I've seen so much talk on multiple forums about what arrow or head is best for which bow, weight, speed, head type etc. I've shoot a lot of different arrows over the last several years and have been slowly narrowing down the perfect setup for me.
I like to have a balance, when shooting animals I have things that matter to me, here they are in the order that are the most important to me.
#1- Downrange accuracy
#2- Penetration
#3- Speed
#4- Ease to assemble
#5- Cost
#1
Number one often depends on build quality, spine, fletching and head type. I've landed on shooting a 4mm arrow that is on the light side of the spine chart. With all of the long glue in components, it's very easy to get over spined and from what I've seen from shooting 250-400 spine arrows the weaker spine arrows give me the best results at long 80-130 yard shots. Once I meet my goal on number one I will use that arrow the way it is and see if it makes criteria number two. If I'm shooting as accurately as I can and my arrows are blowing through everything that it touches, I will adjust the weight to find the sweet spot of accuracy, penetration and speed.
Note- Speed does help with accurate arrow placement when in a hunting situation, but IMO it isn't as important as making sure the arrow has enough momentum when it reaches the animal.
#2
To me number two is achieved when the majority of my arrows are hitting the dirt on the far side of an animal. I haven't found this to be an issue with good arrow flight from a 70lb, 27.5" draw weight with today's bows. Back when all I shot was COC fixed heads, I ended up with a pretty light arrow (390gr) but still zipped through everything they touched, mainly elk. I always felt like I was wasting energy in the dirt behind the animal. I knew a mechanical requires more energy so I went with a heavy 500gr arrow to ensure I had the momentum to push it through.
#3
Since making accuracy my number one priority, penetration has been a non-issue for me. That brings us to speed, over the last few years I have been dropping about 30gr each year trying to find that balance. I started with a 500gr arrow going about 270fps with a large mechanical broadhead. The 500gr setup zipped through every animal that it touched. I dropped to around 470gr after that still using a large mechanical, same result, zipped through multiple animals. This last fall I dropped to a 440gr/290fps arrow with another large cut mechanical head, I still zipped right through a mature bull elk with the setup but it is a much more forgiving setup than the 500gr setup. One thing I found was with speed and fixed heads is that you reach a point of diminishing returns for accuracy, much over 285fps they become much less forging and groups typically open up unless you are shooting with near-perfect form every shot. For a couple of seasons, I shot a COC head at 315fps with a 390gr arrow, the setup worked well but I was always stressed out on longer shots because even the slightest imperfection in my form and the arrow would miss it's mark by more than what I felt was acceptable.
#4
I've been all over the board with ease of building. I've always bought high-quality arrows, A/C Injexion, VAP V1's, RIP TKO V1's, Easton Axis Match Grade, BE Deep Impacts and Pro Comps. Same with components, all of my arrows over the past 10 years have been cut to the exact lengths, squared on both ends, components weighted and adjusted and I've mostly used high-end fixed heads with good tolerances and, Solid, IW, Rocky Mountain, Evolution and similar or Mech's. Components have been SS HIT's, D-6 for all the 4mm stuff and IW in the 5mm. Victory arrows definitely take more prep than Easton to get glue to stick well, epoxy or hot melt. The A/C Eastons were always the most forgiving arrows but not as durable as the others. By a large margin the most durable arrow I've ever used is the RIP TKO, I've built these in both 250 and 300 spine with IW components. However I've always like the flight characteristics of the 4mm arrows and how consistent the A/C arrows are so I'm currently shooting Pro Comp's since accuracy is my #1 priority.
Fletching wise I've used a little of everything from quick fletch heat shrinks with quick spins, to six fletch AAE's, I've spent dozens of hours over the years fletching arrows for me and my family. Last year I discovered EZ Vanes from Australia and they're phenomenal, they are slightly lighter than 3 AAE Max Stealths, more durable and group, and fly to the exact same POI at 100 yards other than they are slightly higher due to the weight. I don't foresee going back to traditional fletchings. I also started using glue in field points and broadheads and they are a game changer when it comes to ease of build. With the EZ Fletch and Glue in points I can have an arrow built from a bare shaft and be shooting it in under 10 min including squaring both ends.
#5
Finally cost, this has normally been my lowest priority, I'm sure many can tell based off of the arrows and components I've been using. One thing I consider though is that living in the western US, we only get an opportunity to kill a few animals every year, if I ruin a $30 arrow killing a mature bull IMO its money well spent. However I understand some people can kill dozens or more animals a year and an expensive arrow doesn't make since. One thing I've done to cut costs for me is to buy used in the classifieds, half of the arrows listed above were bought used and I either removed the inserts with a drill bit or cut the arrows to my length. The last dozen pro-comps I bought cost me $130 used, I was able to remove the fletchings and glue in points and I'm in the arrows less that half of what they cost new.
Hopefully, this info is helpful to someone. I did want to add that all the majority of the animals I kill are elk and when I'm talking about arrows zipping through animals I'm speaking of mature bull elk at 20-80 yards.
I'm currently shooting a Mach 34, 74lbs, 27.6" Draw. Arrow is a Procomp 340, 27", 150gr glue-in Evolution Hyde, 10gr collar and 3X .35" EZ fletch vanes.
I like to have a balance, when shooting animals I have things that matter to me, here they are in the order that are the most important to me.
#1- Downrange accuracy
#2- Penetration
#3- Speed
#4- Ease to assemble
#5- Cost
#1
Number one often depends on build quality, spine, fletching and head type. I've landed on shooting a 4mm arrow that is on the light side of the spine chart. With all of the long glue in components, it's very easy to get over spined and from what I've seen from shooting 250-400 spine arrows the weaker spine arrows give me the best results at long 80-130 yard shots. Once I meet my goal on number one I will use that arrow the way it is and see if it makes criteria number two. If I'm shooting as accurately as I can and my arrows are blowing through everything that it touches, I will adjust the weight to find the sweet spot of accuracy, penetration and speed.
Note- Speed does help with accurate arrow placement when in a hunting situation, but IMO it isn't as important as making sure the arrow has enough momentum when it reaches the animal.
#2
To me number two is achieved when the majority of my arrows are hitting the dirt on the far side of an animal. I haven't found this to be an issue with good arrow flight from a 70lb, 27.5" draw weight with today's bows. Back when all I shot was COC fixed heads, I ended up with a pretty light arrow (390gr) but still zipped through everything they touched, mainly elk. I always felt like I was wasting energy in the dirt behind the animal. I knew a mechanical requires more energy so I went with a heavy 500gr arrow to ensure I had the momentum to push it through.
#3
Since making accuracy my number one priority, penetration has been a non-issue for me. That brings us to speed, over the last few years I have been dropping about 30gr each year trying to find that balance. I started with a 500gr arrow going about 270fps with a large mechanical broadhead. The 500gr setup zipped through every animal that it touched. I dropped to around 470gr after that still using a large mechanical, same result, zipped through multiple animals. This last fall I dropped to a 440gr/290fps arrow with another large cut mechanical head, I still zipped right through a mature bull elk with the setup but it is a much more forgiving setup than the 500gr setup. One thing I found was with speed and fixed heads is that you reach a point of diminishing returns for accuracy, much over 285fps they become much less forging and groups typically open up unless you are shooting with near-perfect form every shot. For a couple of seasons, I shot a COC head at 315fps with a 390gr arrow, the setup worked well but I was always stressed out on longer shots because even the slightest imperfection in my form and the arrow would miss it's mark by more than what I felt was acceptable.
#4
I've been all over the board with ease of building. I've always bought high-quality arrows, A/C Injexion, VAP V1's, RIP TKO V1's, Easton Axis Match Grade, BE Deep Impacts and Pro Comps. Same with components, all of my arrows over the past 10 years have been cut to the exact lengths, squared on both ends, components weighted and adjusted and I've mostly used high-end fixed heads with good tolerances and, Solid, IW, Rocky Mountain, Evolution and similar or Mech's. Components have been SS HIT's, D-6 for all the 4mm stuff and IW in the 5mm. Victory arrows definitely take more prep than Easton to get glue to stick well, epoxy or hot melt. The A/C Eastons were always the most forgiving arrows but not as durable as the others. By a large margin the most durable arrow I've ever used is the RIP TKO, I've built these in both 250 and 300 spine with IW components. However I've always like the flight characteristics of the 4mm arrows and how consistent the A/C arrows are so I'm currently shooting Pro Comp's since accuracy is my #1 priority.
Fletching wise I've used a little of everything from quick fletch heat shrinks with quick spins, to six fletch AAE's, I've spent dozens of hours over the years fletching arrows for me and my family. Last year I discovered EZ Vanes from Australia and they're phenomenal, they are slightly lighter than 3 AAE Max Stealths, more durable and group, and fly to the exact same POI at 100 yards other than they are slightly higher due to the weight. I don't foresee going back to traditional fletchings. I also started using glue in field points and broadheads and they are a game changer when it comes to ease of build. With the EZ Fletch and Glue in points I can have an arrow built from a bare shaft and be shooting it in under 10 min including squaring both ends.
#5
Finally cost, this has normally been my lowest priority, I'm sure many can tell based off of the arrows and components I've been using. One thing I consider though is that living in the western US, we only get an opportunity to kill a few animals every year, if I ruin a $30 arrow killing a mature bull IMO its money well spent. However I understand some people can kill dozens or more animals a year and an expensive arrow doesn't make since. One thing I've done to cut costs for me is to buy used in the classifieds, half of the arrows listed above were bought used and I either removed the inserts with a drill bit or cut the arrows to my length. The last dozen pro-comps I bought cost me $130 used, I was able to remove the fletchings and glue in points and I'm in the arrows less that half of what they cost new.
Hopefully, this info is helpful to someone. I did want to add that all the majority of the animals I kill are elk and when I'm talking about arrows zipping through animals I'm speaking of mature bull elk at 20-80 yards.
I'm currently shooting a Mach 34, 74lbs, 27.6" Draw. Arrow is a Procomp 340, 27", 150gr glue-in Evolution Hyde, 10gr collar and 3X .35" EZ fletch vanes.
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I'm color blind and that has been a major perk, it didn't take long to notice it either. We all had to hunt with fixed up until like 6 years ago when OR changed the law, my tracking jobs have all been much less stressful since switching to mechanicals. This is coming from 30ish elk and 10ish deer being shot with archery gear.
