How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

For the first time today I was able to accurately weigh my arrows (Beamon Venture 340's with 100 grain tips). They weighed 429 grains! My bow (Hoyt PowerTec set at 28 1/2 inch draw and 67#) shoots 255fps with these arrows which gives me about 62ft-lbs of kenetic energy.

So, here is my question - Should I be concerned that my arrows are so heavy? It really surprised me that they weighed so much. Should I try to get the arrows down around the 350-390 range or does it not really matter?

I will be hunting elk and I know that longer shots are a possibility so I need as much speed as possible, but I cannot forget about kenetic energy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

If you're worried about being too heavy, and want to pick up a little more speed, you can always trim some excess off the shaft. Most times an inch in front of your rest, at full draw, is sufficient. If you have the cash you can always get some 400's, which are made for the 67# range.

You need at least 65 ft-lbs of ke for elk, so the experts say. Sitting at 62, you might be better off just to leave it and work on shot placement. I'm sure you know, the farther you shoot, the more exaggerated a bad shot becomes. Besides, from all of the people I've spoken to about the subject, mosttimes elk will offer a close shot.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Perspective is everything. If it was me, I'd be concerned about beign so light. Your worried about speed, which is completely unimportant. Accuracy and penetration are all that matters. Heavy arrows with a high FOC and good drag on the rear can be shot very accurately with a broadhead attached. They also penetrate better than a light arrow. Know your distance and shoot with a truely heavy arrow, and your setup will be more than adequate for elk.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Straightarrow is exactly right IMO. I would feel uncomfortable hunting elk with less than a 400 grain arrow, and in fact Idaho regs don't let you hunt with anything less than 400 grains. You want an arrow that penetrates well, whether it's 10 yards or 40 yards, and a heavier arrow will maintain it's speed better at longer ranges than a lighter one.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Speed equals power.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Heavy arrows hold more momentum than lighter arrows at longer diatances
which translates into greater penetration. It's accuracy not speed that kills.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

That is a myth.......

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

:DHow's that gum-o-flage taste?If you bought that speed equals power,I know you bought gum-o-flage.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Even if it did, and it doesn't, power doesn't equal dead deer. A super sharp broadhead on an arrow flying straight into the kill zone on a deer, equals dead deer. :D

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

You won't pick up much if you did. I shoot the same arrow weight and last I check it was over 280 out of about the same setup, a protec. I use theHunter elites. It's the way I set the bow up that gained the speed not the arrow. My brothers 06 shoots 10-20 fps less (factory setup). Same specs all the way around. Taken my arrow down to 394 and didn't show much more than a couple fps. It's giving all she's got and there aint no more.:DI didn't like it either.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Your in fine shape , if your arrows all hit the same spot . Chuck adams had a great artical on this , know your range and where your arrow is going , a faster set of arrows that arnt as accurate are a big disadvantage . Speed does not equal accuracy . Use a cut on contact quality fixed head and you will be fine , make sure its scary sharp .

Straightarrow is right on .
Ive seen Ted Nugent kill a moose at 50 lbs draw , and a zebra at 55 lbs draw , with magnus 2 blade heads , nither animal went 100 yards after the shot .

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

I found this very amusing:D

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

hey man i shoot 61lb and the guy that set-up my bow said i need to multiply that by five which gives me 305 grain ,that my arrow can't go below in weight. i shoot a arrow weighing 20 grains over the 305 number and get 299-300 fps which equal somewhere in the ball park of 64 kenetic energy. i think that isenough kenetic energy that kill in animal in north america. seems like you can get good kenetic energy with light or heavy arrows, but with lighter arrow you could get more speed and a flatter trajectory.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Problem with the light arrow is that if it hits heavy bone, it's going to stop whereas the heavier arrow may break through. Given equal amounts of KE, I'll take the heavier, slower, more accurate arrow every time. Actually, I'll even take the heavier arrow if it has slightly less KE.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Pastor,

I think you'll be just fine with what you have.

I rebuttal to a couple of other posts about the peed vs KE argument, I want to say that I am basically a speed freak and I can usually tinker and tweak almost every available fps out of my bows. One reason is a like tinkering and I know how to get the speed.

However, I hunt whitetail deer and it takes little to nothing to blow right through them unless you hit solid bone.

Pastor here is talking about hunting elk, and I would certainly give up some speed to maintain a little more moentum in the arrow. Notice I said momentum, not kinetic energy. I could care less what numbers are achieved with the chronograph and calculator. And the elk doesn't either.

I know this might start some debate, but I'm basing my statements on over 32 years of hunting with compound bows. Back when I shot about a 450 grain arrow at the then average speed of 180-190 fps (get your calculators out boys) and got complete pass throughs on deer then.

There were and still are a lot of guys shooting recurves doing much the same, and on animals as big as elk. With half the KE you guys are discussing.

So my point is that it's nice to know the bow speed and kinetic energy, but losing sleep over it or going out and buging the latest and greatest gadget to gain more doesn't prove a damned thing---especially in the hunting territory.

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

You couldn't pay me enough to shoot a grizzly with that arrow, at least not without a very good rifle shooter backing me up. Besides, I believe it's illegal on griz most places they're found. I wouldn't even think of using anything less than 700-800 grains out of a 70 lb draw bow. If I was shooting even more draw weight, I'd be using an even heavier arrow. For really big game, I'd want to be around 12-15 grains per lb of draw weight. 5 grains per lb at a Griz! How fast can you run?

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

i didn't think about a grizzly!!!

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Go to this link and read everything. Start on the bottom of the page (earliest) and work up the pageto the latest update. Keep in mind that this is work done on the heaviest, toughest animals on earth. An arrow/broadhead that penetrates 15" in a Cape Buffalo isn't even going to slow down when going through a whitetail.

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=24

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Looks like you have a nice club Arthur. Wish I lived closer.;)

RE: How Heavy Should My Arrows Be?
 

Arthur, I'm glad to see you post that link. It's something that every bowhunter should not only read, but study. There's some real good info in there, like the positive results from using extreme FOC, and the effect of tip shape on broadhead dependability. Dr. Ashby already proved that heavy is better - much better, but now he's sheading new light in other areas of arrow/broadhead performance.