THAT is exactly why I have been shooting a heavier arrow for 40+ years now. Thanks for posting.
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Heavy arrow bone breaking results on large deer
- Thread starter Wmihunter
- Start date
SnakeEater
Well-Known Member
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- Jan 12, 2020
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- 1,563
Last year it was around 240ish I think. I dropped to 500 grain taw and about 17% foc this year at about 265. Got 2 doe this year so far, two pass throughs that went through her humorous and the other pass through scapula. But these Louisiana doe weight about 90lbs so. Put it this way, the easiest way to get them out of the woods is just gut them and throw em over your shoulder.
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- Jan 3, 2022
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This is an oldie but goodie. I haven't run across it before. I switched to a high FOC set up after I had a light arrow set up stop cold in a big buck shoulder back in 2017. It was like that arrow hit a 2x4. Never found the deer and he was reportedly seen a week or two later apparently in good health.
I made a 650 grain TAW with about 28% FOC using Grizzly single bevel broadheads. This I shot out of a 60# Mathews Heli M. 28" draw.
I shot quite a few does with this set up. Most were unremarkable since they were well placed shots. Those shots were so quiet and passed through the deer so effortlessly the deer hardly noticed. They usually just jump a short way, turn around to see what happened, then get wobbly and fall over. I did have one doe spin on me, and I hit her in the neck shoulder junction and exited behind her offside shoulder. The arrow then stuck up in a tree. That is the picture I use in my avatar.
My most dramatic kill was on a large bodied buck, my biggest to date. I was hunting a small property and the buck came by me at 12 yards broadside. I wanted to anchor him so I shot him straight up the leg, 1/3 of the way up the body. He never took another upright step. He went to run upon receipt of the arrow but his front legs no longer worked. His legs folded back under him and he pushed himself on his nose 20 yards off into a creek, and died there moments later. The 190 Grizzly broadhead had cut the offside leg bone in two. That arrow anchored that buck like a rifle shot.
I also pinned a large hog to a white oak tree with this set up. The hog wrenched himself free and made it off into a 200 acre impenetrable thicket of new growth pines and saw briars. I never did find him. After crawling around in there on hands and knees with a 44, I decided I might not be making the soundest decisions, lol.
I also have a lighter weight setup I run sometimes and it has no issues with deer. It is about 550 grains and runs the 125 Grizzly on a 100 grain steel adapter.
I run a similar heavy setup on my longbow. The wood arrows are about 700 grains with 190 Grizzlies or Tuffheads. I also have a carbon high FOC arrow for the longbow. 650 grains with 32% FOC. Flies like a dart and is nearly silent.
I hone these to hair popping sharpness.
I did a bone penetration test with the longbow. The bone with the broadhead in it pictured below is a fresh killed buck leg bone. That is a 650 grain arrow I just described shot out of my longbow. 56# at 28" Distance was 12 yards. Bone was free swinging. Arrow speed is about 160 fps. I thought that was pretty good performance.
I made a 650 grain TAW with about 28% FOC using Grizzly single bevel broadheads. This I shot out of a 60# Mathews Heli M. 28" draw.
I shot quite a few does with this set up. Most were unremarkable since they were well placed shots. Those shots were so quiet and passed through the deer so effortlessly the deer hardly noticed. They usually just jump a short way, turn around to see what happened, then get wobbly and fall over. I did have one doe spin on me, and I hit her in the neck shoulder junction and exited behind her offside shoulder. The arrow then stuck up in a tree. That is the picture I use in my avatar.
My most dramatic kill was on a large bodied buck, my biggest to date. I was hunting a small property and the buck came by me at 12 yards broadside. I wanted to anchor him so I shot him straight up the leg, 1/3 of the way up the body. He never took another upright step. He went to run upon receipt of the arrow but his front legs no longer worked. His legs folded back under him and he pushed himself on his nose 20 yards off into a creek, and died there moments later. The 190 Grizzly broadhead had cut the offside leg bone in two. That arrow anchored that buck like a rifle shot.
I also pinned a large hog to a white oak tree with this set up. The hog wrenched himself free and made it off into a 200 acre impenetrable thicket of new growth pines and saw briars. I never did find him. After crawling around in there on hands and knees with a 44, I decided I might not be making the soundest decisions, lol.
I also have a lighter weight setup I run sometimes and it has no issues with deer. It is about 550 grains and runs the 125 Grizzly on a 100 grain steel adapter.
I run a similar heavy setup on my longbow. The wood arrows are about 700 grains with 190 Grizzlies or Tuffheads. I also have a carbon high FOC arrow for the longbow. 650 grains with 32% FOC. Flies like a dart and is nearly silent.
I hone these to hair popping sharpness.
I did a bone penetration test with the longbow. The bone with the broadhead in it pictured below is a fresh killed buck leg bone. That is a 650 grain arrow I just described shot out of my longbow. 56# at 28" Distance was 12 yards. Bone was free swinging. Arrow speed is about 160 fps. I thought that was pretty good performance.
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MSbowhunter48
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- Oct 15, 2019
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- 272
This one is kinda tough to talk about but if you bow hunt enough you’ll run into a situation like this eventually.
TAW is right around 595 grains, 19%FOC. Shooting a 100 grain QAD Exodus, 70# with 27” draw length.
Shot this buck while on the ground, while he was working up the side of a berm. I was maybe 5-7 feet higher in elevation than him at the shot and he was quartering slightly to me. I didn’t have my range finder and guessed him to be at 25 yards, but later found he was closer to 35 yards. I shot for his front shoulder/chest area and the arrow dropped just enough to skim the bottom of his chest and ultimately hit his back right leg just above where the leg bends to go up toward the hip. I heard a loud smack and ultimately thought I hit him in the chest cavity where I was aiming. I trailed the buck not far from the shot site and found him wounded on the bank of a big canal right on the edge of the water. I had to sit from a distance and watch that buck for almost 2 hours on the edge of the bank before one of my buddies could bring me a pistol to finish him off. You can see the bullet hole from the pistol just in front of the left eye. You can see all the mud on him from being on the edge of that bank for so long.
The arrow had broke the leg bone clean in half, the only thing holding his leg on was a small patch of hair. This deer was 200-210 pounds so I was pleasantly surprised that arrow was able to do that. The arrow was recovered and was still intact, the broadhead was also still intact just some minor nicks on the blades but that was it.
I don’t have any better pictures just due to the nature of the situation. I hate to watch an animal suffer like that so my one goal was to put him out of his misery as quickly as possible.
pic share
TAW is right around 595 grains, 19%FOC. Shooting a 100 grain QAD Exodus, 70# with 27” draw length.
Shot this buck while on the ground, while he was working up the side of a berm. I was maybe 5-7 feet higher in elevation than him at the shot and he was quartering slightly to me. I didn’t have my range finder and guessed him to be at 25 yards, but later found he was closer to 35 yards. I shot for his front shoulder/chest area and the arrow dropped just enough to skim the bottom of his chest and ultimately hit his back right leg just above where the leg bends to go up toward the hip. I heard a loud smack and ultimately thought I hit him in the chest cavity where I was aiming. I trailed the buck not far from the shot site and found him wounded on the bank of a big canal right on the edge of the water. I had to sit from a distance and watch that buck for almost 2 hours on the edge of the bank before one of my buddies could bring me a pistol to finish him off. You can see the bullet hole from the pistol just in front of the left eye. You can see all the mud on him from being on the edge of that bank for so long.
The arrow had broke the leg bone clean in half, the only thing holding his leg on was a small patch of hair. This deer was 200-210 pounds so I was pleasantly surprised that arrow was able to do that. The arrow was recovered and was still intact, the broadhead was also still intact just some minor nicks on the blades but that was it.
I don’t have any better pictures just due to the nature of the situation. I hate to watch an animal suffer like that so my one goal was to put him out of his misery as quickly as possible.
pic share
That the knuckle on a hog...broadhead glanced off the ball, slicing the bone and fracturing the socket on the corresponding bone. Lower leg fell off when the meat was cut away. Arrow deflected and exited out the neck. 760ish grains, estimated 180ish fps, 50ish pound draw weight.
From the research I have done, to get dependable bone splitting results on tough animals, a 3 to 1 ratio single bevel 2 bladed broadhead with the FOC 19% or higher is the best option.
As for me, I don't get wrapped up in the ultra-high FOC arrow. I just use a 2 bladed 100 grain Magnus Stinger on a Carbon Express Maxima and it is a medium weight arrow. I split the difference between arrow weight and arrow speed. I want to maximize both weight and speed to give me the best overall hunting performance. I have had excellent results with my setup on deer. Depending on the bow I use, I shoot between 50 to 60 pounds. Speeds are between 260 and 280 FPS.
As for me, I don't get wrapped up in the ultra-high FOC arrow. I just use a 2 bladed 100 grain Magnus Stinger on a Carbon Express Maxima and it is a medium weight arrow. I split the difference between arrow weight and arrow speed. I want to maximize both weight and speed to give me the best overall hunting performance. I have had excellent results with my setup on deer. Depending on the bow I use, I shoot between 50 to 60 pounds. Speeds are between 260 and 280 FPS.