Draw weight cutoff for hybrid

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Interested in opinions here.

What do folks feel is a draw weight cutoff where you would no longer use a hybrid head?

This would be for any North American animal from elk down.

And for those who don’t pull the standard number 70 but have had success, what’s your specs?

 

[Shooter Mike]

Kind of hard to say. 65# and 27" is a lot different than 65# and 30" draw. For each pound of draw weight you gain roughly 2fps. For each inch of draw length you gain roughly 10fps. Velocity is a factor in calculating both KE and MO. KE will be important for ensuring the broadhead opens. At 65# and 27" and 275 - 280fps, I would have no reservations about shooting a hybrid (assuming it's of high quality). The KE for that would probably be in the range of 75-77ft lbs

 

[Bump79]

Kind of hard to say. 65# and 27" is a lot different than 65# and 30" draw. For each pound of draw weight you gain roughly 2fps. For each inch of draw length you gain roughly 10fps. Velocity is a factor in calculating both KE and MO. KE will be important for ensuring the broadhead opens. At 65# and 27" and 275 - 280fps, I would have no reservations about shooting a hybrid (assuming it's of high quality). The KE for that would probably be in the range of 75-77ft lbs

I agree with Shooter Mike. It is more of a KE dependent question in my opinion. So you've got to take into account the bow and the draw length. If you've got a 30" draw like me and a newer efficient compound you can get away with much lower draw weights. You can manipulate momentum some to make up for it, but I don't think you can get all the way there with a low KE setup.

I'd also say it depends on what distance you are limiting yourself to with the hybrid head. Everything is a give and take. For example - one main benefit of a hybrid or mechanical style head is forgiving flight, primarily at distance. However, if you're low on energy then the velocity you're shooting is much lower. Meaning that the planing force that you're broadhead is experiencing is much less so it's easier to get more stable flight than at 295+ fps. And since you're arrow is slower you need to bring you're shots in closer to minimize movement. So what you're gaining with that hybrid mech head over a good flying fixed blade really isn't so much BUT you're trading penetration.

Something like an Evolution seems to perform well with the cut on contact tip. If you sharpened it and have a perfect tune - you probably can do better than most. If you're not the best at tuning and shooting I'd say the cutoff might be lower. I'd say the cutoff for the average hunter on elk should be around 75 ft-lb. Deer and antelope like 60 ft-lb. These are just guess though realistically and range dependent.

Since most calculators don't seem to be very accurate, I generated what I think is a better KE and speed calc than most out there. It's fun to play with.

Arrow Speed, KE and Momentum Calculator — The Arrow Builder

Many online arrow/bow speed calculators use an oversimplified calculation to determine arrow launch velocity. This results in inaccurate results, especially at higher grain weights. Increasing arrow mass always will lead to marginal increases in KE, meaning the bow gets more efficient as grain wei

www.thearrowbuilder.com

 

[Skerhunter]

In general I wouldn’t suggest anyone shoot a mechanical at elk if you are below 28” and 70lbs. Even then I would still be cautious about shot angles based on fixed blade performance I have personally seen. Not saying it definitely won’t work but a single lung elk shot can turn into a long recovery. 28+ and 70+lbs I wouldn’t worry about it as much.

For deer sized game I would stick to fixed blades for under 27” and 70lbs as a general rule.

For elk quartering to/frontal and hard quartering away I don’t expect pass throughs (bury to fletching) for fixed heads and shooters up to 28” and 70lbs. Which matches what a mechanical in the same set up and a quartering away shot on a deer. Broadside I would expect pass throughs for both scenarios.

 

[Trial153]

I think your cut off personally is lower than a straight mechanical, if it it has coc leading edges.

 

[Beendare]

I think your cut off personally is lower than a straight mechanical, if it it has coc leading edges.

I would agree. I know of guys shooting hybrids at 50# [compound]

I do think these heads benefit from a little bit more arrow weight behind them

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Interesting perspectives. I used to shoot 76 pounds but usually take a couple months off after season and when I get back I draw it down to 65. I’ve since decided I love it there.

Will be carrying Sevr Hybrids and Evolution Hydes.

My arrows are 440 grains going 283 with 74 KE ft pds.

 

[Trial153]

My experience with SevR hybrids this year is that they penetrate as good or better than the 1.5s, sample size is four all
pass though on deer

 

[vaeVictis]

Interesting perspectives. I used to shoot 76 pounds but usually take a couple months off after season and when I get back I draw it down to 65. I’ve since decided I love it there.

Will be carrying Sevr Hybrids and Evolution Hydes.

My arrows are 440 grains going 283 with 74 KE ft pds.

Plenty of power there. You'll be fine.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

My experience with SevR hybrids this year is that they penetrate as good or better than the 1.5s, sample size is four all
pass though on deer

Good to hear. I’ve never shot an animal with them but they’ve killed a lot of my foam.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Plenty of power there. You'll be fine.

I think so. I think we give elk a little too much hype. Definitely a tough animal but I think the biggest issue is their thick and coarse hair. Easily dulls subpar blades. I’ll strop all of the heads as I usually do and make sure they are shaving hair.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

It is all situation and archer dependant. I dropped from my normal 72lbs @ 29.5 in to 62lbs @ 29.5 inches just to see if the arrow would bounce off the deer... it didn't. In my opinion you could use a small hybrid such as a Sevr 1.5 Hybrid and be fine with all animals from Elk down at 60lbs at reasonable ranges with any of the newer compound bows, maybe even 55lbs if you have a decently long draw.

What you do lose by lowering your draw weight is arrow speed which in turn reduces your "range forgiveness". So you have to be very diligent with ranging the animal as accurately as possible.