Arrow speed vs weight

[blutooth]

Would you guys run these arrows or would you go back to the drawing board? Mule deer only at this point. The same arrows with 100 or 125 gr field tips. It’s an old bow, 2012 pse @ 70lbs


510gr arrow at 254fps with 12.2% foc

Or

486gr arrow at 260fps with 10% foc

I know the perfect answer is build new arrows, but are these good enough? Or just too slow...

 

[Brendan]

Speed difference is irrelevant there, I'd go with the heavier one.

Only downside to both with the low speed is range estimation at longer ranges, more important to know the range more accurately the further out you go. Do some testing at your max hunting range - how bad is a miss if you're off by 2 yards, 5 yards, etc? E.g. set your site to 60 yards and step to 63 or 65, how far low do you miss? You get this with every arrow, but magnified the slower they're going.

They'll both be quiet, and plenty fast and heavy enough to smoke a Muley or an Elk for that matter.

 

[bsnedeker]

I'd want faster arrows for jumpy whitetails out of a tree stand but I think you'll be fine on muleys. In order to get a meaningful increase in speed you would need to shoot a ridiculously light arrow.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[ZDR]

I have found this calculator quite useful for understanding what different arrow weights will yield in terms of velocity. I started a spreadsheet and have been chronoing the arrows I have, comparing it to the output of the calculator and find it to be +/- 3 FPS. Using arrow mfg websites, I can then build hypothetical arrows and see how they would compare to my current set up.
Your set up seems plenty fast for hunting.

ArcheryCalc – Backcountry Bowhunting

backcountrybowhunting.com

 

[CApighunter]

I wouldn’t sweat 6 fps difference, I’d go heavy. Realistically you could flip a coin and be fine either way.

 

[Zac]

I just wouldn't shoot that slow. I had a 650 grainer going at 250 and it was a complete turd. You can shoot a relatively light arrow as long as you have an extremely sharp COC fixed blade. Robby Denning shoots 380 grain arrows tipped with Iron Wills.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Doesn’t matter. Does one shoot better? Is one quieter out of your bow? Do you “like” one better? Do you have more confidence in one?

 

[nphunter]

Personally I would build a lighter arrow and get a little better trajectory if I was just hunting mule deer. I do like a heavier arrow but only because I'm shooting mechanicals at elk and need to be able to tune fixed heads. My current arrow is 485gr and will easily push a 2" cut Trypan through a mature bull elk.

You would be shooting a 420ish grain arrow at around 280fps which would be a good setup and would also work for elk with a good fixed broadhead. I have killed deer and elk with arrows weighing from 330gr to 490gr and the main reason I got away from lighter arrows was that with newer bows I got to the point where my arrows were traveling too fast to tune fixed broadheads and be consistent. The last deer I shot with my bow was with a 390gr arrow going 315fps, I've never failed to get a pass-through on a mule deer regardless of arrow and broadhead choice. Elk are different but even then with a good broadhead I rarely haven't gotten a pass-through even with lighter arrows with good sharp heads they zip right through.

100% the most important aspect is accuracy and confidence if you are comfortable shooting at those speeds that arrow will do a great job of killing whatever you hit with it. If you feel like you want a lighter faster setup then you don't need to worry about it not working well, shoot what makes you feel the most confident. Personally I don't like shooting much below 280fps because my trajectory is worse and I'm not a great judge of distance and sometimes you don't have that extra few seconds to dig out a range finder and get an exact range. For those times I like having a setup that will be more forgiving in that category. Some guys have the self control to always get a perfect range or not take the shot, I am not that guy and I want to do what I can to make the most accurate shot as possible and have the arrow land the closest to the mark.

If I were only hunting deer in a state where it was legal I would be shooting an arrow that weighed around 400gr, around 310fps with a strong mechanical head and be very happy. I also hunt elk every year and hunt in states where expandables are not legal yet so I have to have an arrow that is forgiving when shooting fixed heads, works good for deer and elk and still gives me good trajectory. For me that arrow needs to be around 480gr which moves at about 285fps, it is devastating to whatever it hits and I can get it to tune very well with fixed heads.

 

[Beendare]

Speed difference is irrelevant there, I'd go with the heavier one.
.......

Agreed^

This is where the calculators screw you up. In the real world, I would bet you cannot tell a difference in trajectory at normal bowhunting distances between those 2 arrows.

________

 

[Trial153]

Flip a coin. All other thing equal It doesn't matter

 

[dkime]

488gr @ 260

 

[dkime]

510 @ 255

 

[406unltd]

I’d bump that weight down to about 430ish and get that speed around 275 give or take a few. Plenty heavy for a deer. Ive had a couple pass throughs on elk at 430 but my arrows were 299-301fps. You’ll be ok right about there and also have decent speed. Happy medium.....Good luck out there man

 

[dkime]

A 440gr/275fps arrow has 2.3" of drop per yard at 50yds compared to the 2.7" and 2.6" I listed above. Going lighter will not help your range estimation abilities, nor will it impact your T.O.F.. But if you want a louder bow and an arrow that is less durable I would highly suggest it.

 

[blutooth]

Thank you everyone. I’m going to stick with the heavier ones for a while and see how it goes. Chances are I’ll break them all by August and have to start over anyway. Lol