Speed is an asset for 3-D shooting. Range estimation beyond 35 yards is critical. The faster and flatter the arrow trajectory the greater the chances of impact on the target near the sight point, even if the yardage estimate is a bit off. In a hunting situation few hunters will shoot at game at a greater distance than 40 yards. At this range with the help of a range finder or predetermined yardage markers speed is not as important as energy and penetration.

agreed

Whats this statement mean? Do you think its better to use a 22-250 over a 308 because its faster & flatter?

How far you gonna shoot a deer anyway. I know I can hit out past 30 yards but in all honesty I doubt I'v shot one past 25 & I'm sure most were way within 20.

I gun hunt & just like bowhunting the "pro's" will tell you you need a new super duper 300 WSSM or some thing or other fancy flat shooting gun or you'll be screwed in a long shot scenerio.
Then I go out every year with my 30/30 or more recently 45/70 with its rainbow trajectory & get my deer while alot of the up to date guys go home with tags instead.
Its about proficiency with what you choose to use.

I wont buy a new bow because I cant see spending close to $1000 for a new one when I know the one's I have work just fine.

I shot thru a chrono with 2216's this summer & it clocked my arrow at 240 FPS from my Martin, I then switched to 2219's so I reckon theyre going a bit slower now & yet with all that theres 5 less deer in CT this year.

You want speed thats fine, but it IS acuracy that kills. If all you want a fast bow for is so you can sight in at 25 yards & shoot out to 50 with the same pin thats fine by me. Just be sure to practice at that range. Shouldnt knock a guy with a different opinion tho.

Bowhunting is all about practice in my opinion, if you dont practice you wont be ready to shoot in the field no matter how fast your bow is. Some people i know bragg that they have the fastest bows out there and act very cocky about it. The funny thing is i shoot just as good as them if not better and I use and old PSE Lightning Flight, its all about practice and hitting the spots.

To each is own, I guess, when it comes down to this debate on speed/accuracy/....etc. But if I can place my arrows in a 3 inch group from forty yards using just the first pin of my sight because of the advancement in bow technology (ata, speed, quietness, hand shock...etc.), then guess what - my old trusty Bear Whitetail II will definitely be gotten rid of.


If you don't think that bows of recent (that is, the past 5 years or so) will better your shooting performance in every way, then you're lying to yourself.

Im on a low carb diet so I am substituting pork skins for pop corn

TroopA,

I don't think the issue in this thread, is modern vs. outdated bows. We have been talking about speed vs what you give up to get it. Assume we're talking about a brand new '05 bow. For instance, I could take my brand new bow, with 8.5" brace, and shoot 800 grains arrows out of it at 60 lbs. I could get an absolutely perfect arrow flight and a super quiet shot, but one thing I won't get is great speed - and I wouldn't care even a little bit.

Arthur P wrote: If all things other than KE and mass are equal, that is if the geometry of the arrows are the same and the broad heads are equally sharp such that it takes an equal amount of force to “push” each arrow through the medium, then your statement is absolutely incorrect. All things being equal, arrows carrying equal kinetic energy will penetrate precisely the same amount.

Lets take 2 arrows each carrying 100 ft/lbs of kinetic energy. If there weights are 300 and 600 grains then they will be traveling at 387 and 274 ft/sec respectively. If each “pushes” its way into a medium that for their geometry requires 146 pounds of force you can calculate the penetration for each. I won’t bore everyone with the calculations but the answer is 0.68 feet for both of them. The faster arrow will penetrate to this depth in roughly 3.5 milliseconds and the slower in 5 milliseconds. Just for fun I did the same calculations on an arrow carrying 50 ft/lbs KE that weighed 800 grains. It therefore would be traveling 168 ft/sec and would penetrate this same medium 0.34 feet in a little over 4 milliseconds.