Arrow weight for Mule Deer and Elk

[Eastonsgrandpa]

What kind of weights are people using to have for both species?

Winter is arrow building time for me and I’m debating a couple components.

I want speed of 280-ish, so calculating weights and shooting through my chrono.

I think I’m about to what I want to shoot, but always like to hear the theories on what folks find is best.

I know people swing from lighter to ultra heavy. I’m kind of a middle of the road guy with a bit more up front.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

You've already landed on one important criteria, 280 fps, i like that number too. Get the spine right for the arrow weight that gets you there and you're golden. Pinwheel software can really help you run various combos without having to build a bunch of one-off arrows, there's normally a free 1 week trial.

 

[hiker270]

My arrow weight with a 125 gr broadhead is about 425 gr. That's probably middle of the road also. My setup stays the same for deer, bear, and elk.

 

[4rcgoat]

Easton axis out of 70# bow. No idea the speed,but arrows are 480 grains all loaded up for elk and deer.

 

[Jbxl20]

70lb Vxr
Axis 300 @ 28”
50 gr brass insert
100gr annihilator with Easton adapter ring
3 fletch AAE vanes with wrap
Deer and elk
Very happy with this setup for the last few years.
I’m primarily a whitetail guy but planning a AZ trip for deer and thinking about tinkering with some rip tko for farther shots

 

[Billy Goat]

The best is an arrow that is coming out dead straight. I have always been on the light side of things, not going to say that's the best for everyone, but it has worked best for me and how/where I hunt.


8/9 of my elk were taken with arrows sub 400gr. No issues, even with big mechanical heads. I think a better recommendation is around 450 gr, but there's a whole lot of variables. I like being 285-295 fps, too many times I end up with narrow tunnels to shoot thru, I need an arrow that shoots pretty flat. If you aren't in the dark timber and dead fall, have some more open terrain I can't see much of a detriment to having another 75 or 100 grs. Elk and Mule deer aren't exactly jumpy animals, don't need a laser to get there. I spent some time with a heavier/slower setup that took me down to 260 fps, I hated it.


I think it will always be best to use as much weight as you can, while still keeping your speed adequate. That speed adequate changes by person and situation. If hunting the east and max range was 30 yards from a tree or blind, I'd probably go way heavy, enough to get ne down around 245-255 fos and have a nice and quiet bow.

I spent several years hunting with old guys who weren't drawing north of 60#, had arrows that were sub 400, and they killed elk/bear/deer without issues. Fortunately didn't have the internet to tell them it didn't work. They weren't shooting 60 yards, they kept shots around 40-45 and in.

Good broadheads, straight flight, being able to hit behind your pin shooting from hunting positions, that's the recipe for success.

 

[Bowhunter413]

I haven't shot an elk with it but what has worked best for me is figuring out the heaviest arrow that still allows me to shoot around 300 fps for deer. This is a little easier with a 30-1/2" draw at 70#'s but it usually puts my arrow weight around 475grs and they hit like hammers. Have gotten a pass through on all 3 mule deer I've shot and will be taking this setup west next fall for elk with high confidence.

 

[Billy Goat]

I'll elaborate just a little more. I feel like there's windows for tuning broadheads. Below 280 fps, it's pretty dern simple. Doesn't take much to get broadheads flying well. 280-300 it starts to get trickier. Just need to really make sure that arrow is coming out straight. But you can get good consistent flight. Once you get past 300 it's kinda like shooting bareshafts at distance, it's not forgiving of form flaws whatsoever. I don't think it's very good for hunting. Too many times you are shooting from a position where you won't be perfect, trying to lean around a tree, etc.


I just bring this up because in discussing weight, you are frequently making a decision on speed.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I tested a bow a few years ago to see what the speed/arrow weight change was, and for what i was shooting the 5 grains/fps rule of thumb tracked pretty much perfectly from like 400-700 grains. So, either you pick a speed and let that drive your arrow weight goal, or you pick an arrow weight and live with whatever speed you get from that bow/cam/letoff/draw length. The OP seems to have picked the speed he wants first.

 

[Billy Goat]

I tested a bow a few years ago to see what the speed/arrow weight change was, and for what i was shooting the 5 grains/fps rule of thumb tracked pretty much perfectly from like 400-700 grains. So, either you pick a speed and let that drive your arrow weight goal, or you pick an arrow weight and live with whatever speed you get from that bow/cam/letoff/draw length. The OP seems to have picked the speed he wants first.

Should be about 3/1 gr/fps.

What bow? DL?

 

[ResearchinStuff]

RPM 360, 28.5 draw. let me double check my numbers, I could have sworn it was 5 gr/fps.

 

[Billy Goat]

RPM 360, 28.5 draw. let me double check my numbers, I could have sworn it was 5 gr/fps.

It could have been. Thats why I asked the bow/DL.

My rule of thumb has been 3.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

looks like I deleted the spreadsheet when I ditched the bow. could be misremembering the details, it's been 3 years. The main point for me was that no matter what I read/watched from the ashby foundation propaganda there was no point within a remotely reasonable arrow weight where you could add arrow weight and the gained "efficiency" from the bow did not reduce velocity to a measurable extent.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

The main point for me was that no matter what I read/watched from the ashby foundation propaganda there was no point within a remotely reasonable arrow weight where you could add arrow weight and the gained "efficiency" from the bow did not reduce velocity to a measurable extent.

Adding weight to an arrow decreases its speed but (typically) increases its kinetic energy, which is the basis of the increased efficiency claim (i.e., more efficient transfer of energy from the bow to the arrow). The KE increase is very small though and not worth considering when choosing an arrow weight. I generally disagree with the Ashby crowd's advice on arrow weight (especially their ridiculous ethical arrow weight chart), but they are correct on the trivial point that a heavier arrow improves energy transfer efficiency.

 

[whaack]

What kind of weights are people using to have for both species?

Winter is arrow building time for me and I’m debating a couple components.

I want speed of 280-ish, so calculating weights and shooting through my chrono.

I think I’m about to what I want to shoot, but always like to hear the theories on what folks find is best.

I know people swing from lighter to ultra heavy. I’m kind of a middle of the road guy with a bit more up front.

The heaviest arrow you can with a fps between 270-290. All this crazy heavy arrow weight is bogus.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cornfedkiller]

I just bring this up because in discussing weight, you are frequently making a decision on speed.

I had been shooting a certain setup for years and years, but decided last year that I wanted a little more weight up front, so I got new (lighter) arrows and added 50gr up front, which increased my overall weight by 50gr over my old setup. I shoot with a MBG moveable sight, so I tore the sight tape off and hit the range..

I expected to lose about 10-12 fps. Made my new marks for all my yardages and then went to match up which tape corresponded to my marks... ended up with the same tape as I was using before. Not sure how that works..

 

[Billy Goat]

I had been shooting a certain setup for years and years, but decided last year that I wanted a little more weight up front, so I got new (lighter) arrows and added 50gr up front, which increased my overall weight by 50gr over my old setup. I shoot with a MBG moveable sight, so I tore the sight tape off and hit the range..

I expected to lose about 10-12 fps. Made my new marks for all my yardages and then went to match up which tape corresponded to my marks... ended up with the same tape as I was using before. Not sure how that works..

It doesn't actually. However I do know that at 40 yards it's not a huge amount of difference when you have 30 grains more. From my shooting machine the difference is 3/4 of an inch at 41 yards for 30 grains. That was 10 fps difference.

What I'm talking about is 30 fps difference which is more like 100 grains difference. At 60 yards that gets to be a fair difference in arc.

 

[nphunter]

Currently, I'm at 500gr TAW, a lot of that weight is on the tip of my arrow, 100gr IW inserts, 25gr collars and 100gr heads. I've had great luck with these on elk with large mechanicals, I will say similar to Billy that about half of my elk died to COC fixed heads with a sub 400gr arrow. One of my all-time favorite setups was an Easton A/C Injexion tipped with a solid legend 100gr head, these came in about 390gr and were awesome on elk. The lightest arrow I've used on an elk was a 330gr CT Cheetah with a shuttle T coming from a 60lb bow.

If setting up a new arrow now that mechanicals are legal in almost every state I would opt for a lighter arrow shooting over 300fps. I was always after the 280fps number as well when I was shooting fixed heads, I was able to tune some legends at 315fps but that took a lot of effort and good form to pull off. I don't personally ever see going back to a fixed head and would prefer the trajectory of the faster arrow. Some may argue that it isn't that noticeable but if you want to find out for yourself go shoot some unmarked 3D with a 315fps arrow and then a 280fps arrow, you will see a major difference in score.

If you are planning on fixed heads shooting 280 is a good idea and I would build whichever arrow meets that criteria. If you're going to shoot mechanicals then the 280fps doesn't matter and IMO the more the better within reason. My main driver for switching to mechanicals was blood, I am color blind and really struggle to track, after switching and having good luck I don't see any negatives so far.

 

[LoveOverAll]

I shoot 68lbs at a 29" draw. I've had very good success with Blackhawk Vapor 4000's. Including tip my arrows are in the 425grain range and are flying at 260fps right on the nose. This set up has blasted right through some big mulies and a couple of elk (broadside shots).

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Love this discussion. Everyone is pretty balanced and that’s encouraging. Seems that everything being talked about anymore is the extreme FOC and logs for arrows. That may be a great idea on a pig at 20 yards but sure doesn’t compute out west.

I’ve settled on 455 grains flying at 282 fps. Will be carrying three arrows tipped with a Valkyrie blood eagle and two with a Sevr. And one with a grouse thumper of course.

Appreciate all the responses.