Am I too light?!
 

Hi guys: I've been using 25" GT XT hunters with 75 grain tips and blazer vanes out of my bow set at 56lbs. I was planning on using 75 grain wasp boss bullets for hunting. However the thread on hunting arrow weight got me thinking. My arrows are very light comparing to most of the setups noted. Mine only weigh 302 grains complete. Should I bump up the weight and, if so, how much?

RE: Am I too light?!
 

No, you're good. Heavier would give a bit more momentum though.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Should be fine for deer. Anything bigger, and I would recommend going to an arrow about 25% heavier.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

For target shooting, your fine. But for hunting I would go a little heavier. You will get better penetration with a heavier arrow.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Deer only. I shoulda mentioned that in the first post.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

If u can get away with shooting a heavier set up and still be accurate out to ur comfort zone do it! You will et more penitration with a heavier arrow.Good luck!

RE: Am I too light?!
 

You need to play around with a ballistics calculator and see just how much of a difference a heavier arrow would make on your set up. It may not effect the trajectory as much as you think, especially at 20-25 yards out of a tree stand.

I would be looking at heavier tips at least. 75 grn heads and blazers can't be giving you the best FOC. I would have to look it up though.

What kind of a bow do you shoot?

I shoot nearly the same set up as you and I use 450 grn aluminum arrows.

Paul

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I think you'd have a better chance of success with a heavier arrow.

90% of my shots are in the 6-15 yards range. Unless your shot opportunities are a lot longer for some reason, trajectory is simply not a concern. Especially since you should know the distance.

In my opinoin your arrow could weigh twice as much and you would only increase your chances of success. Weight not only brings greater penetration, but adding it to the tip will increase stability and forgiveness.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Thanks guys, I've been looking at Easton Full Metal Jackets. According to the program "On Target!" I've been using, the size 500 FMJ's with 100grain tips and blazers would spine just about right for my setup. There about 70 grains heavier.:)

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I would go heavier yet, that still puts you at under 400 grns.

The real question is do you have trouble killing deer with your current set up? If you are having problems with penetration and what not then I would seriously consider a heavier arrow.

Those light arrows are fine for normal people shooting an abundance of power. I mean a guy shooting a new bowtech at 29 inches of draw and 70 lbs of draw weight could put a piece of straw through a deer. ;)

However us little people need the extra umph of a heavier arrow and a sharp easy penetrating head.

Paul

RE: Am I too light?!
 

If you are using ontarget play around with it a little to see what other choices would give you. Don't be afraid to use a longer arrow to gain some weight. It will not hurt anything as long as it spines correctly out of your bow. Using a longer arrow could put you up to the next size arrow which may give you some more weight.

Paul

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Good point paul,unless uare shooting a great distances then i woul even try an total weight arrow with over 500gr with a good foc balance.which would be 7-15 %.You just can't go wrong with a heavy setup for up close hunting,and lets face it we rarely shoot over 30 yards when we r in the woods,may be another story if u were shooting out to 50 plus though.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

The easiest way to add some weight is to go with a stiffer spine arrow which will require a heavier tip to compensate for spine. This will not only up the weight, but will increase the FOC. Like others have said, this is most important for those who need the extra power on their arrow.

Keep in mind, the heavier you go, the more penetrating power your arrow will carry to the animal. Earlier when I said that twice as much would help, I wasn't kidding. There is no downside to a slow arrow as long as you know the distance, which is quite easy to do in most hunting situations.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

5gr/lb @ 56lbs=280gr. You're good. :)A heavier arrow would give more knock down power, but if it's just deer, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you ARE worried, then change now, while you still have plenty of time before season to fiddle wit it.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Pet peeve rant warning!

5 grains per pound.... That's a freakin' TOURNAMENT rule. They won't even let you shoot FOAM animals with arrows lighter than that, except in certain cirumstances.

5 grains per pound is MINIMUM to stay within your bow warranty and to be legal to shoot tournaments. IT IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION FOR A DECENT WEIGHT HUNTING ARROW!

End of rant. [&:]

I wouldn't shoot any medium size game animal with any arrow weighing less than 400 grains. That is most certainly true if my bow is pushing under 65 ft lbs of energy. I feel that going lighter than that is dancing on the raw edge of disaster.

There are some things happen in the woods you have no control over. Make the best shot decision you can, try for the very best shot placement, release the arrow. That's the end of things you have control over. While the arrow is in flight, you wait and hope. Hope there isn't a twig to deflect your arrow. Hope the animal doesn't move while the arrow is in flight. Either one will screw up your intended perfect shot placement and put the arrow in a spot where you will likely need extra penetration in order to make a clean kill.

It usually works out, sometimes it doesn't. I'd hate to think I wounded and lost an animal when just a little more arrow weight would've given enough penetration to get to the vitals. If someone says they've never had it happen to them, they're either very lucky, haven't got much experience under their belt, or they're lying like a dog. It eventually happens to most everyone.

If you're shooting enough bow to blow a toilet plunger through an Abrams tank, like so many light arrow advocates are, that's one thing. Shooting lower energy setups is a whole 'nuther ball game. Extra arrow weight for extra penetration, I think, is common sense insurance. Just in case.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I agree with Arthur P..

to add to that..I think you will find the heavier arrow is less critical to shoot..and you will find it more accurate..



[/align]

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I like to have about 7+ grains of arrow weight per pound of draw weight. So at 56 pounds of draw weightI wouldwant to have a total finished weight arrow of at least390 grains.

Having said that Even a Axis FMJ will only weigh about 375 grains with a 125 grain tip. That is one of the heaviest carbon arrows made right now. IMO this would be a very good arrow set up for your draw weight and draw length.

Even a 2018 at almost 13 gpi, which is the heaviest arrow that Easton reccomends, Will only weigh about 460 grain with a 125 grain tip.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

The key is to use a heavier tip or insert weights. The advantage here is that a very high FOC will result. It's easy to take a carbon arrow up to and over 700 grains if you want.

Since she's only using 25" arrows, so I'm guessing she has a very short draw length. This type of person can normally put a very large amount of weight on the tip and still have many arrows flex correctly. I recommend not limiting oneself to 125 gr tips. I have as much as 300 grains on the tip of my arrows and would love to get even more on it if my arrow spine would handle it.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Thanks to you I looked around and got some brass inserts that weigh 50 and 100 grains. The tip weight I am currently using is 225 grains and it gives me a FOC of 17% at 534 grains. Reading what you and others have said and then experimenting for myself have made me a believer in a good/higher FOC% and a heavy arrow.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

It's nice to know that some try it. I realize that very few will, but I'm such a believer in the concept and advantages of heavy arrows with a high FOC, that I'll keep talking about them.;)

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I don't know if I would agree to just add more weight upfront..

the most important things, beside reasonable weight, are a sharp broadhead, and excellent arrow flight..



[/align]

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Excellent arrow flight definitely. Hence the high FOC. That helps give excellent arrow flight.

But you can't 'just' add more weight up front. You have to plan it out first. Knowing how much weight you want up front, is a key step to figuring out what spine arrow shaft to use. The FOC calculator at Jackson's is a good tool for building cyber test arrows and playing with FOC values.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Arthur,

have you found it accurate?

in my admitted limited testing-what it claims my arrow weight in total is-to what is read on a digital scale is different.

another recommendation I would have is to use a cut on impact broadhead like the SteelForce.

a lady had a pass through on a Polar Bear shooting 54lbs Mathews SwitchBackXT



[/align]

RE: Am I too light?!
 

It's not 100% on the mark, Doug, because the calculator uses average weights for arrow components. If the inserts, vanes and nocks weigh more or less than the averages the program uses, it will not weigh out dead nuts the same as the calculator says. On the other hand, it's plenty close enough to give you a very good idea of what you'll wind up with.

Actually, I've never had it be off more than 5 grains with the arrows I've run on it. I've seen greater weight variances than that within a dozen carbon shafts.

Agreed on the recommendation for cut on contact heads. Steelforce, Magnus Stingers, etc.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

My wife's setup is pulling 50lbs and shooting a 385grain arrow and come hunting season she will be shooting a 100grain montec for broadheads. Out to 25 or 30 yards Im sure she will get enough penetration.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

I forgot to add, she is also shooting easton axis arrows. The smaller diameter will help in penetration also.

RE: Am I too light?!
 

Of course not. Anyone who reads a number of my posts, know that I address this all the time. I'm not just talking heavy weight, I refer to any weight. Whether it's 75 gr, 100 gr, 125 gr or larger, it should be a carefully thought out choice, that's confirmed as proper with testing.