torridone

Just wondering how important speed is in a hunting setup. I shot the General yesterday and loved it but only got 268fps w/400grn hunting arrow. I'm trying to decide which bow to buy but the faster ones I shot seemed to have issues such as low brace height (Katera) Also wondering how much a low brace height under 7. affects current bows.

Pydpiper

The only benifit I have found with a faster bow is the flatter projectile, less chance of shooting over/under a target.

Roskoe

Faster bows hit harder with the same weight arrow, and shoot flatter. Then you weigh that against the cons - like they are usually louder, harder to tune, less forgiving, and don't have as smooth of a draw cycle as a bow with a lower IBO rating. They may be worth it for 3-D shooting and for long range hunting out west, but not for the regular hunter who limits shots to 40 or 45 yards, IMO.

Arthur P

As for the lower brace height bows, in my opinion they are a lot more trouble than they're worth in the woods. First, your form has to be just that much better to get them to shoot consistently and it's a not so easy to have that perfect form up in a treestand. Add in the excitement of having a deer in front of you, maybe in a tree that's swaying a bit in the wind, maybe you're cold and tired... Any number of things can make it tough to get your form all sorted out, and you might have to pass up a shot because you don't have time to do it anyway. Second, it's a lot harder to keep the string from raking your forearm, especially when you're wearing your cold weather clothes.

The things I want in any bow, but I consider absolutely a MUST for hunting: Comfortable handle that forces me to take a consistent grip on the bow. Smooth, easy draw cycle. Generous brace height - 7 1/2" and up. Enough mass weight to hold steady, but not so heavy it feels like a boat anchor. Easy to tune and holds tune well. One that will shoot well even when I make a minor error with shooting form - better for point of impact to be an inch off the aim point rather than 6". A riser that isn't so deflexed that it's easy to torque, and I'd much rather have a reflexed riser. Consistent arrow to arrow accuracy - I only get one shot at a deer, but it really helps my confidence when I know that one shot will go where I aim it.

Speed doesn't kill. Accuracy does. So, I have to run down a fairly long list of things that will give me the best chance of putting an arrow where I want it before I ever get to speed. In fact, most of the things I look for in a bow work against givng me blazing arrow speed. If I get 250 fps from a bow, I'm a happy camper.

Speed helps in 3D because you're shooting at unmarked, unknown distances. There are no rules in bowhunting that says you have to shoot at unknown distance and, in fact, I consider it a breach of ethics to take a shot when you aren't reasonably certain of the distance. It's a lot easier to learn the exact distance to the animal than it is to ensure you've got perfect form to take that one shot that counts.

The compound I use most for hunting AND 3D is a Hoyt ProTec. 46" axle to axle, modified round wheels, reflexed riser, 8" brace. 60 pounds pull with 65% let-off and I shoot fingers release with no sights. I get about 245 fps with a 450 grain arrow.

Matt / PA

Since I started flinging traditional arrows speed means a lot less to me than it used to.......I killed my biggest buck to date this past season w/ a recurve arrow traveling a whopping 185 fps.
My Bowtech General is doing 1fps faster than the one you shot at 269fps and I didn't fell handicapped in the least this season using it in IL.
I have bows doing all levels of the speed specturm now and when my Airborne 82nd gets here I will have set-ups that do everything from 185fps all the way up to 345fps with different arrows all serving different purposes. The bottom line is that they all fit well and that they all shoot well for their inteded job. I don't look at the speed anymore just for the sake of speed.
I guess I'm one of those oddballs who can embrace very modest stick and string speeds all the way up to the absolute fastest bow on the market and have a great time shooting all of them.

For a hunting bow as long as the bow tunes well, shoots well, and fits me properly, speed anymore to me is just whatever it happens to be.
My advice is to go with the one that feels the best to you and seems to hold and shoot better in your hands. The vast majority of modern compounds are so overkill for deer sized game now that it's almost silly to split hairs based on speed alone.

selway

speed speed speed. well i got a speed bow a synergy 7 1/8 brace 61#s 29 1/2 draw .this bow is one of the best bows i have had.i bought this bow so i would not have to crank over 70#s my arm tells me quit that.anyhow this bow shoots my 425 grain hunting arrow at 279fps smoking fast with a good brace height.i did not buy this bow for speed, it was for the 60#s.by the way it does shoot a 305 grain arrow at 326fps.

BGfisher

All good advice except for one thing. Art meant he'd rather have a deflexed riser rather then reflexed. He knows what he meant. Probably just had a brain fart long the way.

You can listen to Matt, too. I've seen that guy shoot. Like a machine.

Barry

mobow

I personally go against the grain on this one. I say faster is better. Does a heavy arrow carry more momentum and KE? Yes. Is a slower arrow more forgiving? Well, to a point, yes.....BUT, todays bows are made inherently more forgiving anyway. Companies are making bows to be more accurate, more forgiving, more repeatable and shootable. Today's bows are just so much more efficient than those of the past....You just don't need the heavy arrow for the KE anymore. Used to, you couldn't get an arrow to fly 240 fps regardless of how light it was. Just not the case anymore.

I'm shooting a 380 grain arrow 313 fps. I'm producing 82 ft pounds of KE....On top of that,for hunting I sight it in for 25 yards. I shoot an inch high at 20 yards and an inch low at 30 yards. Come on. What more could you ask for???

Pysics are pysics, and can't be argued. A 425 grain arrow shot out of my bow will fly slower, BUT..it WILL carry more KE. It WILL, to a degree, be more forgiving. But really, how much KE do you need?? I'm pretty sure 82 is plenty.

As far as the short brace height. You will be more sucesptible to smacking your arm with a short BH bow, but if you install a string supressor, you're in good shape. That pretty much takes care of the arm slap. They are a tad less forgiving, because the arrow is under the power stroke of the cam longer, which is why they produce higher speeds. But here again, companies are making their bows more forgiving just by design and what ever tricks they have, so I personally don't feel it comes into play as much as it used to.

With all that said, a longer ATA bow, with a longer BH, heavy arrow flying slow will indeed be more forgiving. Not as much so as 10 years ago, but they will. But me, I'm going light and fast.

whitetailbowhunter

What's the difference between a reflexed and deflexed riser?

Mat

Arthur P

More like mental diarrhea. [8D]Thanks for getting my back, BG!

Whitetail, the bow in your avatar is a reflexed riser. The grip is behind a line drawnbetween the pivot point in the limb pockets. The grip is in front of that line on a deflexed riser. With the reflexed riser, you are pulling on the cam ends of the limbs and trying to keep the riser ends of the limbs pushed in the same plane. Themore reflexed the riser, theharder it is tokeep the limbs lined up with the direction of the shot and the easier it is to induce torque.

With a deflexed riser, the entire limb is being pulled in the same line. It's very hard to torque the limbs out of alignment with the line of the shot.