bowdoc1

Arthur P you must be as old as me. I started shooting back in 1965 and was shooting pro at 21 with my old recruve with a 300 average indoors and I was shooting 50 to 100 arrows evey day of the week. I have also used about evey arrow out there hunting with wood, fiberglass, aluminums and carbons. I was alway looking for a better arrow to hunt with. My way of thinking was that I owed it to the game that I hunted to use the best tools and to shoot at my best to make a cleanest kill that I could. When the first carbons came out afc's. I thought I had found it and was shooting 300s 50 x's finger indoors, shooting in the 520's to 530's Field and taking two to there bucks a season and maybe a Elk. 2200 afc's target bow and 2540"s with my 70 lb hunting bow. Person won Vegas with them, yes shooting the older ones and how I was now blowing through every thing I shot, I wasn't getting that all the time with alumninum and I have shot about every size of aluminums made with 65 to 70 lb's recurves and compounds. When the New carbons came out I though it was great thing no more outserts, but I had lost some of the penetration that I had with the older ones and I still thing that. The smaller around and ticker wall penetrated better, Easton knew that and I had talked about it years ago with some the staff at a trade show. Look what they have new the axis arrow and look what they are saying about it. Arthur P sorry, I have also shot concrete blocks. trees, steal pipes and other things, hands down carbon have come out on the better end. In 42 year of bowhunting and competition personally I do think Carbons do have lots of advantages over aluminuns for hunting any way penetration, durability and they last forever. I have taken two are three bucks with the same carbon arrow. I don't know about others ,but I don;t eat the heart, lungs and ribs and I have never had a carbon stay in a deer it's alway has pass through and stuck in the ground. I have seen other bowhunter with lighter weight bows that some times didn't pass through and the the arrow didn't shatter not to say it couldn't happen , but a few times didn't not even brake and the arrow was still good to go.

justaguy93

Wow lots of great feedback, thanks to everyone who replied. Being entirely new to the sport and after reading what everyone had to say, I'm going to go with aluminum for starters. It definitely sounds like carbons have a lot of great advatages and maybe when I'm a little more experienced I'll change up, but for my first season I'm going to give the tried and true technology that's been around longer than I have a go.

Thanks again, I appreciate the advice and have to say as far as online communities go people seem exceptionally polite and helpful here. Makes me feel even better about choosing to start hunting.

stalkingbear

That's all that matters is you enjoy yourself and we get more hunters joining our ranks.

Straightarrow

Although I think that in general, carbons are more durable than aluminums, I don't think it's a major factor and I certainly wouldn't choose my hunting arrow based on the difference in this aspect. I've seen many a carbon arrow break when it shouldn't have. Defects are more easily hidden and I think the risk of injury is higher.

I'm not sure I've ever measured a perfectly straight carbon. They may not bend, but they don't have to. They come pre-bent. At least compared to aluminums, they are not as straight, unless you want to spend a lot of money on the premium models. Spine is almost always less consistant, both in range on a dozen and in the different sides of an individual arrow. It doesn't matter much when shooting field tips, but you have to know what you're doing if you shoot fixed blade broadheads on the lower-end models.

All that said, I still vastly prefer carbons. The reason - the ability to configure them with a very high FOC. I'm completely convinced of the significant advantage of shooting extreme FOC arrows that have been properly spined tuned. I configure them with a very stiff shaft and put lots of weight on the tip to even-out the spine. This can't be done on an aluminum without doing some creative arrow making where you manufacture your own tip weight. If you manage it, you'll probably end up shooting in the 800-1200 grain area. Heck, you can't get most people to even try something in the 550-650 gr range, much less something that heavy. Anyway, to me, this overcomes all of carbon's negatives and is a significant reason to shoot carbons, vs aluminums.

Arthur P

Ya know, bowdoc. That last bit is the only thing you wrote that I can really disagree with, and I really do disagree with it. Carbons are not 'forever' arrows. Far from it. I've never had carbons last more than a few months before they go bad, group sizes open up considerably and they need replacement. The reason they wear out so fast for me, I'm sure, is my draw length. It's so long (33.5" with fingers and 32.5" with release and extra long loop for release) that I can't even use some brands because the raw shafts don't come long enough. With GoldTips, I take a raw shaft, lightly sand both ends square, install inserts and nocks, fletch 'em up and that's my arrow. I believe the extra length radically reduces their useable life.

Please understand, I'm not trying to bash carbons. The point I'm making is that aluminum arrows are wrongfully getting a bad rap. They are excellent, time proven arrows and do not deserve to be cast aside.

Wish I could have spent more time with y'all on this topic, but we just moved and I haven't gotten my 'puter hooked up yet. Heck, I don't even know where all the parts and pieces are yet. Somewhere in the pile of boxes in the garage is all I know. Have to borrow my son's machine and that can only happen while he's in class. [&o]

Schultzy

I'm a fan of aluminum arrows without a dought. To me there not as strong, they tend to snap off more then aluminums. A friend of mine uses these carbons and i've seen his bloodtrails countless times with having the arrow breaking off quite often. Another thingi really didn'tlike about them was that the blood does not want to stick to these arrows very well. Its really hard to tell what kind of shot you have on your deer when you go to look at your arrow if you have a follow through and you can't smell nothing or see much for blood on the arrow. To me whats on the arrow is a big way of telling you where you hit this animal and how to treat it if your not sure where your arrow hit! If it would be a gut shot, you should be able to smell it then on the arrow, i've seen it to many times where it was gut shot and the arrow didn't leave no evidence of it.Aluminum arrows break off as well too but not asoften as these carbons, the longer that arrow can stay in the animal while it's running the better at times, by doing this itscutting stuff up inside if the broadhead is still in the inside of the deer.Either way both will do its job but to me aluminum is better and stronger butits just not as quick as the carbons but to me that don't mean much, these bows are so fast anyways these days.

bigcountry

But they happen so gradulally that alot of us including me, miss it.

I know over the spring, I was dusting off this old PSE for a backup bow. Also testing out some creep tuning notes from Chuck Adams. A bow that shot great all the sudden, shot these 0.4" spined arrows bad. I measured the spine on these arrows 3-4 years ago. And now after remeasurieng them, they lost a considerable amount of spine. And Showed week reaction.

bowdoc1

Steve S come on have you ever tryed to take a carbon in your hands and brake it. When I did shoot aluminums I always liked the older game getters because they didn't brake as fast in game and would bend farther before they broke not as fast as the xx75s or the xx78s because of the alloy.Your freind must be shooting a light poundage recurve are somthing to get a arrow to stay in it and to brake it. With a 70 lbs compound are back when I shot a 60 to 65 lb pound recurves aluminums almost alway brake off if they don't pass through, 100 of times I seen them brake on impack are when the deer takes off it brakes off and falls to the ground. Aluminums arrow you don't haft to bent very far and they will brake or they will bent and are no good any more. There is not a thing wrong with hunting with them I have taken alots of big game with both, even with wood arrows. I did at one time get arrow free or almost free arrows from diferant companies, so got to test them a lot in my bows and a shooting machine. I just love the penetration and the durability carbons have over aluminums. On deer trials just shoot through them and stick the arrow in the ground and you can see them go down most of the time and there is all kinds of blood on carbon arrow. I can't remimber having to trial a deer very far for a long time out of 50 or 60 deer any way most of the bowhunters I hunt with get pass throughs and the ones that havn't we didn't have any problems finding blood on the carbons arrows, are had the carbon brake off not to say it couldn't happen just I never seen it in the few time that I have see the carbon arrow that stayed in a deer. With the blood it will be on your vanes are feather it dosn't make a diffrance what they are on carbon are aluminum and the broadhead make the blood trial on the ground not the arrow the only way the arrow helps is by passing through making the exit hole, but I have never had a problem seeing blood on carbons. Shoot what you want I don't care, some poeple just try to hang on to there older ways,things, are unwilling to make a change and do there best to put down others who don't do things there way. Just do your best to made clean kill you owe it to the game you hunt and most of all you owe it to yourself to be the best you can be at your sport. The last 40 years I eat and sleep archery I work hard to be at my best at my sport and will to the day I die.

stalkingbear

I have tried both side by side and in fact started using aluminum arrows before they even came out with carbon arrows. As to blood trail,exit hole is more important than arrow staying in game for broadhead doing more damage.
All of the game animals I've gotten in the last 15 years have dropped while still within sight-even elk and russian boar. The pure and simple facts are that carbon arrows are superior in almost every way for hunting as opposed to aluminum. On the argument that they ain't straight or spined properly all the way around,that issue is pretty well dead with today's modern improvments in design and manufacturing. I do buy top of the line carbon shafts-you get what you pay for. It DOES take a lot more for carbon arrows to break than aluminum wether hitting a hard surface or still in animal. We ain't gunna change each other's minds on this so let's give up and agree to disagree. I'm speaking from experience and ain't trying to promote outdated equipment from personal preference-just stating facts as my own experience has proven over the years. To each his own and whatever works for YOU-just please don't try to mislead new bowhunters into making mistakes so you may add a feather in your cap.

bowdoc1

thank you stalkingbear
Some people will argue with you if you say your ice cream is cold