New bow - arrow advice

[scorpaenichthys]

After flirting with trad bows off and on for a few years, I finally decided to give it a full send and hunt with one. In the past I've struggled to find mass-produced bows that fit my long draw (31.5" on most recurves). So, this time around I worked with Blake Smith at Yellowstone Custom Bows to make sure I'd get something comfortable. I ended up with their Yellowstone Longbow model, 68" long and 55lbs @ 31". I took a gamble on draw length since this is my first longbow, but as luck would have it I draw it to exactly 31". And boy is this thing nice to shoot. Cocobolo riser, elm cores, and yew veneers. NSFW pics below.

Now for the fun part. Building out long, high-FOC arrows has been more difficult than I expected. To get the weight I want up front, I'm pushing into spines that don't seem to be common at the lengths I need. I ended up ordering two sets of arrows to see what this bow likes best:

1) Easton Carbon Legacy 340 spine, 32.75" with standard inserts and a 200 gr head. Assuming I can trust the 3Rivers calculator, these will be 572.6 gr overall, 10.4 GPP, and 17.7% FOC.

2) Easton Axis 300 spine, 32.5" with 50 gr HIT inserts and a 200 gr head. 613.7 gr overall, 11.2 GPP, and 19.2% FOC.

On paper these look like very similar setups to me. But this is the first time I've really put thought into how I build my arrows, and I never realized how deep down the rabbit hole you can go. Assuming this bow likes bow arrows, is there any reason you'd pick one over the other? Or are the differences as negligible as they look?

 

[Beendare]

I shoot a pretty long draw 30 1/2 inches so I have experience with this. The fact that it’s a long bow like that, you have to be careful with going too stiff. My center shot recurves will typically shoot two spine sizes stiffer than a long bow like that.

I can shoot front weighted 300 spine arrows cut 31 3/8 inches in my 54# ILF recurve, but I bet those would be too stiff for that long bow.

I would not worry about going too heavy, you will want the extra arrow weight to tame that bow

 

[scorpaenichthys]

I shoot a pretty long draw 30 1/2 inches so I have experience with this. The fact that it’s a long bow like that, you have to be careful with going too stiff. My center shot recurves will typically shoot two spine sizes stiffer than a long bow like that.

I can shoot front weighted 300 spine arrows cut 31 3/8 inches in my 54# ILF recurve, but I bet those would be too stiff for that long bow.

I would not worry about going too heavy, you will want the extra arrow weight to tame that bow

Appreciate it. This is my first time really paying attention to how I build my arrows instead of just having a shop wing it from a spine chart, so I've been leaning heavily on the 3Rivers dynamic spine calculator. My bow isn't quite cut to center, but it's not far off and for that 32-33" arrow length the calculator has me straddling 340 & 300 spine. But, I haven't ground-truthed the calculator yet and estimates only get you so far. I'll play around with weights and see what works.

 

[Beendare]

The calculator will get you close, Assuming; You have good repeatable form, and you inputted in the exact specs- tough for a newbie to do.

In fact, best advice is to not worry about dialing in exact arrow spine...especially when you will be way over bowed with that bow at 55#. I'm sure the bowyer told you that...or should have.

Instead dial in repeatable form first on a light bow 30-35#.

Many folks get frustrated when starting too heavy and stop shooting Trad...but the guys that develop good form tend to stick with it.....namely because they can hit stuff- grin

 

[scorpaenichthys]

The calculator will get you close, Assuming; You have good repeatable form, and you inputted in the exact specs- tough for a newbie to do.

In fact, best advice is to not worry about dialing in exact arrow spine...especially when you will be way over bowed with that bow at 55#. I'm sure the bowyer told you that...or should have.

Instead dial in repeatable form first on a light bow 30-35#.

Many folks get frustrated when starting too heavy and stop shooting Trad...but the guys that develop good form tend to stick with it.....namely because they can hit stuff- grin

Point taken on form, and I didn't mean to imply that I'm totally new to trad. I've shot recurves for close to 15 years, from 25 to 53lbs. I've just always shot whatever arrows the shop recommended and never gave much thought to arrow weights or components until now, because it didn't matter for what I was doing. My form is probably B/B+. Never going to make the Olympics but good enough to be hunting accurate at the distances I care about.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

That calculator gets me like 90% of the way there as long as everything you input is accurate.

 

[Beendare]

Point taken on form, and I didn't mean to imply that I'm totally new to trad. I've shot recurves for close to 15 years, from 25 to 53lbs. I've just always shot whatever arrows the shop recommended and never gave much thought to arrow weights or components until now, because it didn't matter for what I was doing. My form is probably B/B+. Never going to make the Olympics but good enough to be hunting accurate at the distances I care about.

OK Gotcha.

Best strategy might be to go on the lighter end of the spine chart...and pick up the 3 Rivers test kit with points from 80g-300g.

I play with those before I start cutting shafts and find it's a faster way to find perfect spine.

 

[Tilzbow]

Just an FYI, Black Eagle makes some really long traditional bow specific arrows for us long draw trad bow shooters that can help lower your point on range and also give you more flexibility regarding tuning.