Bow speed

[rharm]

How important is bow speed? I'm shooting a High Country Power Force X1 with a round cam, purchased around 2000 or 2001. Not sure what speed it is shooting, but I'm sure it is quite a bit slower than the bows being sold today. What are the disadvantages of shooting a slower bow? I am still shooting aluminum arrows with a flipper style rest. Not sure if a new bow is possible in the near future, would I benefit greatly from switching to carbon arrows? Any thoughts on a whisker biscuit as far as speed wise?

[Jim Uran]

Swithing to a lighter arrow will help you out with the speed thing. However, I never felt that speed was all that important. I don't think a whisker biscuit will help you out with speed. The only advantage of a biscuit in my opinion is that the arrow won't fall out of the rest!

I don't have any experience with that bow, but I know it's faster than the one I killed my first deer with. Heck that thing was old, an old Browning Nomad.

I think being confident with what you are shooting out to 20-25 yards is all a person needs.

[charliepete]

The biggest benefit of a fast bow is that it flattens trajectory and minimizes the effects of making an incorrect distance judgment. With a fast bow, if you pick the 20 yard pin instead of the 30 yard pin you'll probably still be in the pie plate kill zone of a deer. To some degree speed determines how much penetration your arrow will get, but on whitetails and black bears any 60# set up made in the laste few decades will have more than enough power.

Lots of folks loves their whisker biscuits, I'm not a fan because of the increased drag on the arrow (which reduces fps, but not much 5 - 7 fps) and they tend to mess up fletches.

Carbon arrows can definitely increase arrow speed because they weigh quite a bit less than aluminum. They are also a little quieter to tote through the woods. Personally if you are shooting your current set up well, I'd stick with it since we are so close to the opener.

Instead of being so keyed in on speed, I'd spend the extra dough on a laser range finder so you know how far it is to what you are shooting at.

[Scoot]

Speed is nice, but not nearly as important as being able to hit the spot you're aiming at inside of 25 yards (where most whitetail shots happen). Your bow will do fine if you put the arrow where you want to on a deer.

I'm a much bigger proponent of a quiet bow than a fast bow. Shooting heavier arrows will reduce your speed, but it will also A) give you more kinetic energy (good for penetration) and make your bow quieter.

If you are accurate and shooting a fairly quiet set up, you're just fine.

[archerystud]

Quiet is more important than speed to a point. I don't think you are loosing too much speed from a 2000 model bow.

For hunting whitetails in MN I limit my range to 35 yards. It's not that I can't shoot a lot farther. But I'm concerned about hitting a twig, adrenalin rush, etc. etc.

Now if I were heading out West to hunt elk I would increase my range based on the size of the animal. So with that I may get a little more concerned with speed so that my trajectory was flatter and the fact that I may need a little more power on impact....

[Dan189]

I agree with Scoot. Earlier this summer I had my bow cranked to the max at ~72lbs, 29.5. I was shooting enough to make it work, but the bow sounded more like a shotgun, then a bow.

About 3 weeks ago and lowered it down to 60-62lbs, and I like it alot better. I like practicing a long 60-120 sec, hold, while you may not want to move if your being eyed by a brute. And its much more comfortable at 62 rather than 72.

Im shooting Maxima PowerHunter 350g arrows with G5 striker broadheads. So I have more than enough force at 60lbs, or less if I wanted it.

[vister]

A lot of people I think would be pretty suprised at the actual speed of their arrows. A lot of places don't recommend shooting through a chrono, cause a lot of people get mad when they find out the actual arrow speed. companies advertise IBO/ABO speed ratings. Only if your arrows were set up very light, would they achieve those speeds. My bow, a diamond victory, i believe has an IBO of 327. i think. I shot it through a chrono and got a speed of 278 ft/sec. actually, that was faster than i thought, as the overall weight of my arrow was 100 grains heavier than ibo tested. thats with a 28.5inch draw, and 71 lb draw weight. each inch you shorten the draw steals 10 ft/sec off your speed!

like mentioned, kinetic energry is more important than arrow speed, however, ke is affected by speed. If a bow shoots slow, id almost recommned a heavier arrow, just to increase the ke. if a bow shoots fast, then shoot a lighter arrow, because with more velocity, you can shoot a lighter arrow, and still achieve ke. you only need about 25 lbs of kinetic energy to take a whitetail. personnally i think like this because a fast bow should shoot light arrows because you can shoot it at longer ranges. slower bows, can't be shot too effectively at longer ranges, so load er up with a heavier arrow. just my thoughts

[slabchaser]

with modern bows, bow speed is not important. If you can consistantly hit near the bullseye at ranges that are within your means then speed means very little. A dodge viper and a ford focus both get you to church on time.

[bottom-bouncer]

will somebody please find the mathamatical equation for kinetic energy.. I am almost positive that fastewr and lighter does NOT equate to more or even the same amount of kinetic energy produced by a slow and heavy arrow based on the simple theory of newtons law an object in motoin stays in motion untill acted upon by a outside force (gravity) a lighter arrow will lose a lot kinetic energy faster down range than a heavier arrow traveling slower will because there is less weight to slow down with a lighter arrow. similiar trying to stop a small car versus a tractor trailer

[vister]

a car and semi can have the same kinetic energy. fast small car, heavy slow semi. same concept. KE equation is velocityXvelocityXtotal arrow weight divided by 450,240. but, you have to have your arrow shot through a chronograph to find the actual speed, and weighed to find the exact weight. or do the weight math yourself. but remember, the weight in grains per inch on an arrow are on a bare shaft. keep in mind nock, insert, fletching, and the fieldpoint!

instead of doing math manually for the equation, you can google "arrow kinetic calculator"

[Archerysniper]

320gr arrow at 305fps = 66 Ftlbs

420gr arrow at 265fps = 66 Ftlbs

420gr arrow at 280fps = 73 Ftlbs

320gr arrow at 320fps = 73 Ftlbs

500gr arrow at 235fps = 61 Ftlbs

25-45 Ft.Lbs for Deer

42-65 Ft.Lbs for Elk,Black Bear

>65 Ft.Lbs Tough Game Grizzly,Cape Buffalo

[Scoot]

bottom bouncer, you're very generally right- you can change weight and get a quick jump in KE. Also, you can keep increasing your KE for a very LONG time by increasing weight. There's certainly a point of diminishing returns once you get heavy enough, but it takes a really heavy arrow to get to the point where you're not gaining KE anymore.

One thing to keep in mind with the info from Archerysniper is that the guidlines for KE for the animals he mentioned are very general ones and not hard and fast. Many sources will provide very different numbers for different types of game. He lists ">65" for Cape Buff, but I've also seen a minimum of "90" listed at other sources. I'm not disagreeing with him, just pointing out that there's nothing written in stone and no right/wrong cut off.

Also, and I think importnatly, you'll be far less likely to have problems being towards the top of, or above, the ranges he provided. Being at the bottom of those ranges is generally less than ideal. Can an arrow with a KE of 25 kill a deer? Sure (I'm pretty sure the first deer I ever shot was with a set up like that). Is it ideal? No. There's a huge debate going on about this on several archery boards online, but my question is: why go in with the minimum when it's really easy for most people to shoot an arrow with more KE?

[charliepete]

My Katera XL gets 285 fps with a 540 grain arrow and a 29" draw. That puts the kinetic energy at 97.42. All things being equal I like a heavy arrow at moderate speed. If things don't go right it can blow through shoulders and snaps spines in most cases. It's also quiet. A number of years back I bought my own chrono. You'd be surprised what things affect fps. Where you position string leeches, what type of peep etc, if you're pulled solidly into the back wall of your bow etc.

[Leaddog]

I think speed in general is over rated, especially when it comes to arrows. To me penetration is the whole point. I use heavy arrows with big broadheads and get plenty of punch for it. The setup is more for elk which is my focus all summer practicing. After a couple weeks west I sure don't lighten up for whitetails (though I will turn down for turkeys bu with the same arrows.) I want my setup to always perform the same everytime. When it comes to archery, speed doesn't kill, it takes adequate penetration. The goal should be Pass Through.

In this months Bowhunting World there are two good articles. One on arrow speed/penetration and another on real world elk hunting. Both are right on target.

Like others have said, just be confident in what you shoot.

Oh yeah, Come on September!

[Dan189]

I love how this has turned into a physics 101 lesson, is there going to be a quiz?