Slowest arrow speed

[dkime]

Hi everyone,

I’m just finishing up my new bow build, a prime ct5 at 29” DL and 63lbs. Super happy with it and I’m getting some gold tip kennetic kaos built. I weighed all the components today and it’s gonna way 505gr with a 125gr broadhead. I really think this is gonna be a great hunting setup, but is there a minimum arrow velocity I should be shooting for? Just wondering if this shoots under a certain speed if I should go for a 100gr broadhead instead.

This is the only thing that matters, dropping down 25gr isn't going to make you anymore happy and is only going to make you question which setup works best. Your arrow setup is going to pass through every animal you encounter with the appropriate broadhead, which is more important than passing through a chronograph.

 

[Muley15]

Your going to be around 250-253fps with that setup

 

[Lawnboi]

To us short armed folk those are normal numbers.

Be glad you have a 29” draw

 

[Beendare]

Yeah, the sound of your bow will reach the animal before the arrow does giving them time to react.

It's counterintuitive....but striving for faster arrow speed gives you a louder bow and actually hurts your performance on animals....as they are reacting to your bow. A heavier arrow softens the bow noise and improves the quality of that sound [less sharp]. I like an arrow that gives my bow a soft thump...vs the sharp Thwaack.

One only has to watch some of the Youtube vids out there, TRY THIS; rewind a vid to 5 seconds before a bunch of shots....but go to Youtube;Settings..... then Speed...and adjust speed to .25 of normal. This gives you a super slo mo of the shot and the animal.

These are a few things you will see, you can learn a lot;
1) many animals flinching on the shot
2) the actual shot location isn't what the shooter saw
3) some of these guys arrows have a bit of a wobble to them [kills penetration]...heck one trad vid I watched the other night the darn arrow was flying at almost a 20 deg angle.


..

 

[nphunter]

I personally don't want to fall below 280fps, I can shoot a 500gr arrow at that speed though with my setup so i'm very happy. I was shooting 315fps last year with a 406gr arrow and IMO that setup was too temperamental for fixed blades which I have to shoot when traveling to Idaho so i decided to go heavier. I also am planning on shooting expandable here in Oregon so the added weigh gives me more momentum as well as making it easier to get fixed heads to tune.

 

[dreamingWest]

Really depends on what your effective shooting range is and what your hunting. If your range is under 40 it will suit you well. My general rule is to shoot the heaviest arrow I can and still get around 280 fps. This for me is a good happy medium of speed and weight. I am shooting the CT5 as well at 28.5/71lbs - 450g arrow - 287fps. This is my mule deer/whitetail set up. I have seen this weight/speed ratio work very well. I wouldn't hesitate to use this on Elk but would probably be closer to 500-550 if I was only an Elk hunter.

This is exactly what I've learned to do. I want to shoot the heaviest arrow I can and still get around 280 fps. To me, the trajectory gets frustrating and ranging more critical past 50 yards when slower. I also think once you get to a certain weight, you're heavy enough. Which means in the future I might start going faster instead of heavier. I know this isn't the popular opinion on Rokslide, where I've seen guys using 600 grain arrows on whitetails. Just my opinion. But I'm the dumb hunter that killed his first bull with a 360 grain arrow at 308 fps.

If you're only ever going to shoot 40 and in, then it probably doesn't matter, go heavy. But I like to practice long range so the hunting shots seem like slam dunks.

 

[MTSabo]

Id say your at a great weight and shoot the head that tunes best

 

[OXN939]

The speed of sound is 1125 fps. Your arrow will never outperform that. You set up is fine.

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While it is certainly true that an arrow will never get anywhere near 1125 FPS, that is not what matters when determining if an animal can react to the sound of your shot in time to cause a miss. The sound of a bow discharging will arrive at an animal's ears in the same amount of time from every bow. What does change between setups is how far the arrow has traveled by a given time- an arrow doing 300 FPS will have hit a 50 yard target in 0.5 seconds, while the arrow shot by a bow doing 200 FPS is still 50 feet away.

To be clear, I completely agree that the setup mentioned by the OP is adequate, and that faster bows with a sharper report can influence whether an animal jumps to begin with. This entire discussion also probably doesn't matter for a lot of big game species like elk and moose. For spooky species like eastern Whitetail, however, higher velocity can be helpful.

Video for reference:

 

[LostArra]

While it is certainly true that an arrow will never get anywhere near 1125 FPS, that is not what matters when determining if an animal can react to the sound of your shot in time to cause a miss. The sound of a bow discharging will arrive at an animal's ears in the same amount of time from every bow. What does change between setups is how far the arrow has traveled by a given time- an arrow doing 300 FPS will have hit a 50 yard target in 0.5 seconds, while the arrow shot by a bow doing 200 FPS is still 50 feet away.

To be clear, I completely agree that the setup mentioned by the OP is adequate, and that faster bows with a sharper report can influence whether an animal jumps to begin with. This entire discussion also probably doesn't matter for a lot of big game species like elk and moose. For spooky species like eastern Whitetail, however, higher velocity can be helpful.

Video for reference:

I love that video but I don't think "eastern" whitetails have any skittish advantage over Texas whitetails. Those does get spooked by the mere presence of a tree and that belly flop is the reason Texans aim at the bottom of the chest. I just limit my spooky deer shots to 35 yards with a slow compound and heavy arrows and 20 with a fast recurve.

 

[OXN939]

I love that video but I don't think "eastern" whitetails have any skittish advantage over Texas whitetails. Those does get spooked by the mere presence of a tree and that belly flop is the reason Texans aim at the bottom of the chest. I just limit my spooky deer shots to 35 yards with a slow compound and heavy arrows and 20 with a fast recurve.

Yeah it's wild how fast they are. I hold right on the heart for whitetail so that the almost inevitable 8-12" drop puts my arrow in the lung area.

 

[Billy Goat]

In my experience Texas whitetail are slightly edgier than eastern. Midwest aren't hardly at all.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Personally, I'd put that Arrow on, a bit of a Diet,.. 450 ish to 480 MAX grains and 12-17% FOC for a 63 pound Bow, would be a better weight, so you're NOT having, a "Rainbow arc",.. trajectory. At 40 yds, or so, your current arrow is OK, past that,.. yikes ! I wouldn't waste, the Power you have, available, on too heavy of an arrow, just stay away from Shoulder Bone, IF possible.
Also I'd explore, quiet Vanes and Broad heads,.. 3 of the Vanetec, 3" V maxes, 2.88" Swifts or, 3" AAE Max Stealth's are all, very good at, stablizing B-H's ( at our arrow speeds ) and they are all, quiet ! Quiet BH's, I'm still looking at ! The Iron Will s100 ( 100 grain solid looks, very good but, I haven't tried it, yet ) The s100, "should" be very quiet and accurate ! Currently, I'm still liking my G5 Strikers, for accuracy. I shoot a 435 grain Arrow out of a 50 pound DNA SP, 340 IBO, going about 255 fps, that's the reason I know, all about "Rainbow" Trajectories, LOL ! I've done a lot of looking for, the "Holy Grail" arrow for, my Bow and at lots of, drop Charts. YES,.. Deer, Elk and Antelope will ALL, jump the string with, NOISY Arrows, IF they're ALERT and paying attention, so a quiet Bow and ARROW is a must have, again JMHO ! Good luck with, your "choices" and Hunting ! PS; dreaming West's post,.. Nailed IT !

 

[rsampson67]

I shoot 70 lbs. 522 gr arrow. at 266fps and agree with the previous statement that the arrow is the noise that gets jumped. Stand down range (off to side with protection) and listen to your arrows in flight. It is amazing how much noise there is from the vanes. I have changed vanes and now only hear the bow then the arrow hit the target.

 

[Sharp Things]

Ive never worried about arrow speed. So long as the arrow arrives before the season closes, Im happy. I worry more about a solid and strong arrow build, good flight and a sharp head. Get close and dont worry about arrow speed. I think the slowest arrows I fling from a homemade trad bow with homemade broadheads is 170 FPS and Ive taken smaller game like deer and bear with that setup.

 

[Sorry slinger]

I shoot 70 lbs. 522 gr arrow. at 266fps and agree with the previous statement that the arrow is the noise that gets jumped. Stand down range (off to side with protection) and listen to your arrows in flight. It is amazing how much noise there is from the vanes. I have changed vanes and now only hear the bow then the arrow hit the target.

what vanes are you running now that makes them so silent.

 

[Super 91]

I respectfully disagree that the arrow noise is what causes deer to jump the string. The bow noise is the culprit. I've shot every kind of fletching at deer, with feathers typically being the loudest, and as long as my bow is quiet, I have yet to have a whitetail jump the "arrow". When I have had a bow that was noisy to me the shooter, then I had deer react to the bow going off. This I noticed when I was completely surrounded by deer, and the deer behind me reacted as much as the deer in front of me (This was realized after I had a chance to review the video). When you shoot a heavier arrow, more energy is absorbed by the arrow, and less bow noise is heard. I concentrate every year on making sure all my accessories are solid with no twang or vibration, then I add string silencers to my strings and cables and use limb dampeners and a good vibration dampening stabilizer. This is all subjective of course as I don't use a decibel meter or measuring device other than my and my buddies ears. I like heavy arrows, and always try to build them at around 525, especially for elk. Work on making sure your bow is as quiet as possible and the rest (with a heavy arrow) will take care of itself. Another thing that is overlooked many times is the broadhead. I have never had a deer not react like it was hit in the butt with a 2x4 when I shot it with a mechanical. With fixed blade heads, I've had deer not move when I drove a broadhead through them, only to watch them get weak kneed and fall over, not knowing they have had and arrow run clean through their heart.

To the OP, you are golden with that setup. Nice, heavy shaft with good FOC, easy drawing poundage which will make you deadly in the woods this year. Enjoy that setup

 

[Idaho Lefty]

@ Bob,... Respectfully disagree as,.. the shorter, TALLER, stiffer, vanes ARE,.. noisy. Go to a 3D shoot and listen, to them.
Ryan Kohatsu, on You Tube has, a Vid of an Axis Deer "Jumping" the arrow noise and many people have now put Arrows on,.. sound recordings that, can be heard. Some Vented B-H's,.. make noise, too ! Not all animals are paying attention, BUT,..some,.. DO ! I do AGREE with the heavier arrow, being quiet !

 

[bignocks]

I had almost the same setup. Defiant 34, 63 lbs with a 500ish grain arrow shooting 250fps. I shot my elk 2 years ago broadside with pass through at 45 yards shooting the bigger griz trick. I also shot a couple whitetail with pass through. My bow was super quiet with that setup. The only thing I would think about is what are you hunting and whats your hunting style. For example if you are worried about having to judge an animal and if you are off by 5 yards you might have a clean miss where if you had a faster bow you might still be in the kill zone. There are apps that will guesstimate your arrow drop at certain arrow weights and speeds.