are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

vectrix -drenaline-alligiance-black ice-darton there are some great bows out there but noones making a burner any more.Since bowtech quit making the black knight there hasnt been a speed bow made.Mathews made the black max for a while.With all the technology they have cant the manufacturers come up with a serious 3d bow that will shoot 360-370? the ibo on my black knight is 350 @ 30 inch -My draw is 28 and the bow is set @ 75 pounds with a 380 grain arrow I get 337 fps -Ive heard rumors of a new fred bear speedbow any of you bowers have knowledge of this?

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

Making faster bows is great but you have to be able to control where the arrow is gonna go CONSISTENTLY and i believe most average shooters are waaaaay more accurate with a bow shooting 250-270ish.jmho.There will always be a demand for faster bows for those guys and gals that like to watch those big numbers come up when they shoot thru the chrono.;)I have a bow that shoots 308 and a bow that shoots 332,and i almost always take the "slow" bow because i'm much more consistent with it.I know you're talking about a 3-d bow but myself and i think the majority of archers as well would just like to be able to use ONE bow for everything.

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

I agree-I hunt with my old glory 300 fps,practicing at rediculous distances which I wouldnt dream of with the bk ,but for 3d you need to take as much of the guessing out as possible -what about this new fred bear bow? anyone?

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

The technology has come a long long waybut I'm afraidit's at a point where it isn't too much farther to the intrinsic limit.There simplyaren't going to be any great advances in thevelocity/ke/momentum departmentin store for us. The thing to keep in mind is that the limiting factor is not the bow but rather the archer. We are physically limited as to how much energy we can store in the limbs of a bow. Given the maximum weight we can pull and the distance we can pull it there's only so much the technology can do to convert that effort into an arrow in flight. If for example we say the limit is 70 pounds and an archer can pull that weight back for a distance of 20 1/4 inches (That's 30" draw length and a brace height of 8") then he is capable of storing a maximum of 118.2 ft-lbs of energy in the limbs of the bow. No cam or pulley design can alter that limit. Right now, the technology has advanced to the point where a little over 80% of that energy will get transferred to a 350 grain arrow.A little more for heavier arrows. Even if we could advance to a technology that would transfer 100% (impossible of course) that arrow would leave the bow at only 390 ft/sec and of course be carrying 118.2 ft-lbs ke and .61 pound seconds of momentum.

No, I'm afraid given what weknow asarchery asholding the bow in one hand, and pulling the string with the other (1 pullbtw, no pumping) and given we need someclearance sowe don't slap the crap out of our bow arm (brace)there just isn't too much further to go without animprovement in the archerto increase his capacity.

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

we need to focus on the arrows now. if we fill the shaft with rocket fuel and build an igniter in a dispatchable nock we could get it up to 8 or 900 fps. thae if we get motorized broadheads spinning at 500 rpm we could drill 3 inch holes right through the deer lol

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

LOL IKD

Thanks for the physics lesson Sylvan.

Here's a thought... build a riser that places the hand behind where the string comes to rest.... a negative brace height if you will...... of course God knows how inaccurate and unforgiving such a set up would be, but what the hey?

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

Even the max energy above is miss-leading, that's if you get to peak weight immediately and stay there, no letoff and no build up. You move the string 1/8 of an inch and you are at 70lbs, at full draw you hold 70lbs.

When you factor in the force draw curve its actually much lower. That's why lower let-off bows are generally faster than high letoff bows. More energy is stored.

To get faster you have to increase the power stroke, two choices, longer draw, shorter brace height. Neither is good.

Or you have to find a way to "create" energy, more than you put in.

Given how bows work, we are close to the limit, now its time to make them quieter for better efficiency (which gives a bit more speed) and more shootable.

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

You could make them more efficient my using heavier arrows correct? Which would then make the arrow slower.

Vibration also robs the bow of efficiency.

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

Noone has mentioned cam design,if you have two bows with 65% lo- 6 inch bh -30 inch dl the cam design is now the deciding factor as to which bow is faster -smoother roll over ,perhaps a more agresive cam design is on the way.

RE: are speed bows a thing of the past?
 

Man,
I love bowhunting more than any other hunting.
I love my 10 yr old Hoyt that still spits them out at around 260 fps.
But if the industry "progresses" much further, it won't be bowhunting any more.
Even with my "old" bow, at 25 +/- yds, I've yet to see a deer that could jump out of the way of that arrow. It is quiet and fast.
I realize that with a bow, you've got to get much closer to the deer, or get the deer much closer to you, than when gun hunting, but the way bows are these days, many gun hunters are crying fowl...that it really isn't primative hunting any more.
I wonder if we will ever see a day when bowhunting is divided into two categories; modern (fast bows) and truly primative sticks and strings.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining about the advances in bows. If I could afford a new bow, I might have one.
The thing is, why do we need a bow that will outshoot a slug gun?
Of course, I'm being a little sarcastic, but aren't today's bows fast enough?
Ok, human nature says...never enough.
For my next bow, I would really like a longbow to start whacking deer with.
Just some thoughts,