zak123

I have a choice of arrows that would total 400+ grains or some light 350 grain arrows. I shoot a 324 grain arrow at 216 fps. Which arrow should I get for deer. Should I get the faster and flatter shooting arrow or the heavier arrow?

Mike from Texas

Can you not find an arrow that will compromise between the two? If not, for hunting I'd probably go with the heavier arrow as long as your KE doesn't suffer dramatically.

Olink

400+ grains is not a heavy arrow. Its an excellent comprimise between light and heavy arrows and IMHO it is the perfect weight for a hunting arrow.

zak123

I know it's not the heaviest arrow, but it's the heaviest arrow I can decided on.

bigbulls

I know that you have probably said this already but how much weight are you pulling, what's your draw length, what weight heads do you shoot?

I ask because a 324 grain arrow at 216 fps does not seem like it would be a light arrow for your set up with the numbers that you are giving us. It would be very light if you were pulling 60 pounds but if you are pulling between 40 & 50 pounds it would be heavy to medium in weight.

If you are pulling 50 pounds and shooting a 425 grain arrow that translates to 8.5 grains per pound. Thats a pretty heavy arrow. With my set up pulling 70 pounds I would have to be shooting a 595 grain arrow to be on an equal playing field with that set up.

I hope you get the jist of what I am trying to say here. Basically it would depend on your set up as to wether an arrow would be light or heavy.

zak123

60 lbs 100 grain head and 27" dl

KBacon

You're just 24gr above the 5 gp# mark... so I wouldn't recomend going any lighter..

With that setup I think you'd want a bit heavier arrow to get your KE up. And prolly want a nice cut on contact broadhead to maximize penetration.

How has the setup worked for you in the past? I assume you've never killed anything w/ it?

bigbulls

In that case I would shoot an arrow that weighed in around 400 grains.

BTW your kenetic energy will probably not change much at all. Your momentum will go up signifigantly though. Too many people get this confused. A bow is only capable of puting out "X" ammount of KE. From the lightest to the heaviest arrow the KE figures will only vary a pound or two. A heavier, slower arrow will have more momentum than a lighter arrow going at a much faster pace but the KE will be very close to each other. The momentum is where you get the extra penetration assuming the same spine, diameter, and broadhead.

TFOX

It really isn't going to matter between the two,they are fairly close and your broadhead selection and arrow type are MUCH more important than the weight.It is nice to see your concern in this matter,it atleast means you are giving serious thought about what will happen in the field.


My suggestion is to find a properly spined THICK wall aluminum or a quality carbon or carbon aluminum composite arrow and forget the total weight.The manufactuers have that part figured out.IMO it would be hard to beat an Easton ACC in the right spine.


Hey Mike,ke will go up with a heavy arrow,even if speed drops out of almost all bows on the market.It will be a very slight increase but an increase nonetheless.

Mike from Texas

I agree to a point. I have a spreadsheet that I built for my bow that figures arrow speed and ke with factoring for various string accessories. Anyway, at some point the KE will start falling off. For my setup the ideal weight for the best combinations of KE and trajectory appears to be between 440-445 grains. Anything above that and the KE starts dropping.