Arrow weight for Mule Deer and Elk

[doc holiday13]

I'm sure the ashby foundation has some thoughts on this. Probably need at least an 800g arrow if I can recall their latest chart for arrow weights


But in actuality..., as long as you have a good broadhead, you can shoot an elk with a 400g arrow and be fine

 

[S.Clancy]

I'm shooting a 530 gr arrow around 275-276 fps. This is for deer, elk, antelope.

I've killed with much lighter, like 430-440 gr. But my bow is much quieter with the heavy arrow.

 

[sdboyle73]

I’ve been shooting a 475 grain setup out of Mathews VXR 31.5 and the V3X 33 at 75# 29” I’m getting 286’. It’s been easy tuning fixed blade broad heads. It’s performed great on elk and deer. I get great penetration and pass through a on most of the bulls I shoot.

 

[Wapiti1]

Current arrow is Easton 6.5 cut to 27", 50gr insert, 125gr broadhead, 10gr lighted nock, 18gr of fletching. Ends up at 460gr. Lots of dead animals with this setup and no reason to change. This shoots at 283fps from my Elite Enkore at 70lbs 28" draw.

Used to shoot Beman ICS shafts without the brass insert or lighted nock. Those were about 420gr. Never had any issues with those on elk and deer.

The 50gr insert helped with tuning for me, so I moved to them. Otherwise, I don't do anything to get to a specific arrow weight. I want it to tune and fly well. That's my only real criteria.

Jeremy

 

[Jbxl20]

out of my Vxr with 29” draw and @ 69lbs
I measured 275 fps with ~500gr arrow
And 286fps with a 460gr arrrow.

 

[Dennis]

Okay I'll be odd man out. To answer your basic question my set up will not approach 280 fps so it does not matter if your only goal is 280 fps. I had a similar set up (280 fps) two years ago with a 425 grain arrow. I have now gone heavy and have accepted the trade off in trajectory. My effective range (60 yards) has not changed, but lethality has increased (in my opinion) and animal reactions are different making tracking much easier. At age 71 all I can say is I have made a full circle and wished I had read and understood the Ashby Study years ago. My set up is crazy to all you young guys and that okay, but after 50 plus years of bowhunting I only wish I would have made these changes years ago. Good luck to all!

Mathews V3 65 lbs, 29.25" with Ashby 11 factor A+ arrow

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Current arrow is Easton 6.5 cut to 27", 50gr insert, 125gr broadhead, 10gr lighted nock, 18gr of fletching. Ends up at 460gr. Lots of dead animals with this setup and no reason to change. This shoots at 283fps from my Elite Enkore at 70lbs 28" draw.

Used to shoot Beman ICS shafts without the brass insert or lighted nock. Those were about 420gr. Never had any issues with those on elk and deer.

The 50gr insert helped with tuning for me, so I moved to them. Otherwise, I don't do anything to get to a specific arrow weight. I want it to tune and fly well. That's my only real criteria.

Jeremy

That's the ticket. Accuracy is king. Yes, a 600 grain arrow will hit hard, but if the animal moves three feet and trajectory causes a miss or a bad hit, then it's all for nothing. I'm with you. Even if there's a movement of the animal and I misjudge, I'm in the vitals still. With a good head and a well tuned bow, this is far more ethical to me.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Okay I'll be odd man out. To answer your basic question my set up will not approach 280 fps so it does not matter if your only goal is 280 fps. I had a similar set up (280 fps) two years ago with a 425 grain arrow. I have now gone heavy and have accepted the trade off in trajectory. My effective range (60 yards) has not changed, but lethality has increased (in my opinion) and animal reactions are different making tracking much easier. At age 71 all I can say is I have made a full circle and wished I had read and understood the Ashby Study years ago. My set up is crazy to all you young guys and that okay, but after 50 plus years of bowhunting I only wish I would have made these changes years ago. Good luck to all!

Mathews V3 65 lbs, 29.25" with Ashby 11 factor A+ arrow

I'm certainly not young. Wish I was. 53. And if that setup works for you, I say give it hell. I think for me, it's about these mountains I am on and the fact that there is a very high likelihood of needing a follow up shot on an elk. My comfort range is out to 80 if the shot is perfect and the animal doesn't know I exist. But if it gives me the opportunity at a follow up, I want to be able to send one at whatever range that is. And sometimes that's 120. I practice to that yardage if that ever is the case. Would love to have all shots be within 30 but where I hunt, that is rarely the case. Glad the heavy is working well for you.

 

[stanginthe11s]

your distances bring me to question. at what point (distance) do you feel you should swap weight for speed or vice versa? if a heavy arrow maintains speed better and has more momentum, would you not be better off heavy at say 100+ yrds. I feel like a light fast arrow would lose more KE and momentum over that distance. inside 50-60 yrds I don't think it matters and I would choose fast and flat. hopefully I asked that correctly.

 

[Dennis]

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

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

Thanks for asking

 

[Billy Goat]

your distances bring me to question. at what point (distance) do you feel you should swap weight for speed or vice versa? if a heavy arrow maintains speed better and has more momentum, would you not be better off heavy at say 100+ yrds. I feel like a light fast arrow would lose more KE and momentum over that distance. inside 50-60 yrds I don't think it matters and I would choose fast and flat. hopefully I asked that correctly.

Energy at range.

I have started playing around with a few different shaft weights. Kinda getting late to change anything but I got curious and wanted to play a little. Has anyone, or does anyone know where information has been posted on retained velocity? I'm thinking of setting my Chrono up and getting...

rokslide.com

Here's some numbers from a few years ago. I didn't try anything that heavy (still sub 500), and while the lighter arrows lost more velocity, personally I don't feel like the difference is that bad.

Lots of programs you can play with to generate the numbers.


Keep in mind aggressive fletching ( heavy helical for example) can increase speed loss too. So if you are using a heavy arrow with a lot of fletching to overcome a large broadhead it's going to slow faster than just a heavy arrow with offset

 

[Bump79]

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.

This.

 

[Wilderlife]

I don't hunt elk or mule deer but will be hunting reds, fallow, pigs and goats.

Currently shooting a 500gn arrow at 269fps. Bow is a 2022 Omen - 68#, 27.5in DL and S2 cam.

Going to put some new strings on it soon and use the opportunity to tune up some new arrows that are a little bit lighter - mainly because I like the idea of something a little faster and 470gn is still going to flatten anything I need it to, but also because the stockist of my original 300s is out of stock so I need something different now.

I'm aware that the extra speed is mainly to make me feel better mentally and make it a little better when shooting competitions over here, as a fallow deer likely won't know the difference between getting hit with a 470gn or 500gn arrow.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

your distances bring me to question. at what point (distance) do you feel you should swap weight for speed or vice versa? if a heavy arrow maintains speed better and has more momentum, would you not be better off heavy at say 100+ yrds. I feel like a light fast arrow would lose more KE and momentum over that distance. inside 50-60 yrds I don't think it matters and I would choose fast and flat. hopefully I asked that correctly.

Below is retained KE data from some testing the Ashby guys did a while back. At 60 yds, they saw at most 5% improvement in KE retention between a moderate weight arrow (≈475 gr) and a ridiculously heavy 700+ gr arrow. The longer the distance, the more I would lean toward a lighter/faster arrow. IMO flatter trajectory/smaller pin gaps is far more important at longer ranges than a small increase in terminal KE.

 

[stanginthe11s]

yeah, all the testing I've seen and done have been around that 60 yd mark. the OP stated possible 120 yds and I wasn't sure when the diminishing returns kicked in. I ran Billy's #'s and if they were static or no variables it would only be 5 KE difference.

 

[cuttingedge]

Well, have watched some penetration tests (talking arrows here ), and almost always the lighter arrows beat the heavy ones everything else being equal. I'm talking 350 to 425 grains.

If you are shooting deer from a tree stand, you shoot as heavy as you want.

Everything is a compromise. A heavy arrow will rob a lot of speed and drop much quicker. Misjudged yardage and you have a miss or worse a wounded animal that you may not recover. Go with an arrow weighing more than 350 grains and know your effective range and it should be fine.

 

[Wapiti1]

yeah, all the testing I've seen and done have been around that 60 yd mark. the OP stated possible 120 yds and I wasn't sure when the diminishing returns kicked in. I ran Billy's #'s and if they were static or no variables it would only be 5 KE difference.

I would say that 50 yards is where you start to see something significant trajectory wise between say a 260fps setup and a 280fps setup.

So much goes into penetration and speed retention that isn't being measured. Broadhead type and diameter, fletching config, arrow diameter, etc.

One thing that has not been mentioned is time of flight. I have seen enough deer and elk jump the string that TOF is more important to me than any of the KE commentary. It takes so little energy to punch through to the vitals that it's not really relevant IMO. But a tenth of a second at 65 yards on a mule deer is a dead deer or a long day tracking and hoping. Watch some slow motion video of animals jumping the string, a tenth of a second is inches of impact change.

Temper the above commentary with the arrow has to tune and shoot consistently.

Jeremy

 

[Billy Goat]

I would say that 50 yards is where you start to see something significant trajectory wise between say a 260fps setup and a 280fps setup.

So much goes into penetration and speed retention that isn't being measured. Broadhead type and diameter, fletching config, arrow diameter, etc.

One thing that has not been mentioned is time of flight. I have seen enough deer and elk jump the string that TOF is more important to me than any of the KE commentary. It takes so little energy to punch through to the vitals that it's not really relevant IMO. But a tenth of a second at 65 yards on a mule deer is a dead deer or a long day tracking and hoping. Watch some slow motion video of animals jumping the string, a tenth of a second is inches of impact change.

Temper the above commentary with the arrow has to tune and shoot consistently.

Jeremy

Try whitetail.


Deer and elk stand there for an eternity.



Haven't hunted them, I believe Coues Deer will put a WT to shame on reaction.

 

[Wapiti1]

Try whitetail.


Deer and elk stand there for an eternity.



Haven't hunted them, I believe Coues Deer will put a WT to shame on reaction.

I try whitetails every year. Its rare to shoot past 30 yards, for me. Yes, they are another level of jumpy.

Jeremy

 

[Billy Goat]

On the topic of arrow flight....


It's interesting to think for example, that an animal that has a reaction time of say .3 seconds.


The difference of .4 and .5 seconds is twice the movement, or twice the time for movement.