What lighter arrow for hunting?

[Coveyleader]

Is the OP shooting 60lbs @ 27 inches, or 60lbs @ 31inches? Big difference in trajectory no matter what grain arrow is shot.

 

[wapitibob]

I would normally refletch my target arrows, goldtip ultralight pro, 400 spine. I added a weight to the insert and end up 425 gr or so depending on BH weight (100 or 125). Bulls have died with any broadhead I put on the end, fixed or spitfire mech. Per above, my draw length is a twitch under 30".

 

[Wilderlife]

Is the OP shooting 60lbs @ 27 inches, or 60lbs @ 31inches? Big difference in trajectory no matter what grain arrow is shot.

Good point.
And a 30in arrow is going to weigh more than a 26.5in arrow (with all other things being equal, obviously).

for the sake of being transparent, the numbers I've posted in this thread were run through a calculator for a 60# compound at 28in with an IBO of 335fps. Fairly middle of the road.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Any suggestions on what lighter gpi arrow for a 60lb compound? I currently shoot fmj but I'm looking for a lighter arrow for trajectory Thanks

This is a pretty simple question. Sorry you got lambasted with posts telling you what they think. You should do instead of just an answer to your question.

Check out the Victory RIP XV. I am fletching some 250 spine now. Super lightweight and fly amazing.

 

[SDHNTR]

Mate,
At no point did I (or anyone) mention a faster arrow beats the speed of sound. We are purely talking about forgiveness in trajectory.

If a 450gn arrow from a 45# recurve bow is plenty to kill animals, then a 400-450gn arrow from a 60# arrow is plenty to kill animals as well.

I'm not on the super lightweight brigade here, trying to tell someone to shoot a 350gn arrow for hunting. I think 400-450gn for a 60# compound is quite reasonable.

For argument's sake, I've killed animals with a 48# recurve and a 500gn arrow, doing 170fps. That's about 32ft lb of kinetic energy, and 0.377 of momentum. Anyone who hunts with traditional equipment would say that's more than enough to kill most medium sized game (deer, goats, pigs, etc).

If you can have a 420gn arrow out of a 60# compound doing roughly 265fps, that's 65ft lb of kinetic energy, and 0.49 of momentum. A 475gn arrow would be doing about 245fps, which would have 63ft lb of kinetic energy (less) but slightly more momentum at 0.51.

My point is, using a standard 3 pin sight would see much easier pin gaps to work with if you have them marked 20/30/40m at 265fps, than 245fps.

In other words, the slight drop in ft lbs of energy, and the slightly rise in momentum, when going with a heavier arrow, is not a big enough trade off for me, when I could shoot a slightly lighter arrow with a little more ft lbs of energy, slightly less momentum, but an extra 20fps to bring my pin gaps closer together.

I'm not normally one to split hairs this much but I've just got back into the compound stuff in the last 12 months and I'm really enjoying the forgiveness in trajectory and range estimation that comes in this space.

So to the OP, you'll kill animals very easily with a 60# compound bow, but the difference in penetration between a 400-475gn arrow will be negligible. If you choose a good broadhead (as mentioned before) you'll be fine, but a little extra speed for estimating trajectory is never a bad thing, unless your arrow is so light it doesn't carry enough energy to penetrate anything properly.

You’d be well served to forget about KE and focus on momentum. Energy (at archery levels) does not kill animals. Destroying vital tissue does. So focus on what gets arrows into and through vital organs.

 

[big44a4]

Victory RIP or RIP TKO with hit insert and TI podium or IW collar. Most durable setup and can build as light or heavy as you want.

 

[Wilderlife]

Double post.

 

[Wilderlife]

You’d be well served to forget about KE and focus on momentum. Energy (at archery levels) does not kill animals. Destroying vital tissue does. So focus on what gets arrows into and through vital organs.

I think we'd all be well-served if the condescending comments were left out of the discussion, mate, as well as the 101 lessons on how an arrow kills an animal.

I get full pass throughs on medium-sized animals with my recurve setup, stated above. Significantly less KE and momentum than both 60# compound scenarios I posted about. That was the reason I raised that point and that data. Did you overlook that part of my response?

It's all just numbers and "picking fly sh*t out of chilli", but that's just how I I would approach this particular situation. Your point doesn't really change the outcome. A .02 gain in momentum isn't as desirable as 20fps, in my opinion. You obviously feel differently and that's fine, too.

I apologise if this is seen as de-railing the thread. I believe the discussion is worthwhile.

One of the latest Kifarucast episodes with Cody Greenwood was an eye opener in this space. He said that in general, based on the data he has collected, a lack of energy is not really a determining factor in any of the archery kills he has analysed. Hitting the where you are aiming, in the overwhelming majority of cases, is the major determining factor in archery success.

 

[AkRyan]

Rip tko do what you want don't listen to everyone. Light 400g+ kill and heavy 600g+ kill it just depends on what you prefer.

 

[MattB]

It is impressive what one poster with a lack of reading comprehension can do to a thread….

 

[MattB]

Any suggestions on what lighter gpi arrow for a 60lb compound? I currently shoot fmj but I'm looking for a lighter arrow for trajectory Thanks

My recommendation would be Axis in the same spine range. It won’t save you a lot of weight, but I personally wouldn’t want to go below 400 grs.

 

[CarterHunt]

Any suggestions on what lighter gpi arrow for a 60lb compound? I currently shoot fmj but I'm looking for a lighter arrow for trajectory Thanks

Easton Sonic or Gold Tip Force FOC would be solid options. If you do want to go small diameter then the Easton Axis or Victory RIP TKO are also good but much more expensive.

 

[Holocene]

OP, it's very reasonable that you'd like to shoot a lighter arrow than the FMJ. It's in what I'd call the heavy GPI class of compound arrows.

To get a lighter weight, you'll want to focus on all the arrows mentioned above with 1-2 GPI less than the FMJ has.

Some good ones already mentioned are:

Easton Sonic
Gold Tip FORCE FOC
Victory RIP TKO
Victory RIP HV (the lightest of all these)

Ultimate decision boils down to your end goals and what tradeoffs you are willing to accept in a setup.

I like fast arrows and mechanical tips because they increase my hit rates (and I believe increase hit rates for everyone out of well tuned bows at reasonably fast but not stupid fast speeds).

 

[Evasal]

GT (gold tips)

 

[Beendare]

Of course there is a point of diminishing returns with arrow weight. But seeking out lighter and faster arrows in an attempt to make up for possible animal movement in between release and impact is a complete misunderstanding of the factors at work when shooting an arrow at a wild animal. You are only creating a more serious problem than the one you are trying to solve

I totally agree.

Everyone has a different ideal when it comes to the trade offs between Trajectory and bow noise…..its a worthy exercise to test a couple different setups.

 

[bowhunting365]

I hunted with a Bowtech Realm at 63# this last season. 425gr Black eagle rampage. Stock inserts with 100gr point. Not the fastest arrow, but with an excellent tune and plenty of practice, it’s deadly. Victory, Easton, black eagle and many others make great products. Figure out what your looking for, speed and weight. Pick your setup and shoot. A well placed shot with a very sharp broadhead is all that matters

 

[Uncle_Danno]

Less poundage should mean greater arrow weight, not less. You have a rangefinder, right? Trajectory is a non issue. This isn’t unmarked 3d.

Trajectory is not a "non issue". There is a lot to be said for shooting a flatter trajectory arrow/higher speed arrow. The three biggest are: Less time for wind drift. Flatter flight makes low branches easier to manage. Smaller pin gaps make gap shooting more accurate. There are a ton of folks in the hunting/TAC world that are going away from traditional heavy arrows to smaller diameter, lighter arrows. You should give it a try. I bet you'd be amazed.

 

[SDHNTR]

Trajectory is not a "non issue". There is a lot to be said for shooting a flatter trajectory arrow/higher speed arrow. The three biggest are: Less time for wind drift. Flatter flight makes low branches easier to manage. Smaller pin gaps make gap shooting more accurate. There are a ton of folks in the hunting/TAC world that are going away from traditional heavy arrows to smaller diameter, lighter arrows. You should give it a try. I bet you'd be amazed.

Uhh, no.

 

[AkRyan]

Uhh, no.

Then don't but at the same time if you unwilling to try things or try them again then your "exp" is very limited and you should let people that actually test things against there belief do the commenting.

 

[AkRyan]

You’d be well served to forget about KE and focus on momentum. Energy (at archery levels) does not kill animals. Destroying vital tissue does. So focus on what gets arrows into and through vital organs.

That's ke....more ke = harder to stop, it's literally a calculation based of speed and weight, how do you figure out momentum??