead diameter.

My arrows have 67lbs comming out of the bow at 263fps.
Then at 60 yrd have 54 ft lb. With 100 gr 3 blade muzzys.

I have 74 ft. pounds @299
At 60 yards i have 56 ft.pounds

something is a bit fishy here[&:]

A little simple math give you the answer to your fishiness, newman.

Doing some back-figuring, D.Parsons is using a 436 gn arrow. Yours are 372 gns. Lighter arrows lose speed and energy at a much faster rate as they go downrange. At 60 yards, your 299 fps has dropped to 260 fps. Loss of 39 fps and 18 ft lbs of energy.

If you were to shoot a 436 gn arrow, your initial speed would drop to @ 286 fpsbut you'd wind up with an arrow doing something like 253 fps and carrying 62 ft lbs at 60 yards. A loss of only 23 fps and 12 ft lbs of energy. You'd have a trajectory very similar to what you've got now. It'd probably open your pin settings very slightly.

O.k. but not quite what i was refferring to.On the ballistic table from bojackson it tells me that at 0 yards i am going 299 fps and at 20 yards i am going 285 fps and the arrow drops 8 INCHES!!.My fishiness is that i know this not to be correct.There is no way my arrow drops 8 inches from 0-20 yards.It seems that the program is not to accurate or i did not give it the correct info,but i am sure i did.